Discussion: Garmin Resuscitation

My Garmin Forerunner 305 had been having battery charging problems over the past months and then last week it began to fail altogether. Got a new battery, but it turns out the connector inside has corroded. It may be possible to bend the remaining piece or improvise something else, but it would be better to get a replacement unit.

Anyone got experience of this problem and the solutions?

Sorry to say, everyone has this problem eventually. I was able to get two replacements from Garmin, even after it was well out of warranty. Send them a nice email and ask for help. You'll pay postage, but I was happy with the result.

You can also squeeze the watch against the charger contacts and try to overcome the corrosion. This works for a little while.

Also, try sweating less!

There are a few 305 disassembly websites. One solution was to add new wires from the lower plate (with battery) to the upper plate (with the guts and display), that is, adding jumper wires to bring battery power to the upper plate with solder connections.

Which connector of yours is corroded?

Also, how did you glue it back together? Do the two plates fit together with a small gap, or is it parted a little more than normal?

@cedarcreek, the connector at the end (left), saw the jumper wire solution (same connector), haven't glued it back together yet

@kadley, indeed we do, at least my limbs and joints haven't corroded yet

Here are a couple old threads:

http://www.attackpoint.org/discussionthread.jsp/me...

http://www.attackpoint.org/discussionthread.jsp/me...

A friend of mine recommended Loctite "Stik'n Seal Outdoor Adhesive" I got a tube at Lowe's, but I'm not sure they carry it anymore. He sent me a photo with the three things he'd tried, and this was the only one that worked.

His method for gluing is to wrap it tightly with black tape and then to clamp it with large binder clips (the black ones with foldable chrome handles).

Here's two disassembly websites. Everyone I know who has tried has not had good luck with silicone sealer type adhesive.

https://sites.google.com/site/ctorunner/dismantlef...

http://www.jimandkatrin.com/CodeBlog/post/Forerunn...

Someone told me to cover the four little dot speaker openings on the back, as that's a place where sweat/moisture can enter the watch. I have a piece of duct tape over it. Now, I don't have a control version of this experiment, but I haven't had many of the issues other people seem to have with their 305s. Mine is 4.5 years old.

Yup - if you open it up, the speaker itself is just glued to the back plate over those holes. That glue line isn't necessarily either continuous or waterproof, so sweat/water can just wander into the watch through those holes.

The speaker itself in my 305 ended up corroding to hell, then the rest of the watch failed due to water ingress. Those speaker holes really were a weirdly poor design decision.

For $79 Garmin will fix your existing unit or send you a refurbished 305 depending on how bad the damage is. I am in the process of doing this now with mine. They say turn-around time is about 2 weeks. Certainly worth considering.

@Bernard, it was considered, but my Garmin is a hand-me-down, unregistered and without paperwork, and it didn't seem too easy to get through their returns process without these.

The wire solution mentioned by cedarcreek has been performed. The unit glued and taped. Tomorrow it will be unveiled.

Glad you are solving on your own. For the next person considering service: I never registered my unit and have no paperwork for it. Getting an RMA took nothing more than a phone call to Garmin repair and reading the SN off the back of the unit to them. I sent it in last Friday and got mail last night that the unit has been repaired (replaced?) and is on its way back.

Update: Garmin sent me back a refurbished 305. Cosmetically, it looks like a new unit and is working perfectly. So far it looks like it was worth sending it in for repair.