How Waterproof Should A Garmin Be

fatdaz

Hi

Just come back from a ride which involved 15 minutes of torrential rain and hail. At some point in the deluge my Garmin 605 packed up and now won't turn on. I'm leaving it to dry for a couple of days to see if it comes back but it has made me think. I have never bothered to cover the Garmin in any weather before, should I be protecting it during really heavy rain or should it be water proof enough to cope?

mcdonji1

May be an old wifes tale but try sticking it in a jar of rice. This appears to act as a dessicant and has been known to fix wet mobiles. Just watch the wife doesnt tip it into a pot of boiling water for tonights chicken curry!!

Jim

fatdaz

Cheers for that but I'm equally concerned with making sure it doesn't happen again. I don't want to keep having to hide the Garmin in the rain - it's a faff and will result in an incomplete record of the ride.

Gizmodo

Apparently it is rated to IEC 60529 IPX7 standard, which means it has been tested for 30 minutes in 1 meter of water so you would have thought a bit of rain wouldn't hurt. How old is it? Still under warranty?

gloomyandy

May be a silly question but are you sure the batteries are not flat?

fatdaz

gloomyandy wrote:

May be a silly question but are you sure the batteries are not flat?

As sure as I can be, it was charged overnight last night and the battery charge indicator was 100% before the ride. It's a couple of years old so I'll need to dig up the paperwork and see if the warranty is more than 12 months. So long as I know I shouldn't have to mollycoddle it I'll give it a go if it comes back once it's dried out. I have been thinking about getting something with a cadence sensor and HRM so maybe I'll get a 500 and give the 605 to the lad if it starts working.

Thanks for the replies

sungod

the sealing on the usb and memory ports on the 705 was always a bit iffy, a smear of silicone grease or vaseline on the rubber seals improved things, but it was always wise to check after heavy rain, i expect the 605 is similar

within the eu, you should have two-year minimum warranty

if the water has got at it and it's out of warranty, i'd carefully open it, to let it dry out fully and also to look for any sign of corrossion - dirty water+electricity can result in nasty reactions on exposed conductors

once it's fully dry, if it's not responding, try doing a full reset

Secteur

My 800 has seen substantial heavy rain (including about 30 mins this morning!) and I've never had a problem.

Make sure the flaps covering the sockets at the bottom are well in place.

fatdaz

Thanks all

rozzer32

My old 305 and new 500 have both been through a cycle in the washing machine (don't ask).

But they still worked perfectly.

Mikey23

My running 405 had this problem. Got condensation under the bezel and just stopped working after an outing in fairly moderate rain. It's a problem with the seals and shouldn't happen. Garmin repaired mine for free even though outside of warranty. Obviously not an uncommon problem x

redvee

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_iS7TtUmJmY

racingcondor

I've personally never had a problem (705) but a couple of club mates have had them conk out on particularly long wet rides. Pretty sure they've always started working again after a couple of days.

Peddle Up!

Secteur wrote:

My 800 has seen substantial heavy rain (including about 30 mins this morning!) and I've never had a problem.

Make sure the flaps covering the sockets at the bottom are well in place.

+1

Several times this year, everything on the bike including me was soaked despite waterproofing, except my 800. Tough bit of kit.

godders1

http://www.dcrainmaker.com/2010/12/feel ... tests.html

(the write up for the vid posted by redvee above)

careful

I had a 705 that died after a very wet ride. Various attempts to resurrect it by drying all failed. I dont blame Wiggle but they did replace it with no hassle.