Anyone have their Fenix work for water activies?

I've been open water swimming with an F7 since I got it a couple of years back and not having a problems. Similarly, I have an Instinct 2X that's been in the sea frequently throughout the year.

There appears to be some sort of manufacturing issue with some watches that might or might not be related to water activities. From my experience the watches are waterproof and work. Clearly others are having different experiences. 

Contact Garmin Support. Apparently they've been good at arranging replacements.

sandiegosteve said:

I tried an Instinct 2, but that only lasted 3 weeks

I use Instinct 2 since 2 years, swimming, snorkeling, freediving, even scuba-diving in the sea with it all the time, and have no problems. Of course, if you neglect the rinsing after each use, the salt will create a hard to remove deposit in the slits around the buttons, and they will start to fail. I usually drop the watch into lukewarm fresh water for some 10-20 minutes after each sea session, and rinse it properly after each sweaty activity too.

Same here (altimeter problem after swimming). I consider that an exception, it appears more common than it is. People who experience problems like this are more likely to post here than people who don't.

If there is warranty on the watch I would say, try it out surfing and swimming as soon as possible, no problem getting it replaced for free.

But if you have never used your watch in water and it has no warranty anymore, maybe not take the chance. Replacement policies differ per country so you can't always count on getting a free replacement.

Warranty process is always a hassle not mention you won’t get a new watch …

Thanks. I've talked to a few people with the older F5 and they said they were bomb proof. Maybe this is just a QA problem. 

24 hours later and after trying the "soak trick", the button is a little more responsive. The worst part is that there are phantom presses every minute or so. I keep it locked and that makes the backlight come on with a vibration. 

It is getting harder to reproduce which is great, but support wants a video. So, if this happens to you get a video right away.

Hello.

I'm in France. I bought my watch at FNAC. Fortunetly for me, it's a famous reseller. Garmin French support is a disaster (nobody answers over the phone or responds to emails...).

I had the same issue after several sessions of SUP, swim in the sea. It was like I pushed on back button every seconds. Light button worked randomly.

FNAC sent back my watch to Garmin support. Garmin tested my watch and changed it.

I would never buy a watch directly from the Garmin or Amazon (that refers to Garmin support) websites.

I just wonder, do you rinse the watch well after each sea session? If you don't, then don't be surprised you have stuck buttons. Every diver knows that he always must rinse his diving computer in fresh water immediately after each dive, before it dries, otherwise it will not live long. And regardless of the brand of the device. They have buckets with fresh water on the boat for that purpose, in order not to wait too long (till you come home) with the rinsing.

So if you let the watch dry after a dip in the sea, don't be surprised your watch misbehaves.

I am a whitewater kayaker, I have always worn my garmins when on the paddling. I never had issues. Of course, if you submerge the watch the pressure sensor could get flooded show wrong altitude, just blow the water out of the tiny holes of the sensor.....