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Hrm Pro and Run are unusable after first change of factory battery cause the sudden discharging of all new batteries

After that to ALL of mine straps owned, two Hrm Run and now a Hrm Pro, has happened the same thing, I'm sure of that: after changing factory battery the strap drains all brand new battery that you put in in a few hours or days or little more but there's nothing to do, it's like they were short circuited on the strap, when you wear the first time all seems working then the battery get discharged. I tried everything, even put the battery on reverse side for a while but there's nothing to do. I'm sure that Garmin is aware of this problem cause on the web there are many cases like mine, I also suppose it's done on purpose otherwise it's unesplicable how this happens and how they didn't fix it. You can change under warrenty the first time but at the end of two years you are forced to buy a new one since the factory battery lasts 1 year. For me this situation it's a shame since that this are very expensive devices, next time I think I'll buy a normal strap from another brand giving up to running dynamics and other features.

  • Have you already contacted Garmin support? Maybe they have a solution although you are one month after the two years.

  • What country do you live in? In Italy the guarantee is valid for 2 years but by law there are 2 months to report the malfunction so that in fact the guarantee is valid for 26 months, find out if there are similar guarantee rules in your country.

  • It is a reasoning contrary to logic: I have never heard of any device that has normal batteries to replace, except these, so many cases of malfunction and I believe that the norm should be that nobody or almost nobody should have problems changing the batteries and not that there is also someone who has not had problems. However I launched this topic and the solution that seems to work for me so far is to seal the battery compartment with a little silicone, confirming what I thought, that is that Garmin seals this compartment with some substance when it leaves the factory and when you change the battery this seal fails and moisture enters. Point.

  • You need to post a youtube video

  • Fully agree Andrew! Garmin knows about this problem. I have reported this with my first HRM strap. Same thing happened. Once it stops you can not change to a new battery. It will never work again!  I was stupid enough to have bought a second strap as I like my watch and strap to be of the same brand. One year later, same story, same issue with more users complaining about the same problem. These straps are a total scam comparing to the standard of other Garmin products.

  • for me is a scam. they should retract the product. and a battery can last 2 years. you change it and after that this scammers say that you dont have warranty. I am posting this everything and hope people stop buying products from this greedy idiots 

  • This is how I broke my 2nd one. The screw head broke off in that hole. 

  • I am now getting a second free hrm-pro from Garmin "as a gesture of goodwill". The battery compartment design on this device is laughable. I'm sure Garmin have to give away 2 for every one they sell. You just have to look at the Polar H10 to see how good it could be. After the battery on this new replacement dies, I'm getting one of those. 3 hrm-pro straps in less than 2 years is a joke.

  • Good Evening

    I have had this exact same issue. When I changed out my HRM Pro's battery, all seemed fine until I was 5 minutes into my run. My heart rate data stopped showing. Since my HRM Pro was out of warranty, I searched around for some advice, but could not find much. What I did find was that the quick discharge of batteries were as a result of moisture. My replacement batteries would also discharge in a matter of a few seconds (Meabing there was some sort of short in the PCB). I though it might not hurt to put the heart rate monitor without the battery and battery cover into our food dehydrator for 1.5 hours at 70 deg C. Before I did this I measured around 300 ohm between the positive and negative terminals. After dehydrating I did not measure any resistance between positive and negative. I then added a new battery into the HRM Pro and found that it was working 100%. I then sealed my unit properly with silicone to prevent any moisture from entering the device. This will hopefully solve the problem.

  • I then sealed my unit properly

    I would suggest that the problem most people have with changing the battery with the HRM-Pro is because the thin red o-ring is incorrectly seated afterwards. It is fiddly but I've found a dab of silicone grease spread around the o-ring before refitting it works. I've not had the problem with moisture ingress after changing a battery. Perhaps Garmin could help with better instructions about changing the battery with particular attention to a note to the effect that the o-ring needs to be seated correctly. 

    I also add a dab of silicone grease to the screw holes too as that prevents them rusting and binding.