Welcome to the Austin Seven Friends web site and forum

As announced earlier, this forum with it's respective web address will go offline within the next days!
Please follow the link to our new forum

http://www.austinsevenfriends.co.uk/forum

and make sure, you readjust your link button to the new address!

Welcome Austin seven Friends
This Forum is Locked
Author
Comment
Austin UK Adventures

When we were in our early twenties my wife and I lived and worked in the UK and after we married, on her advice I bought a Royal Enfield 350 bullet motorcycle.
To this I added a sidecar frame and box, and we proceeded on a camping tour of the UK and Ireland. We met wonderful people and enjoyed many things and always promised ourselves we'd come back and do it again, only this time in more comfort as our advanced years demand. So I purchased Primrose, and as I have said on another post "we are living the dream". So great to put faces to the names of forum members and catch up with folk we have not seen for 46 years'.
I was warned of the traffic density but when you select bicycle routes on the GPS, the countryside opens out spaciously, interspersed with charming little villages, just made for a little 7.
GPS, don't mention za GPS!! The !@#$ is in the habit of powering off just before a roundabout, I'm holding the USB socket, steering, changing gears, indicator switch and trying to remember the last screen image I saw, with 20 yards to go.
We are running the GPS on 12 volts with a step up 6 to 12 transformer, and a USB motorcycle socket. Its a TomTom and the drums are certainly beating here. Can anyone provide clues as to what is happening? cheers Russell

Location: back in the UK in Primrose, going to guildtown !

Re: Austin UK Adventures

For my TomTom I've fitted a cigar lighter socket on the seat support on the nearside, close to the battery of my 1929 fabric saloon. It's connected to the battery with an in-line fuse.
I use the standard TomTom cigar lighter adapter. Running on 6 volts it's fine and has been for about 6000 miles. The TomTom battery is 3.5 Volts and the 6 volt supply seems perfectly adequate.
It also charges Samsung Galaxy phones via a USB adapter with no problems. The phones are 3.5V too, USB standard is 5V, but I haven't measured it's output. My TomTom is ancient and can't do USB.

Re: Austin UK Adventures

I charge from 6v as well Russell.

I also have a 12v converter for my phone and camera etc.

Re: Austin UK Adventures

Tom toms can need 1.2 amps, if your motorcycle usb adaptor only does 1A then the Tomtom internal battery will be slowly discharging and eventually going flat usually at the most inconvenient time. As others have said a genuine Tomtom adaptor or a high power 2.1A cigarette lighter to usb adaptor can be cajoled into working at 6v.

We had the same problem last year travelling through Europe in a vintage car but usually it was my fault as I had knocked the lead out, but you are right, inevitably when entering a roundabout.

Location: Rokeby, Victoria, Australia

Re: Austin UK Adventures

No cajoling needed for me. It just worked and continues to work.

Re: Austin UK Adventures

I'm with Jim: everything I need works of a cigarette lighter socket at 6v. I don't smoke so the non-working lighter is irrelevant.

Location: Just north of Cambridge

Re: Austin UK Adventures

My TomTom would only need need 1.2A if plugged in with a very flat battery. It very soon charges up while in use. Once the initial charge is complete I imagine it will only draw milliamps while in use. On mine the battery lasts for several hours use on a full charge without being plugged in. The ARM 9 processor is very efficient, screen illumination is LED.

Re: Austin UK Adventures

thanks for your input guys, I will purchase a cigarette socket and hot wire it to the 6 volt battery. I have with me a tom tom cigarette lighter plug with usb female connection. I do believe that the motorcycle usb port is of sufficient amperage, but the operation seems dodgy. I'll let you know how it goes.
Seems a big day today we are now in the North York Moors National Park having travelled about 100 miles, I'm in the local pub and I believe they are speaking English but there's nowt I understand! cheers Russell

Location: back in the UK in Primrose, going to guildtown !

Re: Austin UK Adventures

We start to head north again on Friday Russell - see you there!

R