Wahoo Elemnt Bolt v2 slow charging? Cause and solution!

[ColinJ]

I bought an Elemnt Bolt v2 from @Milzy and have generally been very pleased with it. One thing that seemed very odd though was how long it was taking to charge. It was taking 8-10 hours to put 40-50% into its small battery using a charger which could charge the much larger battery in my phone 10 times faster. Something was clearly wrong...

I discovered the cause of the problem last night, and the solution to it. I was then able to charge by 80% in under 2 hours. I am not sure exactly how long that took because I forgot to keep an eye on it!

The device has a USB-C socket so the obvious thing to do is to plug a USB-C to USB-C cable into a USB-C charger. That apparently can be the source of problems because the Bolt's charging circuitry is not fully USB-C compliant. Some USB-C cables and/or chargers will not work at all and some will not work properly. The answer is to charge from a USB-A charging socket using a USB-A to USB-C cable.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

Solution - buy a Garmin

 

[geocycle]

Thanks for that Colin, I’ve always used a standard USB to USB-C cable with my Bolt 2 and it’s always been super quick. Its useful to know that different cable formats can make a big difference.

 

[Milzy]

Solution - buy a Garmin

I did. A 1040 and the battery lasts for many hours. Can charge every few weeks.

 

[ColinJ]

I did. A 1040 and the battery lasts for many hours. Can charge every few weeks.

The fully charged Bolt lasts longer than any one ride that I am likely to do in the future, and probably 2+weeks of my normal riding, though I do usually recharge it once it is below 50% after a ride.

 

[PaulSB]

I bought an Elemnt Bolt v2 from @Milzy and have generally been very pleased with it. One thing that seemed very odd though was how long it was taking to charge. It was taking 8-10 hours to put 40-50% into its small battery using a charger which could charge the much larger battery in my phone 10 times faster. Something was clearly wrong...

I discovered the cause of the problem last night, and the solution to it. I was then able to charge by 80% in under 2 hours. I am not sure exactly how long that took because I forgot to keep an eye on it!

The device has a USB-C socket so the obvious thing to do is to plug a USB-C to USB-C cable into a USB-C charger. That apparently can be the source of problems because the Bolt's charging circuitry is not fully USB-C compliant. Some USB-C cables and/or chargers will not work at all and some will not work properly. The answer is to charge from a USB-A charging socket using a USB-A to USB-C cable.

This has been standard, and still, is for most devices for some time. From what I've seen it's only phones that benefit from USB-C cables and chargers combined. With phones the difference between that and USB-A is significant.

 

[ColinJ]

This has been standard, and still, is for most devices for some time. From what I've seen it's only phones that benefit from USB-C cables and chargers combined. With phones the difference between that and USB-A is significant.

I just read articles on Wikipedia about USB-C standards. They are much more complicated than I thought they would be!

Anyway... Now I know how to charge the device quickly. I pinched the lead from my wireless phone charger to confirm that a USB-A to USB-C was needed. I don't want to have to do that repeatedly so I will buy another lead tomorrow.

 

[Webbo2]

I have a Bolt v2 and having had to buy USB c plug thing from Tescos so I could charge the matching heart rate monitor. I always charge the bolt through that. Seems to do it very quickly. Although I suspect it won’t anymore once I post this.😱

 

[Domus]

My Roam v1 would not charge last year on the Fridays tour. Bought a new cable and all was well again.