Garmin 305

martinwitnam

Bought one of these as my current HRM is on its way out (Lidl £10 model) and liked the idea of all the GPS doo-dad. So, drive home with it sat on passenger seat and track car drive home. Get in the house and put the strap on and get....
Zilch. So attack old strap and pilfer battery. And .... Zilch. Then brand new battery.... Zilch.
So contact Garmin who send me a new strap and.... Zilch.
Any ideas?

El Capitano

Have you 'paired' the HRM strap/sender unit with the main GPS unit?

crown_jewel

Exactly. The device has to be set to recognize the HR monitor and cadence meter.

martinwitnam

As I said I've been in touch with Garmin so they went through the whole pairing procedure, the possibility that the strap can "crash" and how to remedy that. I've also done this with the new strap as well. I'm just dumbfounded.

martinwitnam

Thanks for the stream of advice there.

FSR_XC

Mine paired very easily, but I paired a HRM for family memeber and it took 3 attempts.

I think there is something about how close the strap needs to be for pairing and to ensure there is nothing around giving off radio signals.

Try resetting the unit, removing / refitting the starp battery and starting again.

mclarent

My Garmin takes bloomin ages to "warm up" for HRM - I typically stick the strap on 10 mins or so before my ride, meaning it will actually be working when I walk out the door. Have you given it enough time?

martinwitnam

As I finished work April 1st morning I wound my strap around my chest and put my base layer (aka vest) on to keep the strap warm using a medical saline solution to make contact. I then drove the thirty miles home and walk into the house, switch on Edge 305 and guess what? Zilch!!!
Do the whole pairing thing and battery out thing and still nothing.
I have bought a piece of kit that I am hiding from my better half due to the cost and it's a piece of sh!t.

Andyb10

I think there is a restart "function" for the HRM which you have to press so that it recognises the new one.

It somewhere on one of the menus. I had a similar problem with the cadence monitor and when I found this it worked fine

garmin

I had this problem, i tried three diffrent batterys before it worked.I now wear the strap for 10/15 mins before using it.The straps not the problem today.turned my 305 on and its DEAD.it wont even charge up.looks like a trip to halfords,as it only 2 months old.

antfly

martinwitnam wrote:

As I finished work April 1st morning I wound my strap around my chest and put my base layer (aka vest) on to keep the strap warm using a medical saline solution to make contact. I then drove the thirty miles home and walk into the house, switch on Edge 305 and guess what? Zilch!!!
Do the whole pairing thing and battery out thing and still nothing.
I have bought a piece of kit that I am hiding from my better half due to the cost and it's a piece of sh!t.

Are you sure you have paired it?Mine works instantly.

It could be that your heart is in a strange place {it happens}.You could try it in different positions such as on your back.That works for some people,I believe.

GeorgeShaw

If your Garmin is dead, you can usually revive them with a hard reset. I think it's pressing on/mode/reset at the same time, but the full info is on the MotionBased website.

garmin

i tried that it as the same thing happend to my 205 last year. It still didnt work.Took it back to halfords,they tried for 45 mins,still zilch.,so they swaped for a new one.just got to set it up,hopefully all will be OK?,as it was the last one in shop.

mgcycleguy

http://forums.motionbased.com/smf/index.php?board=55.0

... dead useful website, most problems have been encountered and sorted on there

mgcycleguy

http://wiki.motionbased.com/mb/Main_Page

... and this is useful as well

martinwitnam

Phoned up Garmin again as I have worked my way through all of the solutions that your good selves and the motion based forum have with no success.
I got told to hold the strap pads between finger and thumb and see if the unit picked up a heart rate which, to a certain degree unfortunately, it did. Told that there is obviously nothing wrong. I was also told that I need to put the strap tightly around my chest.
So, I put the phone down and put the strap around my chest on what was a fairly warm day and Zilch, Nada, F.All ! I put extra wetness under the strap and same result. I tightness up the elastic so I nearly can't breathe and ....
Yes you guessed it NOTHING! But it works if I place finger and thumb so I am going to have to learn to ride no-handed while squeezing a heart rate strap between my fingers.

antfly

Try riding with it if you haven`t already ,they work better when you start sweating.Also try using lectron conductivity gel.

martinwitnam

So I have just returned from quite a pleasant ride.
Walked out of the front door and my garmin had a heart rate. Woo Hoo!
45 bpm in line with the beta blockers that I take, by this point I am already sweating due to it being rather a warm morning in Kent.
Wait for garmin to acquire satelites and....
Big fat juicy black cross over my heart symbol.
At roughly ten minute intervals during my hour and a half ride a tried the re-scan and absolutely nothing.
P!ssed off or what?

fast as fupp

i know that this may be an obvious question but do you have a heartbeat?

you may unbeknowingly be a zombie :twisted:

martinwitnam

No, honestly as both a cardiac nurse and also a heart attack survivor I know that I am not a zombie!
Finally got a response from garmin on-line and they want the unit back for testing. I'm worried that they'll find nothing wrong and blame it on me being a fat barst.
The other worry is that they will return the unit to my home address as registered and my better half will find out that I have spent that sort of money on a HRM!

mgcycleguy

Did you get some gel ?.... or at least sometimes I lick mine to get a contact first off.

... I assume as you are a cardiac nurse you are getting the position of the strap correct (and making sure its the right way up, does make a difference)

martinwitnam

I have acquired saline solution and soak my strap contacts. I have the strap up the right way. Actually wonder if it might work the wrong way up?
Thing is I never had trouble like this with the HRM I got from Lidl.

mgcycleguy

I had loads of trouble with my first Garmin HRM strap... problem was the little rubber "O ring" it was letting sweat to leak in, and causing major electrical problems in the battery compartment !.... so another check might be if your O-ring is seating properly

martinwitnam

So, lovely afternoon. Worked up a sweat hoovering the lawns (that's what my four year old calls mowing), strap on (upside down) and my 305 gave me a reliable heart rate for the whole of my two and a half hour ride! Result at last.
Never did get around to sending it back to Garmin