Showers confuse my altimeter

NorthCascades
NorthCascades Posts: 10,968 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I'm mostly posting to see if this happens with anyone else.

I start my day with a shower, and leave my watch on. By the end of the shower, it's reporting altitudes about 120 feet lower than I really am. This goes on for about an hour and corrects itself. If I recalibrate it after the shower, it becomes wrong an hour or so later, probably when the barometer dries.

I don't think it did this until recently. I'm not completely certain and would really appreciate feedback.

This is a problem for early morning exercises because the elevation gain is completely off. It can also be a problem for the barometric history chart in the watch.

Replies

  • stanmann571
    stanmann571 Posts: 5,727 Member
    Is it moisture? from the shower or from the steam(fog).

    I haven't noticed, because shower time is cradle/charging time.

    If it is from the heat/fog, that might be something to bring to the attention of the manufacturer. As I'm sure it's undesirable.
  • NorthCascades
    NorthCascades Posts: 10,968 Member
    I think you're right about it being steam or moisture from the shower. That would explain why it works perfectly after a while - it dries.

    I'm wondering if other people see this, expectantly with new units. Maybe some kind of seal gave out after a while? If mine is defective, I need to exchange it before it's too late, but I don't want to be that guy if they all do this. Maybe you're right and I should call Garmin.
  • EddieHaskell97
    EddieHaskell97 Posts: 2,227 Member
    Weird... Especially since so many watches use GPS coordinates to figure out altitude instead of barometric pressure. I'd call the manufacturer and inquire with them.
  • MelanieCN77
    MelanieCN77 Posts: 4,047 Member
    Even though some of the watches out there now are "waterproof" they may well advise to avoid hot water and soap and the like.
  • AnvilHead
    AnvilHead Posts: 18,343 Member
    I don't pay much attention to the barometer on my 935, but I recall reading (probably in the Garmin forums or the comments section of DCRainmaker's review) that there's a tiny access hole for the barometer on the body of the watch behind the watch band on one side, and it can make the readings screwy (until it dries out) if you get water in there.
  • MeanderingMammal
    MeanderingMammal Posts: 7,866 Member
    edited December 2017
    EddieHaskell97 wrote: »
    Weird... Especially since so many watches use GPS coordinates to figure out altitude instead of barometric pressure. I'd call the manufacturer and inquire with them.

    It's a Fenix 5, it's barometric.
  • NorthCascades
    NorthCascades Posts: 10,968 Member
    It's a 5X. Mine didn't see it and reset today, maybe the air pressure changed greatly overnight and it assumed my position changed when I got up and started moving?
  • AnvilHead
    AnvilHead Posts: 18,343 Member
    EddieHaskell97 wrote: »
    Weird... Especially since so many watches use GPS coordinates to figure out altitude instead of barometric pressure. I'd call the manufacturer and inquire with them.

    That would be the ones not equipped with a barometric altimeter.
  • NorthCascades
    NorthCascades Posts: 10,968 Member
    EddieHaskell97 wrote: »
    Weird... Especially since so many watches use GPS coordinates to figure out altitude instead of barometric pressure. I'd call the manufacturer and inquire with them.

    FYI.

    GPS draws a lot of power. A watch that can last a month or two without GPS can go for 24 hours with it turned on. Also, while GPS is very precise in a 2D sense (~10 feet), it's not so great for altitude (~150 feet).

    Barometers draw very little power, the watch can run one for a month or two running it and other stuff too. They tend to be drastically more accurate than GPS for altitude, so long as they're calibrated, and the weather "behaves."

    So what that means about the battery is the watch can tell me what my altitude is at any time, without having to get a GPS fix. Even indoors.

    Because of the way barometers rely on the weather to "behave," they can also predict when bad weather is coming your way. I do a lot of hiking, sometimes with my tent in my backpack, so being able to predict the weather without a data connection is really useful. Garmin puts a "storm alarm" feature into some of their watches, and if you just look at the 48 hour barometric pressure history on the watch, you can get a sense of what to expect. Mountains can block your view of an approaching storm, and you might want to have camp made before the rains fall.
  • TimothyFish
    TimothyFish Posts: 4,925 Member
    Altimeters use air pressure to measure altitude. When there is water in the air hole the pressure that the sensor measures is different. Once it dries out it should be fine. But repeated exposure to water could result in the hole being clogged with calcium or bacteria.
  • MeanderingMammal
    MeanderingMammal Posts: 7,866 Member
    AnvilHead wrote: »
    I don't pay much attention to the barometer on my 935, but I recall reading (probably in the Garmin forums or the comments section of DCRainmaker's review) that there's a tiny access hole for the barometer on the body of the watch behind the watch band on one side, and it can make the readings screwy (until it dries out) if you get water in there.

    That's going to have an impact on the running power metering element of the Fenix5 and 935.

    The one drawback of my 735 is the lack of barometric.

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