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Charging pins burning holes in my skin

BregtSwim
over 1 year ago

Hi all,

After years of problem-free using my Quatix 5 I upgraded to the Epix Gen 2 Pro. 

This watch charging pins are burning very painful holes in my skin and they leave quite bad scars, very similar to a burn or chemical burn wound.

There is also excessive corrosion around the charge ports. (keep in mind that this watch is 2 weeks old!)

Today I got my hands on a multimeter and found that there 4.3 volts on the two outer pins, and this conducts/grounds to the watch body.

Has anyone seen this before? I measured the voltage on the charging pins of my old quatix 5 and there is no voltage. I had to stop wearing the new Epix as I now have multiple scars and wounds on my wrist.

As I purchased this watch at an airport in another country I am not sure if Garmin will help me locally. Could this be a software bug that can be fixed with an update?

Thanks,

  • 0 over 1 year ago in reply to BregtSwim

    That looks like galvanic corrosion, which is pretty strange for the back of a watch. However, that watch case sure looks like it's an anode, and if there was a potential difference between the charging port and the watch case, which it looks like there is, and you are immersing the whole thing in a moist environment (i.e. a sweaty wrist), those would be the ideal conditions for galvanic corrosion.

    If I had to guess, I would say you might have something with a positive charge inside the watch that is touching the watch back and creating a potential difference between the watch back and the charging port. If that's what it is, that would obviously be a hardware problem.

    How is your battery life?

  • 0 over 1 year ago
    BregtSwim said:
    (keep in mind that this watch is 2 weeks old!)

    I am sorry, but this does not look like a 2 weeks old watch. I am afraid you bought a 2nd hand defective watch. Definitely contact Garmin, but if you do not have a proof of purchase, it may be difficult to apply the warranty. At least they can verify whether the watch is not a counterfeit or a stolen unit - there were already a few such cases reported here on the forum. 

  • 0 over 1 year ago in reply to trux

    Thanks, the watch looked brand new when I purchased it, all this paint came off in the last two weeks. I have proof of purchase from the authorised reseller. 

  • 0 over 1 year ago in reply to Niterider4

    Thank you! Battery life seems normal. Haven't noticed anything special.

  • 0 over 1 year ago
    BregtSwim said:
    Thanks, the watch looked brand new when I purchased it, all this paint came off in the last two weeks. I have proof of purchase from the authorised reseller. 

    In that case you should not have any problems with the warranty in any land, as long as it is not an APAC model. In such case you would probably have to call the APAC central in Taiwan. But try first with your local Support, they will tell you if there is a problem.

  • 0 over 1 year ago in reply to trux

    Thanks much, I will try that. Purchased at Singapore airport so I would guess it is an APAC. 

  • 0 over 1 year ago in reply to BregtSwim

    In that case take it back to the reseller and get your money back. That is not typical of any new Garmin watch ever. 

  • 0 over 1 year ago in reply to Dr Phil

    I wish that was an option but the reseller is an 11-hour flight away from here, and I have no travels plans there.

  • 0 over 1 year ago

    Wow, that looks like it should not happen

    I personally use some of these anyway to help keep moisture out of the port, they are great and should be included by default with the watch.

    www.amazon.de/.../