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Cold water crash

CyberMonke

My Fenix 8 AMOLED 47mm consistently crashes when the water temperature drops below 8°C.

This is a significant issue where I live, as the water temperature often falls below that.

Interestingly, after a crash due to the temperature drop, the watch can usually reboot and function properly, even if the displayed temperature is below 8°C.

In Europe, dive instruments must be tested down to 0°C to be on the market, so I find it surprising for a watch advertised to operate in negative temperatures to have this problem.

I've noticed other users reporting the same issue on Reddit.

I'm wondering if this is a software safety feature that might be resolved in an update, or if I should consider sending the watch back.

It seems the watch can operate in low temperatures, but the sudden temperature drop when entering the water causes it to crash consistently.

  • 0 in reply to Ɛpsilon

    I just tested my F8: it reliably crashes in water temps below 8°C after being exposed to cold for about a minute. It appears that it's the inductive buttons indeed, erroneously starting to register long press. Mine first catches "options" long press (Up button), that's soon followed by Light, which effectively performs 15 sec soft reset.

    Interestingly enough, Descent Mk3i that also has inductive buttons doesn't display this behavior. Nor does a plastic, much less rugged Forerunner 965, which lacks the inductive buttons. 

    FreezeGate! Rolling eyes

    Update: F8 spent about 40-50 minutes in the freezer. I figured I'd keep it there to see how it would deal with cold air that doesn't transfer heat as efficiently. I'm glad to report the watch survived extreme (air) cold just fine. But for divers and open water swimmers, this is hardly a consolation.

  • 0 in reply to nickk

    For the sake of problem solving, have you tried calibrating the buttons (if you think this is a button problem)? Ask for the key calibration file from Garmin, if you haven’t.

  • 0 in reply to Odie21

    I haven't tried that, but wouldn't I lose warranty if I try that on my own (if it fails)?

  • 0 in reply to Odie21

    Empty file should suffice, see forums.garmin.com/.../1829937

  • 0 in reply to Odie21

    I'd imagine that a dive rated watch that costs $1100 shouldn't display issues such as this one. Nor should the user try calibrating anything. It's bad enough we are effectively beta testers for Garmin's new Fenix firmware given the amount of issues on software side of things.

  • 0 in reply to CyberMonke

    Otherwise...

    Sorry for my sense of humour...

  • 0 in reply to Odie21

    I tried calibrating the buttons. It does not help with the cold water issue!!

  • 0 in reply to CyberMonke
    CyberMonke said:
    I tried calibrating the buttons. It does not help with the cold water issue!!

    Did you calibrate them while cold?

  • 0 in reply to trux

    No, I guess I could try that, but it's more difficult to do. I need a place to connect my watch to my computer where it's 8c or below...

  • 0 in reply to CyberMonke

    I think he meant to activate the calibration mode, place the watch in a sink with cold water and then follow the calibration steps... for the purpose of being product tester in the unpaid service of Garmin okay.

    But I also think that

    nickk said:
    I'd imagine that a dive rated watch that costs $1100 shouldn't display issues such as this one. Nor should the user try calibrating anything.

    or maybe on a supermoon night, while doing a one-armed handstand, juggling three unicorns with the other hand and one foot, you can try to calibrate using the other foot