Garmin Heart Rate Monitors

harringtonp

Hi,

Does anybody else have problems with the HRMs ? Mine was reliable in the beginning, then went bad. The obvious thing is the strap battery which I replaced but the replacement battery didn't seem to last long. I've just got another battery and its working fine again.

Now I'm wondering if I leave HRM detection on in the device and the belt and device are left lying together, is this likely to run the strap battery down due to attempted communication ?

I have never had a good run out of any HRM device or addon.

Thanks Paul.

Murph100

TBH I've always found Garmin's HR to be sh!te, the cheap assed Polar strap I use with the Tacx is fantastic, proper solid readings with no stupid spikes or dropouts, comparing the files from the both during an indoor session just shows how crap the Garmin HR is.

In fact the more I use Garmin, the more I'm tempted to try something else.

Dermot Illogical

Mine was fine until I accidentally put it in the washing machine. Twice.

CramCycle

If you have the soft strap one, you could try swapping the strap for a polar one if you could get one cheap, it is meant to improve contact and measurements.

tawfeeredux

CramCycle wrote: »

If you have the soft strap one, you could try swapping the strap for a polar one if you could get one cheap, it is meant to improve contact and measurements.

Was going to suggest the same thing, article here by DC Rainmaker

Murph100

Hmmm definitely going to give that a lash.

I seem to remember Billyfish having some particularly strong opinions ( for a change ) on the various HR devices out there, any chance he could voice it again ?

Dubba

I tried changing the strap as suggested in that link but it only worked a couple of times, it then went back to bad readings. Also tried changing the battery with no effect. I now wonder if its the units that's faulty, I'm going to try and get a warranty replacement anyway as one of the mounts on the back has broken off.

Lumen

According to the Ant+ product directory, the following HR devices are Ant+ compatible:

Adidas Heart Rate Monitor
Blackburn Heart Rate Monitor
Beurer Chest Strap
Bontrager ANT Digital Softstrap Heart Rate Belt
CycleOps 2.4 Coded Heart Rate Strap
Garmin Heart Rate Monitor
Garmin Premium Heart Rate Monitor
Geonaute Heart Rate Monitor - Soft Strap
iBike Wireless Heart Rate Strap
Mobii Hear Rate Chest Strap
Nite Rider Heart Rate Monitor
O-Synce Heart2feel X
Sunlighten Heart Rate Monitor
Tacx ANT Transmitter Belt
Timex Heart Rate Monitor
Wahoo_Fitness Soft Heart Rate Belt
Xplova Heart Rate Sensor

Cookie_Monster

Mine went off the wall a couple of weeks ago, thought it was battery so replaced that. Still showing crazy reading, tightened up the strap so it was a much snugger fit, but not quite uncomfortable and it's fine again. Just keep it nice and tight and it should improve.

harringtonp

harringtonp wrote: »

Hi,

Does anybody else have problems with the HRMs ? Mine was reliable in the beginning, then went bad. The obvious thing is the strap battery which I replaced but the replacement battery didn't seem to last long. I've just got another battery and its working fine again.

Now I'm wondering if I leave HRM detection on in the device and the belt and device are left lying together, is this likely to run the strap battery down due to attempted communication ?

I have never had a good run out of any HRM device or addon.

Thanks Paul.

That new battery worked perfectly for 4 cycles or 8 hours but yesterday it died. Nothing was different than before, its as if the strap is eating it up.

Anyway I'm going to put in a new one before my next spin, this time though I'll take it out after every ride and see does that make a difference

Thanks for links above, read them but I don't think they're relevant to what I am seeing.