Garmin Fenix 6x sapphire problems

tallo1977 over 2 years ago

Hi,

Few days ago, start/stop button is not responding, it is not stuck, it does click, but nothing happen, followed by total random behavior, not it is useless.

I pressed 20 s light/power and it does power off, when pressed again, power on, triangle appears in the screen, but it does take too long to get out of it if at all. Do you have some kind of PC tool for diagnostics??

I Have old Fenix 2, 3-hr and swim2 which are still working, bit obsolete some of them, but functional, this one is dead.

It is just out of warranty, 2 years and 5 month, is that the expected life for a Fenix device?

I tried to contact online support, but no replay that seems to be a dead end (already 3 days ago), local support they told me to pay for a new one.

On top of the 848 euros, retail price, now add 165 for a replacement. I might be unlucky, but for sure I am not happy

0 eezytiger over 2 years ago

If you have run out of options and it is basically junk then, if you can connect it to a PC and see the folders and files, you could try deleting every visible file and folder that you can. A few will resist, but just ignore those and delete everything that will go.

Then disconnect the watch and reboot. It should rebuild the folders and files it needs to get going again. Maps will be missing and will need to be downloaded again, but this process might just bring your watch back to life. It's a bit like factory reset, but with more aggressive removal of any potentially faulty files. It has been known to fix random battery drain problems for some.

0 tallo1977 over 2 years ago in reply to eezytiger

Thank you , but i cannot connect via USB. My windows machine does not seem to see it anymore

0 tallo1977 over 2 years ago

Well it seems i am not the only one having problem with start/stop bottom, found following thread in your forum

Start/stop button behaviour - fēnix 6 series - Wearables - Garmin Forums

even when claiming lots of quality checks

0 PaulDN81 over 2 years ago

Considering the odd behavior I'd suggest giving a factory reset a try if you haven't done so. Go to Menu>System>Reset>Delete Data and Reset Settings. If you can't get this to work there is a different way. Power the watch off and then hold down the start and lap buttons while you power it on. Keep them both held down until you hear the first beep and then release the start button. When you hear the second beep release the lap button.

If this doesn't fix it unfortunately it may be a hardware failure and replacement is the only option. If you've only tried to contact support online try giving them a call. I know for US support you get much faster help by calling vs other methods but I can't say if that's true in other countries. They may be willing to replace it outside of warranty, that happens sometimes, though that may be more common in the US (we also have a shorter warranty period than in the EU).

0 tallo1977 over 2 years ago in reply to PaulDN81

Thank you for the suggestion. done soft and hard reset on the device., I do not have access to the device via usb.

+1 Garmin - Chris over 2 years ago

I am sorry your button has failed. Please reach out to Outdoor Product Support to exchange your watch.

0 tallo1977 over 2 years ago in reply to Garmin - Chris

Hi,

Follow up on my Fenix 6x sapphire problems

Watch came back to live after few days turned OFF and several resets and deletion of files via usb, for almost a week, and I was very happy, but I noticed that when temperature raised above 30C bottom stop working again, in Europe we are having a heat wave after another. I managed to power it off, but it is stuck forever in triangle logo from Garmin when powering it ON again. I checked manual and it is rated as 45C storage. Well, I am pretty sure it was not that high.

I understand warranty on the battery is limited, it is very user behavior dependent, but button/s stop working? this one of those things that cannot happen. I might be wrong, it seems when temperature raise, it does not work properly so, ambient temperature problem??, I need to understand what I did wrong if anything not to repeat it again. It seems I must spend another 200 euros on a refurbished device.

In the process the sensing of floors stops working properly, something I noticed happened to Garmin 3hr, but it is not very relevant.

Regards.

0 Garmin - Chris over 2 years ago in reply to tallo1977

Unless you are putting your watch somewhere like the dash of your car in bright sunlight, it is near impossible to exceed the heat threshold. If your phone is acting strange due to an ambient temperature that is within the operating specifications. then it will need to be exchanged with Product Support. I am sorry.

0 tallo1977 over 2 years ago in reply to Garmin - Chris

Hi,

For anyone that might be interested in a Fenix 6x, it is an incredible piece of engineering, software wise not that incredible. Some of the solution I was told, sounds like something that should be implemented in software, like folder/files flash corruption/integrity, check if button press too many times, etc. I have read some threads in Garmin’ forum, and it does not seem to be something new well point of improvements.

Sports wise, it does have everything I need and a lot more.

The only solution I am given is to pay for a “refurbished one”, I will pay it otherwise I would not have a watch anymore, but for sure something to consider when spending that amount of money for only 2 years and 5 months.