Shimano D-Fly Affecting Battery Life

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allenpg
Posts: 136
Joined: Tue May 20, 2008 5:34 am

by allenpg

Has anyone noticed that the D-Fly affects the life of your internal battery and that of your Garmin? I did a 2 hour ride last night and my Garmin was down to 85%, when it would normally be in the low-90s. My internal battery was down to 90%, when I would expect it to be 95% (based on when I last charged it). I would expect an additional transmission device to use more juice. Just wondering what others have experienced. Thanks!

-Pete

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MNX1024
Posts: 299
Joined: Thu Apr 28, 2011 1:21 am

by MNX1024

Yeah, it does use more juice on both the Garmin and Di2.

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pdlpsher1
Posts: 4016
Joined: Thu Jul 19, 2012 6:09 pm
Location: CO

by pdlpsher1

That's not good. I'd expect a higher power drain but not that much! I'll hold off on the purchase of one for now.

albertop07
Posts: 59
Joined: Thu Jun 25, 2015 10:09 pm

by albertop07

allenpg wrote:Has anyone noticed that the D-Fly affects the life of your internal battery and that of your Garmin? I did a 2 hour ride last night and my Garmin was down to 85%, when it would normally be in the low-90s. My internal battery was down to 90%, when I would expect it to be 95% (based on when I last charged it). I would expect an additional transmission device to use more juice. Just wondering what others have experienced. Thanks!

-Pete


Had the same problem, specially on Di2.

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AlexFig76
Posts: 8
Joined: Sun Jun 14, 2015 5:49 pm
Location: The 305

by AlexFig76

Same for me. It's a good drain on the power for the unit and the di2.


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goodboyr
Posts: 1487
Joined: Wed Jan 10, 2007 10:56 pm
Location: Canada

by goodboyr

This is definitely a first world problem. I still get over a month of riding before I feel the need to charge my di2 battery, and it still is at 25%..........
The garmin battery drain on my edge 1000 is about 10% per hour, so still plenty of time....

superdx
Posts: 524
Joined: Sun Jun 29, 2014 1:27 pm

by superdx

It affects the Garmin a lot more than Di2. Been over 3 months since I last charged the Di2 battery.

Garmin power drain is still mostly the screen though. Man I wish Garmin would adopt OLED technology. Black pixels not requiring power is a huge win. I'd guess improvements of at least 3 additional hours on the Edge 1000. The current LCDs drain power hard.

mnmasotto
Posts: 581
Joined: Mon Jun 06, 2011 7:16 pm
Location: Irvine, CA

by mnmasotto

I have one on all three of my bicycles. I have not noticed a difference. Maybe I should look a little closer.

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pdlpsher1
Posts: 4016
Joined: Thu Jul 19, 2012 6:09 pm
Location: CO

by pdlpsher1

The D-Fly shouldn't use more power than say a ANT+ speed/cadence sensor. A battery drain on the Garmin is a mystery since the Garmin doesn't transmit any data to the D-Fly.

apeescape56
Posts: 14
Joined: Wed Aug 20, 2014 5:08 am

by apeescape56

When the D-Fly unit was install was all the firmware updated? If not, mismatching firmware can fail to shut off certain components causing parasitic draw. Make sure the newest version of the E-tube software is installed on the computer doing the update.

mnmasotto
Posts: 581
Joined: Mon Jun 06, 2011 7:16 pm
Location: Irvine, CA

by mnmasotto

apeescape56 wrote:When the D-Fly unit was install was all the firmware updated? If not, mismatching firmware can fail to shut off certain components causing parasitic draw. Make sure the newest version of the E-tube software is installed on the computer doing the update.


Maybe that explains why I have not noticed any changes in battery life with my garmin 510 or Di2.

eaglejackson
Posts: 259
Joined: Wed Aug 27, 2014 5:26 am
Location: PNW

by eaglejackson

I have updated software for both my Garmin 510 and Shimano Di2, and have noticed a significant difference in battery life since installing the D-Fly earlier this year.

I haven't done a rigorous test. Anecdotally, last year I would charge the Di2 (internal battery) every 2-3 months. On a recent trip to Mallorca and Puglia, I noticed that I would lose up to 10% of the Di2 each day. That surprised me and I was glad that I brought the Di2 charger along with me. Lately I've noticed battery drain on the Di2 to be a bit less than that, say 5% per day. I wonder what kind of activity draws more battery than others.

I haven't noticed much change on the Garmin, and it's much less of a hassle to recharge the Garmin.

mr4fox
Posts: 276
Joined: Sat May 15, 2010 2:01 pm

by mr4fox

before i installed the d-fly my di2 battery would last about 3 times as long. I got a shock while out on a ride shortly after the install. i had 30%, this dropped shortly to 20 or 25% but over the next 4 hours it dropped to 5% and i lost the use of my front derailleur. Guess i was lucky i was at the top of a climb on Gran Canaria so it was pretty much down hill all the way home. Admittedly i had been constantly playing with the hidden buttons under the hoods on my DA shifters to change screes. It was a new toy so i couldn't resist. I figure i charge the di2 roughly every 40-50hours of ride time now..i think.

BarneyH
Posts: 1
Joined: Thu Sep 15, 2016 7:24 am

by BarneyH

I have 6 month old bike with DI2 and a Garmin Edge 1000, and I use the D-Fly transmitter to connect them.

When I park the bike for a few days, I notice that the DI2 battery level goes down, on one occasion it drained completely. On the other hand, riding the bike doesn't show any unexpected battery drain.

I normally keep the Garmin close to the bike, and I haven't been in the habit of powering down the GPS by pressing and holding the side button.

Last week I thought that this might be causing the battery drain, so I powered the unit down. The bike has been parked for a week and a half now, and the battery still shows 100%.

Hopefully I have found the answer to this problem.

Shrike
Posts: 2019
Joined: Fri Jun 03, 2016 5:08 pm

by Shrike

Got a bike last month with Ultegra Di2 installed and put the D-Fly on it myself a couple of weeks ago. Difference in battery life is staggering. Burns 10 to 15% in a 5 hour ride on the Edge 1000 now. All latest firmware too.

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