Troubleshooting help for new rechargeable mount

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dtrousdale
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Troubleshooting help for new rechargeable mount

Post by dtrousdale »

I just tried my new wireless rechargeable mount for the first time with my iAero. I got only OFF messages from all sensors: speed, cadence, and HR. After another minute or so of scanning, I got WLS FAIL message.
Then I switched to my old handlebar mount, and everything worked perfectly, and the sensors were detected almost immediately.
I've gone back and forth between the two mounts several times now and get the same results. I even held the new rechargeable mount down near the sensors instead of up on my stem, and it still gave only OFF messages.
I'm an iBike/iAero user for about 3-4 years now and have tried every troubleshooting trick I can think of: the rechargeable mount is fully charged, new batteries in all sensors+iAero, pressed up/down arrows simultaneously to initiate pairing process, double-checked to make sure I have the latest firmware, and so on.
What should I try next?
jesawdy
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Re: Troubleshooting help for new rechargeable mount

Post by jesawdy »

I can't recall if the rechargeable battery can go in the wrong way or not. I'd start by checking it is in properly, contacts are being made well to the battery and the ibike itself to the new mount.

Maybe a bum board in the new mount?
Last edited by jesawdy on Wed Mar 30, 2011 8:56 am, edited 1 time in total.
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dtrousdale
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Re: Troubleshooting help for new rechargeable mount

Post by dtrousdale »

jesawdy wrote:I can't recall if the rechargeable battery can go in the wrong way or not. I'd start be checking it is in properly, contacts are being made well to the battery and the ibike itself to the new mount.
Maybe a bum board in the new mount?
No, that was not quite the problem, but inspecting the contacts closely did reveal the problem. There are three slightly indented contacts at one end of the battery, and two springs inside the case. It looks like the springs are supposed to align with the two outer contacts, however one of them does not in my unit. It looks like one of the springs was somehow poorly attached during assembly, and so that spring hits the plastic in between the end and middle contacts of the battery and not the contact itself. I used the end of a ball point pen to guide the end of the errant spring into its indented contact as I slipped the battery in place with my other hand, and now my iAero is receiving signals from sensors on two different bikes.
Whew! Thank you very much for the tip, but there's another two hours wasted when I could have been out on my bike. For what I paid for this thing, I think it should have worked better right out of the box. :cry:
still-chasing
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Re: Troubleshooting help for new rechargeable mount

Post by still-chasing »

I'm puzzled about the power (voltage) on my Ibike Pro. I have a good battery in the unit. It is constantly reading 283-284. When it's plugged into the computer via usb cable, it reads in the high 290's more like 296 steady. When I attach the unit to the rechargeable mount, I watch the power drop from 283 down to 277-279 and this is inside the house where the unit is just sitting there; not in cool weather outside. When I ride for a few minutes and check, the voltage drops even more. In the high 260's. I have charged the rechargeable battery for at least 3 hrs. Isn't the purpose of the rechargeable battery to hold power up? If I get voltage readings in the low 260's, doesn't this defeat the purpose of getting the rechargeable battery?

Another issue I have is the cal wind. When I wake the unit and go to set up to check the values, my cal wind is very high (4-6) no matter how hard I try to block the port from any type of wind. I even tried to bring it inside the bathroom and the cal wind is still high. I just get frustrated and click the center button to force it to zero out. Please explain. Is this normal? or zeroing it out even the value is high the normal procedure?

Thanks.
still-chasing
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Re: Troubleshooting help for new rechargeable mount

Post by still-chasing »

Is it normal to get a very high wind scaling with the new rechargeable mount? after doing 2 cal ride for different set up, I get wind scaling numbers 1.3 and 1.4. one came out -0.1 tilt, the other -0.2 hmmm
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racerfern
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Re: Troubleshooting help for new rechargeable mount

Post by racerfern »

I would expect the wind scaling numbers for people who were on the stem to go up in general. My stem wind scaling is .631 and when I get my new mount I expect it to be closer to 1. FYI, my iDash has a wind scaling of 0.955 in virtually the same location is the new rechargeable mount.

1.3 isn't that high, IMO. Tilt at -.1 or -.2 sounds right considering you're right at the headtube instead of out on the stem or bars.
Fernando
cjonbike
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Re: Troubleshooting help for new rechargeable mount

Post by cjonbike »

I to have the voltage issue with the new mount,is this normal? Will I get longer life from the cr2032 even though the rechargeable battery is pulling it lower when connected? Mine drops to 2.73 in the house, then lower when I go out!

Thanks for your help!

Chris
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dtrousdale
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Re: Troubleshooting help for new rechargeable mount

Post by dtrousdale »

cjonbike wrote:I to have the voltage issue with the new mount,is this normal? Will I get longer life from the cr2032 even though the rechargeable battery is pulling it lower when connected? Mine drops to 2.73 in the house, then lower when I go out!
Thanks for your help!
Chris
Though I just started using my new rechargeable mount, I believe I have noticed the same thing: an unusually big drop in the voltage value when on the new mount. When I was troubleshooting yesterday, I tried two brand-new cr2032s as part of my process and noticed the drop. Both started out at above 3.00 when first installed.
Is this normal? When do we know when the cr2032 needs to be replaced?
rruff
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Re: Troubleshooting help for new rechargeable mount

Post by rruff »

Does anyone know what sort of battery these are? Rechargeable Li-Ion are 3.7V per cell... so that couldn't be it. LiFePO4 are 3.2V, so maybe. Is there more than one cell?

I use a non-rechargable 1300mA-hr CR123A 3.0V cell on my wired mount and it reads ~2.85V... and lasts at least 6 months.
whynotride
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Re: Troubleshooting help for new rechargeable mount

Post by whynotride »

I was told me that there is no way to measure voltage across the contacts on the battery extender since the CPU actually turns it on.
I took the rechargeable battery out and measured the voltage across the contacts. It read 4.16 V. This seemed high but it was consistent.
Maybe the extra power drives the electronics and radio transmission?
I then put the ibike on the extender. The ibike was reading 2.75 V. When I attached it, I expected the voltage to jump up at least some amount. Instead, nothing, no change at all. It still read 2.75 V.
When I put the ibike on my home-made battery device, the voltage jumps up every time. With the new extender, not at all.
Have to admit, I don't understand it!
Velocomp
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Re: Troubleshooting help for new rechargeable mount

Post by Velocomp »

The rechargeable mount is designed to hold the CR2032 at about 2.8V, so 2.75V is OK.
John Hamann
whynotride
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Re: Troubleshooting help for new rechargeable mount

Post by whynotride »

I didn't mean to give the impression that 2.75 V was normal, I just used that as an example. IOW, the voltage shown on the CPU did not change, on the display, no matter whether the CPU was attached to the battery extender or not.
I killed a new battery in two rides at around 33* even with the extender. I saw 2.51V after the second ride.
Additionally, my WS with one profile is 1.52 with a tilt of -.5 and 1.444 and -.4 on another. Much higher than anything I have on any other profile. Not sure what that means yet.
still-chasing
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Re: Troubleshooting help for new rechargeable mount

Post by still-chasing »

still-chasing wrote:I'm puzzled about the power (voltage) on my Ibike Pro. I have a good battery in the unit. It is constantly reading 283-284. When it's plugged into the computer via usb cable, it reads in the high 290's more like 296 steady. When I attach the unit to the rechargeable mount, I watch the power drop from 283 down to 277-279 and this is inside the house where the unit is just sitting there; not in cool weather outside. When I ride for a few minutes and check, the voltage drops even more. In the high 260's. I have charged the rechargeable battery for at least 3 hrs. Isn't the purpose of the rechargeable battery to hold power up? If I get voltage readings in the low 260's, doesn't this defeat the purpose of getting the rechargeable battery?

Another issue I have is the cal wind. When I wake the unit and go to set up to check the values, my cal wind is very high (4-6) no matter how hard I try to block the port from any type of wind. I even tried to bring it inside the bathroom and the cal wind is still high. I just get frustrated and click the center button to force it to zero out. Please explain. Is this normal? or zeroing it out even the value is high the normal procedure?

Thanks.
Before leaving for a ride, I checked my Ipro's voltage before attaching it to the rechargeable battery and it reads 283. In the middle of a 2 hr ride, I checked it again and the voltage drops in the mid 260's. I live in So. Cal. and temperature is warm today. Got home and took the IPro off the rechargeable unit. Checked the voltage and it read 283 again. So, are the results I'm seeing during the workout wrong because of the low voltage?
hiroad
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Re: Troubleshooting help for new rechargeable mount

Post by hiroad »

Hello guys, I'm in Japan and have the same trouble with you. My rechargeable battery gives me 4.0V by itself and the wireless mount talks with the sensors and I can record my ride. However, the voltage indication drops down to 2.5-2.6V when my iAero is attached to the rechargeable wireless mount , while the iAero gives me 2.78V without the mount (in indoor 18 degrees Celcius).

My 3 hours ride file was segmented to 8 pieces in the warm 14 degrees Celcius tempereture today and this is much worse than the original CR2032 mount. Any tips for making use of my new mount?
Last edited by hiroad on Tue Apr 05, 2011 8:59 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Velocomp
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Re: Troubleshooting help for new rechargeable mount

Post by Velocomp »

Here is a simple way to check your rechargeable mount:

1) remove the cover from the mount so that the rechargeable battery is exposed

2) remove the rechargeable battery and insert it into your charger. If the charger light remains green then the rechargeable battery is charged; if the light turns red then your rechargeable battery needs charging. Leave the battery in the charger until the light turns green

3) Take your ibike into setup and scroll until you see the Batt voltage. record that number

4) With the rechargeable battery removed, attach your iBike to the rechargeable mount. You should see the batt voltage drop, to 265 or lower

5) Now, install the rechargeable battery into the mount. You should see the voltage rise, indicating that the rechargeable mount is working. The voltage you see will depend on the condition of your CR2032 battery. Eventually the batt voltage should rise to about 2.8V.

If you don't see your battery voltage rise, or if you continue to have problems, please contact us at technicalsupport@velocomp.com
John Hamann
hiroad
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Re: Troubleshooting help for new rechargeable mount

Post by hiroad »

Thank you John. My mount has worked just as you described. But, the voltage is still low at 2.6V or around, when I put the mount to the bike first and set iAero on it.
Now that I'm tired about appending the segments of my ride file EVERY time recently, I wish I could have a new firmware that doesn't split the files. How do you feel?

Again Many thanks!!
chrus101
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Re: Troubleshooting help for new rechargeable mount

Post by chrus101 »

I am also having problems. Despite new cr2032 & fully recharged rechargeable battery I get a "bad batt" message every time i start up my iAero. Batt level drops immed to 260s. I press the central button to remove this message & proceed with my ride. The ride file is split into multiple files.

chris adams
Velocomp
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Re: Troubleshooting help for new rechargeable mount

Post by Velocomp »

We have not seen this problem at the factory but we just received a mount that was returned from a customer.

We will do some checking and update everyone.
John Hamann
chrus101
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Re: Troubleshooting help for new rechargeable mount

Post by chrus101 »

If i leave my iAero on the rechargeable mount over night will it drain the cr2032 battery?

chris
Velocomp
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Re: Troubleshooting help for new rechargeable mount

Post by Velocomp »

If your iBike is sitting on the rechargeable mount, the mount will supply about 2.8V as long as the iBike is awake. Once your iBike goes to sleep the rechargeable mount shuts off and there will be no voltage draw on the CR2032 battery.
John Hamann
Velocomp
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Re: Troubleshooting help for new rechargeable mount

Post by Velocomp »

We've now run a production sample rechargeable mount for 55 hours continuously in a refrigerator that is at set to 39F.

The mount and iBike are still going strong!

Battery voltage drops to 258, due to the very cold temperature of the CR2032 battery, but the screen is not at all faded and all is well.

We will issue a FW update this week that will allow the iBike to record ride files continuously at a lower battery voltage. This likely will take care of the problems reported in this thread.
John Hamann
Velocomp
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Re: Troubleshooting help for new rechargeable mount

Post by Velocomp »

Update: over 80 hours continuous operation in the refrigerator, without problems...
John Hamann
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Re: Troubleshooting help for new rechargeable mount

Post by Velocomp »

Update: After 104 hours of continuous and severe operation at 37F, the mount finally gave up. I will recharge the rechargeable battery for 3 hours and it will be good to go...
John Hamann
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Re: Troubleshooting help for new rechargeable mount

Post by Velocomp »

Something for everyone to check.

When installing the rechargeable battery into your mount, make sure that the spring battery contacts line-up with the gold battery pads. If the springs don't touch the battery pads the mount won't work.
John Hamann
chrus101
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Re: Troubleshooting help for new rechargeable mount

Post by chrus101 »

I am still having trouble. I get one ride out of a battery before I get a "bad batt" message. If I ignore the message I get another ride recorded ok but after that subsequent ride files are split into multiple files. I have done this with 4 batteries. The rechargeable batt looks like it is touching the correct contacts. If I follow John's above procedure it works roughly as it should.

chris
chrus101
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Re: Troubleshooting help for new rechargeable mount

Post by chrus101 »

looks like i may have posted (above) a bit early, just got prompted to install FW 4.25...hopefully this will solve my problem.

chris
Velocomp
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Re: Troubleshooting help for new rechargeable mount

Post by Velocomp »

If you get the Bad Batt message then you should, indeed, replace your battery at the end of the current ride.

The rechargeable mount will keep you going but this does mean that your iBike CR2032 battery has gotten low.
John Hamann
chrus101
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Re: Troubleshooting help for new rechargeable mount

Post by chrus101 »

has everyone above resolved there problem?

chris
Ali
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Re: Troubleshooting help for new rechargeable mount

Post by Ali »

Is it okay to get a very high scaling with the new rechargeable mount? :?:
Velocomp
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Re: Troubleshooting help for new rechargeable mount

Post by Velocomp »

It is common for the WSF to be significantly higher than for a stem mount.
John Hamann
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