A chest strap has 4 moving parts, the 2 press studs, and the contacts on the strap which touch your skin. In my experience erratic reading can be due to a bad contact in one of these. The strap also needs washed not just rinsed with plain water to maintain performance. I put mine in one of those zip-up mesh delicates bags and it goes in the machine with my cycling kit.
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Also (as others have mentioned) - despited solid state components, realize that corrosion and/or moisture incursion leads to power fluctuations that damage circuits over time and cause data corruption.
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I try to keep mine clean by just keeping it on when I get in the shower after riding. That way I never really forget to wash it.
Iāve also found that Wahoo is pretty generous if (when) a Tickr fails within a year. Over the last three or four years Iāve gotten two replacements free-of-charge.
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Thatās a good idea actually. Canāt believe that never occurred to me.
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Thanks for the suggestions. I went to wash my strap and realized that I only ever unsnapped one side of the strap from the unit. The other side was completely corroded. In fact the snap came off with the unit. I would suggest that users make sure that they unsnap both sides and donāt become the creature of habit that I am. The difference between the two sides is like night and day. I would assume that this is the root of my problem.
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Plus if it is a Polar HRM then leaving it connected, even one side will knacker the battery out too quickly
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@edride Definitely could be. I disconnect after every ride and put the sensor in front of a fan for about 30 seconds to start the drying process and leave it with the connections facing down.
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@ozmadman I agree but when I read DC Rainmakerās long term review of the H10 he said he leaves it connected and it isnāt an issue. I was confused - seems to drain power for me when it is left connected.
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Me too. batteries were only lasting a few weeks. Now I completely disconnect it and I havenāt changed the battery for a while yet. My first sign that the battery is going is when I use Elite HRV as I canāt get a connection unless I fit a new battery even though it connects on my workouts/Zwift etc.
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I have both an H10 and H9, and my experience is that Polars suck the batteries dry very quickly if you leave both pins connected to the strap. My H9 is rarely used, and I keep one pin snapped to the strap so I donāt lose it. Being a responsible person who feels that white-sweat-salt stains on an HR strap are a fashion faux-pas, I almost always remove the H10 unit and thoroughly rinse the strap, then lay it out to dry so the unit stays detached from the strap. It does not appear that there is a material difference in battery life between disconnecting one side of the HR monitor or both. Your mileage may varyā¦
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Just wanted to say thanks, guys - I didnāt even realize that my new H10 came apart until reading your input. Cause Iām an idiot.
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