tomtom FRUSTRATION!

[graeme0309]

I have the tomtom Rider 2 (Western European edition).

WAS happy with it until today.

For the last couple of weeks I have been simply riding out and about with the tomtom and runiing it off the internal device battery.

However, I tried to wire it tonight to the motorbike battery and it won't charge. What I mean is:

A) you can hard wire the tomtom to the bike via fuse box or whatever. The sophisticated way. And I don't have the expertise.

The benefit being that when the bike is idle and the engine is not running, the tomtom isn't draining the battery;

B) you can also hard wire the tomtom by simply wiring it directly to the battery - by attaching the red to positive and the black to negative. BUT! You have to detach the tomtom from the bike when you pull over - or it will, of course, flatten the battery.

"B" - believe it or not - is good enough. Why, because I live in London and when I stop the bike to get off, the tomtom comes with me anyways after I dismount (i.e. away from thieving eyes).

But when I wired it tonight to the battery - IT WILL NOT CHARGE. Friends and myself tested the battery - it is good. The connections (termination points) are all good.

I even stuck a light bulb indicator tool into the female end of the power cable and the light came on (this is the cable that goes from the battery to the cradle) and it is healthy and fine. BUT still no charging is taking place.

So: motorbike battery and termination points - healthy. Cable - healthy. Female end of the cable - healthy.

Could it be the cradle is faulty?

I am p****** off because I am going on a long trip tomorrow and I need the device. Without it running off the battery I am going to have to pull over and resort to maps (and I am all over the place tomorrow). Total pain.

tomtom themselves provide NO hard wiring guide for their device. Why on earth not? Totally bizarre. I am p*****!!!!!!!!!!!

[winxp-master]

I had exactly the same problem, if you actually press the tomtom rider into the docking station it will make a connection and charge (note: it will not start charging immediately) i had to use a tie wrap to hold it into the docking station so that it would actually charge.

I had 3 different docking station off tomtom and still the problem remained, i even put a note in to the tomtom techs pleading with them to leave me a note saying they had looked and recognised what my fault was coz they just kept sending my tomtom and cradle backl to me saying no fault found and it still had the exact same fault it was so frustrating if i could got my hands on the fools trying to fix it i swear i would have ripped his head off and **** down his neck! (can you tell it bothered me?) lol...

I'm still having problems to this day actually, tomtom riders are the worst sat-nav ever designed in my opinion and tomtom refuse to aknowledge that there is a problem when clearly there is, i'll never ever purchase tomtom products again and have told as many ppl the same ever since.

Craig.

[Ashley M]

I was just about to buy one of these but I think I will look for something else now, anyone got any ideas on what i should buy

[Dee Duble Yuh]

Have one last check that you've connected the wires with correct polarity. If they are the wrong way around the battery won't charge.

(Don't ask me how I know this. )

[davsato]

i thought the rider2 was supposed to be the mutts nuts? it costs enough!
i know the garmin zumo is pretty good, but they seem to have cradle woes themselves (threads on here).
i think for a few more years i'll stick with my good old fashioned (its 18mths old, ancient for electronics!) garmin quest, it gets me where im going and the cradle must be one of the best garmin have ever made, it stays put and has a manual lock, audio and power feed. the guy in the mount dept who designed it mustve retired and left the lunatics in charge of the asylum by the sound of it. its all touch screen and bluetooth these days, which is great but its more to go wrong. eg can you polish scratches out of a touch screen?

[StumpyFingers]

I use a Tomtom rider 2 and have no problems it has just had a software update.
When I was comming up the A22 and quite clearly the road went straight on it took me off the main road and onto some B roads great fun on the bike.
I know people who swear by certain phones but I just don't get on with them so everyone has different experiences.

[sean]

took my tomtom rider 2 off the bike today after the 2nd cradle failed in only a months use. posting it back as "not fit for purpose". I have ordered a garmin zumo 550. tomtom's reputation is really starting to suffer as i advise everyone against using them as well.