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I've got a Wahoo Bolt purchased Feb 2018. Battery life has started decreasing, and whereas originally I could accidentally leave the backlight on permanently (only did that once!) and ride a leisurely 100 miles for a full day and still have a significant charge left on the unit, it now struggles to manage 4 hours with no backlight at all.
I've tried to get a battery swap (and pay for it) via Wahoo, they just want me to smash it up and then offer a 20% voucher off a new unit. Planned obsolescence anyone? I paid over £230, in my eyes its reasonable to expect it to last more than three years but Wahoo dispute this. They won't do a battery swap, exchange, refurb etc.
They also claim its sealed and I cannot find any DIY repair options online, only for the older Elemnt model...so I guess this confirms that. It appears the unit is glued together as there are no screw holes. Has anyone managed to repair theirs?
As a last resort...any other Garmin (and Wahoo) alternatives I should look at?
Youtube has a couple of tear down videos, i'd say if you were willing to give it a try, a mobile phone repair shop could have it opened and a similar battery installed, not sure of the cost though, or if it would be worth it in the long run?
Thanks, I hadn't looked at YouTube. Happy to have a go myself if there is a reasonable chance of keeping it waterproof afterwards!
Is the battery a proprietary shape though, I wouldn't be surprised if it is, given that they will want to fill every mm of space in there to minimise unit size/maximise battery life.
I agree though, a bit crap it can't be repaired.
I’ve just gone Garmin 830 due to this! No regrets
Nothing to lose from trying to prise it open then?
On the other hand my elemnt runs happily from a USB battery pack on audaxes. Not as "clean" an install but better than spending two hundred quid on a new gps?