Related
This discussion has been locked.
You can no longer post new replies to this discussion. If you have a question you can start a new discussion

Vivoactive 3 suddenly experiencing severe battery drain

RedSally
over 2 years ago

My 2.5 year old Vivoactive 3 is usually great with battery life, lasting several days even with activities being recorded. Usual battery life is around 10% drain per day without activities. Several times in the last year or so I've experienced a sudden battery drain which has always been fixed by restoring factory settings. About 3 days ago this issue resurfaced but I have not been able to fix it using my usual methods. All settings have been adjusted to where I usually have them - 10% brightness, short backlight timing etc etc, but I'm at a loss as to why it has so suddenly started draining a full battery in 6-12 hours.

In looking through other forum posts I've at least managed to fix the GPS sensor issue I've had for the last few months, but unfortunately it hasn't magically fixed my battery issue. It's dropped 2% while typing this.

I really like my watch and don't like having to buy new tech when it's been working so well. Please advise what I can do to fix it Garmin!

  • 0 over 2 years ago

    Dear 6251823,

    Follow this guide to update the sensors, you shouldn't have any 0.00 version of the sensor software. 

    https://forums.garmin.com/sports-fitness/healthandwellness/f/vivoactive-3-3-music/280197/multiple-sensors-show-0-00-after-6-64-sensor-hub-software-update/1345600

    I'm still monitoring my watch, but at the moment it seems ok. 

    I hope it will help you.

  • 0 over 2 years ago

    I have the same! This really sucks

  • 0 over 2 years ago

    So sadly it has been going on for some time now, with no fix in view.

    At least mine is not a new one as some of other guys in here bought theirs more recently.

    A bit ridiculous that an update can trash the device just like that. Makes me not want to consider another garmin as an upgrade to my old one. Which is disappointing, cause the watches are really cool, but they are expensive and if a single update can just ruin it, then is it worth it?

  • 0 over 2 years ago in reply to eight

    I also find it a serious issue that we don't have ownership over the things we buy. They remotely break our watches and other electronics via updates. 

  • 0 over 2 years ago in reply to Drusone

    Dear Drusone,

    thanks for the Update-guide. Sensor version seems correct now, however still the same issue. Battery lasts approx. 12h.

    Really pity, I was happy with my Vivoactive

  • 0 over 2 years ago in reply to 6251823

    Garmin Australia responded after a while (I'll give them a break since it's been summer holidays and COVID has been affecting things too), and have offered to replace my watch free of charge with a refurbished model (same watch). I'm more than happy with this outcome, it's worth contacting your local Garmin support directly & persisting with messages. Good luck!

  • 0 over 2 years ago

    Very strange. I had this issue after the 7.80 firmware, impossible fix. So clock went to shelf. Now I tried it again when I saw the firmware was updated to 8.10 and for me this firmware fixed it. My clock has now been 100% for amazingly 16 hours. If the graphic isn't to bugged on screen. I tested a GPS activity as well for 20 minutes. This is however with original watchface and nothing else installed. So we will see when I try and install a watchface again. 

  • 0 over 2 years ago in reply to Flour-XXL

    Ok graphic was bugged. I was confused because was still at 100% after 1hour+ GPS activity today. So I did a normal restart and it showed 65%, which means 1,84%/Hour with a total of 1,5hour GPS activity. This is much better than the 5-6%/hour that was with 7.80 GPS issue. I did not do any hard reset between the GPS activity now so GPS seem to turn off. 

  • 0 over 2 years ago

    Some more interesting stuff from my watch...I did a soft reset (hold down power button for 10-15 seconds) a couple of times and now my GPS sensor reset to version 0.0 and the battery is good for 24 hours instead of 12. I seriously don't understand what is happening with it..

  • 0 over 2 years ago

    When I chose the walking activity, if I walk for any period between 2-3 hours the "low battery" notification comes on and 10 minutes later it goes off! Not good garmin