Garmin 500 and calibration with Garmin Vector 3

badgerbeaver

I just bought Garmin Vector 3 pedals but cannot get my Garmin head unit, an Edge 500, to provide a power reading.

It found the power meter. Initially it would not calibrate. Then it did, with a reading of "0", although I am not even sure what that means. Does not show a power reading when riding.

Looking in the manual, Garmin does not list the 500 as a model that is supported with the Vector 3.

Before I go out and replace my ancient (!) head unit, does anyone have any experience or advice that could help me please?

paul_onabike

Once had an edge 500 that behaved in a similar way to what you describe. It was the first time the unit had been used with a power meter - after quite a bit of use without. A head unit reset cured the problem as I recall (I think it was a 3 button soft reset rather than a full reset, though not 100% sure - it was some years ago)
When calibrating a power meter with an edge 500 make sure you are wearing a working hrm strap - if you don't the unit can hang for ages trying to calibrate.
I assume your edge firmware is updated to the final version? I know people who still have never updated their firmware, and the metrics for dual pedal power meters were added quite late in the day.
Sorry but I don't know if the 500 is definately compatible, but I can't think of a reason why it shouldn't work in ant+ mode

thegreatdivide

Have you purchased the dual or single sided pedals? If it's the former then you'll deffo need an upgrade head unit (520 will be more than adequate) to take advantage of the left/right leg IQ features.

In fact I've just had a look - the 500 is not compatible.

BTW - you don't need an HRM to calibrate any of the Vectors.

trivial_poursuivant

Garmin usually release updates for their head units to keep them compatible with new tech like the vector 3 pedals etc. Since Garmin no longer supports the Edge 500 with updates it won’t ever work with them.

badgerbeaver

Thanks for your replies. I added cadence and speed sensor and turned off hrm. It's picking up a power reading!

Seriously disheartened to read that the 500 is no longer supported as it's still a great little device and in its day was not cheap!

Thanks again.

thegreatdivide

You don't need a cadence sensor when you have a power meter. The pedals will calculate it for you.

TBH you're not going to get the best out of your new toy without upgrading to at least a 520. You could buy an older 510 or 810 which will be a hell of a lot more accurate than hoping for the best with a 500, but to get the true functionality out of the Vector 3's you'll need a 520 and up so you can use the Connect IQ apps like the superb 'What's My FTP' tool https://www.dcrainmaker.com/2017/07/xer ... vices.html

svetty

thegreatdivide wrote:

You don't need a cadence sensor when you have a power meter. The pedals will calculate it for you.

TBH you're not going to get the best out of your new toy without upgrading to at least a 520. You could buy an older 510 or 810 which will be a hell of a lot more accurate than hoping for the best with a 500, but to get the true functionality out of the Vector 3's you'll need a 520 and up so you can use the Connect IQ apps like the superb 'What's My FTP' tool https://www.dcrainmaker.com/2017/07/xer ... vices.html

But if all you really want is a power reading - and you are getting that- you are golden as is

thegreatdivide

Svetty wrote:

thegreatdivide wrote:

You don't need a cadence sensor when you have a power meter. The pedals will calculate it for you.

TBH you're not going to get the best out of your new toy without upgrading to at least a 520. You could buy an older 510 or 810 which will be a hell of a lot more accurate than hoping for the best with a 500, but to get the true functionality out of the Vector 3's you'll need a 520 and up so you can use the Connect IQ apps like the superb 'What's My FTP' tool https://www.dcrainmaker.com/2017/07/xer ... vices.html

But if all you really want is a power reading - and you are getting that- you are golden as is

Yeah but the fact that you have to muck about to get that number in the first place suggests the 500 is struggling - and how do you know that the number being shown on an unsupported unit is the right number? The initial calibration could be way off. Basically the OP is using the latest (and it's been suggested the best) pedal PM on the market with an unsupported head unit that had its last driver updated in August 2013 before the original Vector V1 was even released.

paul_onabike

thegreatdivide wrote:

Svetty wrote:

thegreatdivide wrote:

You don't need a cadence sensor when you have a power meter. The pedals will calculate it for you.

TBH you're not going to get the best out of your new toy without upgrading to at least a 520. You could buy an older 510 or 810 which will be a hell of a lot more accurate than hoping for the best with a 500, but to get the true functionality out of the Vector 3's you'll need a 520 and up so you can use the Connect IQ apps like the superb 'What's My FTP' tool https://www.dcrainmaker.com/2017/07/xer ... vices.html

But if all you really want is a power reading - and you are getting that- you are golden as is

Yeah but the fact that you have to muck about to get that number in the first place suggests the 500 is struggling - and how do you know that the number being shown on an unsupported unit is the right number? The initial calibration could be way off. Basically the OP is using the latest (and it's been suggested the best) pedal PM on the market with an unsupported head unit that had its last driver updated in August 2013 before the original Vector V1 was even released.

The last firmware update v3.30 added vector pedal support. It was added before the pedals were released so that users had the correct firmware to actually use the pedals when they purchased them. :roll:

With ANT+ the calibration figure is reported by the power meter - and the head unit only displays this. There is no interaction between the meter and the head unit, and no calculation is carried out by the head unit regarding power output other than to display received power numbers in the preset time average metrics desired by the user (3s, 10s ave power etc). If the calibration is out of the desired range then it is a power meter error and nothing to do with the head unit.
The 500 is well able to handle the basic task of recording and displaying power, and will do it accurately. Though, as stated above, it is unable to handle the more advanced metrics that the pedals can supply.

Marketing practice means that they will not tell you the the whole truth. and will try to mislead you into thinking that only the latest models will work, and you need to buy one.
To say that all other units are unsupported is true, as garmin withdraws firmware support for earlier devices after a relatively short period- but they fail to state that earlier units will work at lower levels of functionality due to the ANT+ protocol.

The bottom line is, as Svetty says, if you getting readings then your ok to go