Instinct 2 Solar not solar charging

3590945 17 days ago

Hi everyone,

I’m having an issue with my Garmin Instinct 2 Solar where it’s not charging via solar power, even under direct sunlight. Here’s what I’ve tried so far:

Ensured battery was below 80%
Performed a soft reset (power off/on)
Reset Default Settings
Checked for firmware updates (device is up to date).
Cleaned the solar lens to ensure no dirt/obstruction.
Exposed to strong, direct sunlight for extended periods (1+ hours).

Despite this, the solar charging doesnt increase, and the solar intensity widget shows crossing the solar level

0 4686738 5 days ago

Hi.

Also happens to me every couple of months.

Restarting the watch fixes the issue.

0 3590945 5 days ago in reply to 4686738

Unfortunately everytime i restart the watch, it wont solar charge.

0 trux 4 days ago

3590945 said:
Despite this, the solar charging doesnt increase, and the solar intensity widget shows crossing the solar level

It is not really supposed to increase the battery level, if you mean that. Typically the solar panels are barely capable of partially covering the immediate power consumption. Only if you minimize the consumption, or turn off the watch completely, you can expect some small increase of battery capacity (up to around 1% per hour under good conditions)

0 3590945 4 days ago in reply to trux

Yes, i know the solar sometimes wont increase the battery, however the solar indicator wont show anything and doesnt show indicator as if it increases the level

0 trux 4 days ago in reply to 3590945

3590945 said:
he solar indicator wont show anything and doesnt show indicator as if it increases the level

Not sure I understand. In your previous post you wrote:

3590945 said:
the solar intensity widget shows crossing the solar level

So which one of the two claims is right? Does the Solar widget show some solar input or not? Perhaps posting a photo would make it more clear what exactly you mean.

0 3590945 4 days ago in reply to trux

0 trux 4 days ago in reply to 3590945

Well, if nothing of what you wrote in the OP (battery less than 80%, recent FW, reset,...) helped, then the only remaining option, as far as I can see, is contacting the Product Support. The watch may need to be replaced.

Respectively, there is one last thing that you can verify - start the watch in the Diagnostic mode (hold the Down button while powering on the watch), and then, using the Back button, scroll to the page with diverse sensor values (as shown below), where there should be also the raw output value of the solar panel. My photo come from Instinct 3 Solar, but I think it should be similar on the 1st gen watch too. On my I3 it is on the 3rd screen, and it is the L value that reacts greatly on the light exposure. It shows the value 44.00 when in dark shadow, couple of thousands when exposed with a table lamp, and over 100,000.00 when on direct strong noon sunlight.

0 trux 4 days ago in reply to trux

0 3590945 3 days ago in reply to trux

During the diagnostic mode, there isnt any page same as you (solar page)