Rechargeabale battery pack for Garmin 196

Trevor Lyons · Post by **Trevor Lyons** » Tue Aug 18, 2009 10:22 am

Regrettably, Garmin do not supply a rechargeable battery pack for the 196GPS, even though the pricier models have them.
It would be a good idea to have a battery pack that trickle charges when the unit is running on panel power.
Has anyone on this forum put together a gismo that would allow rechargeable batteries in a 196 to be topped-up whilst in use?

Nigel Ramsay · Post by **Nigel Ramsay** » Tue Aug 18, 2009 11:41 am

Trevor,
Not quite, but I have a battery box in my Taylorcraft which powers the radio and GPS etc. I use a GPSmap96, and the car socket power lead (cut off and connected to the supply).

The box has output fuse, a socket for plugging in a charger and also a small 10watt solar panel (£10 off Ebay) which is permanently mounted against the plexi roof panel. There's a 7amp hr sealed cell battery in the box. The whole lot seems to work fine. The panel charges at roughly the output rate (I calculated a loss of less than 250mA in use, but this is redressed while you are on the ground). I haven't had to recharge the battery this Summer.

ColinC · Post by **ColinC** » Fri Aug 21, 2009 8:31 am

Is there any experience of using NiMh batteries instead of Lead Acid? 12v model aircraft flight packs are available with about twice the energy density of lead acid and capacities of up to 10Ah. They tend to maintain their voltage higher as they discharge too. A 1lb reduction on battery weight is useful.

tnowak · Post by **tnowak** » Mon Aug 24, 2009 1:24 pm

I decided to replace my Yuasa 7 AH gel cell lead acid battery this spring for a lower capacity, but much lighter weight, NIMH (4.5AH). So far performance has been excellent with me getting at least 12 flying hrs use between recharges. Battery only powers my Becker radio and GPS. I also saved around 4lb in weight!
Tony Nowak

Nigel Ramsay · Post by **Nigel Ramsay** » Mon Aug 24, 2009 4:43 pm

Tony, where from and how much? Also, my Yuasa 7aH is charging happily directly from a small solar panel; would a NimH battery charge happily in that way? (Constant current requirement...)

tnowak · Post by **tnowak** » Tue Aug 25, 2009 8:17 am

Nigel,

I think NIMH batteries require different charging regimes to provide optimum life and performance. I also purchased a compact charger specifically for NIMH batteries.
I got battery and charger from USA and both together cost around GBP 80 excluding shipping. Will send you url later as it is at home.
Tony