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Elevation Reading on Forerunner 955 or 965 Is Wrong
The elevation reading on your Forerunner® 955, Forerunner® 955 Solar, or Forerunner® 965 watch comes from a barometric altimeter sensor inside the watch. This sensor detects barometric pressure changes in order to determine current elevation at a given point. If you believe the elevation reading from your watch is incorrect, review the following information to help troubleshoot and fix the problem.
Weather Changes Can Affect Sensor Accuracy
Weather can contribute to an incorrect reading. This includes:
An incoming or departing low or high-pressure system
This can cause your starting elevation reading to be too high or too low. You should manually calibrate to a known elevation in this case. The elevation gain/loss during the recorded activity is typically not affected.
A windy day
Wind can affect the sensor causing an inaccurate reading. If you are going to record an activity outdoors when it is windy we suggest wearing the sleeve of a shirt or coat over the watch.
Clean the Sensor Port on the Watch
A blocked or clogged sensor port can lead to:
Wrong elevation or barometer readings
Incorrect Floors Climbed credit
To clean the sensor, locate the port on the back of the watch (it will be a small hole at the 6 o'clock position). You can rinse the port with water or you can also soak the watch in water for 5 minutes, agitating it every minute to help breakdown and remove any debris, such as sweat crystals or skin cells. After cleaning and/or soaking, allow the watch to dry completely.
IMPORTANT: Do not insert anything into openings on the watch (including canned air) as this can damage the internal sensor.
Calibrate the Sensor
With proper calibration the watch can achieve an accuracy of +/-50 feet at any given point. Use the information below to determine which calibration options are best for you.
Manually Calibrate the Sensor
From the watch face hold the UP key to access the menu.
Use the DOWN key to navigate to and select Sensors & Accessories.
Select Altimeter.
Select Calibrate.
Select an option:
Enter Manually (Enter current elevation): Use this option to calibrate if you know the current elevation. This option offers the most accurate calibration.
Use DEM: The watch will locate your position through GPS and use the preloaded DEM (Digital Elevation Map) data to get an elevation reading for your current location.
Use GPS: This mode will determine your elevation through GPS triangulation. Elevation calibrated through GPS is accurate to +/-400 feet at any given point and is the least accurate.
Automatically Calibrate the Sensor
Make sure you are outside with a clear open view of the sky around you.
From the watch face hold the UP key to access the menu.
Use the DOWN key to navigate to and select Sensors & Accessories.
Select Altimeter.
Select Auto Cal.
Toggle to On or Nightly.
On - The watch will calibrate the altimeter anytime GPS is acquired by using DEM and your location.
Nightly - Setting auto calibration to Nightly will calibrate the altimeter once every night during your sleep window set in your Garmin Connect™ account. If paired, the Garmin Connect™ app uses location data from the phone and compares it to the DEM information of the watch. This allows the nightly calibration feature to work better but is not required.
When starting an activity, the watch will show current calibration and give the options to accept, or recalibrate.
Nightly calibration is also performed when auto calibration is set to On.
