Strong smell from Garmin HRM Pro chest strap

I've been using a Garmin HRM Pro chest strap for less than a year, but a few months ago it started smelling stronger and stronger with time. (I have seen a separate thread on the issue, but it was locked for further comments so I am reposting.)

After every use, I have washed it as outlined in the owner's manual, but this smell appears to be from the monitor itself rather than the strap? It is a strong smell of burned electronics/plastics that does not go away regardless of how many times or how you wash it.

I have reached a point where I do not use it indoors and even outdoors is bothersome. Has anyone continued to experience the same issue or found a solution for it?

Unfortunately Garmin support was of no help, I was told to clean it following the same procedure and if that did not work to buy a new one, since according to them is not a product fault.

Thank you in advance!

**2025.07.14 edit: after re-contacting Garmin support, the product was exchanged because it was under warranty

  • In my experience, Garnin straps are not the only ones that sometimes have a peculiar strong odor. Some of the replacement straps for my HRM-2 and Polar H10 smelled as well, but not as strong as my old HRM-Tri. If you _only_ need realtime heart rate data, any compatible chest HRM with a replacable strap works, cheap ones generally don't provide good HRV though. If you need running dynamics data and/or stored heart rate, maybe the HRM600 is a good alternative.

  • I have three different Garmin HRMs: almost 4 years old HRM-Pro, 7 months old HRM-Pro Plus, and a month old HRM 600. Using them almost daily. Well, I stopped using the oldest HRM-Pro, when I got the new Pro+, but none of them is smelling bad, or anything else than some very thin smell of lavender that comes from the washing product I use for hand-washing the strap around once a week.

    To be sure and to exclude my bias, I just asked my wife, who is much more sensitive to any kind of smells, to carefully smell all three straps (including the box with the electronics), and she confirmed there is no strange scent coming out of any of them.

    So, if your HRM smells burned electronics, I'd open it and check whether there are any traces of burning. If still under warranty, exchange it. If not, and you cannot really wear it, buy a new one. Garmin's straps do not smell any bad when rinsed after each use, and carefully hand-washed once a week. If they do, then either the hygiene was neglected, or perhaps like in your case there might be some problem with the electronics.

  • Good advise to try to have the strap exchanged or money back when it smells bad when it is new.

    I had HRM-Tri's that smelled like burned rubber new out of the box. And new rubber floor mats in a car that emitted that same smell.

    Some materials/adhesives offgass volatile organic compounds that only few people detect very strongly. People who work with electronics often can smell burned components and leaking capacitors way before others notice it.

    Temperature and humidity affect outgassing, as can materials used for packaging and storage. Not every batch of product is stored and shipped in ideal conditions.

    There is not a lot you can do about outgassing materials, just don't store them in a closed container. Letting them air outside can help.