Testing batteries with a wireless setup

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aytchkay
Posts: 54
Joined: Tue Mar 11, 2008 4:30 pm
Location: Chicago

Testing batteries with a wireless setup

Post by aytchkay »

I understand the pros and cons of batteries and air temperature as well as the life of these batteries.

So far, I've been testing my batteries by putting each one in the iBike unit and clicking to "BATT". Is this the easiest way to test the batteries? This assumes that I (we) don't have a 'battery tester' in the house!

What do you all do to check your batteries and how often do you do it? Is it a good idea to replace ALL 5 batteries (heartstrap included) at the beginning of a new season? I live in Chicago and winter is not so easy to ride in, so my bike has gone weeks without riding - except for indoor trainer sessions.

Sorry if this has been answered before, but I couldn't find anything specific..
NCH1
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Joined: Mon Dec 28, 2009 12:33 am
Location: Sydney, Australia

Re: Testing batteries with a wireless setup

Post by NCH1 »

Interestingly enough, my ibike wireless automatically undertakes a battery test (displaying either good or bad) before doing the auto wind calibration when I press the centre button to switch the unit on. I'm not sure if I somehow configured the unit that way through trial and error in working out the different features, or whether it is part of a later firmware update. Maybe the more experienced users among us can able shed some light on this too.

Nik
coachboyd
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Re: Testing batteries with a wireless setup

Post by coachboyd »

If you have one of the newer firmwares, your iBike will do a battery test for you when you start it up (if it's been asleep for a set period of time). It will look for the voltage and then flash if the battery is good or bad.

You should only have to replace the speed, cadence, and heart rate strap battery once every year or so. They last a long time.
Boyd Johnson
http://www.boydcycling.com - high performance carbon wheels and accessories
R Mc
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Location: Abilene, TX

Re: Testing batteries with a wireless setup

Post by R Mc »

I bought a bulk load of batteries (sony's work best for me).

The battery test looks for 275 as the good/bad cut off, but if the temps in the 30s or 40s I've found I need the battery voltage to be in 300+ to make it for 3 or more hours.

So . . . yeah, I do the go to set up and check the battery level there--which is better than running it in a tester since that gives you an indication of what it will run under load.
aytchkay
Posts: 54
Joined: Tue Mar 11, 2008 4:30 pm
Location: Chicago

Re: Testing batteries with a wireless setup

Post by aytchkay »

What about the battery in the Head Unit? Should that be replaced once per year as well?

I know the iBike checks the battery in the 'computer'. My original question was referring to the other batteries in a wireless setup. How do you know when they need replacement. Are there signs which will identify if one of the other batteries is too low to perform? For instance, if the cadence battery is bad, will the cadence reading be gone or inconsistent?

I was looking for a way to know that ALL the batteries were 'good'.
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lorduintah
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Location: Plymouth, MN

Re: Testing batteries with a wireless setup

Post by lorduintah »

The other batteries getting low - usually I find that pairing is erratic. I will first do a hard reset on the computer - just in case a few glitches have sent it off to lala land.

Then, if I still have trouble pairing or dropping pairing (like being stopped for only a short time an lose the signals) - I will replace the culprit. I usually carry a couple extra batteries in my saddle pack.

You could periodically measure the voltage on the sensor batteries. The effective drain on these external batteries is much lower than on the computer - so they do last quite a bit longer.

Tom
R Mc
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Location: Abilene, TX

Re: Testing batteries with a wireless setup

Post by R Mc »

The batteries in the sensors (cadence/speed) seem to last a year or more.

Battery in the hr strap a couple of months (I don't use this anymore);

and the battery in the wireless mount seems to last about a month (or 40 hours of ride time or so).

I can tell that the wireless mount battery's going when I start to get inexplicable wireless fails or difficulty pairing with the sensors.
mechgt
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Joined: Thu Nov 05, 2009 7:22 am
Location: Atlanta, GA

Re: Testing batteries with a wireless setup

Post by mechgt »

R Mc wrote:...Battery in the hr strap a couple of months (I don't use this anymore)...
I've been using the Garmin HR strap, and I get about 300 hours of activity time on a battery. A couple of months sounds reeaally short (or else you're very active). I'm using the Garmin HR strap, not the iBike one, but I believe they're basically the exact same strap, maybe with different codes in them (physically they only appear to have a different logo printed on them, otherwise identical.) You might start to notice erratic data and it will get progressively worse.

Coach Boyd's recommendation of around once/year sounds right for the HR (and I assume the speed, and cadence units as well.) The head unit is completely separate, and will be replaced much more frequently and is sensitive to outside riding temperature. I have no experience with the wireless battery life.
R Mc
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Joined: Sat Jul 05, 2008 4:56 pm
Location: Abilene, TX

Re: Testing batteries with a wireless setup

Post by R Mc »

Yeah, you're probably right.

I stopped wearing the thing last Spring, so my memory's liable to be off.
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