Heart Rate Fail

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brookside
Posts: 48
Joined: Tue May 05, 2015 7:03 am

Heart Rate Fail

Post by brookside »

Yesterday and today HR was reading OK at the start of the ride but a few minutes in I got Heart Rate Fail, SPD/Cadence sensor was fine. Tried rescanning several times but the Newton never found the HR again. Before today's ride I our in a new battery and maybe the HR readings lasted 4 or 5 minutes longer before the Fail warning. (battery was fresh, exp. date is several years from now).

I did notice, starting 3 or 4 weeks ago, strange and incorrect HR readings when out of the saddle in the drops, chest closer to the Newton than usual. HR reading would sometimes spike 20 to 40% for 5 seconds or so, then return to normal when I was back on the seat. It's an iBike HR chest unit, can't make out a model number. I don't have another ANT+ heart rate device to check if it's receiving a signal. Any way to diagnose where the problem lies, Newton or strap, and any ideas how to fix?

BTW, the Newton upgraded to FW 5.08 a day or two before this started..
Velocomp
Velocomp CEO
Posts: 7793
Joined: Fri Jan 11, 2008 8:43 am

Re: Heart Rate Fail

Post by Velocomp »

Try putting your HR battery in backwards. That will hard-reset it. Then, do a new pairing.

If that doesn't work then, unfortunately, your HR strap is not working properly.

FW 508 would have zero effect on this problem.
John Hamann
ronpei
Posts: 120
Joined: Sat Jun 08, 2013 7:47 am

Re: Heart Rate Fail

Post by ronpei »

one thing to consider is if your strap is tight enough. When you lean forward in the drops you probably round your shoulders and this reduces the tension of the strap and may make the pickup less reliable. Just a thought based upon your description.
brookside
Posts: 48
Joined: Tue May 05, 2015 7:03 am

Re: Heart Rate Fail - Solved (sort of)

Post by brookside »

Turns out it was a battery door failure. Looks like there were two little, and I mean very little, flanges on the battery cover that when the cover is rotated engage the HR monitor body and hold the cover and battery firmly in place. Both had broken. While this seems like it should have been obvious the wet seal O-ring around the battery cover provided just enough grip to make it appear that the closure was firm, but any motion while on my chest was loosening the cover and the battery was not making contact any more. No juice, no signal. Wrapped a rubber band around the cover several times and all is good.

You folks at iBike wouldn't have any battery covers lying around, would you? It's an iBike chest strap.
Velocomp
Velocomp CEO
Posts: 7793
Joined: Fri Jan 11, 2008 8:43 am

Re: Heart Rate Fail

Post by Velocomp »

John Hamann
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