Hi,

I did a long (13 hour) ride mostly in the rain and now my trusty garmin 800 has died.

It ran out of battery and when I plugged it into a battery pack water got in. Bah!

It’s been in bag of rice for a few days and it still doesn’t turn on.

There is condensation inside the screen.

Two questions for the hive mind

– before buying a new one is it worth opening it up and spraying some switch cleaner inside? It’s dead already, it’s unlikely to come back to life?

– if it doesn’t rise from the dead, what’s a good replacement? Several mates use wahoo computers and complain, several mates use Garmin’s and complain.

Say under £200 for new or used, used as a basic bike/ heart rate computer or used for maps on routes I don’t know well.

Thanks!

I drowned mine once.

Open it up and see if it will dry out, you don’t need to spray it with stuff, that’s just a water displacement. You need the water to evaporate, not be moved to somewhere else inside the Garmin.

Sadly mine failed to dry out. I looked at replacements and in the end stuck with what I was used to, a Garmin. I liked the way it worked, I like the colour screen, I had the OS map card for it.

I am in the same position…the on off button on my c 2012 version has disintegrated…youtube seems to suggest I can just replace the back but the device has switched itself off several times mid ride lately so I’ve been thinking of a replacement….it has made my mind up for me. (Been offered a Garmin 1000 2nd hand but as that is 5 or 6 years old, it seems like a poor stepping stone and I am better off buying new…??)

I’d definitely open it up and try to revive the 800, you’ve nothing to lose.

I’m an edge explore fanboi now (cos I got mine cheap basically) But The Current Edge 530 can be scored new for around £200 and used for less.
It seems to get reasonably good reviews, has a good claimed battery life (20h) and Garmin have designed a clever range extender battery connection for the 530/830/1030 that uses contacts in the mount and shouldn’t create the situation that killed your 800 (an extra purchase though).

The place to start, as always: https://www.dcrainmaker.com/

The drowned 800 club, I’ll join.

Much like above biblical, ride killed it.

Did manage to dry out after a week in rice/warm places. Turned on but was never happy, would crash every ride and would no longer connect to pc.

Replaced with 2nd hand 820, can be had for not much and it’s been pretty descent.

The auto sync is good, no more connecting to the computer to create routes/upload results.

Can’t help with the drying as I managed to lose my trusty 800. Replaced it with a 530 though and pretty happy. The battery life is much better and I find some of the newer features (like ClimbPro) surprisingly useful. Wireless uploads and downloads as well as integration with Strava, Komoot and TrailForks are also a big improvement over the old 800. I went with the 530 over the 830 as I ride year round and buttons are easier to use than a touchscreen when it’s raining or you have thick gloves. Definitely more of a pain if you just want to pan around the map on a nice sunny day though, but I tend to use my phone for that sort of mid-ride investigation anyway.

I did look at Wahoo but can’t remember why I decided to stick with Garmin. Might have been ClimbPro actually as I’m one of those loons why likes a climb.

Replaced with 2nd hand 820, can be had for not much and it’s been pretty descent.

The auto sync is good, no more connecting to the computer to create routes/upload results.

I’ve an Edge 820, touch screen is infuriating. Seems a lot worse than on the 800.

I killed mine with combination of water and sweat ingress, the internals don’t like it very much at all.

Just get the equivalent Wahoo, way more robust and better batteries as well as sealing.

Had the same the other week on a Garmin Edge, just died after about 80 miles in the pouring rain. I opened up all the ports and left it on the radiator for a few hours and amazingly it had saved the route up to that point. Seems to work OK now, no visible sign of water or condensation inside it.

If it’s going to be a wet day, put it in a sandwich bag and open a tiny breathing hole somewhere out of the way. The thin plastic bag still means it’ll mount to the holder “through” the bag.

I’ve an Edge 820, touch screen is infuriating. Seems a lot worse than on the 800.

Don’t often have need to touch it once riding but yeah, can get a wee bit tiresome with sweaty/gloved fingers.

Buddy had a 530 on a recent C2C ride and it was impressive with 40% battery still left at the end. Yeah my 820 was half the price but had to charge it mid ride, battery saver mode and no sensors and it still died 800m from the finish.

Happened to me on a 7 day tour. It died in day 2. Day 5 it just turned back on and worked fine.

I’d just try and dry it and charge it under supervision and see if it turns on.

Garmin do a replacement scheme but it’s not as cheap as it used to be.

My son put his Garmin 130 through the washing machine with no adverse effects.

if you don’t need all the 800 features it’s cheap and seems robust.

I’ve destroyed two 800s and a 1000 riding in the rain :(.

I got a warranty replacement on the 1000 which is what I still use.

I also bought a 530 as backup for longer trips. If you are recording and following a simple route is is probably the best unit I’ve used. Buttons mean it doesn’t lock in the wet and the battery life is really good. It’s fiddly to scroll around the map though.

Talk to Garmin, They will sometimes offer you a refurb unit or money off a new unit. Just say you want yours repaired and see what they say.

Never used the other brands. Karoo seemed a bit beta and Wahoo in my price range was black and white last time I looked.

I’m curious if people who have had 800s die have been using out front mounts (theory – more in the line of fire from wheel spray from below)?

I mostly used mine stem mounted, it was always fine in the rain. Even charged it in the rain (dynamo) sometimes.

I mostly used mine stem mounted, it was always fine in the rain. Even charged it in the rain (dynamo) sometimes.

Stem on the gravel and top-tube on the MTB’s for my 810. Had it nearly 8-9 years and never had a water issue, and it’s used 2-3 times per week all year-round.

But if you use the OS maps not sure you’ll get anything £200 ish, unless you can port the maps over?

Always worth opening up and seeing if it can be saved

I loved my 800, when it died Garmin offered me an 820 at a discount, my god it was a load of shite! crappy touch screen, bugs galore, got so fed up i sold it on

Replaced with an Edge Explore (can be had for under £200 brand new) has been great, best Garmin ive had so far, the white colour is crap but a rubber protection cover sorts that out

https://www.sigmasports.com/item/Garmin/Edge-Explore-GPS-Enabled-Bike-Computer/J7GE?utm_source=google&utm_medium=base&co=GBR&cu=GBP&glCountry=GB&id=896126&ds_eid=700000001845766&ds_e=GOOGLE&ds_c=UK_EN_Profit_Google_Shopping_All+Users_Generic_All+Products_Desktop&ds_cid=71700000047514189&ds_ag=B_B_896126_Garmin_Edge+Explore+GPS+Enabled+Bike+Computer_GPS+Cycling_220+GBP&ds_agid=58700004772520264&ds_k=PRODUCT_GROUP&ds_kid=92700040703725082&ds_kids=p40703725082&gclid=Cj0KCQjwvO2IBhCzARIsALw3ASqVn-Cw-D–Tmnu7HX3MkEKash3eXKuDl8LKuGJTbQiZPfKPV6MXA0aAusqEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

I have an 800 that I no longer use – all works fine. Can do head unit, and probably a few sensors (not sure what I have – can check) for £60 posted if anyone is interested.
I’m not at home until next week, but can post Wed/Thursday next week.

PM me if interested.

Might be worth seeing if Garmin can do you a deal on a replacement as the GPS seems to have failed during ‘normal’ use.

Garmin units have Water ratings (the 800 is IPX7).

IPX 7 suggests that the 800 should survive for 30 minutes for a depth of up to 1 metre but I’m not sure how that translates into 13 hours in torrential rain. Garmin’s IPX7 description suggests that it’s good for use in rain but then mentions ‘showering’ so the type of rain might be a bit subjective.

I had an 800 that died due to water after riding in a downpour. Eventually dried out put but the bluetooth functionality never worked again for some reason

Replaced with an 820 which is completely tempramental and Garmin told me that they wouldn’t do a repair as it’s not a current model but would give me a discount on another model. The discount was rubbish however, barely better than what I could get from wiggle etc.

I swore I’d never buy another Garmin as my experience of them is terrible (also have a watch that had to be replaced) but ended up with a 530 as I couldnt be assed replacing 9x up front mounts with their Yahoo equivalent

Awaiting the 530 breaking day any point

This is why I bought a wahoo bolt after years of various Garmins.

Consider the Explore if you don’t need “power” – excellent. Still have my 200 and 705 ! Very good on nav and easy to read.

Hi,

Thanks for the suggestions!

I tried powering it up, a week after its death. It beeped and went through the start up screen fir 20 seconds before powering off and staying off.

I’ve opened it up and parked it open in some rice for a week. Who knows if it will ride from the dead.

I hadn’t believed the forecast could be correct. In my words starting off ” It never rains all day in the UK”. The forecast was spot on, it rained heavily for ~6 😞

It was on an outfront mount, but with a bar bag under it. It probably would have been fine if I’d been thinking when opening the cover to connect the battery in the wet.

@nickb thanks! Ill see how the rice goes, contact Garmin and if that doesn’t work out, drop you a line next week.

I had an 800 that died due to water after riding in a downpour. Eventually dried out put but the bluetooth functionality never worked again for some reason

The 800 never had bluetooth functionality, that came on the 810. Lack of BT was the main reason I got a 1030 instead.
if your other options and Nicks offer dont work out i’ve also still got my old 800 unused in a drawer.