It seems to be working but when I unlock it and press the button to start or sleep nothing happens.

Wow, this is the first problem I've ever heard of with a GW 60. You must have got the only dud ?...... But seriously, they're sh1t. They have all sorts of little problems like that, then they die. You may get a year or two out of it if you're lucky.

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Richiefish said..
Wow, this is the first problem I've ever heard of with a GW 60. You must have got the only dud ?...... But seriously, they're sh1t. They have all sorts of little problems like that, then they die. You may get a year or two out of it if you're lucky.

This is it's last chance..
I have had about 3 years use out of it..

Almost 5 years to the day I have had and used my GW-60. The GPS start button has just started playing up but otherwise it it still works fine.
If I discard it now and pull out my new spare one, I am perfectly happy.

5 years constant hard use is more then I would ever expect to get from a sail which costs more than twice as much and gets far less use!.

Thats far more than the depreciation on that new, or near new board you bought a few years ago.

I have spent more on Petrol for a couple of good sessions that what the GPS watch cost!

People spend thousands on a Van instead of a simple sedan just to carry all their gear around in.

Thats far less than the extra a certain person paid for the luxury to rent a house at Lake George when they could hvae stayed in the CP for much less than the cost of the watch.

Keep things in perspective.

If it was my preferred device I would certainly buy another one, but I have a brand new spare anyhow and will probably not use it much as I have two mini Motions and GPS-Logit for feedback.

Sue, you are one of the fortunate ones who have the new model WIFI LCD Motion and you still have a GT-31 for backup! You also spent a lot of $$ on a Garmin watch just for OTW feedback with Andrews App!! Forget the GW-60. It's done it's job.

Or do you just want to cherry pick?

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sboardcrazy said..
It seems to be working but when I unlock it and press the button to start or sleep nothing happens.

Big problem with the GW60 buttons is corrosion. They suck water in if pressed, just a few drops on your hands is enough, so the contacts underneath the buttons no longer work. It can be fixed by taking apart and cleaning. I wouldn't throw it away, somebody may be able to fix it or use it as spares. Me for instance, but it's probably not worth the postage

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sailquik said..
Almost 5 years to the day I have had and used my GW-60. The GPS start button has just started playing up but otherwise it it still works fine.
If I discard it now and pull out my new spare one, I am perfectly happy.

5 years constant hard use is more then I would ever expect to get from a sail which costs more than twice as much and gets far less use!.

Thats far more than the depreciation on that new, or near new board you bought a few years ago.

I have spent more on Petrol for a couple of good sessions that what the GPS watch cost!

People spend thousands on a Van instead of a simple sedan just to carry all their gear around in.

Thats far less than the extra a certain person paid for the luxury to rent a house at Lake George when they could hvae stayed in the CP for much less than the cost of the watch.

Keep things in perspective.

If it was my preferred device I would certainly buy another one, but I have a brand new spare anyhow and will probably not use it much as I have two mini Motions and GPS-Logit for feedback.

Sue, you are one of the fortunate ones who have the new model WIFI LCD Motion and you still have a GT-31 for backup! You also spent a lot of $$ on a Garmin watch just for OTW feedback with Andrews App!! Forget the GW-60. It's done it's job.

Or do you just want to cherry pick?

It's not that big a deal. I enjoy the on water feedback of the GW60 and would like to get a bit more use out of it.
I don't like throwing things especially if it might be user error rather than the device.

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decrepit said..
Big problem with the GW60 buttons is corrosion. They suck water in if pressed, just a few drops on your hands is enough, so the contacts underneath the buttons no longer work. It can be fixed by taking apart and cleaning. I wouldn't throw it away, somebody may be able to fix it or use it as spares. Me for instance, but it's probably not worth the postage

What Mike says. We have 3 GW60s in various states. One with a broken glass, one with a broken strap, and one with buttons that sometimes requires 10+ presses before it works. I've tried the swap parts between them (like taking the button parts from the broken glass one), and have had some limited success, but even after the repair, the watch is still nowhere near working as it should. That's despite being very careful about rinsing and drying the watches after each session, and not pressing buttons on the water.

Bummer. Oh well time to rely on the Garmin for on water feedback.
The only reason I asked was that it has had several hiccups where I've thought it was dead but then it's come good.
I was hoping this would be the same.
It's had a good innings .

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boardsurfr said..

decrepit said..
Big problem with the GW60 buttons is corrosion. They suck water in if pressed, just a few drops on your hands is enough, so the contacts underneath the buttons no longer work. It can be fixed by taking apart and cleaning. I wouldn't throw it away, somebody may be able to fix it or use it as spares. Me for instance, but it's probably not worth the postage

What Mike says. We have 3 GW60s in various states. One with a broken glass, one with a broken strap, and one with buttons that sometimes requires 10+ presses before it works. I've tried the swap parts between them (like taking the button parts from the broken glass one), and have had some limited success, but even after the repair, the watch is still nowhere near working as it should. That's despite being very careful about rinsing and drying the watches after each session, and not pressing buttons on the water.

boardsurfr sounds like you were well informed and taking good care of the watches from new
How many months / years did get trouble free before they starting playing up
Cheers
TK

I think not pressing the buttons on the water is key. Like decrepit says when you press the buttons the watch sucks in water and the parts start to corrode. I think the watch would be quite good if it didnt have those issues inc band etc. Daffy any tips on how to keep the watch going for 5 years

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Steve Charles said..>>> Daffy any tips on how to keep the watch going for 5 years

I think Daffy is an unfair comparison, he doesn't have the alpha firmware, he uses gpslogit for alphas and hours, so doesn't have to press any buttons while on the water.
Before I learnt about the buttons venting, I was pressing buttons to change speed genie for alphas, and the timer for the hour. So I got corrosion fairly early in the piece, Since I cleaned it up I've been very careful, but the buttons protrude enough for a crumpled wet suit or spay jacket to activate them. Be rigorous about a fresh water flush after salt water immersion. The well around the buttons can hold water, if it's salt, damage can occur. The adjust button on mine fell off, because the poor quality, stainless actuator rod, had rusted away.

I cant remember ever pressing any of the buttons from when I turn it on before the session, to when I turn it off after derigging.
I also always wear the watch over the top of my steamer wetsuit sleeve (I never use anything else ) and I am very careful not to bend the armband back, sit on it, crush it, stuff it in a bag etc- I do it up and store it in a box between sessions.
Then again, maybe I am just lucky.
And Decrepit is correct. I have never loaded or used the Alpha Firmware as I use GPS-Logit for that.

My GW60 is still in mint condition after more than 3 years. No problem with downloads or the buttons. I always use it in an aquapac on the upper arm, partially to avoid the underarm/overarm issues, but mostly because the straps fell off after about 3 weeks.

Averaged about 70 sessions a year for the last 5 years and my GW60 has never missed a beat and the strap is still in one piece. Combined with a GPSLogit phone it's great for on water feedback. I cycle through the buttons all the time and never had problems with water getting into them. Took one of them apart to check for moisture and none present, used some vaseline on the sealing gasket and it still works fine.

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tbwonder said..
My GW60 is still in mint condition after more than 3 years. No problem with downloads or the buttons. I always use it in an aquapac on the upper arm, partially to avoid the underarm/overarm issues, but mostly because the straps fell off after about 3 weeks.

'In mint condition' except the straps fell off after 3 weeks. Made my day Andrew!

You can get lucky with a GW60, but I'm not prepared to fork out $400 on the off chance I get a good one.

Got my hands on Sues broken GW60 today. I was thinking I might be able to get some use out of that pristine strap.
Unfortunately though the front screen is cracked. So I think water has entered through the cracks. I pulled it apart and dried everything out. The normal corrosion was evident around the centre GPS button. I prized the tiny circlip off which promptly shot across the room landing 2 metres away, I was lucky to find it. The front screen is bonded to the case so can not easily be replaced. I stuffed most of the bits back in the case. The little vibrator thing snapped off so I tossed that aside (Don't tell her).
It all appeared to work fine afterwards, so I gave it back to her. It will be fine if used in an Aquapac.

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tbwonder said..
>>The little vibrator thing snapped off so I tossed that aside (Don't tell her).
It all appeared to work fine afterwards, so I gave it back to her. It will be fine if used in an Aquapac.

I warned her about that earlier, it's almost impossible to keep that connected, and I doubt anybody can here it at 30kts on the water.
It is possible to put a protective screen over the screen, there was a link to it here somewhere

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tbwonder said..
Got my hands on Sues broken GW60 today. I was thinking I might be able to get some use out of that pristine strap.
Unfortunately though the front screen is cracked. So I think water has entered through the cracks. I pulled it apart and dried everything out. The normal corrosion was evident around the centre GPS button. I prized the tiny circlip off which promptly shot across the room landing 2 metres away, I was lucky to find it. The front screen is bonded to the case so can not easily be replaced. I stuffed most of the bits back in the case. The little vibrator thing snapped off so I tossed that aside (Don't tell her).
It all appeared to work fine afterwards, so I gave it back to her. It will be fine if used in an Aquapac.

I'd noticed a slight not all the way through crack but I don't know when that big one happened.
Thanks for the work..
Just read your post..so despite missing a few bits it should work..

I've been trying to work out how the watchface got damaged.
I wear it with the face on the underside of my wrist so I can read it as I sail along with underhand grip.
I think I may have damaged it hitting the harness hook as I was doing things onshore. I noticed the Garmin got a knock today. I'll have to make sure to put it back around when I come in so the face is on top of my wrist.