Garmin HRM Pro Plus strong offensive odor emanating from the chest strap

Hello fellow Garminians,

I have an issue with the Garmin HRM Pro Plus chest strap. After about 3 months of regular use (running), it starts to smell bad, like really bad to the point where its nauseating. I follow the care instructions to the T, rise after every use, hand wash weekly with mild detergent, rinse, hang to dry. The odor is unique in that it smells like something of a burnt electronic? Not sure exactly how to describe the smell but very pungent and fills the room and sticks to my clothes and skin. At first, I thought it was leaking something internally, Garmin kindly replaced the original unit, however the exact same issue has developed again with a new unit after 3 months of use.

I am wondering if anyone else experiences this. Is there a better way to clean it? Do all chest straps smell like this? Is it me?

I do enjoy using the unit for HR accuracy, but the smell is too much and I don't want to replace it again for a 3rd time only to have the same thing happen.

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0 5605661 over 1 year ago in reply to Nodsch

I tried to explain and probably should have been more assertive. However, the guy there, wasn't going to agree with me. In thier eyes, the device is working properly. Unfortunately, there's only one official repair shop in my location, so there's nothing else I can do.

0 7581323 over 1 year ago

Planned obsolescence ? In my case, the smell appeared very soon after the two-year warranty expired, no problems with it before.

0 5605661 over 1 year ago in reply to 7581323

I bought mine in August and have been using it all summer very extensively. No issues until a week or two ago...the smell wasn't there and next day all of sudden appeared during an easy run.

0 3925253 over 1 year ago

Greetings from Finland. Thought I was going crazy until I found this sub.
Bought the strap in June, and it suddenly started smelling late September. Have used it less than once a week on average, so not a lot, and always rinse it properly after.
The smell just came on during one early morning run - like an on/off switch had been flipped. The smell permeates all of my workout clothing, to the point that when I go to gym with it, it makes me self-conscious about what other people think.
Need to contact Garmin next.

0 5605661 over 1 year ago in reply to 3925253

Hey, the same happened to me. I don't want to wear it at the gym anymore and only use it for outdoor workouts. In one of the comments, I mentioned what the local Garmin Repair shop told me about this smell...it's normal, which is hard to believe, but I started thinking that this is indeed the case.

0 9713422 over 1 year ago

Glad to hear I'm not the only one. However, in my case it doesn't smell like burnt electronics. I can't describe it any other way than that it smells like horse ***. (I'm not trolling, I swear.)

This is my second HRM Pro Plus that has the exact same issue. The odor started 3 weeks after I got the replacement. I've been trying to wash it fervently, as it's now also making my tshirts smell. I've no idea what to do.

0 7581323 over 1 year ago

a lot of cases lately.. is it due to an update? @Garmin answer please

0 6518358 over 1 year ago

Same here! Smells like burnt electronic

0 4037833 over 1 year ago

Same here. Today I contacted support and they said they would replace the device under warranty.

0 3828955 over 1 year ago

Hi All,

I'm the original poster of this thread and there's something I need to get off my chest that may help some of you.

First, I don't recommend getting the strap replaced through Garmin, you will only end up with another smelly strap down the road due to the design of the multi-layer. Here's what I've been doing, which has reduced the bad smell by about 80% and it is now manageable now.

Every time I use the strap, after an activity, I will shower with the strap still on my body (Note, if you shower with your watch too, it may cause a spike in your HR to record due to the water on the contact pads, for this reason I take the watch off before a shower and place it in another room). I wash my body as I typically do with bodywash and the strap still on my chest. After I am all lathered up I will take the strap off and using my thumbs to massage the multi-layer part of the strap with water & soap for a few minutes, I get pretty rough with it. After, I rise all the soap while still massaging then hang to dry and continue with my shower. I have not experienced any issues with the strap from doing this for 2 months. Note, this is not the Garmin recommended cleaning method so only do this on your own accord, but for me the smell was so bad that I could not use the strap in it's current state.

After about two weeks of repeatedly doing this, the smell was reduced drastically to almost none. The smell is still there, but only if I get my nose right up to and inhale deeply.

Hopefully Garmin considers a change in the multi-layer design for future straps.