I mentioned in the last post that I hoped my Garmin Forerunner 205 problems on Saturday were a one-time thing. Well, no such luck. It went from bad to worse for my Sunday run.
As the watch had occasionally been turning off as I put it on my wrist, I decided to do it slowly and carefully, and watch everything as it happened. I learned something -- I saw a slight gap form between the face and the back of the watch. Sure enough, it turned off. Hoping that it had just "un-snapped," I pressed it gently together, hoping to hear a tiny click as it snapped back together. I heard nothing. But when I turned it back on, it behaved normally.
About two or three minutes into my run, disaster struck. The entire face of the watch simply fell off and landed on the ground! I was just running along as I always do. I didn't bump into anything, or even move my arm or wrist in any unusual way.
I could see immediately why it had been turning off. The watch band has the battery and little else; the face contains the electronics, the antenna, and the display. The battery isn't wired to the rest of it. It has contacts on either half that are normally held together by the case.
I was still near home, so I just ran back, left the watch, and headed back out.
After completing my run, I held the watch together and turned it on, and it seemed to be working normally. I turned it off and pulled it apart, though "pulled" is a strong word here -- it pretty much just comes apart now. It looks to me like it's normally just held together by some sort of adhesive that has failed.
I inspected it, trying to determine the best way to fix it. I gently took it apart and put it back together a few times, checking the fit and wondering what kind of glue I might use. Each time I turned it on & off to see if everything still functioned. About the third time, the display showed a seemingly random pattern instead of the usual display, and since then, the display doesn't show anything at all any more.
It still beeps as I turn it on and hit the other buttons, and stops beeping if I turn it off, so it looks as if it's just the display that's not working. I can't see anything obvious that's wrong, like a loose contact.
It's out of warranty, but I see Garmin has a repair program. I'll try contacting them to see if my watch qualifies, and how much it would cost.
I still have my Forerunner 201, but it has issues of its own, which I'll describe some time. I really, really want my 205 to work.
I did some searching, and I found somebody who has taken a 205 apart. Mine looks just the same, except the battery is a different color. If Garmin's repair program can't do anything for me, I imagine I'll be revisiting those pictures in order to attempt my own repair.
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