Unfortunately, both of my Garmin GPS devices died this summer. My Forerunner 305 – which I use daily for rowing and land-training sessions – succumbed to water damage in a particularly wet session. In fact, after drying it out in a mug of rice, it recovered for a couple of weeks but another damp outing put an end to that…

My Edge 705 (a fantastic cycling GPS) was doing fine until halfway through my end-to-end cycle earlier this month, when we cycled through “one of the wettest 24hr periods on record for Glasgow”. The little flap that protects the USB port was clearly not enough and something must have short-circuited. The device actually continued working fine except that the computer connection via USB was not working – not ideal as this is half the reason for having the 705!

And so, after some fruitless attempts at reviving the devices via software updates, I gave Garmin the call to get the devices replaced. Sadly both were outside the 2yr warranty period, but Garmin’s out-of-warranty replacement service is not too bad. For around £50 for the 305 and £100 for the 705, they provided new (well, refurbished) units.

Lessons learnt:
- These Garmin devices are not completely waterproof so beware!
- Garmin’s support team are very helpful.
- Garmin will replace devices for a reasonable cost outside the warranty period.

Tip – if you’re cycling in a prolonged period of torrential rain, then it’s a good idea to put a piece of tape over the USB port on the Edge 705.