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Forerunner 305 Death Process (Read 1979 times)

duckman


The Irreverent Reverend

    For any of you who have had a Forerunner 305 die, I need to ask: just how did it die?

     

    My 305, just a few months old, is not consistently connecting to the charging cradle. I have to balance the sucker a certain way so that it stays connected long enough to charge and to sync. I did get it to charge a bit last evening, and uploaded a workout to the watch too.

     

    But then this morning the sucker wouldn't turn on, and I couldn't get it to charge or to even be detected by my computer. It was completely unresponsive, even to the reset buttons. I ran with my $20 Timex (that felt strange), but then later was able to get my 305 to charge again. I'm guessing that my watch got drained of batteries ... which seems strange, though, since I went to bed last light with my 305 turned off and charging. I actually haven't turned it on yet since all this happened.

     

    I'm wondering if I'm seeing early signs of 305 death, or if perhaps I have a bad cradle, or just some bad luck.

     

    Thanks, all!

    Husband. Father of three. Lutheran pastor. National Guardsman. Runner. Political junkie. Baseball fan.

      The case on the 305 can start to separate - allowing the battery contacts to intermittently come away from the battery. There are a couple sites on self-repair if feel like DIY and googling. Doesn't look difficult. But if it's only a few months old, I'd call Garmin support and let them send you a new one for free.

       

      I would try both a soft and hard reset before calling them, because those two procedures are known to fix weird stuff.

      When it’s all said and done, will you have said more than you’ve done?

        Are you charging through your computer or with the wall charger? If you leave it hooked up to the computer the battery can drain if the computer goes to sleep. That has happened to me. When I first got my 305 I had troubles charging. Turns out I had a bad USB cable. Garmin sent me another one.

          For any of you who have had a Forerunner 305 die, I need to ask: just how did it die?

           

          The road was angry that day, my friend...

           

          These Garmin tales of woe are depressing. I've had my 205 for about four months now and I'm waiting for the worst. It's like a death vigil.

          xor


            My 310 is 2 (maybe almost 3?  Hmmm...) years old and it is currently in its death spiral as well.

             

            BOO.

             


            Feeling the growl again

              I wouldn't know, my dinosaur 201 is still limping along.  It must be part cat because I have written it off several times only to have it magically resurrect on one of my final efforts to resuscitate it.

              "If you want to be a bad a$s, then do what a bad a$s does.  There's your pep talk for today.  Go Run." -- Slo_Hand

               

              I am spaniel - Crusher of Treadmills

               

                On my first Garmin, one contact (of the four) would corrode and turn black.  I just had to polish it up occasionally with a pencil eraser, and it would go back to charging happily until it wouldn't.  Lather, rinse, repeat.

                 

                Several years later, it succumbed to "I'll die as soon as you take me off the cradle" syndrome.

                E.J.
                Greater Lowell Road Runners
                Cry havoc and let slip the dawgs of war!

                May the road rise to meet you, may the wind be always at your back, may the sun shine warm upon your SPF30, may the rains fall soft upon your sweat-wicking hat, and until you hit the finish line may The Flying Spaghetti Monster hold you in the hollow of His Noodly Appendage.


                an amazing likeness


                  These Garmin tales of woe are depressing. I've had my 205 for about four months now and I'm waiting for the worst. It's like a death vigil.

                   

                  I wouldn't spend a lot of time fretting over it.  They are pretty darn rugged. I've used a Forerunner nearly every day from May 2006 to today -- rain, snow, sleet, heat, sweat...and only had one fail, and that was from an impact event which wasn't the device's doing.  Another I had to stop using after I wore through the flexible rubber covers on the power and enter buttons...but Garmin replaced it for $79 despite it being a wear-created problem.

                   

                  So 2 failures in 5 years and about 2,100 uses.  One from wearing out the buttons, the other from nothing to do with the Garmin.

                  Acceptable at a dance, invaluable in a shipwreck.

                    I rarely use my 205 (mostly at races and long runs) but it has been good to me so far (3 + years),recently like Bonkin mentions the case has separated leaving me with a dead watch in a race.  Some superglue and scotch tape kind of fixed it, but now I am getting a new 110 as a belated birthday gift to myself.

                      [rant]

                      Bought a 305 in mid-JUL 2009.  It would never use an externally-created course or one saved from a previous workout; as soon as I started the Course workout, it powered down.  (But the Virtual Partner did work.)  Garmin finally swapped it for a new one in early JUL 2010.  The replacement lost its sound in MAY 2011 (only nine months of use because of injury).  And the band is cracking/splitting between the holes.

                       

                      I use it for running and, since MAY 2011, cycling.  Put it on, do the activity, take it off, dry it off, download/charge, and store it in a dry, not-too-hot place (tucked into the shoes I'll use on the next run, usually).  I never wash it, use chemicals on it, or even let it sit in the sun (or gym bag in my car in the sun).

                       

                      I've thought about the 310XT, but with the track record on these 305s, I'm not willing to spend twice the money for something this unreliable.

                      [/rant]

                      "I want you to pray as if everything depends on it, but I want you to prepare yourself as if everything depends on you."

                      -- Dick LeBeau

                        Have you tried cleaning the contacts on the back of the watch?  Little bit of toothpaste followed by a damp rag usually works well.

                        Whatever my lot, thou hast taught me to say, It is well, it is well with my soul.

                        northernman


                        Fight The Future

                          If it's only a few months old, it's not worth messing with it. Garmin support is pretty good, and they should just fix it for free or send a replacement. My 305 died after 4+ years of almost perfect service, and I tried to fix it, but finally decided to go for the 610. So far, it is working great, and is much easier for my old eyes to see.

                            1st 305: 5/2006 - 10/2007.  RIP - stopped holding a charge.  Cry

                             

                            2nd 305: 10/2007 - ????.  Still alive and kicking.  Approve

                            How To Run a Marathon: Step 1 - start running. There is no Step 2.

                            duckman


                            The Irreverent Reverend

                              Thanks, all, for the suggestions.

                              I'll clean the contacts on the watch, which hopefully will make connecting/charging/syncing my watch easier.

                               

                              I think my battery drain issue was that I left it plugged into an outlet overnight which is controlled by a wall switch and which was powered off ... not unlike the issue Sweeter had with powering the watch connected to a computer that later went into sleep mode.

                              Husband. Father of three. Lutheran pastor. National Guardsman. Runner. Political junkie. Baseball fan.

                              zoom-zoom


                              rectumdamnnearkilledem

                                I'll tell you one thing I am finding with Forerunner 305 #2 vs. #1...#1 was a LOT more reliable from day 1.  I'm wondering if it's a quality control issue.  I have had more weirdness with my new "infant" 305 than I did with my previous one until maybe the last 6 months of that unit's life.  I got 3.5 years out of my first one (and it still works, but I replaced it when it became flaky enough for me to not trust it much of the time--and the case was starting to separate).  I'm suspicious that this newer one won't have the same life expectancy.  Just last week I pulled it off the cradle and had to do a soft reset--that was something that I don't recall doing with my first one until I'd had it for a couple of years.

                                Getting the wind knocked out of you is the only way to

                                remind your lungs how much they like the taste of air.    

                                     ~ Sarah Kay

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