I have a new (Jan '17) Garmin 935 that all of the sudden the elevation, on both runs and swims is all messed up. At times the elevation shows “0” and at times it shows 1600+ft when running on a flat surface. I contacted Garmin who sent me an email with a tip to re calibrate, which I did and no change. They also said soak in soapy water…which I did and no change either. They did say that if it continues, they would replace. Which is great, just frustrating and additionally I have heard of others with same issue. Have read that chlorine can be the cause, although no evidence to support and have a difficult time believing this, given the intention of this watch.
Although a nice gesture to replace, I have concerns that it will happen again.
Anyone have similar issues and able to fix without sending back? I know best to send back, I know, I know…but damn, seems like this shouldn’t be happening.
I’ve been having the same issue. I would do a simple 4 mile run in my neighborhood which is super flat and my Garmin would show a 600ft elevation gain. I called them and they told me the same thing…soak it in soapy water, send it back, etc. Didn’t really want to send it back so I dealt with it, but it was frustrating.
One day I was on the Garmin Connect website looking at one of my activities. Near the picture of the watch there’s something that says “elevations correction.” On mine it said disabled. I enabled it and elevation was corrected. My 4 mile neighborhood run went from 600ft of elevation gain to 96ft. I can’t figure out how to do it on the app and I have to do it for every activity. I’m sure there’s a way to set it as a default; I just haven’t figured it out (maybe someone else knows).
The one thing I can never get to work is the temperature. I can never get it to read and if it does it shows 72 degrees for the entire workout.
This is a known issue to Garmin. Their 8.0 software updated F*d up the watch somehow that can’t even be fixed by downgrading the version, beginning mid-March. Garmin support will give you the “have been swimming with it, and do you soak it” routine, but it’s their fault. Elevations come out randomly doubled or tripled. When my 920xt lost the barometer, everything read as 32,000 feet. And I cared, because that kind of causes my effort to look awesome, but makes my training numbers all wrong.
Anyway, they have just RMA’d both my 935 and my wife’s 935. Look on the Garmin forums for “elevation and temperature data is screwed on 935”.
I don’t think this is unique to the 935. There were lots of reports of issues with the 920, too.
I have a 920. So far I have not had the issues YOU describe (0, 1600, 0, etc). However, I do get skewed altitude readings when I go from inside to outside quickly. I can see the “right shape”, but it loos slanted. Like my whole run was on a hill instead of an out and back. I can see where the “normal” peaks are still. However, I find that if I’ve been outside for a while then the altitude curve looks about like the “corrected” curve, and I usually don’t bother with the correction. I don’t remember having this problem last year (same watch), but it has been consistent since the outside temps have been in excess of indoor temps (aka summer).
I assume this has something to do with a temperature correction factor that either isn’t working right, or that the 920 doesn’t have. I never really looked into the inner workings of the 920 altitude.
This was a widely reported issue with the 920xt, which I’ve experienced also. Garmin was good about warranty replacement. My best guess was that it was caused by salt build-up from ocean swims, but it’s possible it was chlorine from pool swims, or something else. I don’t know whether it’s technically feasible to design a barometric altimeter that wouldn’t be susceptible to similar issues, though.
I don’t think this is unique to the 935. There were lots of reports of issues with the 920, too.
I have a 920. So far I have not had the issues YOU describe (0, 1600, 0, etc). However, I do get skewed altitude readings when I go from inside to outside quickly. I can see the “right shape”, but it loos slanted. Like my whole run was on a hill instead of an out and back. I can see where the “normal” peaks are still. However, I find that if I’ve been outside for a while then the altitude curve looks about like the “corrected” curve, and I usually don’t bother with the correction. I don’t remember having this problem last year (same watch), but it has been consistent since the outside temps have been in excess of indoor temps (aka summer).
I assume this has something to do with a temperature correction factor that either isn’t working right, or that the 920 doesn’t have. I never really looked into the inner workings of the 920 altitude.
I get something similar with my 920, usually on morning runs. I have an out and back 5k that’s a gradual 100’ uphill to the turnaround, but often the 920 shows me as starting 200’ higher than the actual elevation, going level or slightly downhill to the turnaround, and then about 200’ downhill on the way back…
I’m on my third 935. First was a warranty replacement due to altitude meter / thermostat failing. Second was a crash replacement where I chatted with the support guy for a while. He said chlorine kills the protective membrane for the thermostat/barometric pressure sensor (altitude). He recommended rinsing the watch after every pool swim to let it last longer.
I had to return my 935 for the similar issue when the barometer failed in April. Garmin support was excellent and I had new watch in a few days. You can restart your 935 in debug/test mode and find various test screens as shown in the attachment:
I had my 920xt replaced under warranty for wonky altitude data after about a year of ownership. But I’m a duathlete - that watch was never in salt water and I never went swimming with it in a pool or otherwise. Still, wonky-ass and replaced.
My F5 has the same problem. It’s stuck at 26k feet. I pretty much Everest every run and ride now. But I don’t care about elevation except at races but I use my Edge520 for that.
Anyway, they have just RMA’d both my 935 and my wife’s 935. Look on the Garmin forums for “elevation and temperature data is screwed on 935”.
Both my wife’s and mine are having the same 0 or gigantic elevation gain issue. Mine is RMA’d for a different issue at the moment. Might do the same for my wife’s 935 later.
This is definitely not a new issue for Garmin. I have a Fenix3HR with the same issue and I know people with 910 and 920 that have the same issue. In the past I had great success with Garmin customer service but this time was very frustrating.
As of now before a run where I care about elevation i will manually calibrate the altimeter with GPS and 95% of the time it holds up for the length of the run (sometimes even a few more after). Based on history I would not expect this issue to go away any time soon.
