After 6 months of use my forerunner 255 started acting crazy with the altmeter swinging 10k+ feet every minute. I reach out to garmin support and got a weird line of questioning (below) that seems to indicate they know of an issue with pool swimming. Anyone have a similar issue or other info?
Garmin:
Thanks! Have you used watch for pool swimming?
Me:
yes last time last week
Garmin:
How often about
Me:
a few times a week normally
Garmin:
So the only thing we can do is exchange the device.
You would need to send the old unit to us first then a replacement will ship.
I have a Fenix 5 and this is possibly my second replacement. They told me that I need to go through certain steps to make sure it’s not just dirty… The same thing happened to my 310xt and 910xt.
I don’t think it’s the chlorine, it’s hitting the lap button in the pool, which you don’t do in open water. Issue with the seals and water getting in, especially if you do it under the surface. Well reported with previous Garmin’s. Pretty sure it’s what killed my 735. Great customer service company though, and they replaced it for free out of warranty.
Edit- was unaware that chlorine clogged altimeters. Would explain why my coros altimeter stopped working then…!
This a bummer. I had hoped that Garmin had figured it out 18 months ago… Back in 2021, IIRC, Garmin thought the problem was the integrated altimeter/temperature sensor in swims. That, when they switch on the temperature sensor during a swim, it fries the altimeter. So, late 2021 they released an update that disabled thermometer during swims.
I have not had a altimeter failure since that update, so I had hoped they found it. But, seems like maybe not.
On the plus, Garmin will replace without question. But, they have been aware for years and haven’t figured out why.
My Fenix5 altimeter/temp just died (3rd one), so still an issue.
Rinsed it with warm water per Garmin’s instructions after every swim…it took longer to die, but still died.
Really wish they would firmware update an option to disable the altimeter so that rides just use the GPS values.Yeah, the fēnix 5 is several generations old. I thought they had it sorted with the 945LTE/255/955/fēnix 7 generations.
And I think everyone would welcome a firmware update that would let you disable the altimeter. Even though the sensor would be broken, I think most folks could live with it disabled and be content.
I have a Fenix 5 and this is possibly my second replacement. They told me that I need to go through certain steps to make sure it’s not just dirty… The same thing happened to my 310xt and 910xt.
Same here with a couple of 910s.
The ports to the alti sensor can also get clogged over time and mess up the sensor readings - in the 910 I was able to salvage it a couple of times with soaking it in warm soapy water for a whole then cleaning the ports to the sensor wirh a fine brush (one of the TeePee brushes for the gaps between teeth !) . Eventually the sensor bitbthe dust though, and a warranty/ exchange unit was needed