Forums >Gears and Wears>Garmin Forerunner 620 Battery Life
I have a question for all of you - maybe someone can help me. I have a Garmin Forerunner 620. Just over 6 years old. I run 6 out of the 7 days a week with it, and usually run 11 of the 12 months. Recently I have noticed the battery is not holding a charge like it used to.
During the cold winter months, my runs are much shorter - usually all less than 30 minutes, so it hasn't been an issue. When I started getting into April and my runs were going in the 45-60 minute range, I would get the low battery warning some 5 miles in and it would just shut off. However, when I plugged it back it and turned it on, it said it had 60% battery left.
I noticed that I had the heart rate monitor accessory turned on, even though I don't use it, and once I turned that off, it seemed to last longer with the charge. All summer I have been able to go for my long runs, which end up being an hour and 40 minutes, and no problems at all.
However, the past two days the Garmin has once again seemed to not hold a charge. Yesterday it was a 7.5 mile run and I got the low battery warning when I was towards the end. When I stopped my watch and saved it, it immediately shut off. When I went to charge it, it said 40% left. Today, I started with 100% charge after keeping it on the cradle overnight, and during the 2nd mile of my run, the low battery warning went on, and right after the 3rd mile split - just over 21 minutes - it shut off. When I got back home and plugged it in, it had 75% of the battery left.
I have the latest firmware update so I don't think that is the issue.
The only thing is that these past couple of days have been colder - yesterday was mid 50's during my run, today was high 40's. I know an old iPhone I had would shut down in the cold weather then when it was plugged in showed more charge than 0%. Is that the same thing with the Garmin? Is the colder air with a real old battery causing it to drain, or misread the amount of charge it has?
I am wondering if it is time for me to get a new Garmin and not deal with this battery issue. It has served me for over 6 years and I love it, but this battery issue could be annoying.
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Garmin says: "Under normal operating conditions, the batteries in Forerunner and Edge devices should have approximately 80% of their original capacity after a few years of frequent charge/discharge cycles."
So extrapolating from that 20% degradation in 2 years to your 6 years is 60% plus/minus. A straight-line degradation isn't likely, but the gist is that the battery fades each year.
My experience is the Forerunners tend to give up the battery ghost at about the same time as the buttons start to wear out and stop working reliably...
Your battery is nearing end-of-life...not much you can do about it. Garmin does offer some trade-in for a replacement options for some models if you want to see if they'll swap you for a refreshed Forerunner 620 for something like $75. Or there are some 3rd party vendors which will replace the battery for about that money.
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Got it - thanks for the info!