Low heartrate reading

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aytchkay
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Joined: Tue Mar 11, 2008 4:30 pm
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Low heartrate reading

Post by aytchkay »

On my ride today, 48 deg F, I noticed that my heartrate readings were very low. I know what my heartrate should be for various efforts but today I barely got over 132 bpm. Everything else worked just fine. Could it be a low battery in the chest strap?

thanks,
howard
in Chicago
where spring is having a very cool start!
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racerfern
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Re: Low heartrate reading

Post by racerfern »

It could be a low battery, however more likely you had it on upside down. Make sure the logo, whether Garmin or iBike is upright.
Fernando
aytchkay
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Re: Low heartrate reading

Post by aytchkay »

My battery is almost new - I put it in the iBike and the voltage read 2.9! And it was NOT upsidedown!
So now what? Could it be the battery in the mount? Wouldn't that cause other readings to be funky?

Who knows what's wrong here? Is it my heart?

aytchkay
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racerfern
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Re: Low heartrate reading

Post by racerfern »

That was almost 1 month ago. What's happened since then? Same readings all the time?
Fernando
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lorduintah
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Re: Low heartrate reading

Post by lorduintah »

What condition are the contacts on both sides of the HRM sensor? Wash them off with soap and water and possibly a small brush. They do get grungy now and then.

Tom
aytchkay
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Re: Low heartrate reading

Post by aytchkay »

Here it is July and about 75% of my rides have had abnormally LOW HR readings - like 65 bpm avg!! A few times it did work fine.
All other readings are fine. I'm using a Gen 3 iPro wireless and I've had no problems with pairing - just the low HR readings....

The heart strap is practically new. I wet it before putting it on - it is NOT upsidedown.

Can anyone give me some advice how to correct this?
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lorduintah
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Re: Low heartrate reading

Post by lorduintah »

Suggest you reset the HRM by reversing the battery in the HRM - the redo the pairing. Make sure it is riding on your chest just below your sternum and is snug around your chest.

Tom
aytchkay
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Re: Low heartrate reading

Post by aytchkay »

Do you mean I should install the battery backward and try using it that way?
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lorduintah
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Re: Low heartrate reading

Post by lorduintah »

No - this is only a reset in the same manner as you would do a hard reset of the iBike. I have found that sometimes you get a "soft" pairing that is not rock solid with the sensors. This can lead to intermittent issues and maybe your low HR is an indication of one of those. The battery insertion is only momentary and then you put it back in the right way. It will change the wireless ID signal and a new pairing will result which may alleviate your issue.

Tom
aytchkay
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Re: Low heartrate reading

Post by aytchkay »

Thanks Tom, I'll give it a try. I also downloaded the new firmware (4.00). Perhaps my HR issues will be resolved?

howard
aytchkay
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Re: Low heartrate reading

Post by aytchkay »

OK....I reversed the battery, put it back in at correct polarity and tried again on a ride today. I also downloaded the new firmware, 4.00. Well the HR strap just would not get paired. I made sure that the HR was "on". I even tried another battery. In setup, I went to HR 'find'...but nothing. Then I went to setup/config wls/test/on...and it would only pair the Cad and Spd...after about 5 tries, I gave up.

Any idea why it would not 'pair'?

howard
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lorduintah
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Re: Low heartrate reading

Post by lorduintah »

Try a new battery? Otherwise I am at a loss right now.

You will notice that flipping the battery only puts a short between the two conductors in the case - it is not like you are applying voltages that could fry the strap. However in handling the battery, it does sometimes happen that the battery gets depleted - especially if it was weak. Being a "new" battery does not guarantee that it has all the juice it should have - I bought a 100 of them and a couple were DOA.

Tom
aytchkay
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Re: Low heartrate reading

Post by aytchkay »

I DID try a new battery....right out of the package.
I'll try another, but I'm not hopeful.

No other ideas?
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lorduintah
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Re: Low heartrate reading

Post by lorduintah »

Probably time to get some help from Velocomp - John or Allan.

How new is the HR strap? maybe you have a bad one - the leads on one side or the other into the center may be hosed - an option is to try a friends to see if you can get it to pair. You may have to resort to going to the bike shop to try one. But if it is still under warranty and is the source of the problem you can get it replaced.
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