Discussion: Garmin Forerunner 405 - Broken joint between strap and housing

Hey all, I know that many of you have Garmin 405's out there and I was wondering if anyone has come across this issue.

I recently have had two problems with the joint between the watch housing and the strap. For clarification, this is the joint on the top side of the watch (above the 'time/date' button), not the bottom side (below the 'menu' button).

Last month, a portion of the plastic joint broke. This was on the strap half of the joint, and it appeared to be a stress fatigue fracture from normal everyday use (ie: not from one incident/impact). This failure was tolerable because I was able to replace the strap for $20 from a Garmin retailer.

And then today, another portion of the joint broke, this time on the housing half of the joint. Again, from normal usage, not from an impact. Unfortunately, I just can't fix this one with a new $20 strap. (I've had the watch since May 2008, so I'm outside of the one year warranty.)

This doesn't appear to be an isolated incident. I've found similar joint failures after some quick online searches. I was wondering if any APers have had similar issues?

The strap broke on mine. I haven't looked in to getting it fixed because I slapped some duck tape on it and it's held together so far. I haven't had joint problems yet, though...

The strap on mine has now broken in 3 spots, both sides close to where it connects to the watch and also near the metal clasp. Strapping tape and epoxy resin combo has done the trick nicely.... touch wood.

I don't have a 405 but I know my Polar has had repeated issues with stock bands breaking.

I don't have these problems with my simple Timex.

I know of a friend with 405 who had this problem and took it back to REI where he bought it from. He got a new watch replacement.

I also bought mine from REI, but it's been 18 months and the warranty is only for 12...

Follow-up:

I finally took the original back to REI in March 2010 and got it replaced, even though it was out of warranty. Yay!

And then the replacement watch had the exact same thing happen in May 2011. Boo! It's not a fluke!

I wear it as an everyday watch, in addition to orienteering. The first one lasted 17 months before the hinge broke, the second one 14 months. It's a poor design, and it looks like Garmin has fixed this on the 610 by having a metal hinge.

The warranty on this thread has expired.

They still sell 405/410's, and the design is flawed. I just wanted to let people know that I've had the same exact issue on two watches, and each surfaced just outside of the warranty period. I figured that sharing this would be useful.

Sharing my joke is useful too.

I've had this issue on my Garmin:(

I've worn my 405 for 18 months with no problem. However, I have tiny wrists and so there is very little strain on the strap.

@maprunner, do you wear your 405 when not training? I think that's where the "extra" strain comes from. If you only wear when training, it'll probably last a lot longer. But if you wear it as an everyday watch.... it's 18 months!

3 years later and I have the same problem - after numerous straps the plastic on the housing has finally broken. Is there anyway to fix this (apart from duck tape). Seems extravagant (and annoying) to replace a perfectly working watch because of the strap/housing being rubbish.

Yeah. I recently replaced a 310XT, same problem.

Main reason I just replaced my 405 with a 620.

This has just happened to my 410. I've had it for just over two years. Really disappointing.

Was using one as a backup but same problem here - must be a design fault?

Called them today and they offered me an "overhauled" like for like replacement (apparently it's never been owned by anyone but will have been used or tested at garmin). It would cost me £67.20 and I have to send back my broken watch 1st before they send another one back to me.
I asked if I could get a better model (ie give them more money) but they said it has to be like for like.
I might keep it a bit longer and try and fix it using sugru silicone putty stuff first.

Ali, so annoying to here. Interesting they'll give you a replacement, might see if I can get one in Oz (though Garmin was from UK so I'm already guessing it won't work). Mine is currently held together with ankle tape. Tell us if the sugru stuff works, I'd thought of trying araldite.

Araldite will work but it won't be so flexible I guess? Will update when I've tried Sugru.

OK so I tried the Sugru stuff, I'm really impressed. You soften the plasticine like putty in your hands, join the two pieces (keeping them together was tricky based on the shape of them) and then you can work the putty around the joint to smooth it out and shape it as you like.
My watch is fixed for now (I've worn it for 3 days, done some intervals) and it's been good, it just looks like it's been fixed with plasticine. (I'm sure I could have spent more time with a smoothing knife tidying up the edges)

ooh, I might check this out - ankle tape has been working on mine so far!

After wearing my Garmin Forerunner 110 as an everyday watch for about 1.5 years, its strap started to brake in several places. I tried to repair it multiple times with small segments of duct tape, one over the other, but they repeatedly came loose after one run or race. Duct tape does not withstand tension for more than a few hours. Eventually I ended up with a bulky looking multi--color ugly patchwork of a strap, and in desperation I tried to hold it together with 3 wide rubberbands that I crossed over twice each. That took the tension away entirely, so it worked! No more repairs are needed! But I only wear this monster for serious training and road/trail racing. Could not wear it in public otherwise....

Wow! All these creative "home solutions!" Duct tape? Glues? Epoxy? Plasticine? Give up, and spend another $300?

I'm not familiar with Garmins, but since the watch cases are similar, I don't see why this more "elegant" solution wouldn't work: On my black Timex watches, I simply discard the little spring-loaded post, and run a piece of wire through the band and both tabs on the watch. I bring both ends of the wire around underneath the band and twist them together...the watch is fat enough to provide enough space to still clear your wrist so the twisted ends do not dig into your skin.

If the holes of the black plastic attachment tabs on the watch casing have broken through, or dead-end, I use the smallest drill bit in a regular set of bits, to drill new holes through the plastic. There's plenty of plastic to permit new stronger holes. And the wire you thread through them is flexible enough to conform to a new hole alignment. So far I've never compromised the water-tightness of the watch.

Those spring-loaded attachment posts may be fine for gentile society; but for orienteers running through the underbrush, that $300 watch better be attached with something that provides much more strength in tension. And galvanized steel hardware-store wire provides it much better than tiny springs and posts.

The spring pin was still sitting securely in the strap as it was supposed to be, the 4 lugs that were originally attached to the watch bezel had all sheared and there was no way to fix them. It's now been through a week of wear and 4 training sessions and still solid. Will be using sugru again for other wee fixes.
I'm not giving up on a unit that is perfectly good from a gps and timing point of view until I have to.