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Garmin 610 not charging [solved] (Read 34 times)

stadjak


Interval Junkie --Nobby

    I love my Garmin 610.  Been using it for about 3years.  6k miles.  About 900 hrs of use or so.

     

    Every Summer I start running into a problem where the watch needs some encouragement to start charging once connected to its cradle.  I have put books on it, and balanced old harddrives on top (yeah, on the magnet -- they have no data anyway, but they're heavy).  I usually clean the contacts with a Q-tip.  Sometimes I get the dreaded "negative charging" problem, but a quick cleaning and usually that's avoided.

     

    But as the Summer ends it becomes more difficult to work around. Last week I basically had to told a 15lb of pressure clip on the near end to keep it in charging mode.  Until finally, even that didn't work.

     

    Things I tried that probably help, but didn't solve my problem:

    - dry Q-Tip cleaning of contact on both watch and cradle

    - Eraser head (pencil) rubbing on contacts (the cradle contacts are very difficult to do this way)

    - Isopropel alcohol and the Q-tip approach

     

    But yesterday I noticed that really the problem wasn't corroded contacts, it was all the salt from my sweat that built up besides the contacts.  See, the cradle contacts are counter-sunk in some plastic that helps position them against the watch.  Except on the watch-side those divots to accommodate the plastic were coated with built up salt.

     

    So, I took an x-acto and softly rubbed away at it between q-tip swabs.

     

    Result: all fixed.  No charging problems.

     

    Just thought I'd pass that along to other 610 lovers.

    2021 Goals: 50mpw 'cause there's nothing else to do

      Thanks for tip!  I run into the same problem with my 610.  I'll give it a go and see if works.