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More secure watch band pins / springbars (lost both original ones in 12h, F6 Pro)?

KrapfenKringel
over 5 years ago

I use an elastic watch band, the downside is that this band can hold onto the spring mechanism and compress the watchband-pin so it opens.

I used this watch band for a half a year and it never happened, but it happend twice in one day now, first while carrying some stuff where I had to push my hand inside a sort of tube and it opened the lower pin.

Then later in the night it opened up the top pin while pulling my hand away from under the pillow. My first thought was, ok the non original replacement pin sucks (the lower one was lost during the accident earlier), but it was the other one that opened up, the remaining original Garmin one.

So what alternatives are there? A pin that needs more force or even a tool to move the spring, a pin that is smooth and give no attack points for a elastic band to hold on and pull it open (Garmin one is really easy to grip).

Has Garmin used these pins before? Its odd that both failed within 12h, maybe the springs lost tension somehow, did Garmin do tests? I noticed my old F5 has fixed pins.

Edit / Conclusion: 
- quick fit bands are probably fine
- elastic bands (like Nick Mankeys) can catch them-self in the grooves meant to release the spring-bars and pop them out if stretched in an unlucky angle
- replacement spring bars arrived, they show the same tension as the old one I got left, so I guess it was just bad luck having them pop out in such a narrow time-frame suddenly

- the F6 uses a very uncommon large pivot diameter (that's the term for the end of the bar that fits into the watch), so there aren't probably any alternatives to use
- on diving watches it seems to be common to replace spring-bars every 6 month (again quick-fit user should be fine as the quick-fit mechanism covers/protects the spring-bar releases)
- Garmin customer support has replacements to send out, but not all support employees know about this and my say "not we can't help", try again with a different one

- for elastic bands you might want to check if you could fit a tube over the spring-bar or use nail-polish to glue them semi-permanent and smooth out the grooves a bit with it

  • 0 over 5 years ago in reply to Crispin_Ellisdon

    Ok 1,8 diameter at the end sounds good, now if only the ends would be flat/smooth so the elastic band couldn't hold on, but they look like the original ones.

  • 0 over 5 years ago in reply to Odie21
    Odie21 said:

    Spring Bar, 2.3mm OD, 22mm

    Spring Bar, 2.3mm OD, 26mm

    Don’t try to buy outside bars, they will not be secure. The above is the official name of the Garmin bars and this is the product number of the 22mm bars: S00-01356-00

    Get them from Garmin or you may lose your watch.

  • 0 over 5 years ago in reply to Odie21

    As mentioned in this thread the Garmin design is bad with elastic bands.

    Obviously Garmin is going to send me a replacement and maybe the springs are weak somehow in the ones that came with my watch. But I asked for some better alternatives.

    And if you read my request, I already lost my watch with the original ones.

  • 0 over 5 years ago in reply to KrapfenKringel

    I’d venture to say that you’re using a Nick Mankey strap. I have the same band for my F6 and the only way those pins would pop out is if you had the band too tight. The pins are very strong and the strap is very flexible if worn properly.

  • 0 over 5 years ago in reply to KrapfenKringel
    KrapfenKringel said:
    As mentioned in this thread the Garmin design is bad with elastic bands.

    Wrong way round. The 3rd party elastic bands are poorly designed to work with Garmin pins. 

    I see nothing 'obvious' about Garmin sending you replacement pins. I see good customer service from a company helping you with a problem of your making.

    And why not have a chat with a local jeweller about replacement pins?

  • 0 over 5 years ago in reply to Odie21

    If your working or pulling out your hand from somewhere it gets overstretched, thats just logical, still nothing to do with the question, it wouldn't happen with a smooth alternative springbar the band can't get a hold on.

    An no my pins are not strong, someone mentioned its hard on their fingernails to open, mine are easy to compress.

  • 0 over 5 years ago in reply to 4543228

    Well 22mm is good, do you have a link? I tried Google but obviously with bad keywords. 

  • 0 over 5 years ago in reply to KrapfenKringel

    Whether you choose to listen to me or not, you CAN’T use normal Spring Bars other than Garmin’s (not sure about the Seiko Fat bars as they’re at work and I’m at home).

    I’d like to bring your attention to this picture where it compares 22mm Garmin bars vs standard spring bars:

    Notice the ends? That’s the issue, it’s also an issue if you’re trying to fit the QD strap over it because there’s still a gap between the QD lever and the end of the band.

    Now, I took off my stock bar and tried a basic bar and you can see the gap between the end of the bar and the hole:



    This is the last post I’ll be posting here in this topic. I’ve said what I had to say.

    Over and out!

  • Former Member
    0 Former Member over 5 years ago

    The challenge here is to find spring bars, where the end tip is 1.8 mm. Classical warches have a lug hole that is typically from 0.8 to 1.2 mm. And you do not want to have a spring bar, with an end tip that is too small. This will allow dirt to gather in the hole, and slowly, but surely, grind the lug hole bigger. This is a typical problem on old gold watches. You want a perfectly tight fit, for security.

    Secondly, you do not want shoulders on the spring bar if you are going to use a Nato strap or any type of flexible strap that runs through/under the watch. This is a known problem, and quite a few ppl have been made aware of this during the recent years, when Nato straps came into fashion. There is a good reason for military issued watches to have a solid lug pin.

    You can use a tube, like on the Marq models, or for watches that have a drilled through lug hole. On those you can also use a spring bar without shoulders as long as it is matching the lug size of the watch.

    It is quite obvious from the picture that posted, that Garmin have quite massive spring bars. And possibly unique. This said, plenty of manufacturers do produce standard watches, with spring bars with shoulders, and on a Nato strap. These are quite popular, and three of four of my daughters have them. But it is not a smart construction.

    Anyway, Garmin should supply spring bars as spare parts. If you use your watch regularly in salt water, the should be replaced regularly. Just like on a diver's watch.

  • 0 over 5 years ago in reply to Former Member
    The challenge here is to find spring bars, where the end tip is 1.8 mm

    The ones I previously posted a link to on Amazon UK have 1.8mm dia ends.  The issue is they may be too big in the middle with 2.5mm dia, rather than the Garmin 2.3mm. So that could potentially be an issue with QuickFit bands; although my F6X 26mm QuickFit bands slot fine on and off my Fenix 3 with the wide diameter torx screw end bars (so I suspect 2.5mm dia would be OK).  I don't think the Garmin pins are 'non standard', so as @philipshambrook previously mentioned, if you need replacements it may be worth having a chat to a good jeweller.  As to whether you can get these larger diameter pins without the double shoulders at each end, again a good jeweller may be able to find out.