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Compass inaccuracy/drifting

talsela
over 2 years ago

My Fenix 7 Sapphire Solar suffers from the frozen compass syndrome (see this thread), but it seems to also suffer from large inaccuracies even when it's not frozen. I'm wondering if anyone else is having these issues before I consider asking to replace my unit.

For every one of these tests I restarted the watch and completed a successful compass calibration:

  1. Point in one direction aligned with my desk (see image) and note the heading. Move away, wiggle my hand a bit, move it around and place it in the same position again. Here are is a series of readings from repeating this process: 119°, 124°, 129°, 131°, 126°, 119°, 113°, 89°, 113°, 118°...
  2. Compare this position with the opposite one (back and forth), again using the desk for alignment: 121° -> 292° [+171°] ->126° [-166°] -> 277° [+151°] -> 125° [-152°] -> 280° [+155°] -> 125° [-155°] ->287° [+162°] -> 122° [-165°] -> 296° [+174°]...
  3. Used a 90° creased paper for alignment and took photos of 4 perpendicular positions moving 90° each clock-wise each time (see images): 307° -> 030° [+83°] -> 105° [+75°] -> 195° [+90°] ( -> 307° [+112°])
  4. Tried to do the same thing with the watch off my wrist and laid flat on the paper, but as soon as I take it off, the watch goes into freeze mode again: 115° -> 153° [+38°] -> 108° [-45°] -> 075° [-33°]...

Is anyone seeing similar behavior?

-> -> ->

  • 0 over 2 years ago

    You should reach out to Garmin Support as they said this is not normal behavior.

    I experience the same kind of compass drift with my Tactix Delta (way past warranty), so I tend to just toss a mechanical compass in the backpack if I go hiking. It's disheartening for such an expensive line of watch.

  • 0 over 2 years ago in reply to Chezet

    Thanks!

    The reason I posted was to see if other people with the compass freezing (communicated by Garmin to be a software issue) have this drifting and inaccuracies with their compass in the hope that the two are connected and I won't have to exchange my device. If on the other hand some experiencing the freezing bug say they've tested and their compass doesn't drift when working - I'll know my unit is defective.

  • 0 over 2 years ago

    When I compare the magnetic north on my fenix 7 sapphire solar compass it is about 10* out from my compass.

    I have the watch compass calibrated twice and still there is an error.
    The error is large enough to make it dangerous if used in mountain navigation.
    Firmware is the latest 8.37
    Not sure what to do??

  • 0 over 2 years ago

    I have this issue as well 

    the solution is going through the calibration process 

    and same time it takes a few seconds some time doesn’t work at all

    if you need a quick reading you can be quickly nervous 

    my old f6 never suffered of this problem 

    I hope Garmin will fix it because using the compass it’s time consuming operation 

  • 0 over 2 years ago in reply to 8456203
    tralphs said:
    When I compare the magnetic north on my fenix 7 sapphire solar compass it is about 10* out from my compass.

    Is your Fenix compass consistent though, or do you see the drift I described above?

    8456203 said:
    the solution is going through the calibration process 

    I'm having this issue after calibration. Are you saying that after a calibration your compass works flawlessly without the issues I described above?

  • 0 over 2 years ago in reply to talsela

    you are correct it is not totally consistant with 90* between the NESW azimuths. There is an error by 10* with east 90* but all the others line up.
    I found that I set the compass mode to magnetometer and not gps or auto it helped to make it more accurate.
    Not ideal but it seems important to know the level of inaccuracy of the compass feature. It should be 100% accurate and reliable in such a watch.

  • 0 over 2 years ago in reply to tralphs

    So slight inconsistency, but if you move around, you still get the same headings? You're not experiencing what I described in #1? #2?

  • 0 over 2 years ago in reply to talsela

    The bearing is a bit unstable when walking on a bearing,  +-5*, which surprised me as it is not as good as using an analogue compass. No big deviations (+-5*)  like you illustrate but it does flicker from side to side. 

    I would have expected better. Even my compass app on my phone works better.

    I have calibrated it and am using magnetic compass not GPS.or auto 

  • 0 over 2 years ago in reply to tralphs

    Doesn't sound like it's the same as what I'm experiencing. If no one else is having this, maybe I did in fact get the one-off faulty device?

  • 0 over 2 years ago in reply to talsela

    I have the same issue (fenix 7s). If I do a 90 or 180-degree rotation, the reading doesn't change by 90 or 180 degrees, it's always a lower number.

    I've tried with all modes (magnetometer/GPS/auto) and although it's not exactly the same it's always a problem. Calibration has not fixed it for me.

    I've tried at different locations and compared to a fenix 6s and a forerunner 255s, and only the 7s had this problem.

    I reported it to garmin and they said it's a software issue and that it will be fixed one day (no idea when) but they claim it's not a hardware issue.