My Garmin GPS says to charge it for 3 hours before using it. Now the main way a Garmin charges, as I understand it, is by plugging it into the car's cigarette lighter, so that means you are using it, right? So I didn't want to do that. I went to Best Buy and bought their cheapest adapter so I could plug the mini-USB-to-USB power cord that came in the box into my house's electrical socket. Normally that cord is used to plug the Garmin into a computer so you can update maps or whatever.

So my question is, will that Gamin power cord plus a simple wall adapter like this actually CHARGE the Garmin? Or does the packaging on the adapter cube that looks like this have to say it charges?



Because the directions said charge it for 3 hours, and after 3 hours the symbol on the Garmin for battery strength still shows an empty battery with a yellow lightening bolt running through it, meaning no charge.

I know the house socket is live because the Garmin comes on.

Thoughts?

 

P.S. Here is what the manual says.

Charging the Device NOTE: This Class III product shall be powered by an LPS power supply. You can charge the battery in the device using any of these methods. • Connect the device to vehicle power. • Connect the device to an optional power adapter accessory, such as a wall power adapter. You can purchase an approved Garmin AC-DC adapter suitable for home or office use from a Garmin dealer or www.garmin.com. The device may charge slowly when connected to a third-party adapter.

 

Hallelujah! I never found any directions to help me, but I did see a youtube video for a different garmin product that said to hold down the battery icon for 5 seconds and that would take you to a page with battery information. So, I decided What the heck and I tried it on my device. Yes! It took me to a page that said my device was fully charged. Great. So I tried to get out and the GPS started displaying different box patterns, like quilting patterns. NNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOO. So I turned it off and turned it back on. Yay! It went back to the normal screen and the battery finally was GREEN. Obsessive compulsive determination pays off.