Hard wiring a Garmin Nuvi

Hi Guys.

I just purchased a Garmin Nuvi that I want to hard wire for power. I purchased this voltage step down with mini-USB connector: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00CGQME5U/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 . I have some questions.

1) When I wired it directly to the battery, I was surprised to see a slight spark when connecting the black lead, despite the mini-usb not being connected to the gps. Would the voltage stepdown unit draw from the battery even when the gps is not connected?

2) Would you recommend connecting the voltage stepdown unit to a switched power source? For example, maybe to the head light power source--so the gps will only be powered when the bike is on?

3) When I connected the gps to the mini-USB of the voltage stepdown, it went into computer upload mode and was unusable. Any idea why this happens and how to prevent it?

Thanks.

Peter

On my '09 RT I used a RAM Mount, and I purchased a hardwire cable for the GPS from Garmin. The wires were hooked up to a fuse box that was installed under the seat. The fuse box had a side for switched, and unswitched. I hooked it up so the GPS turned off with the ignition. A side note is the Garmin was purchased with lifetime maps, and lifetime traffic. But when hooked up the traffic didn't work, so I contacted Garmin and they sent another cable, but same problem. Frustrating because it's nice to see if there is traffic up ahead.

Did your Nuvi come with an automobile adapter? If so I'd use that to connect to the R1200R power. You'll likely need to cut off the cig adapter plug and run longer wires (with a 2A inline fuse) to the battery. Or even simpler, just graft a powerlet plug in place of the cig adapter and use your bike's aux power outlet.

If you want switched power there is a GPS power plug zip-tied near the front of your bike on the throttle side (mine was located on the downtube almost under the tank).

BMW has an adapter plug (I can't remember the part number) that you can use to connect to your Nuvi wiring and then plug into the bike GPS plug. Hope all this makes some sense.

There is a *lot* of info on how to do this, just google it. However most folks don't use the Nuvi units as they're not robust of weather-resistant.

Hi Guys.

I just purchased a Garmin Nuvi that I want to hard wire for power. I purchased this voltage step down with mini-USB connector: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00CGQME5U/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 . I have some questions.

1) When I wired it directly to the battery, I was surprised to see a slight spark when connecting the black lead, despite the mini-usb not being connected to the gps. Would the voltage stepdown unit draw from the battery even when the gps is not connected?

2) Would you recommend connecting the voltage stepdown unit to a switched power source? For example, maybe to the head light power source--so the gps will only be powered when the bike is on?

3) When I connected the gps to the mini-USB of the voltage stepdown, it went into computer upload mode and was unusable. Any idea why this happens and how to prevent it?

Thanks.

Peter

Morning Peter

(1)- Yes, it could very well draw a little power even without a load on it. It depends on how the thing is built & designed.

(2)- A switched or controlled power source would probably be your best bet BUT NOT to the headlight circuit as that is monitored by the computer & might illuminate the dash warning light.

Probably a better place to connect it is to the dedicated GPS plug at the steering neck area (sometimes not easy to find & needs a special BMW connector)--Or connect it to the power feed & low side wires going to the front or rear accessory socket.

(3)-If the GPS goes into computer upload (mass storage mode) that could be as simple as using the incorrect USB cable. You need a USB CHARGING CABLE not a USB DATA cable (the USB charging cable doesn't have the extra wires needed to carry data so the GPS then won't think it is talking to anything)

Excellent! Thanks Guys.

Peter

The part you need is: 3 PIN repair plug #611656 (83300413585)

Wire to GPS unit motorcycle wiring harness and plug into exiting plug located under steering head.

Excellent! Just ordered it. Thanks!

Do you guys recommend wiring a stepped down male mini USB to plug directly into the Garmin Nuvi, or to wire a weatherproof USB receptacle and use the Garmin provided USB cord? Do you know if it is important to have the USB stepped down to 2.1 Amps or 1.0 Amps for the Garmin? In other words, does it harm the Garmin which draws less than 1 Amp, to use a USB receptacle rated at 2.1 Amps? Shouldn't, right?

Do you guys recommend wiring a stepped down male mini USB to plug directly into the Garmin Nuvi, or to wire a weatherproof USB receptacle and use the Garmin provided USB cord? Do you know if it is important to have the USB stepped down to 2.1 Amps or 1.0 Amps for the Garmin? In other words, does it harm the Garmin which draws less than 1 Amp, to use a USB receptacle rated at 2.1 Amps? Shouldn't, right?

Afternoon twistyguy

It doesn't hurt to have a 1 amp, 2 amp or 30 amp supply as long as it outputs the correct voltage --Just BE SURE that you fuse the circuit for wire size so you don't have an electrical fire.

Okay, thanks!

Hey Guys. I just finished hard wiring the Garmin Nuvi to my R1200R. The 3 pin Repair plug worked great to power it to a switched circuit. I soldered it to a 12 volt to 2.1 volt step down with fuse in line that terminated with a weatherproof usb port. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01MSK7ZAV/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 . I attached that to the Nuvi wuth a mini usb cord. I used a Ram mount designed for the Nuvi and added a sun shade.

It was actually quite straight forward. One point of note is that when the Nuvi first powers up, it goes into computer link mode. However, after about 30 seconds, it switches into gps mode. I had read on other forums that this happens when you power the Nuvi like this. You just have to wait a bit. I waterproofed the Nuvi using silcone following this instructional youtube video

Thanks to all for your input--especially re: the Repair plug 3 pin harness to give switched power to the gps.

The website doesn't want to let me attach more than that one picture. Strange. Oh well. Thanks guys for your help.

Garmin uses a non-standard USB cable with, if I remember right, a resister across two of the pins so that it doesn't go into "computer" mode like a standard USB cable.

I used a cigarette lighter outlet from Radio Shack, with the standard Garmin charger, wrapping the excess around the fairing strut on my R1100RT. The power is taken from an unused switched connector under the left mirror pod. The nice thing about using the switched circuit is that when the forks are locked, power to the GPS is turned off, but unlocked, there is power, even if the engine isn't turned on. A small O-ring around the base of the power connector provides decent weather protection. This arrangement has been working well for about 5 years.