Garmin fenix 5

Interesting what they will reply, please keep us posted. I'm in the same boat on my 2nd watch (which will be a subject to corrosion sooner or later) but outside of warranty period.

I put some screen captures of the signal on the pin here:

https://forums.garmin.com/outdoor-recreation/outdoor-recreation/f/fenix-5-series/207218/fenix-5-oxidation-of-loading-pods/974016#974016

I'm on my third watch at the moment. In an email where I asked pretty much the same thing as you above I was told:

(translated from German)

The nature of the load pins was checked and a solution to the problem was found.

Unfortunately, how and in what form we can not inform you for operational reasons.

Usually, however, you should not have any problems with the replacement product in the area of ​​the charging pins.

Which is pretty obvious BS. The same signal is present on the replacement watch and the pins are the same material. 

Thanks for the input. I have the same oscilliscope reading as your screen shots. No reply from Garmin as yet but this is probably due to such a major design flaw. Basically any pin being pulsed will suffer electromigration, especially during swimming, high sweat, humidity, or charging when wet. Even if dry the pin will corrode if continually pulsed, but it may take many years instead of months. This is basic physics. Swimming has accelerated the issue in my circumstance. Stopping the pulse during an activity would certainly help, especially when this pulse is only needed when connecting to a PC is required. Anyway I hope Garmin is big enough to admit the problem, and not hide behind "operational reasons" to provide an answer. After all this is not rocket science.  

My brand new fenix 5 came out of the box with a noticeably dull pin 2.

Never got any worse. But it's either done it in the box or it's one somebody sent back. It was sealed and boxed as new.

 Contact from Garmin followed by my conclusion to the design flaw saga:

From: [email protected] <[email protected]>
Sent: Saturday, 7 December 2019 10:31 AM
To: <moderator note: removed 5983312's personal email address>
Subject: Re: fēnix® 5 - Power and Charging <Q#:1005509> << Reference ID: 15428571K0 >>

Hi Mark,

Thank you for contacting Garmin with your enquiry.

We are sorry to hear that you have experienced an issue with your Garmin product.

Can you please reply to this email and attach pictures of the issue you have described, photos of the front & back of the Garmin displaying the serial number along with a copy of purchase receipt or credit card statement for warranty purpose. Once received and reviewed we will proceed with your enquiry.

Should you require further assistance, it would be appreciated if you could contact our Customer Service Team by telephone between 8:30am-5pm (Mon-Fri) AUST EST, on 1800 235 822 (Australia), 0800 427 652 (New Zealand).

Kind Regards
Shannon
Product Support Consultant
Garmin Australasia
Phone: AU 1800 235 822 NZ 0800 427 652
Website: https://support.garmin.com/en-AU/

My reply:

Thanks for the reply. I have returned the watch to the store where it was purchased. After inspecting the watch they offered a full refund or a new replacement with a full 12 month warranty. I accepted a new full 12 month warranty watch, knowing when the same issue occurs in the next 6 to 9 months I can receive another new watch. Not a bad deal, a new watch every 9 months for a 5 minute trip to the local store. Thank you for the free lifetime watch supply, but your engineering team might want to at least consider fixing the design fault. This is a good product with one big design fault which could so easily be rectified. I wonder if arrogance or common sense will prevail.

Best Regards,

Mark Wilson.

Hey. Again the same problem. After 7 months, corrosion appeared on the charging contact. I contacted a local dealer in Belarus. They answered me that a directive had come out and that a watch with corrosion could not be replaced. Although the last time the watch was replaced with the same problem. Wrote in support of Garmin, here is their answer:

Hi Евгений,

This is what the connector looks like now. I am afraid that in the future, corrosion will lead to bad consequences. It’s not serious that Garmin cannot clearly explain the reason and solution to this problem.

I am curios if you have some issues or is just a visual problem. I have the same problem and I have a issue after a activity (I tried only with GPS-on), my battery is draining very fast, I must turn off the watch and after this the energy consumption is ok. I open a thread and only one person responded with this problem.