This discussion has been locked.
You can no longer post new replies to this discussion. If you have a question you can start a new discussion

Fenix 5 : Oxidation of loading pods

Dear Community,

After using my Forerunner 235 for a long time, I bought a fenix 5 in April 2019. After two months of use, the watch was no longer charging because the charging pads on the watch were completely oxidized.
I sent the watch to after-sales service for repair (via decathlon), and Garmin returned a new product 15 days later, without explaining the reason.
After two months of use, the same problem occurs again.
I appreciate the product and the associated application, but I am terribly disappointed with the quality of the supposedly top-of-the-range product...
So I asked for a refund from the seller and now hesitate to move to another brand, and spread this information on social networks.
It is not acceptable to have such an expensive product with repetitive dysfunctions....
What would be your advice?

Thanks all in advance.

  • First, this is the wrong forum; this is for the Forerunner 945.  There's a seperate "Outdoor" category of forums, where you'll find the Fenix 5 forum.  That said, I'm familiar with your issue; it's a known issue with earlier builds of Fenix 5 specifically (the Fenix 5 plus and later builds rectify this problem).  Garmin changed the type of metal used in the pins, so they no longer oxidize.  If you send it back again, hopefully they will get you a newer build.  

    That said, are you careful to rinse the watch in water and dry it off after every workout?  I've been doing that with Garmin watches for years and never had an issue with pins corroding, or skin rashes as others report.  Makes sense, really...  all that salt from your sweat is horrible for not just causing rashes (it's like having sandpaper in between your watch and skin), but also bad for the metal charging port.  They do make little third party port covers that you can put on, but I've never found them necessary as long as I'm careful to rinse and dry the watch after each workout.  

    Good luck!

  • Hello,

    You can buy a small part to protect the loading pods. Look for on Amazon for example.

    Bye

  • Get a Deoxit Pen. Has worked well for many years. I use it on my Fenix 5X. At times I will get connection issues. Sometimes just turning over the connector works and sometimes buffing the connection with a terry towel. 

  • Hello,

    Thank you all for your advice and answers.
    Don't you think it's outrageous to have to tinker with a watch at this price, supposedly in the high-end category, and see a deterioration in less than two months, twice ?

  • If you ever charge the watch when it’s wet, it will oxidize. It’s not outrageous, it’s chemistry basics.

  • As the other poster said, hopefully you're not charging it when it's still wet - because yes, that will definitely cause issues.  That said, there was a known defect with a batch of Fenix 5 watches, that's well documented in this forum.  Any recent Fenix will have updated pins to a different metal less prone to oxidation.  

  • I have also had the same issue more than once unfortunately.

    As others mentioned, if the watch is wet while charging you can have this happen. At the same time, there is a design issue in my opinion where the pins are made of (I think?) stainless steel and there is also a voltage present on pin 2 at all times. In the presence of an electrolyte such as sweat you essentially have the ingredients for corrosion. I just took my watch off and measured the pin 2 with an oscilloscope and included a couple of screenshots to back up this claim.