Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Garmin Issues

For the past several weeks, I've been having trouble with my Garmin. It doesn't seem to want to get a good connetion to the cradle that it needs to rest in for the battery to charge. The last several times that I've wanted to use it, I have found it to be sitting there with a dead battery.

I really wanted to have my Garmin with me last night when I met with the running group, so I brought the whole contraption with me to work so I could babysit it. I really thought it was going to be okay, but when I turned it on, it couldn't find the satellites - a typical sign of an uncharged battery.

I thought I was fully addited to the Garmin at one point, but what I miss most is knowing how far I've gone. How am I supposed to run 3, 4, 5,6 or however many miles if I don't have a reliable way to keep track of distance? I can do it by running near home at places that I've run before, but the group has been running on some new-to-me trails.

Tonight I will call the Garmin people and see what words of wisdom they have for me. I suspect that it is dead or dying, but maybe it has something curable.

As for yesterday, I decided to stick with yet another new lady who was doing a 5:3run:walk interval. This didn't aggravate the hammy (which is still not fully recovered) and it was nice once again to spend time getting to know someone new.

Oh, and thanks for all the great suggestions from my last post. For this week, I've just decided to let that missed workout on Monday go and stick to the planned schedule here on out.

27 comments:

  1. Try gently rubbing an eraser over the gold prongs in the cradle... for a while my Garmin would not pick up a charge and someone suggested this to me (it worked).

    Good luck! I'd be lost without mine.

    ReplyDelete
  2. yep, i was going to suggest the same as Marlene, I read about someone else having that issue. Garmin support is great. Hope you can get it working again! Glad the hammy is starting to feel better!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Mine did that too. I "fixed" it by leaving it on the cradle all the time. Eventually, it seems to get its cookies back. You can also do a hard reset on the unit with the button thingee (I forget how). The software has something to do with it recognizing it is being recharged. Eventually, my Garmin came back around and doesn't do this anymore....

    ReplyDelete
  4. I had problems with mine for months and I finally sent it into Garmin and I got it back a few weeks ago and it's working great. If you send it in it only takes about a week total which isn't bad, it's worth not having it for a week in regards to no longer being frustrated with the thing!

    ReplyDelete
  5. oh boy..good luck with a speedy repair!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Ohhh these are some good tips! And I'm totally going to save them for the future LOL. I hear Garmin CS is pretty good so hopefully they can help you out if the eraser thing doesn't help.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I had a Garmin issue too, but I think I hit the bezel (when I actually thought I locked it before). It is so frustrating because when you want to run a certain distance, you really count on it.

    I hope you get it fixed up!

    ReplyDelete
  8. update - i called customer service. they ahd me try the eraser thing and also a reset, but nothing worked. based on the specific problems that i'm experiencing, they think it is a bad cradle. So I have a new cradle on the way. I hope that does the trick!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Hopefully the new cradle does the trick. As far as tracking runs, google probably has a trail map on it some place. Either that or www.mapmyrun.com.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Good luck with the new cradle! I'm not sure if I could run with out my Garmin!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Yay for a new cradle! Glad they were helpful to you.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Good luck with the new cradle. Sounds like the Garmie peeps were helpful.

    ReplyDelete
  13. I so understand. My nikeplus is not loading my runs.
    I can keep track of distance but I like to see my chart of progress...I guess I could make aspreadsheet.

    Good luck with Garmin!

    ReplyDelete
  14. Sorry to hear about Garmin! Hope the company is helpful!

    ReplyDelete
  15. I totally understand being garminless and not knowing your mileage!!!

    I am glad a cradle is on its way!!!

    Good going on your group run/walk!!! Your doing the right things girlie!!!

    ReplyDelete
  16. I hope the new cradle does the trick - and great news about your hammy getting better :)

    ReplyDelete
  17. Sorry to hear about the difficulties with the Garmin. Have you ever tried mapmyrun.com to figure out the distance of a run? I have used that a lot and it's pretty easy!

    ReplyDelete
  18. So sorry to hear about the Garmin. I'd be clueless without mine! Sad how quickly I got useless without it.

    Hope the new cradle does the trick :)

    ReplyDelete
  19. HOpe the new cradle does the trick!

    I'll definitely have to remember some of these tricks, but it's nice to know that garmin's customer service is good.

    ReplyDelete
  20. I want a Garmin! I hope you figure out what's wrong with yours.

    ReplyDelete
  21. I use a friends old 205 and I must admit that I have become a little bit too reliant on it. It is nice just heading out for a run and being able to track as you go rather than running a known route. I hope you get it all worked out.

    ReplyDelete
  22. Oh no, I hope you get it fixed soon!

    I haven't crossed over to the Garmin side yet, because I know there will e no going back I just map mine on runstoppable.

    ReplyDelete
  23. I had similar problems with mine and had to do the reset thing several times before it got better. It even acted lie it wouldn't turn on a couple of times and the reset thing works. I am glad they are sending you a new cradle. Nice to hear their customer service is good.

    Thank you for your wonderful comment. It really helped a lot. I am slowly coming out of it I think.

    ReplyDelete
  24. That was happening to me -- turns out the little sticker was covering the charging part on the back of my Garmin. Sweat had made the sticker move.

    ReplyDelete
  25. Right now I'm going through HR monitor withdrawal too so need to get that fixed. Its funny how quickly we become so reliant on gadgets.

    ReplyDelete
  26. Hope you get things figured out with your Garmin. It is nice to know your distance!

    Hope the hamstring is doing well!

    ReplyDelete
  27. I am ready to be committed because of my Garmin. I hope you get it figured out.

    ReplyDelete