Garmin Nuvi 550 rebooting while on BMW power

[Sullyman]

I have powered my Garmin Nuvi 550 using the USB adaptor cord, soldering connections from the Garmin cigarette lighter plug to connect to the BMW powerlet, then plugging in to powerlet on side of bike. Lately, the Nuvi has taken to rebooting spontaneously while plugged in to bike power using USB cord. It won't stay on and won't stay off while I am riding, reboots about every minute. I have had to resort to using the GPS only on battery power. I had the same problem with Nuvi model 750 and switched to the 550 after recommendation from Garmin. The same unit does not experience this problem when plugged in using same type of converter power cord in my car. There is something about plugging it into the BMW powerlet that drives it crazy. Has anyone else experienced this? Any ideas?

Mike

2003 R1150RT

[Dave39]

My Nuvi 255w does the same thing when connected to power with a Powerlet cord. It will work fine for a while and then starts botting up over and over. It runs fine on the battery. I have noted that it happens more frequently on bumpy roads and the unit starts vibrating, again, only when plugged in. It appears to be a vibration sensitive plug either at the bike's power receptical or on the other end at mini USB connection into the unit. I've cleaned the contacts as best I can, but it continues. It also works fine in my pickup when plugged in. I suspect the Nuvis are just not designed to run reliably with the vibration of a motorcycle.

[johnlt]

You need to make sure the original cigarette lighter plug does not have some voltage change circuit inside the adapter itself. Many do and if that is the case, you are powering it with the wrong voltage.

[Dave39]

I have tried both a Powerlet cable and the cable that came with the Nuvi with a direct adapter (no other circuitry) to plug into the bikes 12v outlet. I see reboots with both. On Google, I see that folks are having such problems with several Nuvi models, even in cars. The only solution I heard expressed is a reset implying it's an internal GPS problem, but if that is the case, why would it work fine on the battery?

[elkroeger]

I had this same problem last week. Exact same syptoms you describe. We're using the regular garmin cig lighter plug, so I doubt your powerlet unit is the culprit... The wierd thing is that me and the missus each have a nuvi 500, and they both started doing this at the same time. Either it's a funny coincidence, or maybe a software glitch. We've both got about 10K miles of use on the bike. I also use mine quite a bit in the car, etc. whereas hers doesn't get that extra use. My next step, I guess, is update the software, try another cord, and see if I can re-create the problem in the car. After that, I'm stumped.