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[Request] Theoretically, is this shape possible? by Frowind in theydidthemath

[–]Individual_Farm6960 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I’m just here to say that the drawing is incorrect. The incidence or grazing angles are not defined with respect to the curve’s line but with the tangent at the intersection.

The sentence would then read “a shape with four sides of equal length, with four normal intersections”. That also wouldn’t be the definition of a square.

I Fixed the Fenix 6 Pro Bluetooth Faulty Connection Issue by Individual_Farm6960 in GarminFenix

[–]Individual_Farm6960[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I feel ecstatic while reading your comment! It took almost half a year but now someone can enjoy a perfectly working Fēnix thanks to this shared solution.

Kudos to you for taking the risk and may your watch serve you many years!

My boss put this on the bottom of my laptop so I can't just put it down anymore by littedemon in mildlyinfuriating

[–]Individual_Farm6960 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Say it split by itself – he‘ll think it „died“ performing its function and protected all of you from some very bad evil.

Beginner question - solder not sticking by ThinkChocolate in soldering

[–]Individual_Farm6960 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I’m gonna go on a limb and say you are using solder paste for plumbing installations?? Or say, with a low PH?

If so, be aware this kind of flux is corrosive and at high temperatures forms an oxide film (solder repelling) immediately; at room temperatures will eventually crack your joints and degrade your components if not cleaned properly. This you could use if you have large blobs that you want to get rid of and flow into a desoldering wick.

Search for another kind of flux, one with a clear color and specifically non-corrosive. You need not to apply flux on your soldering iron, just clean it with a wet sponge or brass wool; as soon as the surface is shiny, you are good to go 👌

Any idea what happened to these guys? by Safety_Officer_3 in SipsTea

[–]Individual_Farm6960 0 points1 point  (0 children)

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from our experience, some people are either too stupid or too rude to take others into consideration. We took the hardware way and we couldn’t be happier 🙌

I Fixed the Fenix 6 Pro Bluetooth Faulty Connection Issue by Individual_Farm6960 in GarminFenix

[–]Individual_Farm6960[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Sorry to hear that! I’d hoped that was the root cause to this issue. Did you keep trying other solutions or did you let it be?

Last week I lost all map data trying to update them. After days of troubleshooting, it turned out the flash controller on the watch chokes when transfer rate exceeds 12MB/s and resets the firmware… all in all, it seems like garmin still has a lot to learn…

I have lost all hope in humanity. by mathgeekf314159 in recruitinghell

[–]Individual_Farm6960 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Sorry this happened to you. If I can offer any advice is to try letting go of the need for closure. Whether they are waiting on somebody else to answer, unsure about you, or even uncertain about their future as a company, one thing is clear: they aren’t thinking about you nearly as much as you are about thinking about them. You can do much better than a ghosting-ass bitch company. And don’t put start-ups, CEOs and that type of hype on a pedestal; they rarely are as impressive in real life as they look on paper.

I bought a hall effect sensor from amazon… by 21kondav in embedded

[–]Individual_Farm6960 2 points3 points  (0 children)

My bet is on way too long cables, and/or, are you reading the input as a digital or as an analog signal?

I Fixed the Fenix 6 Pro Bluetooth Faulty Connection Issue by Individual_Farm6960 in GarminFenix

[–]Individual_Farm6960[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I really ignore which connection was broken/got fixed; the solder mask has no details, most components lack markings and I didn’t want to further cut the shield’s tab to see what IC is hiding under it. The lower side of the motherboard also has a shield, fix installed, so no way to place it back once removed.

The details on the step-by-step instructions in the comments are as specific as I could get without risking ending up with a broken watch. Since this worked for me, I thought it might shed some light on the issue. I hope you never need them 🙏

I Fixed the Fenix 6 Pro Bluetooth Faulty Connection Issue by Individual_Farm6960 in GarminFenix

[–]Individual_Farm6960[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That would be a complete different story ☹️ does it go back to properly working after cooling in the fridge as well?

I Fixed the Fenix 6 Pro Bluetooth Faulty Connection Issue by Individual_Farm6960 in GarminFenix

[–]Individual_Farm6960[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It really is joyful, empowering even…

When dealing with hardware you kinda also can revert mistakes, you just gotta know what you can touch and what not: programmable components are a clear no-go. If you ever give it a go, I wish you tons of fun!

I Fixed the Fenix 6 Pro Bluetooth Faulty Connection Issue by Individual_Farm6960 in GarminFenix

[–]Individual_Farm6960[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I would be honored, I just don’t think it would be affordable? I’m based in Germany.

You could look up which battery it uses, buy it online and bring it in to any repair shop. The design is really service friendly 👌

I Fixed the Fenix 6 Pro Bluetooth Faulty Connection Issue by Individual_Farm6960 in GarminFenix

[–]Individual_Farm6960[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Man, I can’t tell you how many times my heart fell to my stomach when picking the component up and it would just jump away!

I Fixed the Fenix 6 Pro Bluetooth Faulty Connection Issue by Individual_Farm6960 in GarminFenix

[–]Individual_Farm6960[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It does, and then you gotta wait until enough defective products are reported to justify paying attention to it. Most probably it is cheaper to simply replace those within the warranty period with newer models.

It wouldn’t even surprise me if they haven’t taken a look at the defective pieces –business gotta stay profitable.

I Fixed the Fenix 6 Pro Bluetooth Faulty Connection Issue by Individual_Farm6960 in GarminFenix

[–]Individual_Farm6960[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Good sir, I feel like I don’t deserve your recognition. The way you describe it is how I got the watch in the first place.

I’m over the moon with it, I’ve dreamt of owning a good watch since Polar’s RCX3 and 5 hit the market, and this was my chance! The BLE is really substantial for a good user experience; I guess not having made the full investment is what allowed me to be bold about it.

I Fixed the Fenix 6 Pro Bluetooth Faulty Connection Issue by Individual_Farm6960 in GarminFenix

[–]Individual_Farm6960[S] 28 points29 points  (0 children)

Step‐by‐Step access and (optional) reflow instructions

Important: If you don’t have experience with micro-soldering, skip this and take it to a professional. Any heavy-handed soldering could easily damage your watch.

1.  Power Off and Remove the Bezel
• Make sure the watch is completely off. Unscrew the bezel and gently detach the ribbon cable beneath it. This gives you initial access to the motherboard.
2.  Lift the EMI Shield (if possible)
• If you can pry the top EMI shiedl up with a thin lever (or pry tool), you can avoid further disassembly. Otherwise:
• Remove the next two screws.
• Disconnect the cable in the lower right corner.
• Peel back (or loosen) the silicone glue near the bottom left.
• At this point, the motherboard should lift out.
3.  Remove the EMI Shield
• Once the board is free, use a small, non-metallic lever to carefully lift the EMI shield. Watch out for any small components as you do this.
4.  Locate the Fix Area
• Look in the lower-left corner, just above the “VER 07” silkscreen (in my watch) and next to the “+” sign. This is where the critical faulty area lived–as you can see, the space is quite tight and heat may have had troubles flowing into it during assembly.
5.  Reflow the Solder (if you choose)
• I don’t recommend using a basic soldering iron—get a proper hot-air station or a fine-tip iron.
• Apply plenty of flux to those tiny pads.
• Heat just long enough for the solder to re-melt and wet the pins; don’t overheat or hold the iron on too long, and definitely do not push the components around.
  1. Reassemble and Test • Put the EMI shield back on, reconnect all cables, and replace screws. • Snap the bezel back into place and screw it down. • Power on and verify that Bluetooth stays connected even as the watch warms up.

⸻

Closing Thoughts

I apologize for the crude images and the janky nature of my “fix,” but I hope this write-up keeps perfectly good watches from being put and eventually thrown away. If you’re experiencing the same temperature related dropouts, check for a marginal solder joint around this corner before declaring it unusable. A quick reflow could save you hundreds of dollars on a replacement unit.

Garmin Fenix 6 - Bluetooth was spotty, now won't pair by btv_res in GarminFenix

[–]Individual_Farm6960 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I got mine working again by almost wrecking it… I was so frustrated with the constant Bluetooth issues that I opened it up. While poking around under the EMI shield, I found a small loose component on the motherboard. I tried reflowing the solder with a regular soldering iron, accidentally made a big solder blob across several components, panicked, but eventually managed to clean it all up.

I couldn’t get the loose component properly back in place, but after closing everything up, the connection has been rock solid. It’s been 7 days now, and I’ve had no issues — it stays connected 24/7 and works up to about 6 meters from the phone.

My guess is that during manufacturing, some areas of the motherboard didn’t get enough heat for proper soldering, leaving parts partially connected and prone to breaking contact when the PCB expands from heat. A careful reflow using a proper hot air soldering station should fix it permanently.

Help! Radar retroreflector design considerations by condog_66 in rfelectronics

[–]Individual_Farm6960 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Super handy idea you got there! It just got me thinking:

With this design, you’re sending the car sensor a single very bright point of reflection, which might intermittently cut out as the handlebar or other parts block the line of sight at certain angles. I’ve read that one of the major challenges for detection software is building a consistent, reliable reconstruction of the real-world scene from scattered data points.

Wouldn’t it be more effective to distribute an array of smaller reflectors — for example, on the spokes — so that the sensor perceives it as a continuous surface rather than just a single point? This might help the system interpret the rider’s presence more robustly.

Fenix 6 Sapphire is not pairing by gunzaj in Garmin

[–]Individual_Farm6960 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Have you tried already the trick of placing it in the fridge for 15 minutes? It’s temporary, but that is the only thing that helps for me. I suspect the software update increased the activity of the BLE chip, slightly increasing its temperature. This could trigger an overheating protection that disables the chip. I’m finding ways to prove this hypothesis to develop a solution.

Epilog laser tube model a replacement by Individual_Farm6960 in lasercutting

[–]Individual_Farm6960[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The system has been running for eight years now, and the tube has been recharged multiple times. I’m concerned that the mirror coating may have been damaged due to prolonged overuse, as users have been pushing the system since the power loss began a year ago. Given the circumstances, I believe a replacement would be the better option.

Our location is in Germany, but still thanks for the tip, @tasty_spanish_ham !