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Sudden battery drain (less then a day with no activity at all)

Sergey_Kessel
over 9 years ago
Has anyone met a but that leads to extremely fast battery drain while not using the watch ?


I got the watch on 28th of Dec, updated it to 3.30, paired with smartphone and fully charged.
Then left in the box till First of january, not using it at all. When I took it from the box - it was not turning on because of low battery, literally 0% charge.


I charged it and started to use - it worked fine.
I charged it on 6th and used it till 10th (6 full days) including 4 hours of activity tracking (with glonass, 1-sec recording and backlight always on while running at -20 o) - so the battery is alive

Yesterday I charged it again to 100% and left on the table.
It was totally discharged today - in less then 24hrs with no activity happening
So it is second time it happened.

What might be the reason?

I have BT paired - may it be looking for a BT connection and draining the battery (phone was not in range)?
I also have activity and sleep tracking enabled.

If anyone met this problem - please share the solution.


PS: Or is it a charging/ charge reporting issue?
Last charge took not much time (haven't timed it, but I'd say around 1 hour or so), while now it is charging for around 1.5 hours and still has 66% only.
Thank you!
  • 0 over 9 years ago
    Battery Drain when Shut Off

    I recently started shutting down my 230 completely when not in use. I was shocked to see how the battery would run down and could not understand how this could be. Knowing it is a common problem does not really help me, but it gives me confidence that this is not a problem just with unit and that perhaps there will be a fix in time.
  • 0 over 9 years ago
    I recently started shutting down my 230 completely when not in use.


    Please read the post right before yours! :D
  • 0 over 9 years ago
    Battery Drain quickly

    This also happens to my watch. Today i turned it off at 8h00 with 70% of battery and after one hour, at 9h00, i turned it on and the watch was discharged. I had to charge the battery to turn it on again.

    Something is wrong with my device...
  • 0 over 9 years ago
    There is something wrong with *everyones* device. Just don't turn it off (as Jim said)

    for more details just read some more posts in this thread

    CW
  • 0 over 9 years ago
    I am also seeing this issue with my new forerunner 230. I don't wear the watch as an every day watch (too big for my wrist) so I turned it off when not in use to save battery. Obviously I can leave it on but will still drain the battery eventually.

    Garmin should really fix this - very strange that a device uses more battery when its turn off then when its turn on.
  • 0 over 9 years ago
    Obviously I can leave it on but will still drain the battery eventually.
    Any device with a rechargeable battery will drain eventually even when switched off and not used, and at a rate of ~10% per 24 hours if the FR230/235 is left switched on but not used (for GPS, or as an ANT+ receiver for sensors), it isn't that big a deal, is it? I know there is only a finite number (typically in the hundreds) of recharge cycles in the useful life of a lithium-ion battery, but if you only recharge once or twice a week, the battery should easily be able to give three or more years of active duty, before either it or the watch itself is replaced.
  • 0 over 9 years ago
    I am also seeing this issue with my new forerunner 230. I don't wear the watch as an every day watch (too big for my wrist) so I turned it off when not in use to save battery. Obviously I can leave it on but will still drain the battery eventually.


    My 230 (with v3.2 firmware) drains the battery at a rate of about 7% per day when not using GPS, with the watch always on. That's with BT always on, notifications on, some widgets running. Perfectly reasonable to me.
  • Former Member
    0 Former Member over 9 years ago
    My 230 is arrived yesterday, completly drained, charged and weared at 100% at 19.00, this morning 6.00 am it's 69% bt on and smart notification. Doesn't sound normal to me, seems battery drain very very quickly.
  • 0 over 9 years ago
    Same problem here.

    Any idea when Garmin will fix this bug. Every time you charge a lithium-ion accu, lifespan decreases.
  • 0 over 9 years ago
    Every time you charge a lithium-ion accu, lifespan decreases.
    Yes, but so what, from a consumer law and/or consumer rights perspective, as opposed to consumer preferences? Of course, as a consumer, you'd want every aspect of the product you bought to stay functional for as long as possible – ideally outlasting your desire to keep and use it – but as long as the battery can outlast the applicable warranty period in spite of frequent charging, then the manufacturer need not do more (or anything different) to contain its commercial risk due claims to the effect that its product is not fit for purpose or of merchantable quality. You cannot validly claim either the device as a whole, or the battery as a component thereof, to be not fit for purpose anyway, since the battery holds a recharge, is rechargeable, and will power the operation of the device, in spite of what you see as undesirable and unnecessary consumption/loss of power and frequency of charging.

    I would seriously doubt that even 0.5% of FR230/235 owners will find their watches' batteries no longer hold charges sufficiently after 24 months of use to give rise to valid warranty claims that Garmin need worry about.