rfield54

I'm curious about whether my 830 battery will last on a long ride where it might be running for 16 hours. I'll be using navigation, a HR monitor (no power or cadence), and I'll dim the screen. My guess is that I should be good for maybe 20 hours . . . Basically, I'm wanting to avoid jumping into the new 840, at least for now.



Thanks, Roy

Bald Paul

Garmin Charge™ Power Pack

rfield54

Thanks Paul. Though before I spend $170 on a battery pack, I'll purchase the Edge 840, which will solve the possible problem.

pdlamb

Probably hairy edge of battery life. You don't have to get expensive, though; any USB cache battery can recharge the 830 -- no need to buy the fancy overpriced Garmin unit. If it's raining, take the battery and GPS inside when you stop for a snack or meal.

FrozenBiker 

Roy, are you able to use some of the power saving features of the 830?

Maximizing Battery Life

• Turn on Battery Save Mode (Turning On Battery Save Mode).
• Decrease the backlight brightness (Using the Backlight) or shorten the backlight timeout (Display Settings).
• Select the Smart recording interval (Data Recording Settings).
• Turn on the Auto Sleep feature (Using Auto Sleep).
• Turn off the Bluetooth wireless feature (Phone Settings).
• Select the GPS setting (Changing the Satellite Setting).
• Remove wireless sensors that you no longer use.

Should help a little. My 840 should arrive Friday and also curious of actual battery life.

Iride01 

You don't have to buy a $170 power brick to charge your device. You can get some decent ones for $20 bucks that you can charge your Garmin up in between riding. Some that charge themselves back up with solar. Of course if you need that Garmin to be operational for the entire 16 hours then you might have to do some experimenting to make it work or buy the $170 brick.

Or as you said, just buy the newer Garmin that claims more battery life.

Bald Paul

FWIW, the Garmin pack integrates with the Garmin out front mount, so mounting isn't really an issue. It also has a USB port that can be used to charge another device. I use that to power my GoPro camera so I don't have to remember to stop to change the battery in the camera every 45 minutes or so.
I spent $4500 on the bike, and $1500 on carbon wheels upgrade. I'm not going to squawk about a $170 accessory.

unterhausen

The battery is pretty cool, I almost bought one, but being that much turned me away. Maybe if it was less than $100

Put the 830 on battery saver and it will last a lot longer than a 16 hour ride. This depends on what you'll be using it for, if you want a constant map display this isn't going to work.
I have external packs and a convenient pocket in my handlebar bag. Before the bag, I used to have a way to mount a lipstick battery on my handlebars. That should get you easily to 16 hours if you start charging at the beginning of the ride.

rfield54

Thanks for the replies. I'm going to go ahead and upgrade to the 840. Another feature I'll use will be having ClimbPro full time, though I'll still take FrozenBiker's battery saving advice with the new 840, . . .