Mine works fine. I haven't had any issues with it since Feb. However, I swim with it all the time too. Maybe I just got lucky.

That's what I am saying , swimming with it could be the fix!

I don't know how that would fix the issue unless it had something to do with resetting the barometric altimeter. I for one get some pretty wierd readings from point to point when I do an out and back. Typically I will get a elevation deviation of 75 feet or more and the entire distance is messes up in elevation along the track.

FWIW gps elevation error should only be around 5 meters, and with these 910's being WAAS enabled, it should be less. I think the biggest culpriate is that elevation is gauged by pressure as a primary, and not by the GPS. Pressure is not stable though out the day, and while I am not 100% sure what the pressure is during a 2 hour workout, I am inclined to think that it is unstable enough to see big differences.

I have had other Garmin units with barometric altimeters and perhaps because of their size they would hold their alt. Also, if there was a high or low pressure system coming (weather event) the unit had the ability to switch off the altimeter ang go by GPS.

It would be nice if Garmin would include a feature such as this in a future update.

I also know that you are supposed to be able to set a waypoint and manually correct the elevation and use that as a benchmark that the 910 will see at close proximity and adjust the elevation, but that requires knowing the correct elevation in the first place, and this is something that a lot of users may not have access to (known elevation).

I swim with it 3x / week and I still get ridiculous elevations numbers on the bike. Run is fine though. I don't think swimming had anything to do with yours fixing itself.

X2 swim with mine all the time and no go! Elevation is useless😖

Mine "healed thyself" as well. Now every once in a while it will be screwed up when I download to Garmin Connect. If I "enable" elevation corrections then it shows it correctly. Not sure why GC always defaults to "disabled" elevation corrections on everything when you download it.

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Proud Member of Chris McDonald's 2018 Big Sexy Race Team "That which doesn't kill me, will only make me stronger"
Blog-Twitter-Instagram-Race Reports - 2018 Races: IM Florida 70.3, IM Raleigh 70.3, IM 70.3 World Championships - South Africa, IM North Carolina 70.3

Swimming didn't fix mine but hopefully Garmin did because my fixed or replaced watch is on its way back to me right now.

well i swim 12000-15000 a week and my second watch id going back

There have been many reports of elevation problems with the Garmin 910XT, and pleadings for a software fix to address.

Unfortunately, this cannot be resolved with a software update. You must send your watch in to Garmin for servicing.

A random number of 910XTs have faulty barometers in them. There doesn’t appear to be a pattern of serial numbers affected.


To determine if your barometer is faulty. go in to the diagnostics mode:

1. Power off the 910XT

2. While first pressing and holding down the Enter button, press and hold the Power button.

3. Continue to hold both the Enter key and Power button until the diagnostic screen appears.

4. Release both buttons.


Now that you are in the diagnostic screen, press the Mode button, exactly 7 times. The 910XT should beep each time the Mode button is pressed.

If the third line called “Baro Alt” shows 65,000 ft or 20.00 m and the fourth line under “Baro Pressure” shows 0, then your unit is faulty.

Power off the 910XT to exit out of diagnostics mode.

Call Garmin at 1-800-800-1020 with this information provided and they will send you a new watch.

If you are out of the warranty period, as I was, they will send you a factory refurbished unit, even if the warranty period has expired.

If you want to keep you existing unit until the new one arrives, Garmin will charge you $199 on your credit card as a deposit and when refund you when they received the old unit back.

If you stumble on a support rep who will not help you, simply call back until you get one who is more sympathetic and customer focused.

Umm thanks..............................you see the date of post you replied to? I did not wait a yeato figure this out ;o) They replaced 2, am on third

My elevation seemed to work fine for about a year. However, as of a month ago, I now train in space. I swim with the watch 3x a week in the pool, plus 1 OWS.

I looked online for solutions to the problem for quite awhile without success until I figured it out.

I thought I would document the solution if others stumbled on this post.

Thanks

the took mine back no problem

Thanks for this
Mine was working fine but the last 3 months it said basically that I am in space when i workout Did your procedure
and have baro alt of 65.62 and baro pressure of 31.40

Let me know if you have any fix for that

Thanks again

Yes, your barometer is broken. There is no software fix which will undo the damage. It must be sent back to Garmin.

they sent me a new one in 2 days after doing a few of the tests with one of there people. was no problem somewhat annoying that it had to be done but has been good ever since.

earlier this year my original 910xt (watch #1) stopped recording elevation correctly (as stated above). I got a warranty return and got a replacement (watch #2), which unfortunately had a very sticky button and was promptly returned. Watch #3 worked great for a month then elevations stopped working again. I swim daily, bike and run frequently...

I emailed Garmin and was about to send it back, before I came up with the idea to WASH MY 910XT. I put it in a warm water soapy bowl, and using a clean/unused toothbrush brushed the two barometer vent holes. And... it worked (recorded elevation changes) again! I recommend cleaning, it might be sweat, chlorine, river scum, sunscreen.. but that will be my first approach next time this happens.

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Proud member of FISHTWITCH: beating you to T1 for over a decade, and working on beating you to T2...

This is perhaps a silly question, but when I get into diagnostics mode I can't get it to stay there. I have about three seconds before it switches back to the regular mode, barely giving me enough time to flick through a few of the diagnostics screens but not enough to conclude if my altimeter is broken. Am I missing something trivial? Thanks in advance

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When I channel my hate to productive, I don't find it hard to impress

That Totally FIXED mine!!!! Thanks for the tip, mine been broken for months and Garmin support did not want to replace saying barometer temp was fine... MANY THANKS!

What error were you getting? Mine is the 20km altitude error described above. Pain in the ass when you are uploading to Training Peaks as the elevation raises your TSS unless you remember to Altitude Correct on the map screen.

Also ...... 2 vent holes? I can only see one just round the back of the mode button, but I have a quick release kit on mine which may be covering it.

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https://www.pbandjcoaching.com
https://www.thisbigroadtrip.com

You mean I may not need to replace my 910XT for the fifth time due to elevation issues? What a bummer, I was looking forward to it.

One hole is on a side the other one is by the the right bottom screw, I cleaned the side hole first and didnt work, then i clean the hole near the screw that fixed it.

I used warm water, and hand soap, I used a Pin to clean inside the holes.

My problem was it was 65k Feet (20km) all the time, when i finished cleaning, i went to ---- (no elevation), i took it outside and elevation started to show again :)

Sweet, will give that a go. Thanks.

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https://www.pbandjcoaching.com
https://www.thisbigroadtrip.com

Good news. Thanks for sharing!

Glad to hear this fix worked (at least twice...) jxj, do you swim in salt water? use sunscreen a bunch? sweat profusely? How long do they last before the elevation gives up? Just wondering whether some environmental thing is causing the issue.

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________________________________________________
Proud member of FISHTWITCH: beating you to T1 for over a decade, and working on beating you to T2...

I swam both open water / pool but i could tell that when i was cleaning the holes with the pin, i could feel some sort of sand inside... maybe was the combination of both chlorine / salt / sand... I dont use suncreen. I started to have elevation issues about 6 months of training (mostly daily)

I don't swim in salt water but do swim in a poorly-sanitized pool. My masters group swims from 8:30-10PM, which is after all the swim teams, drop-ins, and aqua-classes.

I do sweat a lot, so that is probably a contributing factor.

The past 910XTs that I had lasted for about 2 months before the elevation goes into the death spiral. I do wash my watch after every use, but I did not know about the barometer vents.

You fekin' beauty!

Make that three times. 20km is now back down to 556m, where it should be. Warm soapy water and a tooth brush did the trick.

Garmin had actually offered to replace mine with a refurb but I would rather keep hold of this one as it's been flawless apart from those holes getting blocked.

Thanks guys.

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https://www.pbandjcoaching.com
https://www.thisbigroadtrip.com

Worked for me too. Cleaned out the vents with soapy water and a push pin. Great fix - was really not looking forward to switching it out!

Washed mine and it didn't work. Read the thread again and said screw it, i will try it again using liquid soap and a toothbrush. Didn't work. Then did it again and got a safety pin......the hole on the back of it had grit in it. The side one was fine. Elevation just dropped from 65,000 to 988 feet. SWEET! Of course my rides and runs aren't quite as impressive now.

I dont know what this means though....on the diagnostic screen. The first 5 lines on the screen related to the barometer are blank. Perhaps that will fill in over time...I just turned the watch on. I noticed the fix because I set elevation as one of the data fields.

WOW, AMAZING, UNREAL!!!! I did the wash and scrub with my toothbrush, and holy-cow....the damn thing works again. Just as an FYI, here's what I did: soaked it in hot Dial Body Wash soapy water for about 10 minutes, then got out my SonicCare toothbrush and used it to clean out the two port holes on the underside. I brushed it while in and out of the soapy water bowl several times over, rinsed in clean hot water, then let it air dry overnight. About 3 hours ago, I powered up the unit, and it located, and began it's normal altitude countdown. It started way high in the 65k/f range and came down quickly. When it got down to around 1000 ft, it started the countdown all over again. I thought it was hopeless and wasted. But I patiently watched, and it kept counting down. It slowed way down around 70 feet, and I left to go eat dinner. When I returned from dinner, it had counted all the way down to EXACTLY what I know Houston, TX altitude to be 47 feet. Damn thing was spot on!!

Thank you for the fix.

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Team Zoot-Texas, and Pickle Juice

Why oh why didn't I see this? I did do a Slowtwitch search, but I only saw the earlier responses and did not see yours. Your solution probably would have fixed mine. I literally just sent it off two days ago after delaying since January on getting it fixed. Now I'm going to get a stinking refurbished unit. I would much prefer my pristine original Garmin.

Thank you for your solution. I will use it for my wonderful refurbished unit, yet to arrive, when it will have the same problem. I sweat excessively. And I paid $22 to ship it to Garmin as well! DOH!

Someone needs to tell mothership Garmin about this fix!

If you want HIGHLY accurate information about elevation, Sporttracks software offers a elevation correction plug-in that cross references your GPS track with 4 different government data bases (DOD, etc) for exact elevation at a given point. You can compare the data from your Garmin to a known accurate data set.

I use sporttracks anyway to track my workouts but this is the one of the best features of that software.

I'm just getting ready to send mine back but now I'll give it a good washing. Are the two holes by the lower right screw as you look at the back of the watch?

Thx.

I had the same problem, crazy elevation readings. Garmin sent me a new one. Same happened to my friend, he believed sweat and gel and crap was blocking the ports of the barametric. He cleaned it out with something and works fine now.

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"Keep those feet moving!" Me

Yes, the 2 small holes in the corner. 1 is on the underside next to the screw, and the other is adjacent to it on the side of the case.

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Team Zoot-Texas, and Pickle Juice

I'm glad I read the thread before writing all of this, nicely written.

I would note you may need to wait a while on the Garmin phone line, I had to wait 45 minutes. They were incredibly responsive, and they also have a plan where they'll send you a refurbished unit for $150 deposit while you send yours back (I didn't get mine returned). I got my new one in about 5 days.

One last question, I've never noticed my altitude correcting as the watch was just sitting. The thing I've done was do a saved location as the manual says that's how you can calibrate it but it seems if you just let it sit in one place it will calibrate the altitude sortof like how the it's gets more accurate with the satellite info?

Mine started doing the same thing last week, starts at 65k feet and descends down to 537 then starts over.

Could barometric altimeter hole be cleaned with an ultrasonic cleaner? I got one to clean the gunk off my sunglasses in spots I couldn't get to. The 910xt is rated for 50m so it should be albe to take it. Seems that sticking a neddle or pin into the vent hole would damage it?

I just scrub it good with a dish brush and mine has been working for awhile now. It's not perfect but the elevation is close. I've had to clean it a couple of times but it seems to work every time.

Good Luck.

I just tried this after being on hold for 20mins with Garmin. I tried everything they recommended earlier via email including a hard rest but nothing worked. Cleaned in warm soapy water and my elevation issues are gone! I think with the quick release mount stuff gets trapped in the covered hole and messes up elevation. thanks for the easy fix.

They charged me 200.00...

I called Garmin about a month ago with no remedy to the problem. Even though it wasn't under warranty they had me send it back in and sent me a free refurbished unit. I paid a $200 deposit so they'd send the replacement before they got mine. The new watch has been great so far. No wacky elevation readings.

Well, you can't complain about that customer service! Looks like I'll have to send mine back in, my elevation failed as well. I've washed it out several times but no luck. This is my second time this has happened but the first time it was under warranty. Clearly there's some kind of hardware issue, keeping my fingers crossed that they treat me as well as you.

I just fix the problem in 30sec! I putted water with high pressure on the holes of barometer with this device made for cleaning teeth: http://www.waterpik.com/

This worked for me, too. The elevation readings on my Garmin 910XT were completely messed. After reading various forums and threads I was really worried that the barometric sensor on my unit was faulty. Then I read a suggestion about simply washing the unit with warm, soapy water and using a toothbrush and pin to clean the grime (sweat, sunscreen, muck) from the barometric sensor holes. I washed it thoroughly and then blew out the holes with some compressed air. Then I did the diagnostic reading routine ("on" + "enter", then 7x clicks on "mode") and everything seems to be working. Now I get proper elevation readings. I also found this blog post that's worth a read...
http://www.alananna.co.uk/...in-forerunner-910xt/

stubberific wrote:

This worked for me, too. The elevation readings on my Garmin 910XT were completely messed. After reading various forums and threads I was really worried that the barometric sensor on my unit was faulty. Then I read a suggestion about simply washing the unit with warm, soapy water and using a toothbrush and pin to clean the grime (sweat, sunscreen, muck) from the barometric sensor holes. I washed it thoroughly and then blew out the holes with some compressed air. Then I did the diagnostic reading routine ("on" + "enter", then 7x clicks on "mode") and everything seems to be working. Now I get proper elevation readings. I also found this blog post that's worth a read...
http://www.alananna.co.uk/...in-forerunner-910xt/

And then, my 910XT went completely wonky again. If you live in Canada you need to contact Raytech (1-888-887-6627), create an account online or call them directly. Details about what to do are here http://www.raytech.ca/...ked_questions.asp#58 I'm in the process of trying to get my 910XT repaired but Raytech has a backlog on replacement units of 3-5 weeks. Details to come.

This is spot on and very helpful. Thanks!

Some questions for folks who claim that the cleaning procedure fixed their barometric altimeter.

My third or fourth 910XT exhibited the dreaded 65536ft elevation flatline yesterday after a swim. I have a race this weekend, so I decided to try the cleaning fix. It didn't work until I removed the quick release back and stuck something in the second hole, which is obscured by the QR back. That made the elevation go to "------" and when I got GPS, it started showing a plausible elevation. However, I don't think it's using the barometric altimeter now. I think it's using GPS for elevation.

When I go to the diagnostic screen, as described in the thread, all the baro values show "-----". If you press mode again, for the 8th time, you get another screen with baro values (C0-C7). These are all stuck on FFFF for me, and the message at the bottom of that screen says something like baro valid - no.

So for those who fixed their Garmin by cleaning it, do you get elevation values when indoors with no GPS? Mine will show "-----" in the elevation field until it gets enough satellites to estimate elevation.

So I just tried this (the toothbrush cleaning) and now my unit won't turn on. If I hook it to the charger, I get a "charging -1%". No other activity. Any thoughts?

Hi, I have partially the same issue. After washing elevation data are available only after GPS satellites are found and not when GPS is disabled.
If GPS signal is lost elevation data keep on showing.
Bu in diagnostic mode I do get
baro valid - yes
C0-C7 are not stuck on FFFF but on other values
baro values show 0 rather than -----
Regards
M

clip and a device that wouldn't turn on.

Garmin support would only facilitate an out of warranty replacement for £150 :-(.

So I also read that it can cause a short circuit and it's possible to take it apart and clean out the gel (white paste) from the barometer unit and the unit would start working. Well I didn't have a lot to lose, now it's broken.

Anyway needless to say that was a further mistake and the unit is now completely broken as the solder joints on the cable connecting the two halves of the unit together internally is partly pulled off as had to rip it apart as it is properly glued together. That's never going to re-solder as they are tiny tiny connections.

Only positive is that I was able to see what had happened to the barometer unit. Sticking the pin in had pulled off one of the tiny chips from the circuit board and thus had already caused significant damage. It will also damage the gel which is used to waterproof the internals but still allow atmospheric pressure to register.

I would STRONGLY RECOMMEND NOT USING A PIN! Huge mistake and I now have to make up my mind if I want to purchase a replacement.

Good advice. The pin broke mine, but I was able to get an in-warranty replacement (third one). Too bad, because a broken unit would've been a nice excuse to buy the 920xt. ;)

So I tried cleaning the barometer last night as the instructions said and it seemed to have worked. After the cleaning I ran the garmin in bike mode for a couple of minutes and then uploaded and elevation was fixed! This morning went to swim and tried turning it on and no dice, weird as it had 2 bars last night of charge. Plugged it in and it had -1% charge, after 30 mins unit then said it had 100% charge but when I tried to turn it on the battery bar had nothing. Called Garmin this morning and trouble shooted for about 15 mins. Now they are replacing the unit for free with a brand new one. Tried to upgrade to the 920xt for a fee but they said it wasn't available yet for that, oh well. Pretty happy albeit not garmin this weekend.

I had this exact same experience with my 910, but had to pay the out-of warranty replacement fee. Mine was 2 years old and was a warranty replacement already as it was so I was happy enough with that solution as well.

This worked for me too. Mine had been working fine for a few years and just recently started having elevation issues. Washed it with mildly soapy water and a toothbrush and now my workouts are back at ground level.

Thanks for the tip. This worked for me too.

I still don't understand, why it is not possible to just turn the barometric altitude measurement off, though.