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Edge 530 problem with altimeter

DaveG42
over 4 years ago

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?

  • 0 over 3 years ago in reply to Lupo

    Except I've been riding bone-dry drought-ridden California.  None of my 530's have seen any rain.  That's great that the hair dryer solves your problem!  Also, I have very little hair. . .therefore, no hair dryer! :)   A new requirement for my cycling habit??

  • 0 over 2 years ago

    I'm on to Edge 530 #4!!!  I've waited over 6 months since the last failure.  This time, Garmin insisted that they have fixed the problem.  For the first week, it worked perfectly!!!  Then. . . SAME EXACT PROBLEM!!!!  Riding on a bone-dry day, the altimeter just stopped working mid-ride.  I called Garmin support.  They have no idea that this problem even exists.    ALSO, for the last 6 months, I have been using an Edge 1030.  The 1030's altimeter is perfect.  (Garmin support says it's the same altimeter.  I don't think the support team is in any way communicating with engineering.)  I do have 2 issues with the 1030.  1.  It's too darn big!!  2.  It's touch screen.  If a drop of sweat falls from your chin onto the screen (which happens when I'm standing and climbing), the screen view changes EVEN WHEN YOU HAVE LOCK-SCREEN TURNED ON.  I showed this to a Garmin support person. . . he just scratched his head.  Wahoo anyone???

  • 0 over 2 years ago in reply to marshalljackson

    I had many problems with my 520 like this. The 530 has done well, then has had issues, and back to doing well. More recently, it has been a problem again. 

    One thing I try to do is mix up the different satellites. I always turn off GPS and turn it back on before rides. Sometimes it works, other times i'll start and it'll just show 15% grade on a flate. 

    With all this said, last few rides have done well. Make sure you check for dust in some areas. I just Strava correct my elevation after most rides.

    Seeing that the 530 is on sale, perhaps a 530+ or a 540 is coming? 

  • 0 over 2 years ago in reply to Machoman

    So this is my @garminau 530. About 18mths old.

    From moderator: Off topic. Please use your main thread here - 530 warranty - Edge 530 - Cycling - Garmin Forums

  • 0 over 2 years ago

    Like everyone else here. This has happened to me as well. I am currently on my sixth Edge 530. 4 replacements due to the altimeter issue and 1 due to a failed GPS chip set. Yesterday, I realized my 6th one is failing again after only 1 or 2 months of ownership. This is getting ridiculous. I am sure Garmin will send a 7th unit, but I think it is time to give up and move on.

  • 0 over 2 years ago in reply to ox_raider

    I must agree. I had 4 units now, with same problem. It is really making me tired to ship for repair the get new unit. Horrible. 

  • 0 over 2 years ago in reply to mochno

    My first one had 18 months of flawless operating. Unfortunately I was injured but picked up that it was having this same issues. Also tried EVERYTHING and it is at the store now, who sent it to Garmin a week ago.
    Hopefully I'll get a verdict before Easter long weekend!

  • 0 over 1 year ago

    Lo mismo me sucede, mi 530 registra tan solo el 50% de la altimetría correcta. Lo lleve para revisión, limpiaron barómetro pero sigue igual, lo llevaré esperando un cambio de equipo. 

  • 0 over 1 year ago

    It been few weeks that my edge 530 is calculating wrong elevation numbers... At firsr I thought it was because I was running the latest beta of the firmware but now I rollback to 9.75 and I am still finding this issue.  In the past it worked perfectly.... is there a way to check if the barometric sensor is broken ?