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Berisford Regular Visitor
Joined: Mar 13, 2004 Posts: 97
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Posted: Wed Feb 02, 2005 4:24 pm Post subject: Quest input voltage |
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I know the Quest, like most Garmins will work on 12 volts using the supplied speaker / power lead, but what is the voltage supplied to the unit?
I don't require the voice / speaker on my motorcycle so I looking to hard wire it straight into the 12 volt supply, but I suspect it may be stepped down by the Garmin speaker plug.
Anyone know? |
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or10n Occasional Visitor
Joined: Jan 20, 2005 Posts: 12
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Posted: Wed Feb 02, 2005 5:47 pm Post subject: |
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I reckon it's 5 Volts.
Regards, |
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Skippy Pocket GPS Verifier
Joined: 24/06/2003 00:22:12 Posts: 2946 Location: Escaped to the Antipodies! 36.83°S 174.75°E
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Posted: Wed Feb 02, 2005 10:11 pm Post subject: |
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According to the manual on Garmin's website, it's "12/24v DC with car adaptor up to 36v".
I don't know exactly what they mean by that. Maybe they mean "12 or 24 volts with a hard wired input or up to 36 volts when used with the car cigarette lighter adaptor".
My GPS-V is supposed to accept an input voltage of 12-36 volts and you can get bare wire cables (ie no step down) so you don't have to use the lighter adaptor. I suspect that the Quest is the same and it will run fine when hard wired into a 12v supply.
Maybe you could contact Garmin for clarification though, you don't want to cook the GPS! 8O _________________ Gone fishing! |
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DPL Regular Visitor
Joined: Dec 09, 2004 Posts: 127 Location: Coventry
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Posted: Thu Feb 03, 2005 10:29 am Post subject: |
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I believe what Garmin mean but what they have badly worded is that their adaptor is suitable for 12 and 24v volt input and therefore compatible with both cars (which are 12v) and trucks (which are 24v). However, the step down device they use is safe for inputs of up to 36v.
Solid state electronic devices do not react kindly to over voltage inputs. I would not recommend hard wiring a Quest to anything other than a 5v supply. |
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Skippy Pocket GPS Verifier
Joined: 24/06/2003 00:22:12 Posts: 2946 Location: Escaped to the Antipodies! 36.83°S 174.75°E
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Posted: Thu Feb 03, 2005 1:44 pm Post subject: |
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DPL wrote: | Solid state electronic devices do not react kindly to over voltage inputs. I would not recommend hard wiring a Quest to anything other than a 5v supply. |
It's more than co-incidental that Garmin specify a maximum input voltage of 35 volts for their GPS units which is exactly the same as the Vmax for the Fairchild 78xx series voltage regulator which is very very widely used. I would speculate that the GPS uses a 78xx series voltage regulator internally and thus could be powered by any DC voltage from 12-35 volts.
Many Garmin units use wires only cables and specify a 12-35 volt DC power supply. Why would the Quest be any different? I very much doubt that the cigarette lighter adaptor contains the voltage regulator, I think the regulator is inside the Quest unit. _________________ Gone fishing! |
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DPL Regular Visitor
Joined: Dec 09, 2004 Posts: 127 Location: Coventry
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Posted: Thu Feb 03, 2005 2:26 pm Post subject: |
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Logical enough stuff but incorrect I'm afraid. Having been inside the Quest speaker/power source adaptor I can confirm this unit outputs 5.0v to the Quest as measured with a multi-meter. |
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Berisford Regular Visitor
Joined: Mar 13, 2004 Posts: 97
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Posted: Thu Feb 03, 2005 4:27 pm Post subject: |
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Multimeter and 5 volts 'eh...........I suspected as much.
Garmin could be a little more clear about this in the handbook.
Going to make the wiring job a little more difficult me thinks, not to mention the questionable mounting associated with the Quest.
Thanks for your comments guys.
BJ Nottingham |
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DPL Regular Visitor
Joined: Dec 09, 2004 Posts: 127 Location: Coventry
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Posted: Thu Feb 03, 2005 4:39 pm Post subject: |
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As I got bored with the poor sound quality from the Quest speaker I decided to bypass it and hard wire to the auxiliary input of my car's radio - easy enough, works great. I also got bored with the lollypop (as this forum has now named it) sticking out of the 12v socket so disposed of that too. So, the Quest runs only on its internal battery which is fine as I don't leave it in the car for the local pond life to nick and just connect it up to the house 240v at the same time as my phone. In my experience the battery will last around eight hours on a full charge as long as you keep the illumination level down to a sensible level. In daylight that clearly isn't a problem. On a recent canal cruise it ran quite happily dawn to dusk sat on the cabin top fully operational. No problem. So unless you are one of these 24/7 motorcycle courier types, charge it up, stick it on your bike and ride off into the sunset... |
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Number6 Occasional Visitor
Joined: Feb 02, 2005 Posts: 18
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Posted: Thu Feb 03, 2005 5:16 pm Post subject: |
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So I assume the Marine mount and motorcycle mount (out next week?) with bare wires, have a voltage regulator built in somewhere? |
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DPL Regular Visitor
Joined: Dec 09, 2004 Posts: 127 Location: Coventry
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Posted: Thu Feb 03, 2005 7:05 pm Post subject: |
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No idea. Just stating what I've found... |
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DEF Occasional Visitor
Joined: Jan 05, 2005 Posts: 4 Location: Katy, Texas
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Posted: Wed Feb 16, 2005 3:20 pm Post subject: |
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Regarding operating voltage for the Quest, have a look at the output voltage and current on your charging cradle wall transformer. It states the output is 5V, 1 amp. One can assume this is DC out. The Garmin likely always sees the onboard Li battery for power.
Finally, GArmin has a motorcycle cradle with power and audio wires (bare). See their website. _________________ Dennis in Katy, TX, USA |
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