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Edge 530 problem with altimeter

I'm onto my second Edge 530 and the same fault has developed with altitude readings - am I doing something wrong? After several months of flawless operation, in the middle of a ride I started to get really odd altitude readings and corresponding gradients (for example altitude would suddenly go from 100m to 10m and then not change even when climbing 200m, the corresponding gradients would show as negative when climbing and vice versa for descending). When I got home from the ride and downloaded to Garmin Connect, the ride altitude profile would look nothing like the ride just completed. The first time this happened I rebooted the 530 and went back to factory settings but this didn't fix the problem. I took it back to the store I bought it from and they tried a few things with no success and finally they sent it to Garmin. After a week Garmin instructed the store to give me a new 530. I've had this two months and, lo and behold, same problem has appeared after over 2000 kms of successful operation. Have tried re-booting and going back to factory settings but problem persists - any ideas?

  • This is exactly what happened on my ride today.  Any luck resolving it?

  • Took it back to Garmin and they ended up giving me a new one. I didn't get any feedback from them on what had caused it but I'm assuming they couldn't fix it hence the new for old.

  • Were the units ever exposed to rain or water??

  • The usual rain showers while riding

  • Ah...there u go...looks like the 530's are not as rugged as we would like them to be....the 530 is a fair weather friend.

  • Thanks for the reply.  Garmin exchanged my 530 for a new one as well.  Hopefully it doesn't suffer the same issue.

  • I had one unit replaced earlier in the year with similar symptoms. Garmin took the unit back very efficiently after one call to them. Replacement unit has done the same following a wet ride today. Really seems they are not a sensible choice for UK climates!

    Looks like another call to Garmin on Monday morning.

  • I purchased my Garmin 530 in January this year. My altimeter is having issues since a few weeks now. It is typically indicating 50% of the correct ascent. I hope that this problem will be resolved for any new replacement 530.

  • I've been through 3 Garmin 530's.  All 3 have done the same thing.  They work well for a few rides. . .  then suddenly, the altimeter completely fails.  Garmin has taken back the first 2.  Time to return 530 number 3!!!!  Garmin support told me there is a known problem with the altimeter, but told me that they would ship me a unit with a date code after Garmin fixed the problem.  Apparently, this did not work.  Then another customer support agent at Garmin told me they have no way of knowing which products are which and they can't control what is shipped.  UGH!!!  Very frustrating!  I never had problems like this with my 520+.  

  • this simple problem appears often when raining and the barometric altimeter becomes wet ...
    I had a lot of problems and Invested a lot of time in this problem, before discovering it VERY SIMPLE SOLUTION:
    After such a wet and rainy ride after you get home, take a hair dryer and heat the device at least for 5 minutes, repeat the procedure once after an hour. Be careful not to heat the display too much!
    After the barometric altimeter become dry again it starts working as before ...