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Scuba Diving with FR945

Former Member
Former Member over 4 years ago

Hi everybody

I read on FR945 Owner's manual (page 3):

"The device is intended for surface swimming. Scuba Diving with the device might damage the product and will void the warranty".

But this watch is rated at 5ATM!! I should definitely be able to scuba dive until -20m (actually more, but lets stay on the safe side!!

Was my understaing of 5ATM not correct? What s the issue here?

  • Former Member
    0 Former Member over 4 years ago

    one thing is a static pressure, and the other is dynamic - just by moving your hand in the water you can greatly increase the pressure on the watch itself.

    5 ATM actually is good for swimming only. 

  • Former Member
    0 Former Member over 4 years ago in reply to Former Member

    Thanks Leszek - this I did not know...

  • Former Member
    0 Former Member over 4 years ago in reply to Former Member

    Actually.... reading and googling around.... it seems that even normal swimming with a 5atm watch might be unsafe!!!! Is that true?!?!?! I plan to do quite a bit of swimming (about 10/12 hrs a week) on my fr945.........

  • 0 over 4 years ago in reply to Former Member

    According to Garmin themselves it's suitable for swimming and diving into water.

    https://www.garmin.com/en-US/legal/waterrating-definitions/

  • Former Member
    0 Former Member over 4 years ago in reply to olni65

    ok thx - i hope they re right.. Slight smile

  • Former Member
    0 Former Member over 4 years ago in reply to Former Member

    Just read it: 

    splashes, rain or snow, showering, swimming, diving into water, snorkeling

    diving into water is mentioned in one breath between showering and snorkeling. 

    diving into water == jumping head first into the water from the pool edge (this actually imposes a quite substantial pressure on the watch).

    NO SCUBA DIVING

    The watch has to be usually at least 20 ATM to allow for scuba diving.

    Why do you need Garmin 945 10 meters below anyway ? It's useless. You need a proper scuba computer to stay safe.

  • Former Member
    0 Former Member over 4 years ago in reply to Former Member

    Agreed - it was just to know if i need to actively take my fr945 off before scubadiving (i scubadive quite rarely though).

    Otherwise I would have just kept it since i like it so much that i dont really wanna stay away from it.

  • 0 over 4 years ago

    If I remember well, the FR935 and FR945 were suitable for swimming and water sports but there was a strict warning  NOT to press any buttons underwater as this may impact the sealing and cause leakage eventually leading to damage.

    There was some thread either in this or in the FR935 forum elaborating on this specific issue.

  • Former Member
    0 Former Member over 4 years ago in reply to HUMODDA

    This is also a delicate point... b/c if you cant press buttons underwater, you probably also should not press buttons when the watch is wet.. is that right? in that case i m starting to be worried about pool activities..... Expressionless

  • 0 over 4 years ago

    This is the same for watches since Ages.

    pushing wet buttons ashore is much safer than pushing it under water. If you do it while diving, the pressures add up: static from depth, dynamic from your movement and then the button push. If you do it under the shower, the first two (the big ones) are not there.