Polar Woes

Ands

I'm having constant troubles with my Polar. The speed readings are erratic (I could be going along at 25kph and it will suddenly start climbing up to 100kph before either going to 0 or back to 25kph) and the HR reading switches from 0 bpm to accurate bpm every few seconds or gets locked on one HR reading and doesn't change for 5 minutes or more.

The watch has been back to Polar who said the battery was flat and they changed it (although I was surprised that I didn't lose any data whatsoever). The old battery had only done 200hrs of recording whereas the Polar literature says 2hrs a day for 1-2 years - i.e. minimum 700hrs. The low battery indicator never appeared on the display either.

Polar said the batteries in both of my speed sensors were fine. I have now changed the battery in the chest strap again and still the readings are erratic.

Does this sound like a faulty watch or are all Polars this erratic? (Maybe it's time to get a Garmin)

andyrr

I've had issues in the past with riding on certain roads where the readings were all over the place IIRC (was a few years ago) , think there may have been mains cables under the road surface but it happened fairly consistantly.
Ensure the chest strap is getting a really good contact with your skin.

EssexCyclist

Are you running anything else on the bike? I had issues with a lupine Nightmare front light throwing out interference...

biked123

I remember having similar strange readings on a cheap wireless speedo when I had my front bike light on blink, it must have been emitting some interference that the speedo picked up as part of the wireless signal.

greasedscotsman

I gave up using a Polar when I couldn't get the watch to work with a new laptop. In fact, did away with using an HRM or computer all togther. If I want to know how far I've ridden I can always measure it using something like Bikely, but then I tend to be more interested in how I feel after a ride, rather than what my HR was or how many miles I've done. Try it, you'll see more coutryside rather than handlebars and your bike will be lighter as well

Ands

I know the Polar does suffer from inteference as there are certain locations on some rides where I always know I will get a weird HR reading. Also, when I'm on the turbo the watch sometimes starts displaying a speed/distance reading! But the erratic speed readings on the road have just been ridiculous in the last few months - both before and after the battery change in the watch, and I'm sure the erratic HR readings aren't due to a poorly contacted chest strap as the reading will be fine for several minutes, then it stops reading, then it starts again......

I have ridden alongside power lines and got no readings one day, and then normal reading next day so it all seems pretty inconsistent.

Essexcyclist, I'm not running anything else on the bike - no lights, Ipods. Closest thing would be a mobile phone in my back pocket (actually, I've not tried riding without the phone in my pocket.)

Velonutter

My old CS200CAD was like that, problem was solved by making sure the speed sensor was right up near the front brake on the Right Hand Side, not the left, this was one of the main reasons for interference.

HRM batteries were crap, only lasted a couple of months if riding 5-6 times a week, always make sure the HRM is really wet before starting to ride.

HTH.

Brommers76

CS200 has been replaced once and repaired once. Shame as I like it otherwise. Mine only suffered from failing to show speed above 12mph.