Garmin Zumo 550 will not power up in the cradle

I am having similar issues, my unit stopped working about an hour after crossing the Mexican border earlier this year. So much for all my carefully planned routing ... After I got back, I found out about the reset thing, did that and it worked again intermittently. I had to reset it every couple of days. I then left it in a drawer for three months and now it seems to be working again, though all my confidence in the unit has gone.

May be time for another brand ...

I'm now locked in deadly battle with my 450. Same thing. Would not power up in the cradle. Battery only. I stuck it in my truck cradle and it worked fine. So I just got a new cradle. But, guess what? Still doesn't work. Luckily, there's a 30 day money back garantee from GPSCity. So, I just ordered a new cable. If that's not the problem, I think I'll just pull my hair out.

Hi Bushwaker which pins did you get a reading on through your mount. I have tried a meter across opposite pins in the two rows and only got a small reading on 3 pairs, the max volts being 4.3.

I bought the Zumo and mount etc from a chap on eBay last year and it seems to work OK and just had the mount fitted to my new Triumph Tiger 800 but I hadn't used it before so took it out for a test run yesterday. It was working OK but noticed after about an hour that the Low Battery message was on so just touched the screen to get ride of the message and the Zumo continued working until I got home (30mins)

When I got home I put the Zumo on mains charger which is not a Garmin one but my old HTC phone charger but has charged the Zumo OK the last ten or so charges so can't see it being the problem, it started to charge OK and I switched it off after about 5 hours.

I spoke to a friend who has a Zumo about the warning being displayed and he said he had seen it himself when he hadn't charged it for a while and it was on the bike mount. He also said that the mount doesn't charge the Zumo but just supplies power for it to work while mounted. My Zumo hadn't been charged for a couple of months so was probably low when I started out.
After speaking to Garmin UK about how to test whether the mount was charging they said it should automatically switch on when it has remote power which it does when being charged on connected to the PC. I didn't notice this yesterday as I switched it on before starting the bike.
So this morning I tried it on the bike but nothing happened, I made up a lead with a Hella plug so that I could try it in the power socket through the mini USB charging plug on the Zumo, still nothing so I took it in doors to try it on mains and PC but still nothing, completely dead! I have tried everything I can find on the web about booting up a dead Zumo, battery removal, re-setting using the on/+ buttons, power & finger on bottom right of screen and connecting to PC but to no avail.

It was working OK yesterday and nothing now since charging it last night. HELP PLEASE SOMEONE any ideas. I still want to check the mount power supply though as the bike goes in for its 1st service next week and I want them to check their connections if the mount isn't receiving power.
Thanks, Alan

The Zumo motorcycles cradle, when working properly, will charge the internal battery of the GPS. The external contacts on the cradle are deceiving when trying to measure continuity and voltage. There is an internal circuit boad in the cradle that handles voltage and switching between the GPS and the cradle. You will not see +12 volts DC or ground on the exteranal cradle pins that you would normally expect to see.

Most, but not all Zumo 550 charging problems I've seen are directly related to the cradle. If your Zumo will take a charge through the the mini-jack on the bottom of the GPS, the problem is most likely a bad cradle. If your Zumo will not charge at all using the external charger, then the problem is in the GPS.

Besides the pins on the cradle, has anyone had issues with the contacts on the bottom of the Zumo wearing through and not allowing a complete circuit? Several of my contacts on the bottom of the Zumo appear as if the cradle pins have been erroding them which may lead to poor or intermitent connetion... Can they be fixed without going the re-furb route?

Ok--I've got a major problem with my 550 too. Used it the other day in the car cradle--no issues. Next time I went to use it--dead. Tried the cradle-nothing; tried the USB plugin--nothing; plugged it into a wall source--nothing; removed/reinstalled the battery--nothing. The thing is deader than a doornail. There were no indications of the battery life going down, and I've never had any problems with the battery or the unit itself. What's going on?

On the battery charging front I've noticed that in both of my cradles with constant power if I power off the 550 with its button it says it's charging the battery. I think that's evidence it charges on both mounts.

No help on your issue though. Just because you could check to see if one or both are getting power to the mount.

Just about to leave on a 500 mile day and my zumo wouldnt power up - pulled the battery for a minute and its good. Thank god, need my XM!

I received a refurb 550 and now have no problem with the unit powering up in any of my motorcycle mounts, some of which caused power up problems with the old unit.

The contacts of my old unit were definately erroded enough to cause intermittent conection.

I am on my third Zumo 550. They suck! The first time it falled, I was in Mexico. When I got home I called Garmin and they told me it was 2 months out of warranty and that cost me $150 for a refurbished unit. I lost all me routes. Started over again with unit #2 and 7 months later it falled. Now on my third unit, it shuts down, locks up and is generally worthless as a GPS. Usually I can plug in to my computer or the wall charger and get things going again. Today, nothing works. No Nothing. I'm sick of having to pay $150 for a used refurbished units that has falled some one else. Is there a better GPS out there? Oh yes, I have also had to replace the motorcycle cradle. I just thought it cost a lot with the original purchase. It seems you just keep paying Garmin as long as you own a zumo.
Lost in Texas

They do suck! Mine is now a very expensive door stop. I had the same issue as you and many others. Garmin wanted £250.00 GBP to swap it for a recon. Their customer service is shite too. Never ever again. I'm back to paper maps again now and I carry an Iphone with MotionX if I really need GPS.

It's the worst piece of tech, from the crappiest company I have ever bought.

Mine corroded to the point of no return, Canadian Zumo repair depot wants $375 flat rate for any repair, shipping both ways not included :eek1

So I took it apart but it looks next to impossible to replace the contacts at home. My wife shelled out a lot of money for this turd that only lasted 3 years of partial use.

My fix is to stay away from expensive Garmins.

That doesn't make sense. Garmin's 'Out of Warranty' web page says the flat rate repair cost for a 550 or 660 for that matter is $150 and you usually only pay shipping one way, in my experience with Raytech, the Canada repair depot.

http://www8.garmin.com/support/outofwarranty.html

Great link!!! takes me to the American repair depot but thats fine with me.

Mine was replaced with a refurb for $150 and all issues have been solved. I experienced exception customer service with expedited air return shipping to get the unit back to me for a ride I had scheduled. The upgraded air shipping was free from Garmin.

I find it's a good idea to phone Garmin and talk to a rep; they will usually tell you to go to RayTech but sometimes they'll speed the process from their end with an authorization you can give to RayTech.

i found this post to here on google because I am having the same trouble with my zumo 500 ,tried the reboot ,pulled the battery ,I am going to try the usb charge overnight , the charger cradle get one positive light on my little test light ,but that's it, my unit still works fine , I charged it overnight on my cig lighter charger ,but because the light on the screen stayed on all night it actually flattened my bike battery ,and you cant charge it on usb while riding as it wont fit in the cradle and it wont let you use it anyways while charging on usb

So, I'm on my second Garmin 550 with the exact same problems as everyone else is having. It will power up in the vehicle cradle, but not in the motorcycle cradle.

I sent the original back to Garmin and they charged me $150 for a refurb unit. It worked for about a week and now the same problem. I even spent $50 to get a new motorcycle cradle thinking that maybe the cradle is bad.

So, here's what I think. There must be a power supply issue somewhere on the in inside of all these failing 550's. The common denominator in all the failures written here is that the unit will power on and charge in everything EXCEPT the motorcycle cradles. So, either the motorcycle cradles themselves are all defective, or the firmware inside the units is. Bottom line...don't buy a Garmin 550, they're nothing but trouble.

I've had very good service with mine. Only real problem I've ever had is the battery chose to die just as I was trying to find a motel in rush hour traffic in a city I didn't know. That was fun.

Mini crewed up too. 5 days before I leave for my trip.

Tried the rest witht the buttons and alos tried the mini USB but no luck.

Gonna tryin removing the battery anbd hopefuly that will work.


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