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310XT Unexpected Spring Pin Release
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Has anyone had the spring pin that attaches the wrist strap to the GPS detach? At my last two workouts, the spring pin on my 310XT detached while I was running on the treadmill. In both cases I was lucky enough catch the GPS before it hit the ground. The 310XT was secured to my wrist and it was not overly tight. At no time did I hit the GPS to the treadmill.

To reattach the strap with the spring pin, I used a micro screwdriver to compress the spring pin into position. Just as you would if you were to replace any watchband.

After closer examination, it appears that the plastic hole in the 310XT, which the spring pin inserts into, may be slightly larger now; resulting in the poor contact and spring pin release.

Of course my concern is this happening again potentially damaging the 310XT or worse breaking free during a race or during the swim.
I had posted this question up at the Garmin Forum. There about four posts were this has happened to other owners. Per one of the posts, Garmin has no reports or issues of this happening before. I have already returned for a replacement. Just curious if this has happened out in the ST community.
Thanks
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Re: 310XT Unexpected Spring Pin Release [Kinesio] [ In reply to ]
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Garmin has the report of it happening to me, as I've called them about it several times. I suppose some crazy glue might get the pin to stay in - I'm not sure what else to do. Each time I put the pin back in (using the tool they have sent me, along with a new pin), it comes out again and it seems to come out easier now than it used to.

Chris
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Re: 310XT Unexpected Spring Pin Release [Kinesio] [ In reply to ]
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goto a watch shop and see if they've got larger diameter pins that may hold better?

or send to garmin for a warranty replacement. they're pretty good about standing behind their products.
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Re: 310XT Unexpected Spring Pin Release [Kinesio] [ In reply to ]
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Yes I've had it happen to me twice. Both times I've been able to get it back in there using just a fingernail but it certainly took some doing.

I was thinking of getting that special strap from which you can detach the 310xt for race purposes. I'd be interested in seeing how the pins there hold on.
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Re: 310XT Unexpected Spring Pin Release [Kinesio] [ In reply to ]
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My wife had the same thing happen with hers while running down the street. She was not a s fortunate as you though and the watch face cracked when it hit the ground.
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Re: 310XT Unexpected Spring Pin Release [Kinesio] [ In reply to ]
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A team mate had it happen on the first day he had the watch. Happened during a race swim . Needless to day he was not happy. He Contacted Garmin and convinced them to replace the watch at no cost.

I would pressure Garmin. It seems that this may be a design flaw as it has occurred to a number of folks.

Here is the discussion:
http://forum.slowtwitch.com/..._reply;so=ASC;mh=25;
Last edited by: GoodTriMike1: Jan 19, 10 15:35
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Re: 310XT Unexpected Spring Pin Release [GoodTriMike1] [ In reply to ]
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Yep another +1
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Re: 310XT Unexpected Spring Pin Release [Kinesio] [ In reply to ]
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I owned my Garmin 310 for 2 weeks last summer when they first came out. I was 1st on the list with my local shops order.
Wore it in a race for the first time and half way through the swim realized it wasn't on my wrist any more. Sunk, gone. There was no contact with other swimmers, no one pulled it off. Just gone.

On the up side. Not knowing my running pace I PR'd afraid to run too slow. lol
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Re: 310XT Unexpected Spring Pin Release [Kinesio] [ In reply to ]
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If you think about it, these watch strap pins are the weak link in the system. It's okay if you're walking or running and the strap comes apart, but in the swim...

I'd say the best solution is to convince Garmin to send you another one.

Short of that, here's my story...

I resurrected an old Polar HRM with an obsolete broken strap by stopping at one of those watch battery/strap replacement businesses at a large mall. In their junk strap pile there was one strap which fit. Great, I'm thinking...

Business was slow, so the guy was willing to replace the strap for the cost of the strap.

My mistake was not buying the strap and leaving because, in his attempt to replace the spring-loaded pin, he blew out a major chunk of the watch where the pin hole was.

I took it home and used epoxy to put it together, but it only lasted a workout or two before it came apart.

What did work was to take a very small drill bit and extend the hole all the way and insert a long pin. That is still holding.
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Re: 310XT Unexpected Spring Pin Release [Kinesio] [ In reply to ]
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About a week after I got mine it let go while on the handlebars of my bike and promptly got run over by a car.

I wrote them and told them it was due to mechanical/pin failure that the device was toast. They gave me a return number and replaced it under warranty.
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Re: 310XT Unexpected Spring Pin Release [Kinesio] [ In reply to ]
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At least im not the only one...

Down at disney last weekend i had mine fall off during the 5k less then 300 feet into it someone picked it up for me but the front was shattered, i went down to the expo and the Garmin rep said there has been a pin problem with them but it was supposed to be corrected with a new manufacturer. Fast forward to Sunday's marathon, im about 6 miles into the race running to magic kingdom and a guy cuts infront of me to grab water hits my wrist and the new one breaks apart. Luckily it wasnt crushed for the marathon but i was in shock. needless to say i wont be buying another 310 if this one breaks again. I can't imagine using it in the swim after this with the chance of it getting knocked off is about 100 times higher then in a marathon.


Grant
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Re: 310XT Unexpected Spring Pin Release [Kinesio] [ In reply to ]
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Happened to me when I tried to take my wet suit off with the watch visible wearing the wet suit. Now I keep the sleeve of my wet suit over it during the swim and have had no problems.
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Re: 310XT Unexpected Spring Pin Release [bmcmaster11] [ In reply to ]
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Had it happen to me while I was putting it in my gear bag. When the thing works I like it, but the thing is definitely full of bugs that need to be fixed.
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Re: 310XT Unexpected Spring Pin Release [merlinkim] [ In reply to ]
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It happened to me twice in the first month. I contacted Garmin and they replaced it. I raced at Ironman Arizona and had it pop off. Garmin replaced it again. Garmin has stood by their product.


Bruce
ALBOPADS XTERRAWETSUITS NEWTON OAKLEY FIZIK GARMIN ROTOR COMPUTRAINER QUARQ HONEYSTINGER
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Re: 310XT Unexpected Spring Pin Release [Kinesio] [ In reply to ]
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I wouldn't swim with a 310xt in open water unless it was underneath my wetsuit sleeve...

Why can't Garmin pay more attention to detail? They've had pin and mount problems for a while now. I feel like they just stopped innovating over there. :(
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Re: 310XT Unexpected Spring Pin Release [Kinesio] [ In reply to ]
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Yep, I was the one that lost one during the swim leg of a sprint triathlon. I only had it for one week. I called Garmin, bitched and moaned and they sent me a replacement. Definitely a design flaw. Also, the heart rate strap is crap. It does not measure accurately. Went back to using my 305 strap. Aside from those two flaws, I actually like the unit.
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Re: 310XT Unexpected Spring Pin Release [Toby Tri] [ In reply to ]
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I contacted Garmin about it. Nothing bad has happened yet but it has come undone twice and I've had to reconnect it. They told me to send it in to them which I guess I will do.

The heart rate strap is excellent in my opinion.
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Re: 310XT Unexpected Spring Pin Release [Toby Tri] [ In reply to ]
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well, as i deal with the warrenty of garmin in canada, i can tell you that moaning and bitching isnt the way to go. You dont have to do any of this to have garmin stand behind there product and help you out. Of course, it s always better to be more positive and explain that you do not like the strap instead of saying that the strap is crap........, we cant have a 100% happiness level but the starp use with the 310xt is the premium hr monitor strap and it s the most popular and best seller strap in canada so up north...seems like most people are loving it!!!

.

Jonathan Caron / Professional Coach / ironman champions / age group world champions
Jonnyo Coaching
Instargram
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Re: 310XT Unexpected Spring Pin Release [Kinesio] [ In reply to ]
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It happened to me. I returned it my shop and they exchanged it with out question.
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Re: 310XT Unexpected Spring Pin Release [jonnyo] [ In reply to ]
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In Reply To:
well, as i deal with the warrenty of garmin in canada, i can tell you that moaning and bitching isnt the way to go. You dont have to do any of this to have garmin stand behind there product and help you out. Of course, it s always better to be more positive and explain that you do not like the strap instead of saying that the strap is crap........, we cant have a 100% happiness level but the starp use with the 310xt is the premium hr monitor strap and it s the most popular and best seller strap in canada so up north...seems like most people are loving it!!!

.

No actually, sometimes you do have to bitch and moan. The spring pin used was poorly designed for the 310XT and has resulted in countless units popping off unexpectedly. I was one of the first to contact them about the problem and it was my persistence that paid off. Initially they were giving me the too bad, so sad response. i will, however, give Garmin credit as they were always polite and I guess making sure I wasn't just trying to scam them out of a unit. In the end they did the right thing and replaced the unit for free. Now let's see if they listen to all the complaints they have received and redesign the wrist-strap connection.

As for the heart rate strap, comfortable? Yes. Accurate? No. There have been many complaints here on ST and on the Garmin Connect forums of people getting sporadic and inaccurate readings. I would get readings myself indicating my heart rate was jumping between 80 and 250+. Average heart rate 245? Yeah right.

Some have speculated that the strap does not work well with tech shirts; that the static electricity caused by rubbing the tech fabric is what is causing the poor readings. If that's the case, then it is unacceptable. If Polar's heart rate strap can get it right, so should Garmin's. I switched back to using my 305 heart rate strap (which also works with the 310XT) and the readings seem to be right on.

Once again, the 310XT is a great little gizmo, and Garmin's customer service has been fantastic. Yeah, you can't always have 100% happiness, but if you're gonna pay for the cost of a new Garmin 310XT, then you should get 100% satisfaction and confidence that 1) the unit will actually stay on your wrist where it belongs, and 2) that it measures your heart rate reasonably accurate. Right now, it's coming up unacceptably short in those areas.
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Re: 310XT Unexpected Spring Pin Release [Toby Tri] [ In reply to ]
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I hadn't read about the the new HR strap issues until now. I have noticed that my HR readings vary quite irregularly from time to time. In fact, I noticed that during the Palm Beach Half Marathon in December I registered a HR approaching 270 BPM. I even thought about bringing a print of the graph with me to my doctor when I had my yearly physical. (I actually mentioned it and he said it was a gremlin. He is a runner as well as a doc).

Anyway, I will try witching back to the old strap design and see what happens.

Garmin has always been first rate in their customer service. However, the response of the person on the other end of the phone may vary and sometimes, just sometimes may need a bit of a push to do the right thing, and it looks like Garmin is doing just that.
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Re: 310XT Unexpected Spring Pin Release [GoodTriMike1] [ In reply to ]
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Sporadic readings with a strap are nothing new and nothing specific to the Garmin strap. My polar straps used to do that to me too. It was almost always a case of not having properly lubricated/wet the strap contacts before using it and/or having the strap on too loosely. As long as I make sure the strap is snug enough and the contacts are wet, this does not happen.

(In the case of my old Polar, there were also some electrical fields, such as those created by electronic dog fences, that caused readings to go awry as well. I suspect that Garmin uses different frequencies and is not affected by this but I'm not sure)
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Re: 310XT Unexpected Spring Pin Release [Kinesio] [ In reply to ]
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when did you get yours? Wondering if its just a certain batch.. I've had mine since last August read about a few people having that problem so I threaded a string through both
straps(the holes in them) and wrapped around my wrist for imlou and imf(worried about loosing it during the swim) But never had a problem. I ran a number of times fell down
hit it against tree couple times caught on a jacket while pulling my jacket off and not once has it come apart even tried pulling it with my hands. So far no problem.

Would be interesting to know if this was maybe first batch made and I got lucky or is it a random thing?
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Re: 310XT Unexpected Spring Pin Release [gholmes] [ In reply to ]
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I don't think it was a first batch thing. the first one i had since august sometime. Thats the one that broke in the 5k two weeks ago. the second one was a brand new one from the garmin rep that was at the Disney expo and that broke 2 days later. They even said they had a pin design flaw and it was fixed. Obviously not.

Grant
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Re: 310XT Unexpected Spring Pin Release [draketriathlon] [ In reply to ]
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In Reply To:
I don't think it was a first batch thing. the first one i had since august sometime. Thats the one that broke in the 5k two weeks ago. the second one was a brand new one from the garmin rep that was at the Disney expo and that broke 2 days later. They even said they had a pin design flaw and it was fixed. Obviously not.

Grant

If not a batch then maybe just random.. I've put mine on over arm warmers or long sleeves really tight,ran with it biked with it imlou and imfl swim with it and race and either I've been lucky
or its a random flaw? After I first read about this back in august before ironman lou I tested mine pulling on it swinging my arms never came off. BUT just in case I weaved a strong string
through each band then around my wrist for the race... Figureing if one side came off the other would hold long enough for me to deal with it and stuff in my pocket of course if both sides came loose not much I could do But so far no problem guess I'm lucky but if there is some sort of recall or fix would be interested just in case. maybe can glue something to the back with safety string attached?
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