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Altimeter and Barometer not working correctly?

Hey everyone,

MARQ Expedition was working fine at 5300 altitude before a beach vacation. Upon arriving the barometer stopped working and the altimeter puts the watch around -27,000,000 feet.

I can calibrate it fine, but it will quickly change back. And gradually. A soft reset or power on/off and it comes in at -400 then steadily drops. When i do an exercise it’ll put me closer to -1600 feet.

Below is a photo next to Vivoactive 3, which is accurately tracking altimeter. Ideas? Thanks!




  • Thanks for the quick reply.

    I’ve followed these steps. Altimeter is still reading low levels. At sea level it was -27,000,000, I’m now supposed to be at ~800 now and it’s showing 200, which is an improvement but still quite off.

    Thoughts?

  • Thoughts?

    Work through the various restart options - power cycle, long press top right, reset and reinstall and/or contact Garmin Support.

    While it's nothing I've experienced with Garmin watches over the years there are sufficient reports of people having barometer issues that might be due to hardware,

  • Thanks. I’ll update the thread with any new information.

  • Have you been able to solve the problem? Or do you need to send the watch to Garmin?

  • I have not yet reached out to Garmin as I’ve been traveling. However, when I went back to 5300 altitude, everything magically began working normally again. I’m back at sea level, but on the west coast instead of east coast this time and my altitude is reading ~70ft lower but not -27,000,000 so that’s something?

    Are you experiencing any similar issues?

  • That is good news.

    I have not had any problems so far, unless you consider early SW versions that had some algorithmic issues. And as of recently, since 15.20 I’d say that the altimeter is quite good, although I experience a lag on fast descents in alpine skiing, that impacts the altitude curve.

    I clean the watch after every training session, to avoid any dirt build up. And I have noticed that the sensor is impacted, giving wrong data as it is wet. But I have never seen such huge differences as you. 

    Let’a hope it is sorted for you now, and perhaps was some dirt now cleared. 

  • although I experience a lag on fast descents in alpine skiing,

    Can you elaborate on this (or is there a separate threat)?

    Since 16.70 (on my Fenix 6XProSolar my descent values while skydiving massively lack behind the actual altitude. So much that 
    a) on deployment around 1000m the watch still shows 2500m

    b) after landing it sometimes ends up at showing 1300m.

    It worked fine before the SW change.

  • I saw your thread in the Fenix-forum. I do not do sky-diving (although it would be cool to try). What I have observed is that during descents in alpine skiing the altitude curve indicated a lag in actual measurements occasionally. I have this on version 15.20, but have not seen it on 13.10. There was no snow left for me to do downhill skiing when I had 16.60 or 16.70.

    The curve has the same look, as others on the Fenix-forum have observed, where it flattens out (but it shouldn't), followed by a rapid descent. I noticed a couple of sections of some graphs, where my speed indicated that I moved some 70 meters forward, whilst dropping some 100 meters... and I do not do such steep hills...

    The altitude meter catches up fairly quick, and although running the sensor in "auto" mode (not altimeter) it reflects the current altitude really good when I stop and check the watch. For my outdoor sports (roadbike, mtb, running, trail, XC skiing, alpine skiing, hiking/alpine hiking) the altimeter is ok. I do a manual calibration at the start to a known altitude (no DEM, no GPS), and I only use the altimeter sensor during an activity (again no DEM, no GPS). 

    In an earlier SW version I had spikes and jagged curve, but with the exception of the experienced lag during some alpine ski runs, it seems better for my use case now. 

    I will keep an eye on it, but there will be no alpine skiing for me until late this year. I will check out earlier sessions as well to see how the altitude graphs were before 13.10.

  • Thanks for the feedback - I will install the check the new beta next week. Just not sure if I give the current SW one more day of jumping before I swap. In any case I will update in both threads.