Quote:
Originally Posted by inmate-n00b
My garmin power cable stopped working. I've been commuting in the rain a bunch and the bike sits outside in the office parking lot. Maybe that has something to do with it.....???
The actually unit works fine. I checked the fuse, it's ok. I think something happened to the transformer, or that other cylindrical thingy.
I AM SO PISSED OFF AT GARMIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!   
Maybe I'll just sell that thing and buy another Garmin.......you see how that works??? |
On my previous bike I hardwired the GPS power. Inside the "black box" were the components to change 12VDC to USB voltage - 5.5VDC IIRC. The power unit - surprisingly - was not built for vibration. Who'd-a-thunk it?
One of the components on the PC board just vibrated loose - completely fell off. Because I had been so nice and neat I had buried the connection deep under lots of tupperware and behind several bolts. The second time I just wired from the fuze block to a plain cigarette lighter socked on the bars. Water proof? Nope. But the fuze was accessible and easy to replace if/when necessary.
The power adapters that plug into the normal auto power socket - cigarette lighter - are no more water proof than the socket. But unless you're going to routinely drop your bike while crossing a deep stream it is possible to make it highly rain resistant by shielding it and/or burying behind something - an existing panel or a fabricated one.
The round thingy is nothing more than an RFI choke. Essentially a magnet that helps reduce any radiated radio frequency energy thus reducing potential RF interference. The wires usually pass straight through, although I have seen some where the wire is wound about a toroidal magnet.
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