LG’s G Watch is amongst the first Android Wear running devices out there and has achieved moderate success amongst the enthusiast circles. With early adoption comes a bit of a risk though and this was witnessed by an increasing number of users in the form of corrosion buildup on the POGO pins located at the back of the watch. LG is now pushing out a software update to fix this hardware issue.
OTA update build number KMV78Y is now heading out to users and is supposed to fix the corrosion build up spotted on the exposed charging POGO pins placed at the rear of the watch. While LG did not officially comment on the update, a support representatives comment can be seen below.
LG TV, Monitors, AV and IT Support
Recently it has come to our attention that a small number of G Watch devices have been reported to have developed discoloration and residue buildup on the terminal pins located on the back. While completely safe and unlikely to affect charging, LG will be rolling out a maintenance release over the next few days that will disable the current when the G Watch is not in the charging dock. The maintenance release will be rolled out automatically over-the-air to all G Watch owners. We thank G Watch users for their patience and apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused.
Basic chemistry explains the reasoning behind the build up. Two different materials make up the POGO pins while our sweat acts as an electrolytic conductor resulting in galvanic corrosion. This corrosion results in a residue buildup on the pins and can cause disruption in charging the smartwatch. LG’s solution is to disable the electric current running through two of those pins till the time the G Watch is placed in the charging cradle. This should ideally eliminate any chance of ongoing corrosion.
[Via – Android Police]