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GPS Nuvi To TomTom circuit

nose2wind

Tuned and Synch'ed
Joined
Aug 14, 2013
Messages
94
Location
Frisco, TX
I have a Garmin Nuvi 295w. I want to splice in, connect to the supplied Tom Tom wire (hardwired from factory on motorcycle) that is outputting 5V with 2 wires 1blue, 1 green. The Nuvi mini usb has 1red,1black, 1 white. I have cut off the wire from a 12v nuvi 12v outlet (by passing the resistors since the Guzzi TT is only at 5v Safe for the Nuvi) and tried using the red and black connected to the green, blue from Tom Tom. not using the white. No go I checked with a v meter coming out of the 12v power outlet and the white wire seems to be outputting 5v +- The black nothing and the red? Any suggestions? The Nuvi might have something wired into the 3 wires that tells it to charge while navigating rather than just charge when hooked up to a PC usb. Any Suggestions? I'm not a wiring guru...
 
The voltage from the bike will be 12V. There is no reduction of voltage on the GPS connect on the bike. It is a straight 12V (Blue ground, Green power) (at least on my Stelvio)

My Stelvio has the same Tom Tom GPS connector. When I hooked up my Nuvi, I used a 12 power cable with a built in module to reduce the power to the voltage the GPS needs (3 or 5VDC??). I just hooked up the black and red to the blue and green wires.

If you want to use the 12V plug that came with the GPS you will need to keep the inline resistor to reduce the voltage to the needed voltage. Not sure what the white wire is on your plug but the black and red should be the ground and power.
 
Find out the power requirement of your Garmin. If it is less than 12 volts, you will need a voltage divider setup (this is done with resistors, but they are not "in line"). Probably the easiest thing would be to connect a power socket to the bikes GPS connector, then plug in the factory Garmin power cord without modification.
 
The cords to my Zumo has an extra fuse in
so do not disconnect when the GPS can burn
But I've always connected my Zumo to 12 volts without no problem and will connect it to my Stelvio tom tom touch to winter,
So you can connect another in the cigarette outlet.
Will return when it's ready.
/geguzzi
 
john zibell said:
Find out the power requirement of your Garmin. If it is less than 12 volts, you will need a voltage divider setup (this is done with resistors, but they are not "in line"). Probably the easiest thing would be to connect a power socket to the bikes GPS connector, then plug in the factory Garmin power cord without modification.
 
nose2wind said:
I have a Garmin Nuvi 295w. I want to splice in, connect to the supplied Tom Tom wire (hardwired from factory on motorcycle) that is outputting 5V with 2 wires 1blue, 1 green. The Nuvi mini usb has 1red,1black, 1 white. I have cut off the wire from a 12v nuvi 12v outlet (by passing the resistors since the Guzzi TT is only at 5v Safe for the Nuvi) and tried using the red and black connected to the green, blue from Tom Tom. not using the white. No go I checked with a v meter coming out of the 12v power outlet and the white wire seems to be outputting 5v +- The black nothing and the red? Any suggestions? The Nuvi might have something wired into the 3 wires that tells it to charge while navigating rather than just charge when hooked up to a PC usb. Any Suggestions? I'm not a wiring guru...

If you are seeing 5 volts, then you are measuring the output of a custom cable that has a 5 volt regulator in it that is Tom Tom specific.
Farther up the cable at the motorcycle harness connection is 12 volts. You need to wire a Nuvi cable, which may also convert that to 5 volts, to power the Nuvi. This can't be done with simple resistors.
If the Nuvi charges from a PC USB, then you may be golden. The USB cable should have a black, red, white and green. Black is ground, red is plus 5, and the white and green are USB data D+ & D-. On the bike, I would short D+ & D- together (green and white) and tape them off. Then tie the red to the Tom Tom +5 output. And of course the black to the TT ground out. If the TT regulator handles the Nuvi, and I'll bet it will, then you are good.

If you apply 12 volts to a 5 volt input, or get it backwards, you may let the smoke out.
And don't forget the proper fuse.

One other thing to keep in mind. If the Nuvi charges off of a PC USB, it is likely a slow charge, because the PC ports don't have much power available. With the display on full and the processor routing when outdoors, the Nuvi may need a LOT more power than the USB port of a PC. There may be a special cable or something custom in the normal power cable to power the Nuvi to tell it to bump up the power use. You may get a dead battery if you don't use the standard Nuvi 12 volt cable coming from 12 volts. I don't know.
 
Just get one of these.........

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Garmin-Nuvi-235 ... 274wt_1399

Verify that you have 12Vdc coming from the green wire (Blue is your ground). If you are coming directly out of the stock plug (Blue/Green) you should be reading nothing by 12Vdc with the key on. Snip the plug off. Wire black to blue, Green to red and you are golden. Keep it simple, may just cost you a bit. This is what I have for my Nuvi 550 and never an issue.

The Garmins require 3 to 5Vdc to charge and operate. There is no signal to tell it to charge. This wire has the built in module to reduce the voltage and has an internal fuse.
 
I mounted a Nuvi on my '12 Stelvio. The Guzzi power cord terminated in a TomTom plug which I cut off. In its place I installed a waterproof connector that was, in turn, connected to the Garmin power cord. That Garmin cord steps the power down from 12V to 5V (or whatever the GPS requires). All worked just fine until I got caught in a frog strangler rain storm. The Nuvi simply is not made to withstand a serious rain storm. A week later I was finally able to dry the unit enough to still use it but the screen never looked as sharp and was quick to cloud over. The Nuvi was replaced by a Zumo, which is built to withstand a cloudburst.

Peter Y.
 
pyoungbl said:
I mounted a Nuvi on my '12 Stelvio. The Guzzi power cord terminated in a TomTom plug which I cut off. In its place I installed a waterproof connector that was, in turn, connected to the Garmin power cord. That Garmin cord steps the power down from 12V to 5V (or whatever the GPS requires). All worked just fine until I got caught in a frog strangler rain storm. The Nuvi simply is not made to withstand a serious rain storm. A week later I was finally able to dry the unit enough to still use it but the screen never looked as sharp and was quick to cloud over. The Nuvi was replaced by a Zumo, which is built to withstand a cloudburst.

Peter Y.

The Nuvi 500/550 is the only model in that line that is waterproof. I have had mine for two years now and have ridden through some very heavy rainstorms with it. No problems.

Bruce
 
BravoBravo said:
pyoungbl said:
I mounted a Nuvi on my '12 Stelvio. The Guzzi power cord terminated in a TomTom plug which I cut off. In its place I installed a waterproof connector that was, in turn, connected to the Garmin power cord. That Garmin cord steps the power down from 12V to 5V (or whatever the GPS requires). All worked just fine until I got caught in a frog strangler rain storm. The Nuvi simply is not made to withstand a serious rain storm. A week later I was finally able to dry the unit enough to still use it but the screen never looked as sharp and was quick to cloud over. The Nuvi was replaced by a Zumo, which is built to withstand a cloudburst.

Peter Y.

The Nuvi 500/550 is the only model in that line that is waterproof. I have had mine for two years now and have ridden through some very heavy rainstorms with it. No problems.

Bruce

I have the 550 and works great in the rain unless you try to unplug and plug it back in...my bad. Still worked fine but kept trying to pickup XM radio....error came up saying service not available....wierd since XM is not even an option on the 550. Put some di-electric grease on the plug and never had a problem again........picked it up at Radioworld for $175.
 
Problem solved.

I went back and checked the blue / green wire with a digital volt meter and indicated 12v as you all said.

I took (pried) apart the 12v garmin charger unit, part that plugs into the socket. I cut off the pointed end and soldered 2 wires at the points that connected to the contacts that normally would make contact inside the outlet. In this way the resistor and other items involved with this model Nuvi work as per manuf. It works fine now! Obviously this model Nuvi is different from others and needs this additional white wire to work properly and less than 12v too. 5v as stated. I routed the wire back near the battery and connect up through my tank bag which has the GPS mounted to it. I prefer this setup as it allows Better position of the GPS my preference and when I travel I can disconnect the tank bag and the GPS comes with the bag. I also have a powered mount which allows me to reach up and easily disconnect and stash into the tank bag for secure and in case of heavy rain.

Thanks for all the suggestions
 

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