Garmin 276C chartplotter - what battery life do you get?

[Plum]

I have a Garmin GPS MAP276C which is a great piece of kit but I have a problem with the rechargeable battery life.
Garmin state that the battery should last between 5 to 15 hours depending on backlight setting.

However, even after 4 complete use and recharge cycles of the lithium-ion battery, I am only getting 4.5 to just under 9 hours depending on the backlight setting. A long way short of the 15 hours claimed. Does anyone get 15 hours from a fully charged battery?

 

[Scarron]

Difficult to say coz on the boat or the bike I have hard wired 12v supplies in. But in the car I get about 5 hrs [with the backlight on max].

 

[paulrack]

I used mine recently in a coastal race and had it on in the cockpit for about 9 hours and the battery was still far from flat. I guess it depends on the settings you are using. I had it on a low backlight and would punch a key when I needed to see it for a period

 

[Pye_End]

Not sure what I get as if am using it over a long period then I plug it in somewhere.

I'm sure I read somewhere that Li Ion batteries need to be kept cold (eg fridge temperature) and not fully charged to ensure no loss of capacity through the years. Might be worth doing a search on this to get the numbers from it. May even have got the link from the forum.

 

[jimi]

Yeah .. mine eats batteries

 

[Plum]

Thanks to all that have replied. I heve e-mailed Garmin and will post their reply here.