Bum ticker?

earth
earth Posts: 934
edited September 2014 in Workshop
My heart rate has either dropped to the level of a sloth or my Garmin heart rate monitor is faulty.

It's the soft strap version of the Garmin Edge 800 heart rate monitor.

I've checked the battery and it has plenty of juice left in it so I can only guess the the strap is faulty. I have been a bit lazy in washing it lately but it looks fine externally and started to fail after I went on holiday with it. I'm wondering if the airport x-ray scanner could have had an effect on either the strap or the electronics in the transmitter.

I have emailed Garmin but have not got a reply yet. Maybe I have been too vocal about the shortcomings of the Edge 800.

A new strap costs about £20 but I want to be sure its the problem first.

Has anyone else had problems with theirs and what solved them?

Comments

  • farrina
    farrina Posts: 360
    I have found that typically its the actual strap, rather than the electronic gizmo. They seem to last about 12 months and then become unreliable.

    DC Rainmaker has written extensively on the subject more here http://www.dcrainmaker.com/2010/08/solution-to-heart-rate-dropoutsspikes.html

    I have used a Polar strap successfully (with my Garmin clipped on) and this was cheaper last time I looked that buying Garmin, but currently use a Mio device http://www.dcrainmaker.com/2014/01/mio-link-first-look.html Note the Mio is not 100% reliable at present (DC is investigating with Mio but I cannot find the page on his site)
    Regards
    Alan
  • earth
    earth Posts: 934
    I used to have a Polar one and it was more reliable despite appearing to be more susceptible to corrosion. When I looked at the Garmin strap I thought it looked like an improvement. The electrode pads on the Garmin strap are rubber rather than fabric and the transmitter clips are on the front side of the Garmin strap where they don't get covered in sweat. The contacts on the Polar one corroded but the Garmin ones look as new. I'm even more disappointed with the Garmin now if its going to cost £20 a year to keep it working.
  • earth
    earth Posts: 934
    I just looked at the dcrainmaker link. In the section where he is suggesting to use a Polar strap with a Garmin transmitter he has photos of the Polar strap and the Garmin strap.

    In the photos the Polar strap has the two studs that the transmitter attaches to on the front of the strap. The Garmin one has them at the ends of strap and the transmitter joins them together. Well that is the opposite of my experience. My Polar one had a stud at each end of the open strap and my Garmin strap has them fixed to the outside of the strap.

    When the studs are at the ends of the strap and joined by the transmitter, sweat can seep in and corrode the contacts. That happened with my Polar one but it does not happen with the Garmin. Despite this the Garmin has still failed.
  • Bobbinogs
    Bobbinogs Posts: 4,841
    earth wrote:
    My heart rate has either dropped to the level of a sloth or my Garmin heart rate monitor is faulty.

    It's the soft strap version of the Garmin Edge 800 heart rate monitor...

    A lot of reports say the cheaper Garmin Forerunner strap is actually more reliable. I bought one to replace 2 flaky Bryton ones and have been very impressed it.
  • patrickf
    patrickf Posts: 536
    I've had no problem with the Polar WearLink+ strap combined with the Garmin unit.

    Corrosion - you do remove the Garmin unit when you don't use the strap, right? I found with the Garmin strap that if I didn't, the contacts would corrode.

    Also, chuck the Polar strap in the washing machine occasionally. Unlike the Garmin strap, Polar approve of washing machine use.
  • earth
    earth Posts: 934
    patrickf wrote:
    Corrosion - you do remove the Garmin unit when you don't use the strap, right? I found with the Garmin strap that if I didn't, the contacts would corrode.

    My Garmin strap does not corrode, the Polar one I used to have did.

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