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Vivoactive 3 suddenly experiencing severe battery drain

RedSally
over 2 years ago

My 2.5 year old Vivoactive 3 is usually great with battery life, lasting several days even with activities being recorded. Usual battery life is around 10% drain per day without activities. Several times in the last year or so I've experienced a sudden battery drain which has always been fixed by restoring factory settings. About 3 days ago this issue resurfaced but I have not been able to fix it using my usual methods. All settings have been adjusted to where I usually have them - 10% brightness, short backlight timing etc etc, but I'm at a loss as to why it has so suddenly started draining a full battery in 6-12 hours.

In looking through other forum posts I've at least managed to fix the GPS sensor issue I've had for the last few months, but unfortunately it hasn't magically fixed my battery issue. It's dropped 2% while typing this.

I really like my watch and don't like having to buy new tech when it's been working so well. Please advise what I can do to fix it Garmin!

  • 0 over 2 years ago

    I charged my watch yesterday morning and today it is down to 58% already. Mine is about the same age as yours and I've not had issues like this until recently. 

  • +1 over 2 years ago

    I’m sorry to hear of the battery drain issues that you’re experiencing.  Let’s start by power cycling (turning off and then back on) your watch.  If the battery drain persists and if you have any Connect IQ (CIQ) Content, especially watch faces, you may need to delete that content until the independent developer is able to update their app/watch face to function correctly (without causing a battery drain) with the new firmware version on your watch.  You can use any of the 3 FAQs below to uninstall the CIQ content.

    How to Uninstall Connect IQ App Content Using the Connect IQ App

    How to Uninstall Connect IQ Content Using Garmin Express

    How to Uninstall Connect IQ Content Using the Garmin Connect App

    If you would like to submit feedback to the developer of the CIQ content, you can do so by clicking the link below and searching for the download page of the CIQ content.  In the bottom right corner of that page, you will find the option to contact the developer.

    https://apps.garmin.com/en-US/

    If you have not already reached out to your local Garmin support team, we highly recommend doing that as well:

    Support.garmin.com

  • 0 over 2 years ago in reply to Garmin-Kevin

    Thank you for your response. As mentioned in my original post, I have completed both a factory reset/ restore defaults and forced power off (which has worked in the past when this issue has surfaced).

    I have never run any third-party content on the watch due to concerns about battery drain and the need to complete regular 'restore defaults'. I run it very close to standard set up, other than reducing the brightness to 10%, and turning off the light on gesture.

    I've been in touch with the Australian support team, I sent through proof of purchase etc last week but have not heard anymore from them. It was suggested its an internal battery issue, but I'd really like to have it repaired if possible. Some days I can get 12 hours out of a full charge, today was 3.

    I have ordered a replacement (Vivoactive 4) for myself as waiting weeks for any potential solutions is not suitable, but my son can use this watch if I can get it operational again...

  • 0 over 2 years ago in reply to 9861651

    Yep its so frustrating that it came on suddenly, a gradual decrease in battery duration over time is expected but not going from charging every 3-5 days to every 3-10 hours...

  • 0 over 2 years ago in reply to Drusone

    I found that update too, it worked for fixing my GPS sensor (which I considered a seperate issue) but has not improved the battery drain issue.

  • 0 over 2 years ago in reply to Drusone

    My GPS sensor version seems to be correct. Didn't have this issue, but battery issues still persist.

  • 0 over 2 years ago in reply to RedSally

    I encourage you to be persistent in reaching out to Garmin Australia.  They may have a lot of emails to go through, so I would highly suggest reaching out via telephone.

  • 0 over 2 years ago in reply to Garmin-Kevin

    Yep I spoke to someone via phone, who requested the info be sent via email which I did immediately. I'll continue to follow up Slight smile

  • 0 over 2 years ago 
    I'm facing the same battery issue.
But this week I took the plunge and managed to downgrade to version 7.72, but the battery drain still persists, so I formatted and reset again and updated to version 8.10 and reset and formatted again, then there was a problem with the GPS sensor, it was 0.00 , I made the correction found here on the forum and it solved it, but the battery still lasts at most 1 to 2 days, and before 7 days. In contact with support they said that you will have to change the watch that via software update will not solve, I have never seen updating the software and ruining the hardware, can this???
Good would be to downgrade to version 7.8, does anyone know where I can get the firmware? Thanks.
  • 0 over 2 years ago in reply to Drusone

    Dear Drusone,

    I´m facing the exactly same problem: battery drain in one day. GPS version shows 0.00.
    However, I don't know the GPS software version before the FW update to 8.1.

    I resetted the Vivoactive twice, no changes in battery life. Any suggestions? 

    It's really a shame that Garmin isn't solving this problem since there are a lot out there with same issue.