My second Garmin Instinct 2 Solar is crashing after 1 years of use - Help?

Hi there, I've looked on the Support Centre but can only see prescribed support questions, last time I wanted to contact somebody at Garmin I had to post in the forum hence this post.

I bought a Garmin Instinct 2 Solar in Sep 21, it was great, but after exactly one year it started crashing, just powering itself off, mostly when trying to lock on to satelittes or turning over a mile and the vibration alert pings, then bang just powers off. Back then I tried everything, hard reset, all functions off power saver, firmware update, GPS only with GLONASS and Galileo off. But no joy. Garmin were great, they replaced with a refurbished model. This second one though is now doing exactly the same after exactly 1 year. Tried firmward uodates, all the usual again. What I get is if charged to 100% during an 8 mile run it crashes around mile 7. If it is 80% charged it crashes around mile 3 or 4, if it is 69% charged it crashes everytime I start the activity and it has just acquired satelitte signal.

This is such a shame, because the Instinct 2 Solar is exactly the watch I'm after, a watch I can wear everyday for time and morning alarm, bit rugged and basic GPS functions without anything fancy just distance and pace. It does however seem that an Instinct Solar 2 is only good for a years worth of use. I can't pay £230 again for a years worth of watch use.

It would seem to me that with the timeframe of errors emerging, the cause of the errors and with every perceivable method of reducing battery and memory usage the errors consistantly occur. It would seem that the rechargeable battery inside the watch after a year just doesn't hold the amperage to perform the functions of the watch, it may be 100% charged, but the amperage just isn't there and it knocks it out. I strongly believe this is a design flaw of the watch and it isn't fit for purpose.

I'm thinking should I upgrade to a Fenix 7? But then I'm thinking what if I spend £550 on one of those and get a years worth of use and experience the same.

What's the situation now with my Instinct 2 Solar? Am I out of warranty, do I just have to lump it that I got one year out of one then another year out of the second after forking out £230 when there is a pattern emerging from my own eperience and other forum posts that this seems to be the regular mode of operation and lifespan from the design of the watch?

Help??? Not sure what to do now. I love my Instinct Solar 2 but too scared to invest in another Garmin (either another Instinct or a more expensive Fenix), do the newer Instinct Solar 2 have a different battery to models last year?

Thanks

0 -=Ikaros=- over 1 year ago

Could memory full do that? Have you tried deleting all activities from the history options? I tell you because even after hard reset the activities return after sync.

0 4733016 over 1 year ago

Thanks Ikaros, I have tried doing that, however with you saying that they return after sync, I'll have a further look in to that to see if there is something going on there to ensure in case and see if this has any effect. I'll do this and post an update, will need to go for another run to fully test so will probably be Sat/Sun as I've already been for my run today. Thanks for the suggestion.

0 4733016 over 1 year ago

Have tried the suggestion of memory, but is still the same. I managed to record a test run lap, then got stuck in a loop where if I stopped then choose either discard or save, the vibration alert shuts it down. I had to restart, it then returns to the menu discard or save, choose either and shuts down. This went on roughly fifteen times, the only way to get out of it was to plug it in to the mains charger, I could then select discard, when it is plugged in the vibration alert works and it discards the activity. It would seem that the battery is just not providing enough power, the vibration alert pulls too much power and shuts it down. Plug it in to the charger and it works as intended.

0 -=Ikaros=- over 1 year ago in reply to 4733016

Could it be that you stressed the batteries of both watches by charging habits maybe? Could you tell how often and at what state do you charge them?

0 4733016 over 1 year ago in reply to -=Ikaros=-

Thanks for the reply, I charge on average twice a week, (I roughly run 8 miles five times a week or will replace one of the runs with a lengthy bike ride), when it gets to 35-40% I charge back to to 100% probably about an hour charging. Would that be considered stressing the battery?

0 -=Ikaros=- over 1 year ago in reply to 4733016

Charging to 100% always stresses the battery but it should not degrade it after 1 year, more often this should happen after 200 discharge - full charge cycles. In your case it happened after at most 50-60 cycles if the battery is the issue.

Another question: If you use it in smartwatch mode only for a day (Heart rate sensor set on without doing activities) how much of % drop do you see in 24 hours or during the sleep wake up time?

0 4733016 over 1 year ago in reply to -=Ikaros=-

I don't use any of the smart features, I use battery saving mode to get more time out of it so heart rate, steps etc is switched off, day to day use is just watch and morning alarm, then GPS and GLONASS for running/biking. Interesting that say 200 cycles is expected. That would equate to about four years roughly. It's a shame the battery cell can't be changed. I'm wondering if I have to accept this is one has died now and decide whether to get a new one or get the 2X with a bigger battery and just be hyper diligent at charging when it is at 20%. It's at 58% now and it had switcched itself off during the night. On the beach this morning I tried acquiring satellites in run mode (I wasn't on a run just walking but thought I'd test it), it went through the progress of acquiring, as soon as it got to full circle and the vibration alert about to ping it shut down again.

0 -=Ikaros=- over 1 year ago in reply to 4733016

I am not 100% sure but i think that the replacement watch your received from Garmin should have another 2 years warranty.. Why don't you contact support or go to a Garmin dealer for Service Support?

0 cdragos573 over 1 year ago

After 1 year of charging twice a week to 100%, the battery degradation should be less than 10%. Does the battery suffer from thermal stress? Charging in freezing temperature? Keeping in very hot environment?

If thermal stress is not an issue, maybe there is (or was) a firmware issue that overcharged the battery from the solar panel even if it was at 100%. This situation should be covered by warranty.

0 1863270 over 1 year ago

My Instinct is doing exactly the same thing, it too was purchased a year ago (25/03/23). I found the reports of similar experiences on the forums so turned off vibrate and kept my battery above 50%. This worked well for a while and thought the issue resolved, with minimal crashes for about a month. It survived wake alarms and timers, which weirdly still vibrate even though vibrate is turned off. Now it is crashing during wake up alarm with high battery level.

Damn shame because it is otherwise the perfect watch. Mine is a Series 1. If Garmin has not resolved this issue in the Series 2 then that is sheet lunacy.