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How do you weatherproof your Garmin?

Kevin, which Garmin did you get?


I've had no trouble with my 800, and I've been caught out in some pretty big rain storms.... so far so good.
 
It is truly good to hear members commenting on how tough Gamins are in the rain, but I am sure there are some members following this thread who have had issues with their devices attributed to water damage. Please share your experiences.
 
Kevin, which Garmin did you get?


I've had no trouble with my 800, and I've been caught out in some pretty big rain storms.... so far so good.

I have an 800 that I would like to keep in working order for many years to come:)
 
I have an 800 that I would like to keep in working order for many years to come:)


fair enough. I certainly don't go out of my way to ride in the rain, but have seen a lot of water. Mine is keeping well, would hope that aside from the odd-lemon, they should be similar.

though i'd be pretty irritated to have to buy another due to water damage.


Personally if I was more paranoid than usual, I would think a basic ziplock over it would keep most direct water contact off of it. All this taping, saran wrap, uberoverthetopcovers are just too much for something that shouldn't have trouble.
 
I realise that telling you, microcord, not to worry is a waste of online breath, but I confidently predict your new navigation device will be very fine. What are you going to do about a map set?

Right, I decided that I wasn't sufficiently worried, and thought that the Garmin 800 would make first-rate worry fodder. This was a major attraction.

I ordered it from Blighty, where of course it's much cheaper than here in Wa. I'll try Open Street Map, and if that's too horrible then I'll get UUD. If I don't like that either, then either (A) I'll put my head in the oven or (B) I'll start a thread here and ask. (The former may go down better here.) It all sounds very complicated. I'll need a computer, and I don't suppose anything useful will run on CrunchBang (bloat-free Debian), so I'll probably just commandeer the wife's Mac. She'll be so delighted (not).
 
Personally if I was more paranoid than usual, I would think a basic ziplock over it would keep most direct water contact off of it. All this taping, saran wrap, uberoverthetopcovers are just too much for something that shouldn't have trouble.

Yeah, you could say it's over the top and paranoia to go through such measures to protect something you value. In reading most of the responses to this thread many might agree with you. I like the wrapping paper, though. It allows me to easily use my Garmin and provides me with a sense of security as well. I will do away with the scissors and use two strips of tape to make the task less tedious and time consuming.
 
James are your 3D printer mates able to do that 705 out front holder? I know I want 2 and I think some others wanted one.
 
They are in the works as we speak :

j0gf.jpg





However I found another adapter made by SRAM for riders with 705's:

http://www.bikerumor.com/2013/06/18...-bikes-adds-computer-adapter-for-605-and-705/
 
Entirely up to you - I don't know the release date of the Raceware version.
 
Hmm, I'll wait as I encouraged you to get them to make them. But can you gently force them to get them done sooner rather than later?
cheers.
 
During the rainy end of the Otsuki loop, I first didn't do anything to protect the Garmin 500, but noticed at one point that it kept flipping between screens as if the Enter button was being pressed once a second.

At that point I took it off the mount, wiped it, packed it in a plastic bag and stashed it away into my jersey pocket so my body heat should dry it again. Not a serious problem, but it alerted me anyway because who knows what might have happened next if I had left it out there in the rain. Next time I'll definitely wrap it in cellophane for rain before it starts acting up.

Needless to say, I am no longer too impressed by the IPX7 rating. Yes, perhaps it indeed survives 30 minutes of immersion under up to a metre of water, but if it has trouble with three hours in the rain, that's a problem. I don't really care if I can take it for a swim, but I do care if it will survive a rainy brevet.
 
During the rainy end of the Otsuki loop, I first didn't do anything to protect the Garmin 500, but noticed at one point that it kept flipping between screens as if the Enter button was being pressed once a second.

At that point I took it off the mount, wiped it, packed it in a plastic bag and stashed it away into my jersey pocket so my body heat should dry it again. Not a serious problem, but it alerted me anyway because who knows what might have happened next if I had left it out there in the rain. Next time I'll definitely wrap it in cellophane for rain before it starts acting up.

Needless to say, I am no longer too impressed by the IPX7 rating. Yes, perhaps it indeed survives 30 minutes of immersion under up to a metre of water, but if it has trouble with three hours in the rain, that's a problem. I don't really care if I can take it for a swim, but I do care if it will survive a rainy brevet.

Joe, I agree! I rather spend a moment to wrap it than to spend cash for repair or replacement.
 
I've had my second 800 end up with hardware failure - with the culprit mostly likely coming from corrosion around the USB port. Just called Garmin, and they were surprised since they are not getting reports of rain issues that then result in failure or corrosion in other climates - including humid climates like Florida/Louisiana/Georgia, etc... I mentioned this thread - and that there were 4-5 people with similar rain/corrosion issues, and they indicated they'd look into.

Slightly off topic (sorry OP....), but how are you guys going about getting replacement units/repairs? Seems I need to go thru their Taiwan call center this time.
 
On a somewhat related note, one of the tiny screws on the heart rate sensor of my Garmin 500 is rusty and another one got lost while swapping the battery after 5 months. I tried to get replacements parts, but:
- The main Garmin site (North America) does not support international customers
- Their Japanese distributor only supports equipment purchased in Japan
- Wiggle (where I bought the Edge 500) does not have any parts and suggests I contact Garmin directly. Duh!

Does anybody have any idea what kind of screws I'd need?
 
Not much help but maybe scan the web for a junker unit you can salvage the screws from.
Have you tried Garmin in Europe? Your receipt as proof of purchase might work especially if you say you are living there. (A not so white lie)
 
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