Garmin Edge 520 battery life
 

Anyone here uses Garmin Edge 520? I love it but it's been a headache when planning longer rides. The battery died soon. How long is yours?

Did it die, or give you a low battery warning? Sometimes mine will give a false low battery warning, but go for hours more. I think there's an issue with the battery warning system that maybe has been updated. I'd say I get at least 12 hours out of a charge, maybe more.

If it did die within 6 hours of having a full charge, or even 8, I'd check the display settings and see if it's on constant bright or something.

I've seen battery life issues with the 520 with new firmware revisions. Recently version 12.9 seemed very bad for me so I rolled it back to 12.6. Performance seems better but the battery fuel gauge is atrocious. I've had it operate for 5-6 hrs after the fuel gauge hits 0%. I think cold temps wreak havoc with the fuel gauge. I think I'm getting 10+ hrs these days.

Mine is around it's 3rd birthday, and is lucky to get 5 hours with the backlight off.

Does anyone have suggestions? I am looking for something better than Edge 520.

Suggest take a powerful battery bank when ride long distance if use 520

My Garmin 705 started showing "low battery" after 2 or 3 hours when it was about 4 years old. I never tested it to see if it could actually run for hours with the warning, perhaps the older battery just had a slightly lower voltage, making the "low" warning show up sooner.

Replacement battery
I got a newpower99.com battery almost 5 years ago. I didn't expect it to last as many years as the original, but it's still good, lasting at least 6 or 7 hours after all these years. I recharge after most rides.

Some Garmins are welded/glued shut, and not replaceable. My 705 was quite easy, with 4 small screws and a ribbon connector. The newpower99 video was useful. They supplied a tiny screwdriver and a plastic tool to pull the connector.

They have your 520 battery.
but it's more complicated than my 705, needing to strip some wires, etc.

Mine is good for about 5-7 as I currently have it set up with brighter back light and all the sensors and screens rolling. I am ok with it. I am going to get the 1030 for the larger screen this spring because I need a larger dang screen! Getting old suck!

I do like that unit but it won't connect to a power meter according to DC Rainmaker. No go...ugg

3 years old and I got 11 hrs to 20% today. Backlight and bluetooth off, not much map use or scrolling. It's pretty warm down here though 60-80*F, expect worse in winter.

Good luck with your Garmin 520. I've used Garmin for years including the 520. I recently switched to the Wahoo Element Bolt for ease of use, and battery life and couldn't be happier.

I don't mind only getting 7ish hours out of a unit. I mean people complain about charging it every 2-3 rides or so if you ride a lot but most people have to charge the cell phone every night and don't even think twice about it.

If your a person who rides long distances and out on the trail for days on end yes, it would be super annoying. But really short of that anything I can stretch over 7 hours will do me fine if I would change my power settings. I just don't see this as a huge complaint or downfall of what we expect this little computer to do.

spot on...this is why my old 500 was doing awesome for so long. Wasn't using it as much as I use my 520. My 500 seemed to last forever before the battery started to fail and the charging port got wanky. I don't expect that kind of life of my 520.

Thanks for this.. i will check on my version

mine runs into low battery warning after like 8hrs

My 520 was used so much the battery life became annoyingly short. I bought a 520 plus partly because I wanted more memory for maps and partly fr teh battery. At the time I couldn't find instructions fo replacing the 520 battery.

That said, when I rode doubles I usually used a battery extender. I had a "Minty Boost" I soldered myself. With lithium batteries I was good forever. Later I got a small usb brick I velcroed to the stem. The Garmin will use it while running. That may be your best and cheapest option for long rides. Good luck.

Using Garmin 520, good model

I've had mine for 2+ years. I power off at stops of more than 30min, it will suck the juice in sleep mode. I also keep the backlight at 0 or 20%, which is plenty to see while night riding. I haven't done an actual test, but I haven't heard the low battery warning since taking these precautions. I charge it once a week if I'm just commuting, and make sure there's a full charge if going on a long weekend ride.

I have been able to manage 6-8 hours if the Bluetooth connection to my phone is off. I usually sync everything to my phone now after a ride.

Correct on all counts. I have the 520 Plus and I had a similar issue with the unit running long after the low battery warning.

A software update fixed the problem.

I get a false low battery warning on my 520-plus from time to time. At the moment it gives this alert on startup, even though the battery is at 100%. I've keep the software updated.
Even though I 'know' is a false warning, it still causes a little anxiety - 'is it really?'
Anyone else have this problem, or a fix?

full discharge even with the garmin edge 520 turned off
 

After charging 100% the battery will full discharge even with the garmin edge 520 turned off after a few hours.

Does anyone have any idea what the problem might be?

Rgds

Ivan