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Altimeter and barometer wildly inaccurate

Ravman
over 3 years ago

The altimeter and barometer readings on my Fenix 6X Pro are suddenly wildly inaccurate. The altimeter fluctuates from subterranean (e.g. -147m) to stratospheric (e.g.12,539m) - I'm at 30m above sea level. Even with calibration manually or via DEM/GPS at the start of an activity or during the day, the elevation changes rapidly.

I take exceptional care of my watch and clean it regularly after use (warm soapy water) to ensure buttons and sensors are clear of oils and debris. I've reset the watch to factory settings - no difference made, and upgraded to v20.5, still no improvement.

Any ideas?, because I'm stumped.

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  • 0 over 3 years ago

    sounds like the sensor has gone bad, I wonder if some of the warm soapy water got into the watch internals.

  • 0 over 3 years ago

    If liquid has got into the watch internals then you've got bigger problems than a defective barometer.

    Contact Garmin Support. 

  • 0 over 3 years ago in reply to Dr Phil

    Thanks people. I contacted Garmin support and ran some diagnostics over the phone.  I didn't know this feature existed - to access turn watch off, then press the down button and press the power button once without letting go of the down button. The watch then opens in a test/diagnostic mode...interesting

  • 0 over 3 years ago in reply to Ravman

    I do have the same issue recently. Did you get any useful information from support team?

  • 0 over 3 years ago

    There was an update of the altimeter calibration algorithm across all newer Garmin watches. The forums are full of it - it's a shambles for many.

    Your best bet is to downdate, which however means losing all non-saved data. I have an Instinct Solar, and going back from 16.50 to 16.00 worked for me.

    It is probably not a hardware fault, or a clogged altimeter port.

  • 0 over 3 years ago

    Console yourself that even FR945 (HW and Sw similar to Fenix6) has a bad altimeter after the latest updates, it is useless to call the support that both suggests only factory resets or replacements with reconditioned watches (if the problem is established SW what sense does it make? Mah ). I live with it now, only they will give us the solution if they ever find it with a new update

  • 0 over 3 years ago in reply to Luca

    From the description of the issue, it does not  sound like it has to do with the new altimeter software in latest firmwares. New Firmware show a higher rate of drift, but nothing anywhere near +- 12000 meters as described by OP.

  • 0 over 3 years ago
    Ravman said:
    ubterranean (e.g. -147m) to stratospheric (e.g.12,539m)

    This is a defective barometer. Hope it's still within warranty.

  • 0 over 3 years ago

    I'm 100% positive that the recent issue on mine is software related not hardware.  I used to have fairly stable elevation data throughout the day when I'm in my home office. It would seem to respond well in holding altitude reasonably steady while responding properly to changing barometric pressure. But recently it goes way off while sitting at home and the watch can't seem to figure out if pressure changes are related to changing barometric pressure or altitude.  The altitude isn't changing because I'm just sitting in my home office so it has to be pressure and the watch should know this.  I normally kept the watch set for "auto calibration on" and "sensor mode in auto."  

    Today I ran a test and turned off auto calibration and set the sensor mode to "barometer only".  Altitude is holding rock solid steady (as it should) and the barometer is responding perfectly throughout the day to barometric pressure changes  as compared to the airport 10 miles and same elevation as my home office.  

    Garmin Altimeter software is clearly the problem not the hardware! I guess it means another call to customer support and getting their BS standard non-helpful answers. I really get tired of Garmin standard answer "it must be the hardware, you're still under warranty so we will send you another"... even though it won't fix the issue. 

  • 0 over 3 years ago in reply to Andy_ROC
    Andy_ROC said:
    Garmin Altimeter software is clearly the problem not the hardware! I guess it means another call to customer support and getting their BS standard non-helpful answers. I really get tired of Garmin standard answer "it must be the hardware, you're still under warranty so we will send you another"... even though it won't fix the issue. 

    I agree with every word. It is hard to realise how Garmin can't focus on problems like these, taking perhaps two really capable developers and getting the algorithm working like it did before on all their current watches.

    Instead, this binds dozens of people around the world, people in tech support, on hotlines, in the chat, supervising the forums, people sending out new watches and processing the returns. So it costs so much more money. Where is the logic? The system is broken.

    Garmin are conscious that they have gone somewhat off the rails, but I'm not sure they realise the impact this can have in just a few years. I am always reminded of Nokia and Boeing.

    This is a current job ad of theirs: lensa.com/.../0af5f4a96e6fab62b28000702648232b