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Altimeter/barometer not accurate anymore

koval
3 days ago

Hi, 

I am Fenix 7 sapphire solar user since 2022. I am using 21.19 version, but I was involved in the beta program to get the latest updates to everything

Since ~1 month I have been experiencing problems with altimeter. During activities I am getting unreal ascent values, e.g. 1200m instead of ~700m in mountain area (https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/19299381053, just notice that I did a manual recalibration) or 100m instead of ~30m (https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/19312179638). In the past it was working okay, compare: https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/10632607631

On the other hand the altitude gauge is not a flat line when sitting in one place or during sleep, which it used to be before, but fluctuates +/- 30m. Of course I am not moving while I am sleeping. The same applies for pressure but that I could attribute to changing weather conditions. Again - it wasn't working like that before.

The pressure sensor port is clean and not clogged, I even tried dipping it in glass of water for some time - no improvement. I also tried factory reset - no luck.

I was in the contact with support chat but first contact ended with the suggestion that I did a software update with Garmin Express from a PC (rather than OTA) - which I did - actually nothing besides the maps was upgraded.

The second contact with support was much worse, I showed the guy the activities and he said that "everything is perfectly normal" and the wrong altitude readings are due to strong wind. I reminded him, that a friend of mine with another fenix on his wrist was walking with me and he said that it does not matter, because results may vary between devices. I also showed him the long 12-hours activity where the beginning and end altitude difference was no more than dozen meters even given the strong wind during the activity. On the other hand they don't care about the readings of altitude gauge, because this is "due to the fact that I am sitting in office with AC on". So basically what is for me white for him is black. As an "act of good will" they offered me replacement to refurbished one for $300 but reminding me that there will be no guarantee that the problems will disappear because everything is normal with my activities.

Though I am considering accepting the replacement offer, I am not 100% sure that this is a hardware problem (altimeter/barometer works okay but there is some sort of wrong recalibration which breaks everything happing every now and then). Have anyone of you experienced the same problem? Is there a way to downgrade software to try previous versions and see if the problem persists?

I am appreciating the offer of getting "new" watch for price that is not too bad, but is it a "normal" Garmin's support policy that they are trying to tell their truly devoted users that what they are seeing is not what they are seeing and trying to make me look like an idiot?

Top Replies

  • 1 day ago in reply to Erik T7 +1
    Erik T7 said:
    This is a very good one concering the hardware aspect of baro sensor problems. This is a way to handle the design related flaws of the sensor.

    Coros Vertix has the sensor opening at the 9…

All Replies

  • 0 3 days ago

    I've not seen any problem with my F7S Pro Solar but I'll pay special attention and check for any perceived altitude changes overnight. 

  • 0 2 days ago

    It is not accurate for me when there is some wind and no solution to correct this.

  • 0 2 days ago

    I can confirm that this is not a hardware problem.

    How would I know? I got myself another device b/o I'm still on 15.77 with my everyday T7pro and wanted to know whether or not it would make sense to upgrade w/o going through the trouble of downgrading later b/o of problems especially since CIQ is no longer fully available to me with 15.77. This being the only reason I'd wish I could indeed upgrade - I like(d) CIQ faces, apps & data fields. 

    What did I do? I had the 2nd device with 15.77 running and compared it to my main unit with 15.77 to exclude hardware differences. Both devices worked almost identically. I wore both of them - one to the left and one to the right, properly setting to either left or right hand wearing and of course I swapped the devices between left and right (with adjusting the setting). And I made a public fool of myself in doing so that I can tell you - how would one wear to identical smart watches.? ;-) Then I upgraded the 2nd system and factory reset it for good measure. After that the real testing phase started.

    I'll give a full report of the testings when I'm done with it. Spoiler: NO WAY I'm going to upgrade to 21.19. More on this later. About the only problem mentioned in the forum here with 21.19 I didn't observe was a battery problem - so far it may be even a little bit better than with 15.77 but it's to early to tell THAT for sure, the "big" ones do have a lot of days in their belly and I'm still in the first cycle with both units.

    And one of the problems I detected the very first night (and every night after to a greater or lesser extend) was the problem you described above. Also during the day the device on 21.19 was always more off than the one on 15.77. While DEM is working on 21.19 (I'm never connected to a phone) It didn't matter whether I used DEM or if I calibrated manually - the outcome was always as you described with the unit on 21.19.

    So a hardware replacement will imho not resove your problem. You could downgrade but than you'll lose almost all of CIQ and also you'd have to factory reset.

  • 0 2 days ago in reply to 505184991

    I never expected to be 100% accurate in hard conditions but the problem is that was accurate enough before and is not reliable anymore (please see attached activities)

  • 0 2 days ago in reply to Erik T7

    Thank you for your opinions. I’ve sent my watch to someone to see if I cleaned the port correctly, once it isdone I will try downgrading the software 

  • 0 2 days ago

    Trail runner here, I've concluded that if your watch isn't suffering from a barometer defect, sensor port is clean, the problem is more than likely caused by moisture (sweat, rain or both) and wind entering the barometer opening – and also which hand your watch is on (almost always with the left hand). The solution we have found to be most effective and accepted by everyone in our running group is wrapping a Buff before the sensor, eliminating sweat, light rain and wind. Since adopting this habit our elevation gain differences are within the 5m - 20m range whereas before we've seen huge differnces. I have a training buddy who wears his Epix Pro on his right hand and doesn't have a Buff on, we finished the same trail distance with our elev gain difference of just 5m.  

  • 0 2 days ago in reply to jan.shim

    As I mentioned before - I am okay with the watch not getting 100% accurate results due to rain/sweat/wind (+/- 20m on short distance, even 100m on long distance would be okay) but what I am saying is that the accuracy has dropped recently making it virtually not usable (1200m instead of 700m ascent on 6km hike?!). Besides, when I am on bike I have my watch attached to the handlebars, so no sweat problem should appear there. Plus the problem with the drift on the altitude/pressure chart.

  • 0 1 day ago in reply to jan.shim
    jan.shim said:
    The solution we have found to be most effective and accepted by everyone in our running group is wrapping a Buff before the sensor,

    This is a very good one concering the hardware aspect of baro sensor problems. This is a way to handle the design related flaws of the sensor.

    Still there seems to be an additional problem with 21.19 since I didn't took out the test system under more serious conditions so far (of course I will in the next test phase) and had the afore mentioned effect immediately the first night on 21.19 when the unit didn't show a behavior like this while on 15.77 and the main system on 15.77 still doesn't.  

  • 0 1 day ago in reply to Erik T7
    Erik T7 said:
    This is a very good one concering the hardware aspect of baro sensor problems. This is a way to handle the design related flaws of the sensor.

    Coros Vertix has the sensor opening at the 9 o'clock position so wearing it on the left wrist is fine. I've made countless suggestions to Garmin via X and email that they should seriously consider relocating the sensor opening to maybe 6 o'clock to overcome what is a well known (to everyone but themselves) design flaw. Before I switched to using a BUFF I first discovered that wearing gloves prevented sweat from coming in contact with the sensor, I finished a 50K ultra with an elevation gain reading that's super close to the organiser's published data. I had gloves on because I was using poles throughout the event.

  • 0 1 day ago in reply to Erik T7
    Erik T7 said:
    This is a very good one concering the hardware aspect of baro sensor problems. This is a way to handle the design related flaws of the sensor.

    Coros Vertix has the sensor opening at the 9 o'clock position so wearing it on the left wrist is fine. I've made countless suggestions to Garmin via X and email that they should seriously consider relocating the sensor opening to maybe 6 o'clock to overcome what is a well known (to everyone but themselves) design flaw. Before I switched to using a BUFF I first discovered that wearing gloves prevented sweat from coming in contact with the sensor, I finished a 50K ultra with an elevation gain reading that's super close to the organiser's published data. I had gloves on because I was using poles throughout the event.