RunningAHEAD - Topic: Why wont my garmin charge?

cewickbe

posted: 1/11/2008 at 5:41 PM

ANd why is there absolutely NO assistance on the garmin website?!?! Forgive me if this has been posted alreayd, but I am on my way out the door and I have a 7-miler to do tomorrow so I need this fixed ASAp!! I plugged the thing in overnight the other day and noticed it had never charged, tried it again and actually paid attention to it - it never says that its charging or anything like that. Its still pretty new (its a 205) and it would only be the 3rd time i have had to charge it. It worked before, why not now??? HELP!!!

jEfFgObLuE

I've got a fever...

posted: 1/11/2008 at 5:54 PM
modified: 1/11/2008 at 6:14 PM

I can't answer your first question, other than to suggest try cleaning the metal contacts on the back of your watch and on the charger. And as for your second question ("ANd why is there absolutely NO assistance on the garmin website?!?!), try the forums at MotionBased.com pertaining to your device. You may get some answers there. As for your 7-miler tomorrow, Eric has included some excellent mapping software here at RunningAhead, so you could use that to plan out your course. Good Luck! MTA: Try this (soft reset):

Q. How can I reset an Edge or Forerunner 205/305 unit that has locked up? A. If your device has locked up during use, you can reset your unit by pressing the "Mode"(reset/lap) and "Power" buttons at the same time.

Also found this:(hard reset)

Yesterday however the unit DIED - couldn't switch it on and it wouldn't charge. One of the contacts had gone black so I cleaned with an eraser and managed to get some juice back in it from the charger. Once fully charged I tried to switch on again but NO JOY. So I did what Big Kev suggested a couple of pages ago which was "Press MODE and RESET together, release just the RESET button and continue to hold the MODE. Now press the POWER-ON still holding the Mode button. This boots up the Forerunner into an 'erase all?' menu." I erased all and I have a fully functioning unit again. The unit has reverted to the default settings and I have lost all my History but it is working again!!!!!!

On your deathbed, you won't wish that you'd spent more time at the office. But you will wish that you'd spent more time running. Because if you had, you wouldn't be on your deathbed.

dgb2n

Dave

posted: 1/11/2008 at 6:37 PM

When you put it in the cradle and the watch is powered off, it should have a readout showing that it is charging. If you don't see it, you don't have positive contact. In general, if you can get data off of it, its charging. To things to look for: - If the leftmost contact is black, it may not be charging right. You need to clean the contacts. I'm pretty careful to dry the sweat off mine after every run. - The other thing is to make sure that you disconnect it after its fully charged. When my computer goes into sleep mode, I've had issues where the Garmin was powered on and then discharged overnight. Lots of good stories from folks who have called Garmin tech support if it comes to that. They stand behind their products.

I ran a mile and I liked it, liked it, liked it.

dgb2n@yahoo.com

cewickbe

posted: 1/11/2008 at 10:58 PM

My contacts are clean, and I was talking about it not charging when I plug the thing into the wall. Right after I posted the first time, i took the plug off and just stuck it in the computer and it charged just fine. I will try checking the plug again (and yes, I did try it in many different sockets). I had never used the computer before because I thought you had to have the software installed first. I was just too lazy to do this, but I did it today and actually poked around a little in it. Its pretty cool. I will look into the matter a little better tomorrow after the run.

swgross

12 Squared

posted: 1/14/2008 at 5:25 PM

Quote from dgb2n on 1/11/2008 at 6:37 PM:

- If the leftmost contact is black, it may not be charging right. You need to clean the contacts.

I have had problems with the leftmost contact turning black as well. A pencil eraser cleans it nicely, but I wonder, why don't the others turn black too? I'm certain I don't sweat in just that one particular spot. It's never affected charging, only uploading.

If you don't know where you're going, chances are you will end up somewhere else. - Yogi Berra

Machine_

Anyone have pizza?

posted: 3/1/2008 at 8:03 PM

Quote from jEfFgObLuE on 1/11/2008 at 5:54 PM:

I can't answer your first question, other than to suggest try cleaning the metal contacts on the back of your watch and on the charger. And as for your second question ("ANd why is there absolutely NO assistance on the garmin website?!?!), try the forums at MotionBased.com pertaining to your device. You may get some answers there. As for your 7-miler tomorrow, Eric has included some excellent mapping software here at RunningAhead, so you could use that to plan out your course. Good Luck! MTA: Try this (soft reset): Also found this:(hard reset)

You guys absolutely rock. I just had my watch suffer a similar incident. I came here, and found your answer about the mode/reset/power, and I did it, and it works. And now my watch is charging again. I have a race in about 12 hours, so THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!!!!! Big grin

Alex
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Scpete

posted: 3/5/2008 at 1:10 PM

Glad to see the tip on computer charging-discharging. I was puzzled recently when I got to a race and turned on my Garmin and it showed battery dead. I had hooked it up to computer and saw battery charging signal, but the next morning it was dead. Probably due to sleep mode.

frowzy

posted: 3/22/2008 at 2:55 PM

Quote from jEfFgObLuE on 1/11/2008 at 5:54 PM:

I can't answer your first question, other than to suggest try cleaning the metal contacts on the back of your watch and on the charger. And as for your second question ("ANd why is there absolutely NO assistance on the garmin website?!?!), try the forums at MotionBased.com pertaining to your device. You may get some answers there. As for your 7-miler tomorrow, Eric has included some excellent mapping software here at RunningAhead, so you could use that to plan out your course. Good Luck! MTA: Try this (soft reset): Also found this:(hard reset)

By the way, my Garmin 305 died today, and I tried the hard reset you suggested, and it came back to life. I just said "No", I don't want to reset all my data, and it was happy, but more important, it was alive again. Strange - why did it die?

lasdinaub

posted: 5/25/2008 at 10:11 PM
modified: 5/25/2008 at 10:11 PM

Another happy RA Garmin user that saved her Garmin with te Hard Reset described below. Thanks!!!

Next up: A 50k in ? Done: California-Oregon-Arizona-Nevada (x2)-Wisconsin-Wyoming-Utah-Michigan-Colorado

rachel72

posted: 1/29/2010 at 1:41 AM

Hi! I just tried exactly what was suggested on this website: (have the Garmin Forerunner 205--no heart rate monitor)

"Press MODE and RESET together, release just the RESET button and continue to hold the MODE. Now press the POWER-ON still holding the Mode button.
This boots up the Forerunner into an 'erase all?' menu."

Miraculously it worked! I still have my history and am sooooo happy my watch is (hopefully )ready for running tomorrow!!! My warranty is expired and was so worried I wouldn't have my watch for Boston!

Happy Running!

Why wont my garmin charge? (Read 6946 times)