Since I got my very first Garmin about 6 years ago, I’ve gone through no less than 6 HRM straps, across at least 3 generations. Alas, I had to replace the battery in my current strap about 3 weeks ago and inevitably it quit working yesterday. As soon as I have to replace the battery I know it’s only a matter of time before it dies. I only change the battery when the strap is dry and am careful to replace the seals. When I popped it open today, there did seem to be a tiny amount of moisture on the battery. I left it open a while to make sure it was completely dry, checked the battery, and the continuity of the strap with a multimeter. Looks normal, but no signal at all to my watch(es). Anything else I can do besides pony up for a new strap? This was already a replacement, so I doubt Garmin will want to send me another one. I will say that Garmin has been good about support and has replaced 3 of my straps free of charge. Still, as I’m now looking at getting my seventh strap I’m wondering if I’m cursed or if this is a common problem?
I swapped out to a Wahoo strap after 3 Garmin straps. I haven’t had a problem since. Wahoo straps just seem to be built tougher and last longer Imho.
Best solution: Get a Scosche armband strap. Once you learn where it best detects on you (take some trial and error), gone are the days of Garmin and other straps crapping out after 6-12 months of use, like clockwork. It works as well 3 years out as day one.
I too have gone through countless Garmin straps prior to the Scosche. Nothing could save it once it started crapping out. There are fixes that work for about 1-2 months, but once it’s in decline, it’s over.
After two Garmin straps died on me in the way you describe, I ponied up for the blue Tri strap, which has worked well so far.
I usually load up on the cheap Chinese knockoffs from Ebay. They work about as well as the Garmin strap, last about as long, and cost $3-5 (it varies). I’ll buy 5 or 10 at a time, every few years, and replace them as necessary.
The latest generation of Garmin strap, with the module that’s not removable, seems to be built a bit tougher than the previous ones, but since there’s not a cheap alternative, I save those for races.
I swapped out to a Wahoo strap after 3 Garmin straps. I haven’t had a problem since. Wahoo straps just seem to be built tougher and last longer Imho.
Same story but I think I went through 5 garmin straps. I’ve had the Wahoo strap for around 3 years now. That has to be some sort of world record. :-p
So the fact that mine has died twice at the first battery replacement appears to be a problem with the design and not bad luck on my part.
That makes me not feel so good about the Garmin Swim HRM band that I bought at Christmas. It is working fine now but I bet it’s days are numbered.
Have you tried a non-garmin strap? I’ve got one of those Garmin HRM’s with that came with a soft strap (with a Edge 500 kit). That strap was not good and even with electrode gel at the end of it’s life did not do well (gave false readings at 200+ bpm at times). Replaced it with a HRM USA generic strap and haven’t had issues with it (this one strap is going on 4 years and still working but I only use this for cycling honestly…have optical HRM for watches but find that doesn’t reliably stay on transmit mode when cycling either using my Edge or indoors for trainer sessions). Just replaced the battery last week on this actually (4th battery swap or so…lost count) and it still works just fine.
Also, an electronics cleaner would help to to clean the insides and get rid of moisture too. Maybe try to find replacement screws as they do stretch.
Have you tried to “short” the strap.
Touch the bottom contact of the battery compartment with the side contact using a paper clip. You need to do this when you change the battery.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jrXLjQ1eGJ8
won’t help with reviving your strap, but might help with keeping them alive.
Some years ago, I started washing the strap after every single use. And my last unit (HRM-Run that i got with the launch of Fenix 3 is still alive).
Yeah, I also get long life out of my Garmin straps, including multiple battery changes. I rinse it well after every use and periodically wash it by putting it in a tuperware with water and a little dish soap and shaking it well (then rinsing it well). If you are not washing it, it is possible you are misdiagnosing a watch needing cleaning for one needing a battery and changing the battery doesn’t fix it ;). YMMV.
BTW, my HRM-SWIM died because all of the elastic went out of the strap from long exposure to chlorine, not battery issues.
Your results may very, my experience is with a Wahoo Ticker, but I imagine they’re built similarly.
My wife’s Ticker stopped working so I decided to open it up (its already dead, what could Hurt?). Behind each “snap” piece is a spring that connects the “snap” to the board. One spring had completely rusted out. So I de-soldered it, made a new spring with a small piece of wire, re-soldered it, goobered the back of the “snaps” with dielectric grease, glued it back together, & used a little silicone grease around the battery hatch seals. It’s worked great for me ever since.