My battery has finally gotten so low it wont download. Is it possible to unscrew the back cover and change the battery without causing some damage? Has anyone done it? The manual says i have to send it back but that would be about $30 and some downtime.
Thanks
Hi, I would go to www.polar-usa.com. I would highly recommend that you get the battery changed professionally. Remember, if the watch gets wet and the seal is not correct. water will get in the watch and ruin it. It is better to pay a few bucks for a correct battery switch than having to buy a new watch because you saved a few dollars on battery switching.
I am fortunate enough to live in Los Angeles. There is a repair facility downtown. I get 10 minute turnaround on repairs. Check the web page, it has authorized repair shops on it.
Good luck,
Mark
You won’t cause damage if you be extra careful with the rubber that’s isolating the back cover. It’s a very fragile black rubber that should prevent your polar to “drown”.
I’ve changed the battery twice without any problem except for the fact that this 720i battery is extremely hard to find in stores. I had to buy it online in Germany and ship it over.
Send it in. I had my old Polar serviced at a watch store. 3 months later it died. When I sent the dead unit to Polar they noted that it had been serviced by a non-auth place, and the thing leaked. The watch store I used sells TAG and Rolex so I figured they could handle my Polar. Not so. It’s worth it to do it right.
Do it yourself.
I’ve done it myself probably 4 times on three units with no leaks or problems. The batteries (CR2354) are only about $5 and the seal is neither complicated nor fragile.
Absolutely not! Take it to a Polar dealer and have them send it back to Polar. Do not take it to a watch repair shop because they will most likely screw it up. My wife took my watch to a local repair shop and my watch was ruined when I tried to go swimming with it.
Changed the battery on my S720i two times so far with no issues. Very simple. As others have said, just take extra care in closing it up and screwing it down.
But if you really want to keep the warranty, then send it in.
It should not cost $30 unles you are sending priority overnight.
A twist on the responses - yes it is easy enough to change, however the seal may be bad so you might need a new seal if you do the change yourself, especially if you’ve used it swimming a lot and in salt water.
I killed a perfectly good S210 changing the battery myself. Send it in…
Spot
How in the world are you people destroying seals and ruining watches… it is SOOO simple (even the Polar rep admitted it was)… do you have hands like Shrek and eyes like Mr. Magoo?!
Possibly. I’m not the world’s most mechanically gifted person. I just know that it wasn’t the easiest thing in the world reseating that rubber gasket, and even when it looked nice and tight, I murdered my Polar HRM doing a sprint tri in the salt water.
Spot
I agree with Irondad. You can just do it yourself. Just make sure you put everything back “exactly” as you took it apart. Three things come to mind that I had some problems with:
I had a tiny spring jump out and I had a hard time figuring out where it went.
Make sure you pay attention to where the chip or motherboard (green) fits with the sensor of where you would push the red button on the outside. If when you put it back with the new battery and it doesn’t work, just remember what I said here.
The rubber seal sometimes comes out of where it sits…just make sure it lines up properly.