inreach mini deplete battery when off

purchased my Garmin inreach mini last November (2019) and found it to deplete battery completely when powered off within several weeks.

I've been in contact directly with Garmin support (case id: 16371714K1) for several months which didn't solve anything

I've upgraded the firmware, reset to factory default as they asked and it still happening.

I've lost completely my faith in Garmin and wasted 300$ on an expensive paperweight :(

definitely won't rely on it when going out to the wild.

Top Replies

atlas_cached over 3 years ago in reply to Garmin-Andrew +1

My inReach Mini v280 also loses battery life while powered off.

I also have zero faith in the device.

All Replies

0 Garmin-Andrew over 3 years ago

Hi Geostant, I reviewed the case you mentioned, I'm sorry nothing was solved through your interaction with Support. Please make sure your inReach Mini is on software version 2.80, to check: Go to Setup > About This Device > Firmware Version. If it's out of date, update it with Garmin Express. If the battery is still draining faster than expected, the inReach Mini may need to be replaced. If that's the case, you will need to contact your local Garmin Product Support to setup a replacement order. If you need direct assistance with this, please send me a PM and I can help you get in touch with the proper team for assistance.

0 Geostant over 3 years ago in reply to Garmin-Andrew

I've upgraded to 2.80 on February 2020

0 atlas_cached over 3 years ago in reply to Garmin-Andrew

My inReach Mini v280 also loses battery life while powered off.

I also have zero faith in the device.

0 Garmin-Andrew over 3 years ago in reply to atlas_cached

If your inReach Mini is on 2.80 and you're observing battery drain when the device powered off at a faster rate than what's specified in the specs on the product page at garmin.com (1 year when powered off), you may need direct assistance from Garmin Product Support for the country in which you reside. If you are in the US or Canada, please send me a Private Message and I'm more than happy to help you with this. If you are outside the US or Canada, please contact your country's Product Support. You can also feel free to PM me and I can help you get in touch with the proper team who can assist you.

It is normal for the device to drain some battery life when powered off according to the quoted battery life of "1 year when powered off", which would be roughly 1% drain every 4 days. If your device is exceeding this while remaining powered off the entire time (powering on and off the device consumes battery life), we want to investigate what's causing this. It may be that the device is defective in which case a replacement may be the only solution however we would like to investigate these reports first.

0 Geostant over 3 years ago in reply to Garmin-Andrew

The unit been bought in the US (amazon)
but I'm now outside of the US.

I've reached the local Garmin represent (Ronlight) and they refused to help (the above issue been updated with that finding)

0 Garmin-Andrew over 3 years ago in reply to Geostant

Geostant, I'm really sorry to hear this. I have sent you a PM to help you with this as I'll need to confirm information about your inReach account.

0 5649107 over 3 years ago in reply to Garmin-Andrew

Hello, my inReach mini (I have two) batteries drain rapidly when powered off. I only have the devices for emergencies, so they are never powered on except during regular firmware updates. they are useless though if I cannot rely on being able to power them in emergencies. As it stands, I have to add to my to-do list to recharge them every week or so. If this cannot be fixed, this purchase seems to be a waste of money, as is my 30/month is subscription fees.

0 Geostant over 3 years ago in reply to 5649107

Unfortunately Garmin's support disappeared

they been in touch for a few emails, asking me to sort it out with the local dealer
which refused as I didn't purchased it from him but rather directly from Garmin US
and since then it's a radio silence here.

My use case is similar to yours - keep it off and ready for emergencies if and when.

0 8970212 over 3 years ago

I am having the same problem. My screen backlight blinks about every 2 seconds until the battery goes dead overnight. I bought it new from West Marine a few weeks ago. It is updated. This is rediculous. Im sure that I will have to pay shipping and wait for far too long to get this handled.

0 Garmin-Andrew over 3 years ago in reply to 8970212

Have you tried doing a factory reset on the inReach Mini at this point? If you haven't please try with steps in this article: Full Reset of the inReach Mini

If the backlight is still blinking on and off, please reply to the PM I have sent you and I can help you with this.