Has my computer died?

andy83

Was riding today and my cateye strada wireless kept giving funny readings. id be doing around 20mph and then the speed would drop to about 4 then 0mph then back to correct speed all in the space of a few seconds. the screen also went faint at one stage for a second

then after around 65 miles it just reset itself completely and was flashing for unit to be put in. Im going to input my total distance again but cant really afford for this to happen again.

I had my heart rate watch on the handlebars on a different side to normal but doubt it would be that

I have changed the battery recently in both sensor and unit so its not that

Now im getting a garmin next month hopefully but im doing a ride for charity and my speedo is a way of recording the miles I have done and yes i have all the stats wrote down on spreadsheet but id like to be able to finish my ride and show people that my speedo says 6000

could it be a loose connection or the battery put in wrong?

Thanks in advance

keith1200rs

I don't know the Cateye, but battery connections can be a bit iffy on these things. The can get a bit bent and have very little spring pressure left. A little bending might fix it.

Keith.

thecrofter

First thing to try is a new battery

prawny

The handle bar conncetions on mine have gone t1ts, that wouldn't reset it tho. Does sound like a dodgy battery or battery connection. Any rust inside the unit?

PBo

+1 to battery issue

andy83

I changed the battery less than a month ago, could it just be a faulty battery? it has worked fine for last month and 1000 + miles

checked all connections in battery and no rust an all seems fine

gave little clean to bit where battery goes in, hasnt cut out on me and still running the time. When i got home it reset again so im hoping the battery may have just been loose, hopefully will be ok tomo, or might go out and test in a bit.

CiB

Bit late to the party [as usual].

Do you have any lights on the bars? I fitted a couple of hi-intensity LED lights in the winter and the speedo went doolally. Ended up buying a new speedo and fitting the lights on the drops to keep them out of the way. Might be that, unless you aren't carrying lights obviously.

andy83

CiB wrote:

Bit late to the party [as usual].

Do you have any lights on the bars? I fitted a couple of hi-intensity LED lights in the winter and the speedo went doolally. Ended up buying a new speedo and fitting the lights on the drops to keep them out of the way. Might be that, unless you aren't carrying lights obviously.

That is something i have thought, i sometimes put my polar watch around the bars and for some reason i put it on the right hand side yesterday instead of the left, maybe this could have been the problem.

Ill go out in a bit without heart rate monitor and see if that helps

Thanks

rolf_f

CiB wrote:

Bit late to the party [as usual].

Do you have any lights on the bars? I fitted a couple of hi-intensity LED lights in the winter and the speedo went doolally. Ended up buying a new speedo and fitting the lights on the drops to keep them out of the way. Might be that, unless you aren't carrying lights obviously.

That's usually more consistent though as far as I know - the LEDs just add more signals to those given by the sensor and multiply up your speed accordingly. Faint screen and losing info does sound battery like. Don't think LEDs would give you zero mph either.

Might be worth getting a Lidl one as a backup - I think they have quite good wireless ones at the moment for about £14. I have one from a couple of years ago and it has been excellent - brilliant display; tells me far more on one screen than my VDO.

Aguila

Has it got wet recently?

I had 3 cateye micro wireless comps do exactly this repeatedly after periods of rain. I have the same comp on my best bike (which doesn't come out in the wet) and has always been fine.

I did all the battery/interferance checks, eventually gave up and bought a different make for the commuter bike, it's been fine since.

I think Cateye ones are just not 100% watertight.

andy83

very strange, worked fine yesterday and today

I dont know whether giving battery a wipe and putting it back in made it work again or it was the fact i moved my polar watch to the other side of the bars where it usually is, or maybe a combination of the two

Thanks for responses and just glad it seems ok

bunter

caig deoxit spray, which is a contact cleaner and enhancer, can work brilliantly for this type of thing. I use it on the battery terminals for anything that might get exposed to the elements. It completely fixed a Nikon Speedlight flash where a cheap battery had leaked and corroded the terminals. A can costs about £15 but will last for ages.