Stages Power Meter - battery draining?

PK1

They are based there.

markhewitt1978

Super, thanks

meanredspider

I'm being put in contact with their UK agents

colinsmith123

A friend purchased a Stages Ultegra in the States and brought it home in Spring last year. I remember sucking in through my teeth at the time. Sure enough battery draining issues occurred. He contacted Stage USA, who said, send it to Stages UK. So he did, a week ago. Confirmation email today from Stages UK, replacement PM in the post.

I seem to recall Stages UK saying they would only warrant PMs bought in UK, so full marks to Stages for customer service.

redvision

colinsmith123 wrote:

A friend purchased a Stages Ultegra in the States and brought it home in Spring last year. I remember sucking in through my teeth at the time. Sure enough battery draining issues occurred. He contacted Stage USA, who said, send it to Stages UK. So he did, a week ago. Confirmation email today from Stages UK, replacement PM in the post.

I seem to recall Stages UK saying they would only warrant PMs bought in UK, so full marks to Stages for customer service.

Tbh I think it's the least they can do.
Stages assured customers the new version battery door would solve the battery draining problem. From reading various forums it appears it has not.
There are still countless reports of the batteries draining rapidly after being changed, so this would suggest a fundamental design flaw.

meanredspider

Dropped my old unit through the letter box on Saturday, had my MkII replacement on Tuesday. That's good service. I'll forgive a company quite a lot if they deal with problems well.

supermurph09

meanredspider wrote:

Dropped my old unit through the letter box on Saturday, had my MkII replacement on Tuesday. That's good service. I'll forgive a company quite a lot if they deal with problems well.

I'm in the same boat, just taken ownership of gen 2 unit that replaced my existing unit that had developed the well document fault. That was actually a replacement for the original!

Let hope the new Gen2 unit has a longer life, but like you, I'm impressed with the service. (again)

moscowflyer

So, updated the firmware successfully and now have a completely bricked unit. Won't communicate via Bluetooth or Ant+. This is my third unit in less than two years and I've had enough.

markhewitt1978

meanredspider wrote:

Dropped my old unit through the letter box on Saturday, had my MkII replacement on Tuesday. That's good service. I'll forgive a company quite a lot if they deal with problems well.

I was just coming on here to ask how long the replacements usually take. Was that to the "79199 Kirchzarten
Germany" address?

I've now reached a point with support that they want the unit back to inspect, but of course changing out my crank etc is going to be a bit of an inconvenience not to mention not having a power meter, so I might leave it until after the Easter holidays and just suck up having to use a fresh battery every ride until then.

dee4life2005

I got to the stage where I'd been troubleshooting problems with mine for about 3 months, and was within the last month of warranty. As I was still under warranty I contacted where I purchased it ... Wiggle ... and they told me to send it back to them which I did. On receiving it they had then gone out of stock and told me they could sent it off for repair but that it might take weeks (or months), but I've heard Stages are usually pretty quick so probably only a week or two at most I'd imagine.

Anyway, as Wiggle were out of stock they offered me a full refund (albeit as a voucher), so I snapped their hand off, and bought some other bike bits while I decide if I can be bothered getting another Stages from somewhere else. Mine was great and very useful, when it worked (which it did until it needed the first battery changed, then it seemed to eat through every other battery after about 20-30hrs).

markhewitt1978

I'd be interested to hear how people are getting on with their Mk2 replacements. Or if they haven't got to the point of changing the battery yet?

My Mk1 followed the very familiar pattern of it being rock solid for about 4 months until I changed the battery which is when all the problems started.

markhewitt1978

I was all set to send mine back, had the jiffy envelope sorted and ready to go. Just wanted to get the weekend ride out of the way first. Expected to have to change battery again, but no, for once it's still fine, showing fully charged. So I've left it another week and again this weekend, still working fine still showing fully charged.

This is with the replacement battery doors, I'm hoping it means I don't have to send it back after all!

angry_bird

I'm onto my 3rd Mk1 on one bike, first one had battery issue, second one, the battery tabs on the inside snapped, may or may not have been my fault. Stages replaced them both. The latest one, I've had since September, has had a battery change and been absolutely fine. I have taped the hell out of it though to make sure it's completely watertight. Even being left in a freezing car overnight which would previously have done in a battery for me hasn't. Happy with it. If it goes again, fine, I'll move onto something else.

I also have a Mk2 on the other bike which replaced an original Mk1, ex display from the shop that had been there for years and I got for a steal. So far so good, whereas before if I didn't tape it incredibly well, then take the tape off, dry it, tape it again I'd have a flat battery within 36 hours, this one has been fully submerged and not a hint of a problem yet. Admittedly it's only got 50 hours or so of working time on the battery as I only got it last month but still... promising that the sealing at least seems better!

redvision

It's good to hear the mk2 battery door seems to have resolved the issue at last.

PK1

I have already sent a MK2 back under warranty. Dropping power / cadence due to a circuit board failure.

philbar72

just got a mk2 a couple of weeks ago. compared to the mark 1 it looks like its a hell of a lot better thought out re the door.

won't risk riding it in wet weather!

dork_knight

I've had enough of mine, been in contact with Stages Support who have been pretty good and it's gone back to Merlin (great customer service so far) who will pass it along to Saddleback.

Hopefully they'll Ok a Gen2 replacement as the battery drain and drops outs are intermittent but so annoying.

angry_bird

Just as an update. I currently have a Mk1 and a Mk2. The Mk1 I still have taped up, with the tape on I have no worries about it in rain at all, not even proper torrential rain. The Mk2 I haven't even bothered with taping and haven't had an issue with yet. I'm happy enough with them now that I've stopped looking at alternatives.

dork_knight

Sent off my Gen 1 to Merlin last Tuesday which was then sent on to Saddleback, received a Gen 2 in the post today from Merlin ~ That's a pretty damn fast turnaround of eight days as I was expecting at least a fortnight.

honeybadger99

Originally had a gen 1 that suffered with the dreaded battery draining and got it replaced with a gen2 under warranty at the beginning of March. Through normal usage the first battery ran out mid May and upto now (touch wood) I've had no issues.

markhewitt1978

My Gen1 had the battery door replacement, and I was all set to send it back until I found that the following weekend the battery had not gone flat as it usually would.

It's had an ultimate test because I haven't touched my bike for two months due to injury, the tyres had gone flat and the headset seized, but the Stages battery was still full and it was working fine!

53/39alltheway

Had a G2 for 6 weeks, no problems, one wet ride and its using a battery every 6 hours, no evidence of water ingress though but thats the only variable. On the way back to Stages.

philbar72

first rainy ride and now everytime I leave a battery inside the thing it flattens before the next ride...
not impressed. will be taking it back to the retailer.... for a refund I think.

53/39alltheway

philbar72 wrote:

first rainy ride and now everytime I leave a battery inside the thing it flattens before the next ride...
not impressed. will be taking it back to the retailer.... for a refund I think.

G2?

53/39alltheway

Mate of mine has a G2 and doesnt trust the battery cap, he has cut a section of inner tube abd stretched it over the Stages pod, tried this on mine before it went back, works really well, nothing is getting in if you do that.

Obviously shouldnt have to do it, the G2 hasnt addressed the issues by the looks of it, very poor.

philbar72

53/39alltheway wrote:

Mate of mine has a G2 and doesnt trust the battery cap, he has cut a section of inner tube abd stretched it over the Stages pod, tried this on mine before it went back, works really well, nothing is getting in if you do that.

Obviously shouldnt have to do it, the G2 hasnt addressed the issues by the looks of it, very poor.

yeah mines a gen 2. taking it back for a refund tonight.

pricenick

Similar issue for me too. After about 6 weeks of outdoors riding and all was working fine I then did a couple of weeks of indoor training. Had to replace the battery and just thought that was bad luck. 2 weeks later and again only indoor rides the battery was dead so it can't be water ingress as was training indoors - unless its sweat!! I've emailed Stages and await their reply. Interestingly, the issues have only arisen since buying a new turbo trainer - Tacx Vortex - which uses electro magnetic resistance and I starting to wonder if there is some sort of electrical interference causing battery drain. Would be highly unusual but who knows!

kayakerchris

I have wondered for a while if it is the presence of bluetooth signals.

pricenick

I'm waiting to see what Stages say. When training indoors I've got 3 things paired via Bluetooth. The trainer, the power meter and my phone to a Bluetooth speaker.

philbar72

to get the crank to connect when its sleeping you need to move it to trigger Bluetooth/ ant transmission surely? that's its wake up state (maybe)....