Garmin Edge - What a POS
 

It's spun up vent time. I'm sitting at home at 8:30 in my cycling gear, waiting for my Edge 520 to charge.

I've owned this thing for 4 years now so I should know better but this is the second time in that period that I've forgotten the fact that for whatever asinine reason, Garmin programmed the Edge series to turn on when plugged in and then not to turn off again when unplugged. So, I charged my computer but apparently forgot to turn it off and a block from home it was already dead. I would much rather need to turn it on when plugged into USB if I want to access data (which I never do thanks to bluetooth) than have to remember to turn it off after charging.

If you search this issue on line, there are dozens, maybe hundreds of complaints like this to Garmin but clearly they have no interest in changing a line of code.,

36%....

Add this in to their data hijacking fiasco, and the fact that since then (and again, I'm not alone) I can no longer change the gear used for a ride without going in to their website, and I really have to wonder how much longer I need to keep using this thing. Once it dies, wahoo?

38%....

(no, I'm not very patient)

Using the desktop computer (Windows 10) is what I do and before that Windows 7. Never had that problem.

But I do that extra step. On my screen, at the bottom right, there's some icons. One will show a USB icon. when highlighted by my mouse, it will say "Safely Remove Hardware & Eject Media".

That' how I eject the Garmin device. I don't need to press the Garmin button on the upper left. The device will know that the USB charging and data trasfer cable is being removed with no "juice" being transfered.

By the way, the Garmin USB cable has a dual purpose: as a charging and as a data transfer line. Some USB cables only do charging. For example, the more modern cars will have an upgraded sound system. They don't call it a radio anymore; its a head unit. Today's head unit is equipped with a USB cable that does both: data transfer and charging. Why data transfer? Because a flash drive with music data can be played from that head unit.

This is an issue when plugged into a wall wart. When you plug it in, it turns itself on. You can turn it off, which then allows you to see charge status on the screen nice and big. As soon as you unplug it, it turns itself back on so if you don't notice or forget its stupid habits it'll just sit there powered on until it dies.

53%...

Good enough to head out

hmm.. I just tried this with my 520 and it auto powered down a bit later.

I think that is changeable in the menu. Mine is set to turn off rather quickly.

It's an either On or Off setting. If Auto Sleep is on, the unit powers off in 5 minutes. It is possible I suppose to accidentally hit the start button so that an activity begins, and if you don't have auto-pause enabled, the unit just keeps recording until it runs out of power.

https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...01d21a2921.jpg

+1.

Mine turned off about 5-10 seconds after I unplugged from the PC

When mine's unplugged, it says 'Turning off in 10 seconds; Ok: Cancel" but holding down the power button does it quicker.

EDIT: I always plug it in after every ride, because, yeah, I did forget to turn it off one time, left it thinking I was still riding while the bike was hanging on the wall, and next ride, it died in the first mile.

So I rode without it.

5he 530 turns off when you unplug it

Not sure about the 530, but the OP is referencing turning off the unit while it's charging, which is fine.. you get a Battery% indicator. However, when you unplug from this state, the unit turns back on. This has always annoyed me -- not sure what Garmin's logic was that when you're done charging the unit and unplug, you'd want it to turn on by itself.

Anyway, after the OP's unit turns on after unplugging from the charger, his does not evidently ever turn itself off. Mine turns off after the 5 minutes that the Auto Sleep does. Wondering if OP hasn't updated unit firmware in a long time?

It should turn off automatically regardless when unplugged. Change your settings.

As we say in the electronics industry, “it’s not a bug, it’s a feature”.

My Edge stays on the bike all the time during the summer riding season. There is no real reason to ever remove it. When it rolls into the garage I have a charging cable for the edge and a charging cable for the lights. Next day, disconnect, the Edge wakes up, and we’re ready to roll.

I assume the entire family of Edge cyclometers work the same. My 1030 has no issue.....check your settings.

It's really simple for me. Bought my 800 in '10, never had a problem with it. I NEVER plug it into the computer. Everything's on a card - I use a reader. I have several cards with different maps and routes for different places and usus. When I come home, I plug the Garmin into a charger. I upload and download all info with the card reader.

Either the OP doesn't have Auto-Sleep on, or he's a victim of Garmin not having Auto-Sleep as a global setting, but having it instead set to each activity profile individually. I think in 2+ years I used my 520 in something other than "Outdoor" like 5 times, so it was never an issue for me.

Beyond that, the 520 works just fine while plugged in. Many a ride did I finish with a USB battery pack strapped to the handlebars with whatever I could find, because in it's old age (and hundreds of charge cycles) my 520 was good for maybe 4 hours on a full charge.

I think OP will be pretty happy if all he has to do is enable auto sleep.:thumb: Update?

But. But. But... :twitchy:

I'd guess that Garmin still blows chunks even though he didn't RTFM. *shrug*

I hope I can forever resist the urge to vent on BF. It rarely ends well for the OP. We've got the recent threads about Trek and Wiggle, not to mention the year long (yep one year) derangement about Canyon in the M,R,S and C Feedback section. Cautionary examples for us all. :rolleyes:

Learn to use your equipment.

Operator malfunction.

5he 530 (my kid's) turns off when fully charged, even if it is still plugged into the USB. A nice feature that my 130 doesn't seem to have.

I just took my charged 520 (which was on the main [RIDE] screen) off the charger to take to my bike for the morning. It immediately started a 15-second countdown and turned off just fine.

For more than two decades I've found the marketplace around cycling data to be under-realized. Given the landscape changes (tech advances, ubiquitous connectivity, acceptance of renewable revenue models) you'd think someone would "pull and Apple" and make an attempt at a well funded market consolidation by designing a great piece of hardware and back-ending it to a reliable and well designed app/site platform.

I'd be very eager to shell out for that.

I have an older 520 that has been relegated to indoor trainer use only. But I would guess that four times or so I have encountered a dead 520 for the reason stated by the OP. If there is a reason for 'doing this on purpose' I have never heard it. I agree with the OP - it is really irritating. If someone were to ever publish what 'no activity' means (the thing that initiates an auto sleep) I might reconsider, but for now I don't use Auto Sleep because I don't understand it and simply do not want to do a bunch of experiments to figure it out.

dave