Garmin 500 issue...

[nscrbug]

Went for a quick ride this morning and about 5 miles into my ride, I noticed that my Garmin 500 unit had shut itself off. I've never had this happen before. Everything seemed to be working properly when I started my ride...battery was fully charged, I was getting both speed and cadence signals, so no problems there. I carried on and didn't think anything of it. Then a few miles later, I happened to glance down at the unit, and it had shut off. So I turned it back on, and all the data fields appeared to be okay, with the exception of my "average speed"...it appeared to be stuck on 5.7mph (it should have been more like 14-something). I also checked my mileage, and it too, was stuck on .59 miles. The unit stayed on for roughly 10-15 minutes, and then a screen popped up and said "Auto-Power Off" and then counted down 10 seconds and then it shut off again. It continued to do this auto shut-off for the entire ride. Like I stated before....this has never happened before and I've been using this computer for almost a year now. Any ideas? Has anyone else using a Garmin 500, experienced this weird "auto power off" issue?

Linda

[7rider]

I've gotten a lot of luck by cruising the Garmin forums:

https://forums.garmin.com/index.php

They are definitely in the know - and...if it's a novel issue, it sometimes prompts the engineers to do a unit update.

[BikeDutchess]

Eek! Let's hope we don't get to re-live all the Garmin 305 power-off issues! (Sorry I don't have helpful advice...)

[7rider]

Eek! Let's hope we don't get to re-live all the Garmin 305 power-off issues!

I did have that same thought!

[bluebug32]

Did you pause the Garmin without realizing it or push stop? I'll do this occasionally when I stop on a ride and forget to hit start. The unit automatically shuts itself down if inactive for so long. If you want to reboot the unit, hold power+menu+reset all together.

[OakLeaf]

Have you checked the Garmin forums? Problems - and solutions if there are any - usually show up there first.

[Bike Chick]

I have a Garmin 500 and have never had this problem. Garmin support has always been very helpful if you can't find an answer in the forum.

[nscrbug]

Did you pause the Garmin without realizing it or push stop? I'll do this occasionally when I stop on a ride and forget to hit start. The unit automatically shuts itself down if inactive for so long. If you want to reboot the unit, hold power+menu+reset all together.

Hmmm...I may try this. Do you know if doing a "reboot" will erase all of my data and settings? I'd hate to have my total mileage wiped out.

I also haven't had a chance to browse the Garmin forums, so I'll do that for sure. Thanks all!

Linda

[nscrbug]

Just wanted to post that I think my "issue" with my Garmin 500 has been resolved. Went for a 33-mile ride this morning, and it was working perfectly. I did upload a software update to the device last night, but I'm beginning to think that my issues I had were related to what somebody else on here pointed out in their post above...that the device was never fully "started" so it kept going into auto power-off mode. I think what might have happened is...a few blocks from house at the start of the ride, I noticed that I wasn't getting a speed reading. I'm guessing the computer, having not detected a speed signal, automatically powered-off. After I adjusted my sensor to finally pick up a speed signal, I must have never "started" the timer back up again, so it continuously went into power-off mode for the remainder of the ride. At any rate...problem has been solved and it's working fine now. Yay!

Linda