Strangely High HR Readings from Garmin Strap

fatladattheback

Hi,
I have noticed that in the last couple of weeks my HR has started to spike when doing intervals on the turbo trainer. It was ok the first 15-20 mins (warmup and first few intervals) then it would start to spike.
It would go to 220/240+ and not come back down, even when I was just barely turning the pedals.
It's definitely a HR monitor problem and not my own heart, as some of the readings from it where so high, I should be dead

When I am training at low intensity, 2 hours in zone 2, it seems ok. On both times the HR has spiked it has been cold outside and almost frosty. I have read that dewpoint can cause the Garmin HR to do some crazy stuff and I am wondering if anyone has experienced similar problems.

PS : I have changed the battery.

Thanks,

darkhairedlord

get some Heart monitor grease for the pharmacy. Much better than spitting on it.

cougie

Time to wash the strap ?

imposter2.0

Try a different strap. Not clear which strap you are using, but some of the older garmin straps have been problematic in the past..

keef66

Once mine started doing that I tried replacing the battery and washing the strap before concluding it must be the strap on it's way out. The like for like Garmin Premium strap was annoyingly expensive so I bought a Polar one from Decathlon for half the price and the Garmin HRM just snapped straight on. Still going strong after 2 years...

fatladattheback

Thanks for all the responses guys, it is quite an old strap. Its in good condition, but maybe age has caught up with it.

Will try a few suggestions and give it a chance before binning it.
It is this strap btw:

https://www.chainreaction.com/product/g ... 4800-1.htm

No the soft strap.
Thanks,

johnmiosh

The hard Garmin strap is really good quality, and I used one of these for years, but the soft one is very poor. I use the better quality polar strap, but needed to strip approx 0.5 mm of the rubber contact protectors to get it to engage.

If you try a new strap and still get a high HR, visit the Doctors. I developed AF which caused my heart to beat at 250 during exercise without actually pumping enough blood. I blamed the strap for weeks before I realised.

fatladattheback

Thanks, I will bear that in mind.
Appreciate it.

meursault

It's well documented how bad the Garmin straps are. Popular swap out

https://www.polar.com/uk-en/products/accessories/polar_pro_strap

Can get for £15-20

photonic69

fatladattheback wrote:

Thanks for all the responses guys, it is quite an old strap. Its in good condition, but maybe age has caught up with it.

Will try a few suggestions and give it a chance before binning it.
It is this strap btw:

https://www.chainreaction.com/product/g ... 4800-1.htm

No the soft strap.
Thanks,

It's the battery door/cover seal at fault. Changing the battery after a couple of years of sweating on it causes the seal to break. The battery compartment fills up with sweat and you get crazy readings. This has happened to two of mine. I dry them out for a few days. Put a new battery in. Fill the void with Dielectric Grease. replace battery cover then wrap a few layers of electrical tape back and forth over the center part of the strap. Been working fine ever since - about two years so probably will need a new battery soon.

cougie

Decathlon do a strap and transmitter for £30 which works great with my Garmin and Zwift etc. Replaceable battery too

bobmcstuff

After 3 Garmin HR failures I just bought a Wahoo Tickr. I found the Garmin ones lasted about 12-18 months before crapping out, the Tickr has been going strong for 2 years already.

fatladattheback

Just an update :
I used the strap last night and again it was reading off the charts, then last night I opened the battery cover and found a small but of rust on the battery. Could this be causing the crazy HR readings?

Would it be ok to put a small amount of grease in the battery compartment or perhaps use insulation tape to seal around the cover too?

Cheers,

stueys

I've seen the same issue with garmin straps, often when I'm wearing a wool base layer in winter. It's basically as the base layer is taking the moisture away from the strap so getting erratic readings. Normally sorts itself out when you start to sweat or swap for a Tickr….

photonic69

fatladattheback wrote:

Just an update :
I used the strap last night and again it was reading off the charts, then last night I opened the battery cover and found a small but of rust on the battery. Could this be causing the crazy HR readings?

Would it be ok to put a small amount of grease in the battery compartment or perhaps use insulation tape to seal around the cover too?

Cheers,

Clean up the battery or better yet to get a new one. Only £2. Clean compartment with tissue/cotton buds. Make sure it is dry. Put the battery back. I used Servisol silicone grease (I had this for my car already but you can buy on iiBay for about £6)
Wrap two layers of electrical tape tightly around the hard center part of the strap. Job done. Just did this last weekend as my battery was failing. Not a drop of moisture or rust inside after 2.5 years of using

fatladattheback

Cheers, I'll give it a good clean out and a drop of grease in it and see what happens.
Thanks again for your help.

fatladattheback

Just to follow up, I put in a fresh battery and wrapped some tape around the battery compartment, all seems to be working fine.
Thanks for all the help and suggestions, appreciated!!