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 235 powers itself off after approx 15 seconds

Former Member over 6 years ago

My watch powers itself off about 15 seconds after I power it on - I tried searching the forums, but couldn't find any similar posts.

I went for a swim yesterday afternoon, and thought I'd try logging it as an "Other" activity with my Forerunner 235. This is the first time I've tried logging an activity while swimming.
It was working while I was in the water - I had it displaying the normal watch face (i.e. time) during the activity - and was still working when I got out of the water and stopped it recording, and returned to the normal watch face.
I didn't look at it until I got home and went to remove it when I went to have a shower - it was then that I noticed that the screen was blank - it looked like it was powered off.
I rinsed it off under the tap, and then dried it with a towel like I do normally after a run.
After my shower I then tried to power it on - it displayed the Garmin logo followed by the normal watch face, and vibrated and told me to "MOVE" but the time was wrong.
When I looked at it a few minutes later I noticed it had powered off again.
I powered it on again, and noticed that after about 10 seconds it displayed the prompt asking whether I wanted to power off - I selected "No" and it returned to the watch face, but then powered off anyway.
I tried powering it on again, but it did the same thing. I also tried jiggling the buttons a bit to make sure they weren't getting stuck and causing it to think I was trying to force it to power off.

It now doesn't even appear to be displaying the watch face, it only displays the Garmin logo before powering off again :(
The time that it was displaying is approximately the time that I had stopped it recording the activity, so I'm hoping it's not because it somehow got some water in it...

I have had the watch since June 2017, and I had just charged it this afternoon - the battery was at 89% when I tried connecting it to the charger before looking for answers on this forum.

Thank you for reading - Much appreciated if anyone has any solutions! Hoping I don't need to send it off for repairs...

0 seilogramp over 6 years ago

Lithium-ion batteries have a lifespan of approximately 500 discharge cycles (+ or - 100 or so). As it approaches end-of-life, the speed at which it discharges will increase rapidly, until it's virtually a few minutes, then nothing. I would charge it up to 100%, then just let it sit to see how long it lasts. Might be worth contacting Garmin support.

0 Former Member over 6 years ago

Thanks for your response - charging it does not help in this case - the battery life was still fine when I charged it yesterday, and I hadn't noticed any deterioration in battery life while using it this past week.
I just tried charging it now - it powers up, displays the Garmin logo followed by the watch face, and vibrates and tells me to "Move" then powers itself off while connected to the charger. It's now displaying 91% charge in the battery while connected to the charger (during the few seconds that the normal watch face is displayed).

I'll try contacting Garmin support.

0 seilogramp over 6 years ago

Guessing they'll have you start with a factory reset to get it sorted.

0 RonanHarper over 6 years ago

I have pretty much the exact same issue from yesterday after a swim - I havent swam with the watch in quite a while. My circumstances, with the watch purchase date, activities you described and symptoms are exactly the same. My watch has a mind of its own now. It just keeps shutting down and restarting by itself. I mamaged to restore to factory settings but still no different. The time is wrong but it doesnt stay on long enough to pick up a satelite and correct the time. The backlight is flickering like a disco ball at times when it is on.

I'm thinking the swim had something to do with it. Terrible timing for me as I've a race this coming weekend! I'll have to wait til Monday to contact Garmin Support and I suspect they'll just offer me the £100 quid repair option but that wont get it back in time I reckon. I just bought my wife one online (new) for £130 so might just get a new one. Will see what Garmin say.

Any other help appreciated.
Thanks
Ronan

0 5004299 over 5 years ago in reply to RonanHarper

Hello Ronan, did you manage to solve the problem with the watch ? I have same symptoms and want to know if its repairable or not

Thanks
Matus