Zumo User Forums

Hi My new XT2 Garmin down powers and reboots while riding, making it not very reliable on trips and have to switch over to mobile phone GPS, I've test to make sure 12DC connection on the bracket is good, I do find the battery on the GPS runs low as well.

Turning off like that is usually due to a low battery.

With a new XT2 it could be due to not having been charged sufficiently. It needs a good charger giving it a good boost for 24 hours from new. That should keep the XT2 running for 5 hours at full screen brightness, no matter what the bike power is doing. If you have a booster power pack, that gets a good charge into the XT2 very quickly.

Alternatively the power from your bike battery is not getting through to the cradle.

Hold down the battery icon to get a display of battery information. It will show you how it is connected, what the present charge is and what the charging current is - amongst a whole host of other things. Try it with the charger attached and again when it is on the bike.

Contact Garmin support if it is not right. Try to Insist on a new replacement, not a refurbished one, because it may be the unit or it may be the cradle. Take a note of the information on the about XT2 screen before you send it back. They will send you a return label to print. It is a next day service, and a next day return after they receive it.

does it reboot or shutdown with message power disconnected unit will shut down ?


reboot is unit or software problem
Shutdown message ... can be power (what is not the same as voltage) problem.

siebe008 wrote: Fri Nov 21, 2025 11:14 am reboot is unit or software problem
Shutdown message ... can be power (what is not the same as voltage) problem.

Yes it could be. But it is not a definite.

When the battery is very low, the Zumo will turn itself off. But it has enough power to think that it can start up again, so it tries to do that and gets far enough to get to the start screen and then repeats. I've seen both my XT1 and XT2 do this when I've been working at my desk. I think it was my first XT1 that did this from new. I expected my usual charger to give it enough power to charge overnight - but it only had enough to perform this shut down, start up trick. I put it in the bike cradle and took it for a long ride. It has never done it since. My 590 and 595 do it every time - simply because they do not charge very well - even from new.

I do not have a charger that will provide enough oomph to charge the XT2. What I do have is a mains transformer which provides 4 Amps of switchable voltage. I have a spare cradle for my XT1 which I power from the transformer - just as if it is one the bike. It is mounted on a block of wood and sits permanently on my desk ready to chareg my XT1 or XT2.

The other option that works very well is a Battery Power Pack which can be used to recharge phone batteries. Armed with a USB-C to USB-C cable it has enough oomph to charge the XT2 quite quickly.

a oke.

but then if it powers up and you take it out of mount you should be able to see that battery is low .

If it is low then power problem

My XT2 will power off, with no messages and reboot itself every now and then when I'm using it in my car. Battery is ok and charging before and after it shuts itself down. So, I'd say for mine, it's software related.

Using the "Developer Info" in the diagnoistics page, accessed by holding the speed display down for 10 seconds in the trip data, and then selecting the "Shutdown causes" I see a lot of "RTL Trap - " ones which seems to correlate with when I saw the problem. And there's lots of them

Hi,

You are 100% correct in saying battery power not hold up reason for the shut down, and thanks for the information which I have done and cant really see a difference between USB charging or the mount on Bike except for mount ID Volts is Zero on the bike mount and 3.2V on USB.

I do not have any usb charger that can charge my XT2 effectively.
Have you taken it for a long ride mounted in the bike cradle ?

Note that the Zumo and screen need to be on in order to charge when in the motorcycle mount. It will not charge if it is off.

With the USB cable attached it will not charge very well if the XT2 screen is on - it uses more power than most chargers provide.

I’m not saying that is the cause of your issue. I’m saying that it is a possibility that ought to be eliminated, AND I haven’t seen you say that you have taken it out for a good run in the motorcycle mount. The battery power pack is a good alternative as it has USB C connectors which can handle the power requirements to charge the XT2.

I don’t much care for the readouts on the Zumo screens - the icon and the battery diagnostics. My 590 and 595 show similar information to my XT1 and XT2. Yet when I unplug the chargers the battery goes from full to empty in less than a minute. It did the same when I replaced the battery with new from Garmin.

Oop North John wrote: Fri Nov 21, 2025 5:39 pm My XT2 will power off, with no messages and reboot itself every now and then when I'm using it in my car. Battery is ok and charging before and after it shuts itself down. So, I'd say for mine, it's software related.

Using the "Developer Info" in the diagnoistics page, accessed by holding the speed display down for 10 seconds in the trip data, and then selecting the "Shutdown causes" I see a lot of "RTL Trap - " ones which seems to correlate with when I saw the problem. And there's lots of them

I had a similar problem related to some GPX files. I imagine you have the Tread disconnected and the XT2's Bluetooth disabled; I'd start there. Then delete the entire GPX history and perform a master reset. I managed to fix it by filtering some of the GPX files I had.

With the latest software version of the XT2 (6.10) I have experienced similar reboot loops, and they have been resolved by disconnecting the Bluetooth on the XT2. It might not be any of these things, but you've got nothing to lose by trying. Cheers,

Hi,

The Garmin Zumo XT2 must be one of the worst GPS around, from new its never worked shut down halfway through my trip and reboots but not able to stay on.
I've had a look at the battery diagnostics and can see its draws around 1053mAmp which starts to over heat (NTC fault) reason for it shutting down, so the battery is faulty from new.
I decided to open the GPS and have a look at the battery, wow good luck trying to replace the battery which is moulded to the screen, for the price we pay this GPS is a waste of money.
The XT2 may work for some of you but in a couple of years when you need to replace the battery, good luck.