General Discussion Triathlon Talk » Garmin 910xt battery life Rss Feed  
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2015-08-06 7:14 PM

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Subject: Garmin 910xt battery life
Hello there fellow triathletes. I recently completed Ironman Lake Placid and one of the things that happened during the day was that 2 miles before the finish of the race my Garmin 910 xt ran out of juice. Bummer.

It's less than 2 years old. It may be almost exactly 2 years old. It was completely charged race morning. It was paired with my heart rate monitor and the cadence sensor and that's it. I finished in 14:36.

Garmin support tells me that the watch battery when new is 20 hours. After "several" years battery life should be 80% of that. So here is my question for which I request your opinions. Do you think I'm being unreasonable to be irritated that my watch died before the end of the event?

I'm not actually looking to bash Garmin. But I'll admit that one reason I'm irritated is that these watches are now really expensive.



2015-08-06 7:53 PM
in reply to: miamiamy

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Subject: RE: Garmin 910xt battery life
I think 20 hours when new is optimal, but not necessarily typical-- more like 18 hours. So 14+ when two years old and paired with two sensors seems pretty normal. Things like searching for signal and smart recording will also affect battery life.

It sucks to have it not make it through your whole race, though.
2015-08-07 7:21 AM
in reply to: miamiamy

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Subject: RE: Garmin 910xt battery life

It's nice to have 1 device to worry about during a race.  However, I invested in a bike computer and use the watch for the run.  I just turn it on before hitting T2.

2015-08-07 9:23 AM
in reply to: jennifer_runs

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Subject: RE: Garmin 910xt battery life
Originally posted by jennifer_runs

I think 20 hours when new is optimal, but not necessarily typical-- more like 18 hours. So 14+ when two years old and paired with two sensors seems pretty normal. Things like searching for signal and smart recording will also affect battery life.

It sucks to have it not make it through your whole race, though.


Yup it was annoying.
2015-08-07 9:25 AM
in reply to: GAUG3

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Subject: RE: Garmin 910xt battery life
Originally posted by GAUG3

It's nice to have 1 device to worry about during a race.  However, I invested in a bike computer and use the watch for the run.  I just turn it on before hitting T2.




I think this will have to be my plan in the future. Which is not a huge deal just a shift in planning. Avoids the common pitfall of leaving my watch on the bike. Also though I think it's a shift from buying a triathlon watch as well. Just thinking out loud here. Because I only need a triathlon watch if the watch will last for the entire triathlon that's why it has the big price tag. So if this is my plan I can go with a bike computer and then a running watch. I don't wear a watch while swimming.
2015-08-07 9:31 AM
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Subject: RE: Garmin 910xt battery life

I would be irritated, because I expect products to perform per the specs and per what the company states (otherwise, why are we buying them?). 80% of a 20-hour battery life is still 16 hours, so even by their math it should have lasted through the end of your race.

I have the same watch and am doing an IM in October. I often look at the battery percentage when I plug back in after, say, a long ride (3 or 4 hours) - and it's already down to 50% after starting out fully charged. I've had mine for ~7 months and don't use the HRM.

The 310XT I had didn't seem to have any battery issues - it lasted me through 15 and 16-hour Ironmans with no problems. I'll let you know in October how my 910 does 



Edited by lisac957 2015-08-07 9:33 AM


2015-08-07 4:35 PM
in reply to: lisac957

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Subject: RE: Garmin 910xt battery life
Originally posted by lisac957

I would be irritated, because I expect products to perform per the specs and per what the company states (otherwise, why are we buying them?). 80% of a 20-hour battery life is still 16 hours, so even by their math it should have lasted through the end of your race.

I have the same watch and am doing an IM in October. I often look at the battery percentage when I plug back in after, say, a long ride (3 or 4 hours) - and it's already down to 50% after starting out fully charged. I've had mine for ~7 months and don't use the HRM.

The 310XT I had didn't seem to have any battery issues - it lasted me through 15 and 16-hour Ironmans with no problems. I'll let you know in October how my 910 does 




I have to agree this is what is chaffing me. Up to 20 hours is up to 20 hours and I pretty much feel like if I know I want to have this watch (or any watch last me 14-16 hours) I should have the information I need to make that decision before I buy it and also before I use it. But it isn't there (I went and read the manual again today to be sure).

One of the things that is bugging me is that I think this is a known issue for them and they just don't care. On one hand I understand that because triathletes are a tiny market and those of us who do 14 hour Ironman races are an even smaller subset of that market. On the other hand I find it profoundly irritating since I paid $400 for this watch and I kind of liked using it. And on my third hand I realize this is a pointless inconsequential first-world rant which is the most depressing of all.
2015-08-07 5:24 PM
in reply to: miamiamy

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Subject: RE: Garmin 910xt battery life
I did IMLP as well and used my 910. Went pretty conservative and finished in 14:18 and still had 35% battery. Make sure your watch is optimized for battery usage. Turn off all unnecessary stuff. The only extra I used was a 30 min nutrition reminder. If all else fails call garmin and complain up a storm and they will send you another 910 for a few bucks or offer you a 920 upgrade.
2015-08-08 4:11 PM
in reply to: miamiamy


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Subject: RE: Garmin 910xt battery life
Change the data rate to 30 seconds, make sure the back light is not on during the day. On all my Garmin devices, high data collection rates (default is 1 second I believe) and the back light are the battery killers. You can also do things like increasing the lap distances, changing timers to only vibrate or make sound will increase the life.
2015-08-09 3:38 PM
in reply to: s.gentz

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Subject: RE: Garmin 910xt battery life
Thanks.
2015-08-09 5:33 PM
in reply to: shoff14

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Subject: RE: Garmin 910xt battery life
Originally posted by shoff14

Change the data rate to 30 seconds, make sure the back light is not on during the day. On all my Garmin devices, high data collection rates (default is 1 second I believe) and the back light are the battery killers. You can also do things like increasing the lap distances, changing timers to only vibrate or make sound will increase the life.


DCR reported that Garmin fixed the higher battery draw with shorter recording intervals with a firmware update. Any difference now would be inconsequentially small. All it gives you is smaller file sizes and crappier data. Make sure you are up to date.

The stuff that matters is beeps, buzzes, and lights. i have found the backlight to be the worst battery drainer.

We've all had cell phones and laptops and should all be familiar with this inescapable phenomena of decreasing battery storage over time. Your choices are separate devices, get a new one with a fresh battery, trade in for a refurb, do shorter races, or finish faster.

I think it would be cool if Garmin would make a battery pack that has leashes for its virb, bike computers and that the QR kit could charge the watch on the bike.


2015-08-09 6:43 PM
in reply to: dfroelich

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Subject: RE: Garmin 910xt battery life
That's interesting that Garmin was able to fix that change in recording effect on battery life. Thank you for sharing. I had gone over the 910 original write up from DC rainmaker but I didn't see that. There is so much information there that I'm not surprised I missed something though.
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