Did high humidity temporarily kill my PP?

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BevOutside
Posts: 9
Joined: Wed Sep 04, 2019 8:32 am

Did high humidity temporarily kill my PP?

Post by BevOutside »

Hello, we're having a particularly hot and humid spell, so this morning I started out on my ride at 6 am when the air temperature was a bit cooler, but the humidity was 100%. After about 25 minutes, my Garmin started displaying 0W (not "--" which I guess means it was still alive?), which persisted for the next 2 hours of my ride. As soon as I noticed, I stopped to check that there wasn't a bug in the tube, and I disconnected and reconnected the PP from the Garmin, to no avail. It was so humid that as soon as I stopped moving my glasses and Garmin screen immediately fogged up, so I imagine there was condensation inside the PP as well.

I brought it inside my air conditioned house and after a couple of hours connected it to Isaac. It took a few minutes to get it turned on and connected, but eventually it did, and everything seems ok now, (haven't actually tried riding with it outdoors, but lights are flashing and I was able to retrieve files). The file for this morning's ride ended at 25 minutes.

The humidity was the only remarkable thing about my ride this morning. The battery should have been fine, as I had only ridden 4 hours or so since the last charge 4 days ago. Is this just one of those things to be aware of, or could it have been something else?
Velocomp
Velocomp CEO
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Re: Did high humidity temporarily kill my PP?

Post by Velocomp »

Your wind port may have fogged-up. Please post the ride file and I will take a look.
John Hamann
BevOutside
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Joined: Wed Sep 04, 2019 8:32 am

Re: Did high humidity temporarily kill my PP?

Post by BevOutside »

Here you go:
Attachments
Velocomp_07_03_2020_0612_0_km.ibr
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Velocomp
Velocomp CEO
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Re: Did high humidity temporarily kill my PP?

Post by Velocomp »

Hmm...the ride file looks perfect, and there is no blockage of the wind sensor. There is nothing to suggest there was any water/humidity problem with your PP.

If you saw condensation on your Garmin screen then the problem might be with the Garmin.
Attachments
Screen Shot 2020-07-03 at 5.31.32 PM.png
Screen Shot 2020-07-03 at 5.31.32 PM.png (139.54 KiB) Viewed 4343 times
John Hamann
BevOutside
Posts: 9
Joined: Wed Sep 04, 2019 8:32 am

Re: Did high humidity temporarily kill my PP?

Post by BevOutside »

Hmm. I guess for the future I will not be surprised if something misbehaves under these quite extreme conditions, but I'm skeptical it was the Garmin as everything else was fine. I just did a test run on my bike and power is once again displaying appropriately. All's well that ends well.
Velocomp
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Re: Did high humidity temporarily kill my PP?

Post by Velocomp »

BevOutside wrote: Fri Jul 03, 2020 7:26 pm Hmm. I guess for the future I will not be surprised if something misbehaves under these quite extreme conditions, but I'm skeptical it was the Garmin as everything else was fine. I just did a test run on my bike and power is once again displaying appropriately. All's well that ends well.
Everything else was fine...including sensor data from your PP! Its data proves it...
John Hamann
BevOutside
Posts: 9
Joined: Wed Sep 04, 2019 8:32 am

Re: Did high humidity temporarily kill my PP?

Post by BevOutside »

So, it happened again. I went out for a 2.5 hour ride, and only had power for the first 11 minutes. It showed 0W on my Garmin for the rest of the ride. This time I did not do anything to the PP, in case my faffing with it last time caused the recording to stop somehow. As was the case last time, I have a perfectly good file, but it just stopped after 11 minutes.

Also the same as last time, I had some trouble connecting the PP to Isaac, and had to play around with pressing and holding the button until it woke up, something I've never had to do in the past. I believe the PP was fully charged after the 3rd when I had the previous problem and I only did one 2 hour ride (with no issues whatsoever) since then. There was no low battery warning. Normally I charge it about once a week or so with about 12 hours of riding.

I've attached the file from this morning's ride.

Edit to note that weather/humidity was unremarkable this morning.

Thanks for your help,
Bev
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Velocomp_07_07_2020_0821_0_km.ibr
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Velocomp
Velocomp CEO
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Re: Did high humidity temporarily kill my PP?

Post by Velocomp »

This is very odd indeed. I doubt this is a problem with your bike computer.

One of two things is going on:

1) Your PP has a low battery
2) Your speed sensor is operating intermittently

You have a combined speed/cadence sensor on your bike. Is it a Garmin GSC-10? These sensors can be problematic. Make sure your magnets are passing correctly by the sensor probe.

Before your next ride I would fully charge PP. Connect it to a USB charger, and charge it until the flashing red light goes out.

I suspect the problem is your speed/cadence sensor.
John Hamann
BevOutside
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Joined: Wed Sep 04, 2019 8:32 am

Re: Did high humidity temporarily kill my PP?

Post by BevOutside »

I have the Trek DuoTrap. This morning's ride (with the PP freshly charged) was fine. It did occur to me that the speed sensor might be the issue, and I will see if changing out that battery makes a difference.
Velocomp
Velocomp CEO
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Re: Did high humidity temporarily kill my PP?

Post by Velocomp »

The DuoTrap sensor is really marginal; its signal is not very strong.

If you continue to see this problem you should get the Garmin magnet less sensors.
John Hamann
worms1414
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Joined: Wed Sep 30, 2020 5:39 am

Re: Did high humidity temporarily kill my PP?

Post by worms1414 »

Whether your problem has been fixed, has a similar power loss, or has a spike that is too long and takes a long time.
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