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Instinct Solar altimeter, barometer and thermometer issues

Hi, I've been using the Instinct Solar (Camo edition) for a little a over a year now. The watch has been working great for the past, until starting from one day last week the altimeter suddenly showed extreme readings (around -1400 meter, which in normal condition it should be above sea level), and the barometer showed value significantly lower than the sea level pressure (supposed sea level pressure ~1013hPa, the instinct solar showed 826hPa). So the altimeter and barometer contradicts themselves. (Added: The thermometer is also not working as it shows values in 300+ degree Celsius range)

I have tried manual calibration of the system, which it kinda work, but the extreme value will show up whenever I switched to auto calibration. And even if the altitude is correct from obtaining either GPS signal or DEM during auto calibration, the reading from altimeter never changed back to the corrected value after calibration. When I tried to manual calibrate the altimeter, after setting the elevation to sea level, a warning screen showed up stating that the altitude entered is out of bounds to work with auto calibration. I have tried resetting the watch, but the extremely reading is still there, and the value is still around -1400 meter.Stranger still, when I went swimming after this happened, the altimeter returned normal with correct readings for half a day. Then it goes back to produce the extreme readings, and never returns normal.

I'm not sure if it is a hardware or software issue. Is there anyone having the same issue as me? How can I fix this problem?

  • Update:

    Here is two days later, after resetting the watch again, the barometer seems to be working okay now with pressure reading around 1013hPa. The altimeter however, now showed values in -21400m range!

  • hi, i had the same issue. My instinct showed altitude of 20k meters. Called garmin in my country and they confirmed that the barometric sensor is broken. My unit was 11 months after the end of warranty and they said just send us the watch an we will replace it. After 2 weeks I had my new watch. Long story short contact garmin over the phone/emain directly,

  • Great to hear that, I'll try to contact them. Thanks!

  • I've emailed Garmin regarding the issue, they gave me detailed instructions on master resetting the watch and cleaning the sensor, which I've tried multiple times already without resolving the issue. They also refused to replace the unit without charge because my watch has passed the warranty. The watch is functional in most aspect except the barometer, altimeter and thermometer (I didn't check the thermometer previously, but it is now showing values in 320-ish degree Celsius). I've always kept the watch under normal condition specified in the user manual and never exposed it to extreme conditions. I do believe that these issues are caused by faults in hardware or firmware, and are not caused by the user directly. It is just hard to believe that the watch can just suddenly ran into troubles <1.5 year later after purchase.

  • Just finished email conversation with Garmin. 2 years passed thus warranty gone, replacement with charge only.

    Issue symptoms: alt 20000m, temp 295C, barometer 27 millibars.

  • Just notice this on my Instinct also! And also out of warranty. This seems to be a design fault as too many owners are having the exact same issue! Love the watch but will not be buying another Garmin as can't trust that the same issue will not occur on a newer model!

  • how much does it cost for the repair?

  • how much does it cost for the repair?

    Garmin does not repair..

    replacement