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Pins removable or not?

Crewone
over 3 years ago

So I really want an aftermarket hand made leather strap. 

Can I remove the pins? There seems to be some confusion. 

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  • 0 over 2 years ago in reply to gaijin

    It *is* possible to remove them without damaging them, I have done so multiple times after watching this youtube video;

    The trick is to use a sharp blade (e.g. utility knife), to cling-to and drag the inner-cylinder back into the the outer-barrel:

    1. press a sharp blade to the metal of inner-cylinder of the lug (so blade clings to it) as close as possible to cylinder end/tip

    2. remove fingers from outer-barrel of the lug to allow the inner-cylinder of the lug to slide/be-compressed into it as easily as possible 

    3. compress/drag the inner-cylinder of the lug into the outer-barrel of the lug as far as possible

    4. press on the outer-barrel of the lug so as to create friction between it and the inner-cylinder of the lug and thus prevent the inner-cylinder from sliding out when you lift the blade, then lift blade

    5. repeat 1-4 above till lug pops out of its cavity

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cjWNQ_cqiI0

  • 0 over 1 year ago in reply to RxC

    Thank you. I don't know why I didn't find this before I cut one of the pins. I did manage to get the second one out without cutting. Thanks again.

  • 0 over 1 year ago in reply to RxC

    Hi. Does this also work with Epix Pro series, specifically 42mm? I tried doing this and it does not seem as easy or intuitive as shown. 

  • 0 over 1 year ago in reply to gekaram

    Yes

    gekaram said:
    it does not seem as easy or intuitive as shown

    It's not meant to be easy. The pins are not designed to be removed.

  • 0 over 1 year ago in reply to Dr Phil

    Thanks. Here is a better video of someone removing it which I found more helpful. https://youtu.be/8KNPQpFaN04?si=V35gR13RbnfAvS5e. Now, Where do find replacement pins? Garmin USA does not seem to have them anymore, only the pins the same Epix pins without any shoulders.

  • 0 9 months ago

    They are not - I purchased a loop strap from Amazon and it came with 2 thinner springs, at first I put the strap through the epix springs and while they are thick, the 22mm strap did slide through with some effort, so I took the epix to 2 jewelers who tried and advised they can’t remove the springs without breaking them.  If I did that, and put the aftermarket thin springs in, when it came time to sell the watch, the garmin OG band won’t fit on the thinner springs, so I decided to forget it and just life with using a bit of effort to push the loop strap through the thick springs.  There are some YT videos on how to do this - do it at your own risk.  Personally, not gonna risk breaking them or scratching the watch. Like others have said, I think it’s a poor decision Garmin made to restrict this. Users have paid for the watch already , make them happy and allow them to customize their straps. 

  • 0 9 months ago in reply to 7613452

    Yes. There is always a possibility of scratching the watch.  However, if you do break the pins, you can always order spare ones directly from Garmin. They are easily inserted back in since they are still spring loaded — but they were purposely designed not to be removed. Check out the YT videos.

  • 0 9 months ago in reply to 7613452

    There’s no problem customizing the watch using Garmin straps. The issue with the pins comes from wanting to use third party straps. How then is it a fault of Garmin that the straps do not fit. Surely the approach should be to the third party strap makers to make their straps fit? FWIW, I’ve replaced my Garmin straps with 3rd party Velcro straps from Aliexpress without removing the pins. Though tight, the straps go through and continue to work well.