Garmin Zumo XT Mount power connection - Resolved

[Snoking1127]

So the internet is full of issues with the power connection between the mount and the head unit. Mine had been working well, except once it would not power on. My riding buddy's new unit would not get power from the Trike. Both are powered via the GPS 2 cable behind the fuel tank on the right side.

Research on the internet exposed the issue as the bottom end of the power cable end not being supported well, with only a very small screw at the top.

Solution is to loosen the four screws that hold the latch part to the RAM ball part and slide a piece of closed cell foam (as pictured below) between the cable end and the RAM ball part; and then tighten the four screws. The piece I used is around 3/32 thick x 1" x 3/8".

My friend's unit powers right up now when the key is turned on.

I just took a look at mine and could see that the low end of the power cable end was not sticking out of the mount as much as the top end where the screw is. Note the bottom pin is ground and the middle pin is +5V. So I cut another piece of the foam and installed it on mine. I surmise that my one-time issue was that it lost the ground connection and ran the internal battery down and turned off. Playing around with it, I think it made contact again and that is why it came back on.