Varia UT800 Headlight Problem

Yes. I have been working with Garmin on what looks to be a similar issue. My UT800 disconnects after 30 minutes. They told me that there is no firmware 2.10, that the latest firmware version is 1.7. I've been performing various tests over the past several weeks and they determined that it is most likely bad hardware, so they are sending me a new UT800. I'm not convinced this will resolve the issue, but we'll see. I would recommend that you contact Garmin tech support and have them reference case #1364290 in case it is a similar issue.

....... They told me that there is no firmware 2.10, that the latest firmware version is 1.7........

That's odd. When I connect to Garmin Express, it tells me the firmware version is 2.10

I have one also, brand new front Light, and it already had some issues with it. On full night having your Light out is very bad. This is not a cheap Light, this should not happen!

Use the Light on a garmin 1000 and in a 820 and its the same thing.

I also have a ul500, and any error, it has a lot of hours already, and no errors until now. Two brand news ut800 on the first use had similar errors!!!

It has firmware 2.10.

I was very disapointed, because i have garmin 820 / 1000
Varia Ul500
Varia UT800 - two of them
Radar - two of them
And one rear Light garmin.

With the price it costs, it should not have this problems.

That's odd. When I connect to Garmin Express, it tells me the firmware version is 2.10

Agreed - that's what I get as well. Garmin couldn't explain it.

I didn't have disconnection issues until I started used the UT-800 with the Varia Radar. I had three disconnects yesterday, and one on Sunday. The light turns off during a disconnect! This is super, INCREDIBLY dangerous! Garmin should recall the unit. If this happened during an evening descent, it could lead to a crash. Here are screenshots of the disconnects... Edge 1000 screen shots attached below.

Edge 1000: 14.10
Varia Vision: 3.40
Varia Radar: 3.60
UT-800: 2.10

The UT-800 seems to not disconnect if I don't use the Varia Radar + Varia Vision (which I typically don't use on commutes)... I seem to have more UT-800 disconnects when I'm in urban areas (more interference maybe?). Although, on Sunday, I had a disconnect on Bolinas-Fairfax Road in Marin County near Mount Tam with no other cyclists in the vicinity...

Last night, the Varia Radar light wasn't showing up on the light status page, although the radar was working.

The other odd thing is that the radar turns off when the Edge is powered down or put into sleep mode, but only the UT-800 wakes up when the Edge is powered on. The radar always has to be powered on manually, which is odd and inconsistent. Seems like that the Radar is designed that way though.

Running more than one Varia light at a time with the Edge 1000 certainly seems problematic. I had no issues with the Vision + Radar, but the UT-800 + Radar is really unstable at this point. And, shutting off the headlight in the middle of the night while the bike is in motion is unacceptable. I'm going to have to demote the UT-800 to a daytime commute light until these bugs are fixed really because it's super unreliable for nighttime riding when lights aren't optional...

We have reported the light drop issues being discussed here to our engineering team for investigation. Please reach out to our support team to report your experience and feel free to mention your posts here on the forums.

I received by replacement UT-800 yesterday and rode with it today. As before, it disconnected at about 1 hour into the ride. No indications on the Edge 1000, but the light shut off completely. I pressed the power button with no results, pressed it a second time and the light came on steady. After about one minute, I saw a "light network forming" message and the light returned to flash mode. As always, the Varia radar unit continued to function and flash normally. My software versions:

Edge 1000: 14.10
Varia Radar: 3.60
UT-800: 2.10

SJT70 - my case is #1364290, if you want to update it.

TaipeiPersonality Thank you for the information. I will update your case!

DCR observed a similar issue with the UT800 here. "I did see the one quirk noticed on the Edge giving a false-positive for daylight (thus triggering the light into daylight mode), I'm optimistic Garmin can fix that. Or failing that, I can just use it in manual mode."

It doesn't seem like a good idea to mix regularly changing heterogenous firmware environments with safety critical systems such as lighting.: Given that a user could have a a range of possible firmware versions than the latest, for this to be 100% tested, Garmin would have to test and fix bugs with every possible combination with Edge 520, 820, 1000, fenix 5/5x/Chronos etc. It is hard to believe that this would be carried out, esp. since DCR pointed such a problem out in April and it may still be an issue 5 months later.

It is advisable to purchase lights that adhere to independent standards such as the German StVZO regulations. Also, in the UK for example lights for use on the road must comply with BS6102/3. There is a good overview of European lighting regulations at the end of the this document. The UT800 doesn't comply with StVZO nor BS6102/3 nor any other road safety regulations. There is no reference to any standards in the manual, and on the Wiggle site for example it clearly states "StVZO compliant: No".

In the UT800 "important safety and Product Information" it says "IT IS THE USER'S RESPONSIBILITY TO MOUNT AND OPERATE THE DEVICE IN COMPLIANCE WITH ALL APPLICABLE LAWS AND ORDINANCES." and also "The Garmin device, accessories, and related data are intended to be used only for recreational purposes". Since it is not compliant with any local laws this device should not be used on the road.

There are many automatic lights available, but the lights that comply with safety standards rely on simple built-in ambient light sensors, and the available power and characteristics of hub dynamos to which they are permanently connected rather than complex wireless communication that is dependent on all parts working and communicating with each other correctly and without errors.

I received by replacement UT-800 yesterday and rode with it today. As before, it disconnected at about 1 hour into the ride. .........

I have also contacted Garmin support about this issue. They have also offered a replacement, but in light of your post, I decided to wait and do more testing. Below is part of my communication with Garmin.


"I did one ride today for 50 minutes without it disconnecting. What I did different was to turn on the UT800 and Varia Radar after every other sensor has been connected to the Edge1000.

Firmware Update Suggestion: I would like to suggest that the UT800 light mode remain at the current light mode setting instead of turning off during disconnections from the Edge. This is a serious safety concern...especially during night rides."