Garmin Edge 810 repair or replacement ?

[cycleruk]

The charging port on my 810 is starting to misbehave.
So can I repair it or does it look like I am going to dig deep?
I've had it 8 years and it still works good so would be a shame to scrap it.
I DO NOT want any other make so have looked at the 830 and 840.
The trouble with the later variants is they have got more & more features that I don't need or a
want.
If I'm going to have to spend then probably go for the 830 as they still can be bought new even though they are a few years old now.

Any advice greatly appreciated.

[JohnR]

Perhaps look at the Edge Explore 2 which doesn't have so many performance-related features. It also has a bigger screen than the 8xx family.

[cycleruk]

Perhaps look at the Edge Explore 2 which doesn't have so many performance-related features. It also has a bigger screen than the 8xx family.

Thanks'.
I have found a couple of places that advertise repair of the 810 for around £30. I will ponder that for a couple of days and probably go in that direction.
I'd have a go myself but I've not the steady hands that I used to have.

[cycleruk]

I sent my Garmin 810 off to one of the Ebay repairers.
Just a weeks turnaround but possibly slowed by the New Year hol's.
New charging socket fitted at a cost of £21.45 including return postage.
Of course I had to pay postage when sending it off to them.
The 810 is at least 7 years old so if it lasts that long again.

[PH]

I sent my Garmin 810 off to one of the Ebay repairers.
Just a weeks turnaround but possibly slowed by the New Year hol's.
New charging socket fitted at a cost of £21.45 including return postage.
Of course I had to pay postage when sending it off to them.
The 810 is at least 7 years old so if it lasts that long again.

Excellent result. Good to know such services are available.

[Al Wright]

If it is only intermittent connection at the charging port, first try lightly spraying connection contacts with 'switch contact cleaner', available from electronics suppliers.

[plancashire]

Contact spray is a good first quick fix but is likely not to work as micro-USB ports have wiping contacts rated for many thousands of insertions. USB-C is even more robust.

An intermittent contact can also be caused by the USB socket becoming partially detached from the circuit board. Sometimes they are not securely mounted, relying on the conductor wires for mechanical support. It is a cheap way to construct. The load should be taken by a separate connection to the board. The problem can be exacerbated by being rough with the USB plug during insertion or it being hit while plugged in. I work in a repair cafe - this kind of socket failure is well known to us.

I'm pleased yours has been repaired. The charge sounds reasonable for what can be fiddly work.

[cycleruk]

The plug wobbled a bit when inserting into the old socket. So just wear and tear after years of use.
It was fairly obvious that there was a problem with the socket.
Yes it could have a been a loose connection to the board and normally I would have done the job myself in times past. But eyesight and arthritic fingers make DIY awkward these days.
The new socket feels a lot more secure and tight when inserting the charge plug so we'll see how it goes.

[Paul Smith SRCC]

When my Garmin 810 fell off and got run over by a lorry I replaced it with the 830, which has evolved into the 840. The 810 was at the time their flagship model, the 830-840 no longer is but I liked the fact that it was smaller yet with a similar screen size, I just didn't need the larger size of the current top of the range model. It has been quite a painless transition, it does all that my 810 did but better, longer life battery, brighter screen and it has a 'Tether' so it can't fall off like my beloved 810 did!

Garmin 830 replaced my Garmin 810

There are now quite a few viable alternatives that I did consider, I do like Wahoo for example that I know many enjoy using and speak highly of. In conclusion I had been so impressed with my 810 that I decided to stay with Garmin.