Forums >Gears and Wears>Forerunner 305 Death Process
Holes in bottom allow sweat and water into the unit. Causing the battery contacts to slowly erode away. That's why holding the top half together works for awhile.
Picture is a little out of focus, but the far right contact is gone. (8 gold colored/brass contacts are smooth on the side with the battery, and almost spring like on the other half of the watch)
First couple of hints earlier in the week. On three separate runs, it would just turn off. It would turn back on, but shut off a couple more times before the end of the run. Thought it wasn't getting a good enough charge, because it wouldn't connect to the cradle for recharging. Cleaned the contact points on the bottom and that seemed to get it to charge. Today, it shut off again, three different times during the run. Googled and found this thread on the Garmin website. Tried the soft/hard resets. That didn't work. Downloaded and reinstalled the firmware. That didn't work. It would charge completely, but shut off completely after removing from the cradle.
Decided to crack open the case and see if the contacts for the battery were corroded. The case separated and opened rather easily. Sure, enough one end of the watch has several connectors, one was completely corroded and the other was gone. Corrosion must have eaten the metal completely. I was able to get the unit to turn back on by prying the remaining good contact up to make contact where the other contact had been. Don't know if I'll attempt to solder a connection or not. (edit to add) Tried to solder but what was left of the contact broke off after soldering.
Time to buy a new Garmin. Can't complain to much. I've had this watch for 3 years, and 5 months. I've run right around 9,000 miles with it. Pretty cheap, if you look at it that way.
Get off my porch
Ahhhhh..... Bach.
Boy, you had your radar up for that one...
I've got a fever...
It's a good idea to put some tape over the sound holes on the 205/305. Swear gets in through there -- that's why the sound is the first thing to go.
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.
rectumdamnnearkilledem
There's the weird thing...sound is still fully intact in both of mine...BUT I do always wear mine over my sleeve or I wear a wristband under it. Mostly for comfort. I don't like that bulky thing directly against my wrist-bones.
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
Swear gets in through there
That explains why my garmin records the time between F-bombs! Thanks, Jeff!
When it’s all said and done, will you have said more than you’ve done?
Ha, I totally missed his typo--that is excellent! This probably means that I don't even notice swears...oops.
Master of the Side Eye
This is fabulous.
Now I know what to blame every time my Garmin gets cranky.
TRUST THE PROCESS
Shit.
MTA: Looks like swear got through again.
My 205 must be an outlier. I think I got it summer of 2006, and I've had no problems, like none. I don't have the mileage a lot of you have on yours, but around 5 - 6,000.
Now I've jinxed myself right?
"During a marathon, I run about two-thirds of the time. That's plenty." - Margaret Davis, 85 Ed Whitlock regarding his 2:54:48 marathon at age 73, "That was a good day. It was never a struggle."
That's probably about the # of running miles I had on my first one before it started to fall apart...but there were also close to 5000 miles on the bike, too.
My start/stop button has been sticking the last couple of months too...always when I stop it. I don't ever notice, but then when I try to power up again it won't come on...until I bang the start/stop button on the ground a few times to un-stick it, then it turns on! Probably not an ideal solution though.
12 Squared
The death process of a 205 (mine, at least) goes as follows:
1. loses sound
2. can't receive satellites
3. call Garmin
4. send it back
In fairness, Garmin has been good to me; always replacing the GPS with a warranty replacement, then replacing the warranty replacement with another warranty replacement. So far, the last one is holding strong... we'll see.
Menace to Sobriety
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.
I have a 201 as well, probably 7-8 years old, been through a couple of straps and one time if completely locked up. I thought it was a goner then, but I just let the battery completely run dead, then recharged it, and its been fine ever since. I record info manually and don't connect it to the PC, just charge it about once a week.
Janie, today I quit my job. And then I told my boss to go f*** himself, and then I blackmailed him for almost sixty thousand dollars. Pass the asparagus.
My 2 305s got me safely across the state with all data intact. I used my newer one, first, then after our lunch stop I switched to the old one. It worked like a champ, even in the rain.
My 305 recently died. Turns on in the charger, but doesn't work off the charger. Battery must be toast -- I've tried all manners of resets.
I do, however, have an old 305 that the dog ate (yes, really). The display is cracked thanks to it being a chew toy, but it is otherwise still completely functional, including sound. I am going to attempt some kind of transplant and see if I can get a working unit out of it.