AeroPod, PowerPod and Newton

Hello.

I have the following problem with my powerpod: it started showing weird readings after months without using it like very low watts (ex. on a 8% hill at 13km/h with cadence above 65 it showed between 50 and 70 watts), so I thought it might be the GSC10 sensors I was using on a new bike with my Garmin 500.

I bought the Garmin speed and cadence sensors that come with Garmin 1000 and did a cal ride (not out and back but straight ahead on a slight uphill - 4/5%), and after the cal ride I went back and when descending, with no cadence at all, it showed watts between 1200 - 1650! The low readings when climbing remain also. I attach the ride as a Tcx file from Garmin Connect because I have a Windows 10 in my computer and am having problems with Isaac platform so can´t post the ride from there.

Its strange that with zero cadence from the sensors that wattage appears.

Before the Isaac platform crashed I was able to update the powerpod with 6.26 and dial in the 'best cal' parameters for me and the bike I am using now.

What should I do?

Kind regards.

TB

Please post a .ibr ride file

If I could enter Isaac platform I would.

I have already asked for help to technicalsupport@velocomp.com concerning not being able to open Isaac platform with my Windows 10.

Still waiting for an answer.

TB

Please check your spam folder. Tom is very fast when responding.

Thank you for the concern, but I already checked and nothing is there.

I sent the e-mail last sunday and just sent another just now.

Hope there is a solution for Isaac to work with Windows 10...

Regards.

Tiago Basilio

Let me know if you don't hear from Tom. He will get you going; Isaac works just fine with Win 10.

Hi again.

Tom responded and everything is OK now.

I attach some of the rides that I did on the 9th and 10th with Powerpod.

They where all little rides because I was trying to figure out what was going on.

Regards.

TB

When you do your next longer ride please post it so I can check things.

Also, make sure your PP is firmly attached to its mount, so that it cannot rotate in it.

OK.

Do you recommend doing a hard reset and new cal ride before or leave it as is?

I would do a new cal ride.

Hi again.

So, i did two cal rides. One yesterday followed by a short ride that showed me the problems remained. So, this morning I did another one followed by a longer ride.

After this ride I observed the two problems still remained:
- high power readings on longer descents with 0 cadence (above 300w showed)
- very low power readings on hills

So, I analised the ibr. files from that ride and noticed that the slope readings aren't true. It seems that this fact is related to those problems I mentioned, please see:
- Km 11-12; Km 41; Km 64; Km 66 - 68: with increasing HR and % of gradient the power goes down to 50 - 70w
- Km 15; Km 44: 0 cadence with high wattage, followed by a +/- 3km almost flat road interval where the power readings are very low

I was able to see, in all those moments, that the PP slope reading was inverted: when the power was high on the 0 cadence descents so was the + slope; and where the power was low on step hills the slope readings where almost the negative mirror image of the slope gradient (I was going up 7% and it reads like I was on a - 7%, hence the lower power).

But even with those inverted readings I don´t understand why with 0 cadence the PP shows power?!

The PP is securily attached and with the letters parallel to the ground (measured with a spirit level) and there are no cables obstructing the PP duct.

What do you think? What can be done to fix this?

Regards.

TB

Your PP looks to be well calibrated but the zero-cadence/non-zero power is a real stumper. I have never seen this before.

I would do a hard-reset of your PP (Press-hold button for about 10 seconds, then release), then do another ride.

Please post your next ride file.

Hi.

I did that already before the shown two cal rides:

1 - Hard reset
2 - Ride with cal 1-100 (next ride same problems)
3- Reset profile 1 (with mine and the bikes specifications and next 'best accuracy')
4- Cal ride (16-12-2017: next ride with same problems)
5- New reset profile 1
6- Cal ride (17-12-2017: next ride with same problems)

Since I noticed this problem more then one week ago I have already done all the known procedures of resetting and cal rides (around seven cal rides) with all following rides giving the same problems.

What about the inverted slope reading?

Could it be that the accelerometer has problems?

I really don´t think doing one more cal ride is going to solve this...

Any thoughts?

Best regards.

TB

Please do not do any more cal rides.

With the profile that you currently have stored in your device, do a hard reset, then do another ride.

If something is wrong this will reveal it.

Hi.

Today I did a hard reset and rode 34km.

The problems remain the same:
- see km 16 and 31,5 for power without cadence
- see km 29 to 31 for rising HR and elevation with decreased power and slope

Also, the date changed to 15/11/2017 after the hard reset . Don´t know if this is common or not.

What can be done?

Regards.

Please post images showing how your PowerPod is attached to your bike.

The "0000" time is OK. This happens after a hard reset.

You've connected PP to Isaac, so the next time you ride the correct date/time will be restored.

Here are the pics: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/ ... XVxzfhjjov

If that link doesn´t work, here´s another: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/ ... sp=sharing

We did some checking. What's happening is that, during your long coasts, PP is losing the cadence signal, possibly because the cadence sensor is turning off.

Why your sensor is turning off we do not know.

After losing the signal for 1 minute, PP will turn off the zero cadence = zero power feature. This is why you're seeing power spikes.

The workaround is simple: soft pedal every 30 seconds, for a few seconds, just enough to keep the cadence sensor awake. That will stop your unusual problem!

OK. That could be an explanation.

But it is not possible that after using 3 diferente set of cadence sensors all of them are turning off ( 2 of them are new garmin sensors latest model).

Also, that does not explain the inverted slope readings: I dont believe that during almost max efforts on hills that I am only pushing 50w.

Could it be that PP software is unsound? If so, can we try something?

Is your PP attached to your bike so that it is impossible for it to rotate (that is, it is very securely mounted)?

If it can rotate during your bike rides, then you will get odd readings on hills.

Yes, it is very secure.

I just finished a new ride with another bike and equipment: GARMIN 705 with fresh sensors. So all variables changed except the PP.

1. Set up PP with new profile
2. Attached it very securely to bike
3. PP steady red
4. new pairing with new sensors
5. steady green, press and yellow
6. start ride with calibration
7. follow up ride

All the problems remained, so the problem is with PP. Any thoughts?

I agree that something is wrong with your PP.

Please email technicalsupport@velocomp.com Reference this thread, and ask for a warranty replacement.

Hi again.

The PP is back and tried it today.

Did the cal ride and everything seems to be in order now

What do you think?

Regards.

TB

Looks good, though I did tweak your profile a bit.

Load this into PP and you're good to go!

Can you explain me how can I do that so I don´t screw things up?

TB

Hi think I got it.

Please check the following ride to see if it is ok after that tweak you made to my profile.

Regards.

TB

basilio wrote:Hi think I got it.

Please check the following ride to see if it is ok after that tweak you made to my profile.

Regards.

TB

Perfect!

Well John, I have to say: great product and even better customer support - the best around! Will recommend.

Kind regards.

TB

basilio wrote:Well John, I have to say: great product and even better customer support - the best around! Will recommend.

Kind regards.

TB