TomTom GPS wireless - Bluetooth dead!

redmax · Occasional Visitor Joined: Jan 04, 2004 Posts: 50

Thanks for the prompt replies.
I spoke to TPDA this morning and they aknowledge that a % of units are dying and have agreed to replace it once they receive mine.
I went to PO this morning and for a few pence short of £5 I have sent it back special delivery (signature reqd) and insured for £275.00.
At the end of the day I have been really happy with the TT2 performance (although as a newbie I don't have anything to compare it with ) I just feel put out that it has busted after such a short time and Ive got to be without my favourite toy!!!.
Its not so much the money but the fact that I have to pay.
I cant pretent to be sympathetic with the resellers problem of being out of pocket. To be honest if i was a reseller and I started getting a product returned in such major quantities that it became a commercial issue then I would refuse to sell it.
If the TT2 is flawed then it should be known to the consumer via the retailer. After all its the retailers that we have to trust to sell us goods that are merchantable.
As far as your enquiry re: power, I have actually been powering it using a lead from the iPaq cradle to the TT2. The lead has a sort of telephone socket at the cradle end and a standard female plug at the TT2 end.
I only have been charging when the red "out of charge" light flashes.
Surely there must be a built in safety device to protect form spikes?
Why dont mobile phones suffer from the same prob.
Anyway next question:
If I get a new unit back when does the guarantee commence
a) original date of purchase
b) from receipt of replacement

What if the problem occurs again - can I get my money back.
I know you said I may get a gesture of a cheap upgrade-
What could I get that is compatible with my 2210 and superior to TT2?

Thanks again for the help Thumbs Up

Dave · Posted: Fri Jan 09, 2004 8:44 pm Post subject:

We've spoken about guarantee's a while back (can't remember the long thread), but it really depends on whether the unit is just swapped, or whether a full refund is given, and a new invoice raised and charge applied to card. If it's done properly with a returns note, credit, then you re-purchase a new version then the guarantee starts from the date you get the replacement. If it's done with a straight box swap-out, and you don't get a new invoice stating the date you received the new product, then warranty in theory continues from when you originally purchased it as you have no proof that the unit has been swapped out.

I'm not too sure what is the legal, or moral way of doing this, and companies do deal with this in different ways. Ask up front if unsure to make sure you're happy.

All BT GPS's are compatible with the 2210, it just really depends on whether there's one that you like. The only major difference you'll find is battery length. Emtac/Socket has slightly better pull in power for retrieving sats when the GPS is down near the gear stick compared to other BT GPS's, but other than that, they all nearly run the same chipset so really battery, antenna and how the chipset/circuitry are implemented are the only differences.

redmax · Occasional Visitor Joined: Jan 04, 2004 Posts: 50

I suppose as I've only had the unit for a couple of weeks it doesn't matter re: guarantee but if the next one goes down then I'll make sure a proper return is executed.
We shall see.........
8)

a4ace · Posted: Sat Jan 10, 2004 8:38 pm Post subject: do i have the same problem?

i have a seidio cradle that can charge the GPSR and it seems that when the GPSR is fully charged, it turns off. though I can turn it back on with no problems, as long as i remove the charging. if i turn it on while being charged, it turns off after a few seconds (maybe about 5 sec).

i would have liked to be able to keep it charging for very long journeys.

Biggles_no1 · Occasional Visitor Joined: Jan 12, 2004 Posts: 8

Add me to the list of recievers with dead Bluetooth. Wife bought me one for Christmas. It died yesterday just when it was needed the most. At least we had the onscreen map on the IPAQ to help.

btw I know I'm just a newbie to all this but I can't see that overcharging would be the cause because the unit is shipped with a permanent power cable for the car so it must be designed to accept power all the time.

btw. This forum is fantastic. The TomTom website support is criminally poor in comparison.

MrT · Posted: Mon Jan 12, 2004 4:26 pm Post subject: Overcharging

Overcharging is not the issue as all this would do is shorten the battery life.

If the charging circuitry is built correctly the unit would not continue to charge a fully charged battery.

Dave · Posted: Mon Jan 12, 2004 7:14 pm Post subject:

I think overcharging is the issue, as I've seen 3 die and it's always been when they've been plugged in charging for around 4 hours on a desk charger. Charging them for an hour or two seems to be okay, and the GPS Receivers were working before they started charging but were dead after charging.

MrT · Posted: Mon Jan 12, 2004 7:53 pm Post subject: Faulty Charger?

Maybe you have a faulty charger if four have gone on your desk?

All that happens when a device is on charge for a long time is that the battery voltage rises slightly at the end of the charge and at that point continued charging will start to break that battery down. A proper charging circuit will detect the slight rise in voltage at the end of charge and shut off the charging. The TomTom device appears to do this as the red charging light goes out. The voltage rise on a fully charged battery is not sufficient to damage the electonics.

Another remote possibility is that the regulator inside that drops the 5V of the charger to the 3.7V of the lithium battery is of insufficient rating and after a while it burns out, but that would be more likely to happen under load at the start of charging rather than at fully charged when there is virtually no demand on it.

It could be a possibility that the TomTom charger has poor regulation and suppression so that spikes pass into the TomTom unit through the charger or the device is getting a static shock at some time in its handling.

Dave · Posted: Mon Jan 12, 2004 8:16 pm Post subject:

There were actually 3 not 4 that died, but with all three, they were using different chargers, so that would have to mean all three chargers were faulty which I think is very unlikelyand one of the chargers was a regular iPAQ charger. And even more so, each of the three chargers have since been used to charge other Bluetooth GPS Receivers (and iPAQ's) and not had a single problem!

On two of the TomTom BT GPS's I have charged them for two hours, unplugged the charger, checked that they were working, then plugged it in again and left it charging for another 2 hours and at the end of the second charge, the Bluetooth connection had died within the GPS.

Unfortunately I don't have anymore to waste Laughing

I mean test this on, but it does appear to be a weakness within the electronics of the GPS itself. One of the three chargers was also an in-car charger, so it happens with both desk and car chargers.

Biggles_no1 · Occasional Visitor Joined: Jan 12, 2004 Posts: 8

Dave

Have you managed to talk to any of the techie types at TomTom about this? With all that evidence I'm sure we would all be interested to know what their position is on this matter.

I'm not saying that over charging is definitely the cause, I'm no techie-bod so I dont really know about these things. Its just that, to me, it seems very silly to supply a permanently wired vehicle power cable if overcharging leads to a dead GPS.

If someone goes on a long distance trip (Lands end to John-o-Groats and back for example :-), they would have to keep unplugging the power from the cradle every time the unit has finished charging and plug it back in when the charge has run down.

Jason

Dave · Posted: Thu Jan 15, 2004 9:08 am Post subject:

TomTom's official response was although they have had faulty receivers sent back (and I know it from people posting here), they say that they did have problems with pre-production models but this was fixed for all production models.

Now, do I really believe that ?

The GPS definately dies in overcharge mode. By overcharge I mean that the GPS is at full charge, and it's being charged again.

For instance I had a fully working TomTom BT GPS that I had here, charged it, tested it, worked fine, gave it to Darren, he put it on charge, as soon as he took it off charge it was dead! That's using the same charger.

It's possible that there is some sort of power spike and the BT GPS doesn't cope with it well, or it may just be wear and tear on a component inside. Either way opening them does not show any physical damage to components. It's just very strange that it always happens when the GPS is fully charged and then is recharged.

frupps · Occasional Visitor Joined: Feb 01, 2004 Posts: 7

I've had the same problem. Got a GPS bundle for Xmas (Toshiba e740 and TT2 bluetooth). Unit was fully charged first time. Used it twice with no problems until I put the TT2 unit on charge using the mains adaptor. A fixed green light came on, but no bluetooth light or connection. Discharged the unit 3 times and recharged over the next few days, but to no avail. I e-mailed TomTom, who said the unit was probably faulty, so return it.

Just sent the unit back to TotalPDA for repair/replacement. I await events!

JJ28 · Posted: Sun Feb 01, 2004 8:13 pm Post subject:

Frupps did you ring Total PDA first to let them know?

I brought mine from there, and when I rang them they said for me to ring TomTom direct (unit was only 6 months old)

Had to return the unit direct to TomTom - very good service

Got mine back last week - all being well it is working and charging correctly

frupps · Occasional Visitor Joined: Feb 01, 2004 Posts: 7

JJ28.

No, I e-mailed both Total PDA and TomTom the day after the fault appeared. Both replied within 24 hours. TomTom advised that it looked like the unit was faulty and provided a web link for returns (but it did not work!). Total PDA asked me to return the unit to them for examination/repair/replacement, and provided a return address and a returns number by e-mail (as I was abroad all last week). I sent the unit off this weekend, recorded delivery; cost around £4.50.

frupps

	PocketGPS
	Web