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

Forerunner 245 heart rate suddenly not registering high enough

I've had my FR245 for 7 months. It has always worked well. During most exercise activities (I mainly do cardio and running - nothing where my wrists flex a lot), my HR peaks around 170-190. This has been consistent about me for a long time.

About a month ago, my heart rate suddenly starting registering low during activities (cardio, running, etc) - sometimes struggling to get out of the 120's but I know the reading isn't accurate. I have tried taking off exercising (in case I was personally plateauing). I have tried cleaning the sensors. I have tried adjusting the fit on my wrist (not too snug, not too loose, correct location). I have tried hard resets. Nothing works? Is it a software issue?

0 gxgene1 over 3 years ago

That happened to me when my watch auto updated to 8.2 software about a week after I bought it. Gamin in their infinite wisdom would not let me downgrade to 6.8, so being new, I took it back to the retailer and another was ordered in. HR that should have been in the 140's to 150's dropped into the 120's, verified using an Edge with a chest strap compared against the 245 Optical HR. Before 8.2, I was very happy with the 245.

The retail replacement came with 5.5 instead of 6.8 software.

Garmin support had offered to replace the watch, but as I had proven it to be a software problem I was obviously concerned that a new watch coming from Garmin would have the latest software (bug).

What I can't say and on which no information was offered by Garmin Support about, was there some hardware change to the watch that made (slightly) older watches subject to the issue.

I currently have auto updates turned off, perusing for posts like this one to let me know if something got fixed. To me not being able to get a viable version of the software is a serious support issue with Garmin and I'm kind of wishing that Donald Trump was out front at a user rally telling us all to march peaceably to Garmin Headquarters

At some point (while still under warranty) I will have to turn updates on, so if the watch rolls over and dies (I had a couple of other issues, along with the optical HR), I can get a replacement directly from Garmin and pray the newer hardware is OK.

This replacement on 5.5, has no VO2 Max :\ I was quite happy with 6.8 and I'm wondering who I have to bribe to get 6.8.