Weird Garmin Bug - REMOVING miles (Read 908 times)

ahhh...finally got a response from Garmin and I quote "I can not say I have seen this before" yay.

thanks....although that bites about the sweat...these things are theoretically ok to use swimming, although I have never dared.

From what I heard it usually costs about $70 to have an x01 refurbished and you can get a 205 at costco for $140 so I think if it pisses me off, I'll upgrade. I hardly ever use the HRM anyway.

I have experienced both problems addressed in this thread: Removing Miles, and moisture intrusion. Removing miles is an easy problem to fix: 1) Make sure you have the most up to date unit software in your device. The latest available are: Forerunner 205/305 GPS Chipset Ver. 3.00 as of Nov 12, 2007 Forerunner 205 Ver. 2.80 as of Nov 12, 2007 You need to update both. 2) Make sure you have an adequate number of satellites (>4) synched up, and that your unit reports an accuracy of less than 30 feet before beginning your activity. I put the accuracy as one of the fields on the display so I don't have to scroll through the menu's to find it. You need 4 satellites for triangulation in a 3-Dimensional space. (3 are needed in a 2-d space) In fact, the Garmin won't report your position unless it is locked into 4 satellites. But 4 is the minimum, if you lose one briefly because of a tree or such, the unit will lose triangulation and the software will try to correct and sometimes it will REMOVE distance covered. 3) Sometimes you may have issues locking into satellites. You can set it on the ground and wait for 10 minutes, and it still wont lock in. An easy fix: turn the unit off, and press and hold the down arrow at the same time as you power back on. This will reset the satellite information in the chipset. Water Intrusion: Garmin claims their device is IPx7. This means it is protected against water immersion for 30 minutes at a depth of 1 meter. The question is: are they claiming this or do they have test data to support it? My first Garmin 205 died after a year. At first, the speaker slowly became muted. Then it just died on me one day. The LCD window was fogged up. Somehow moisture got inside. My warranty ran out so I had to pay $70 to get a new one. I dont have any suggestion for preventing this. I would just say to doubt that it actually is IPx7 and treat it like it isnt waterproof. I even took my first one kayaking once. Not again.

Sweat should not get into the Forerunner x05 series (i.e., 205, 305), unless the seal has been broken from a fall.

Actually, I read a report of a guy who replaced his own x05 battery and said the "seal" in them was pathetic. I'll try to find the article. I've ruined 2 Forerunner 205s in the last 10 months, both due to sweat. Can't say I'm terribly impressed with their design...

I have seen the same webpage and I briefly tried to find it again to post it here. Basically, you can crack the top of the watch face off with a screwdriver. Thats how weak the glue is. If you or someone else finds that webpage, post it!

Yeah, that's the same webpage! Crazy day at work here, but I'll see if I can find it later. For what it's worth, here's my Garmin history. Bought my 205 last April. Garmin #1: Sweated profusely all over it at the Pikes Peak Marathon in August. It locked up on me, then died, then would never power up again. Factory reset it, upgraded firmware, no luck. Garmin replaced it. Garmin #2: Sweated all over it on a 50 mile run in the Grand Canyon and the contacts on the back discharged a current and burned a hole in my wrist. Garmin kinda freaked out with that one and quickly replaced it again. Now I cover the contacts on the back with electrical tape. It's a pain, but the best solution I can come up with until Polar makes a unit that has mapping abilities... I'm not at all happy w/ the Forerunners. - Chris

Removing miles is an easy problem to fix: 1) Make sure you have the most up to date unit software in your device. The latest available are: Forerunner 205/305 GPS Chipset Ver. 3.00 as of Nov 12, 2007 Forerunner 205 Ver. 2.80 as of Nov 12, 2007 You need to update both.

Ryno (or anyone), how do you check for the chipset version and what do you do if you don't have the right chipset? (I just got my Garmin 305 today). thanks.