Edge 530 w/ wahoo tickr. Crazy hear rate readings
04-10-23, 04:20 PM
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Edge 530 w/ wahoo tickr. Crazy hear rate readings
I've been using the 530 with the wahoo heart rate sensor for about 2 years. In the last few months I've had 3 occurrences where I started getting crazy high hear rate readings. The first time it happened I was cruising along with relatively low effort and noticed the heart rate showing over 160. I thought it was odd but let it go for a while and it started climbing even higher to over 185. I stopped for a bit and it did go down but climbed rapidly once I started riding again. I knew I was not working my heart that hard and felt fine so just took the strap off and finished the ride. Second time was similar but afterward I did some reading and saw a recommendation to reset the sensor by reversing the polarity of the battery for a couple of seconds. I did that and it was ok for about a month.
Today during a ride, I looked down and the heart rate was at 225, which I think is the max reading. Once again I was not working that hard at the time and just ignored it. About 5 miles further I decided to stop and see if I could reset it by turning off the sensor (undoing the strap). When I disconnected it, the display for heart rate went blank as you would expect but as soon as I connected the strap again it went right to 225. At this point I'd been stopped for a bit and my heart rate was likely under 100.
At that point I went into the garmin settings and unpaired the sensor and then paired it again. After that it read fine for the rest of the ride. The heart rate graph looked like this.
Not sure if this is a sensor problem or with the Garmin. Since it read ok after repairing, it leads me to think it's a garmin issue but who knows.
Anyone else experienced anything like this?
Today during a ride, I looked down and the heart rate was at 225, which I think is the max reading. Once again I was not working that hard at the time and just ignored it. About 5 miles further I decided to stop and see if I could reset it by turning off the sensor (undoing the strap). When I disconnected it, the display for heart rate went blank as you would expect but as soon as I connected the strap again it went right to 225. At this point I'd been stopped for a bit and my heart rate was likely under 100.
At that point I went into the garmin settings and unpaired the sensor and then paired it again. After that it read fine for the rest of the ride. The heart rate graph looked like this.
Not sure if this is a sensor problem or with the Garmin. Since it read ok after repairing, it leads me to think it's a garmin issue but who knows.
Anyone else experienced anything like this?
04-10-23, 04:37 PM
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Four guesses:
1. Battery on the HRM strap is getting low. Check/replace the battery in the strap.
2. If you weren't sweating hard, could be poor conductivity between your skin and the electrodes, exacerbated by poly jersey flapping in the wind and the sensor is picking up static. Some spit on the strap electrodes should solve that problem, and you can buy electrode gels that do the same thing. FWIW, this happens to me usually in late fall or early spring, when I'm not wearing a jacket and not particularly sweating -- like right about now.
3. Asymptomatic atrial fibrillation. If neither of the above does anything, see a cardiologist. You may have to wear a Holter monitor for 24 hours to see if it recurs.
4. HRM strap is wearing out. Replace it and see if the problem goes away.
I'd probably approach it in sequence #2, #1, #4, and #3. Spit is cheap, a battery isn't too much more, HRM is less hassle than the doctor, and I don't want to hear AFib.
1. Battery on the HRM strap is getting low. Check/replace the battery in the strap.
2. If you weren't sweating hard, could be poor conductivity between your skin and the electrodes, exacerbated by poly jersey flapping in the wind and the sensor is picking up static. Some spit on the strap electrodes should solve that problem, and you can buy electrode gels that do the same thing. FWIW, this happens to me usually in late fall or early spring, when I'm not wearing a jacket and not particularly sweating -- like right about now.
3. Asymptomatic atrial fibrillation. If neither of the above does anything, see a cardiologist. You may have to wear a Holter monitor for 24 hours to see if it recurs.
4. HRM strap is wearing out. Replace it and see if the problem goes away.
I'd probably approach it in sequence #2, #1, #4, and #3. Spit is cheap, a battery isn't too much more, HRM is less hassle than the doctor, and I don't want to hear AFib.
04-10-23, 08:03 PM
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Four guesses:
1. Battery on the HRM strap is getting low. Check/replace the battery in the strap.
2. If you weren't sweating hard, could be poor conductivity between your skin and the electrodes, exacerbated by poly jersey flapping in the wind and the sensor is picking up static. Some spit on the strap electrodes should solve that problem, and you can buy electrode gels that do the same thing. FWIW, this happens to me usually in late fall or early spring, when I'm not wearing a jacket and not particularly sweating -- like right about now.
3. Asymptomatic atrial fibrillation. If neither of the above does anything, see a cardiologist. You may have to wear a Holter monitor for 24 hours to see if it recurs.
4. HRM strap is wearing out. Replace it and see if the problem goes away.
I'd probably approach it in sequence #2, #1, #4, and #3. Spit is cheap, a battery isn't too much more, HRM is less hassle than the doctor, and I don't want to hear AFib.
1. Battery on the HRM strap is getting low. Check/replace the battery in the strap.
2. If you weren't sweating hard, could be poor conductivity between your skin and the electrodes, exacerbated by poly jersey flapping in the wind and the sensor is picking up static. Some spit on the strap electrodes should solve that problem, and you can buy electrode gels that do the same thing. FWIW, this happens to me usually in late fall or early spring, when I'm not wearing a jacket and not particularly sweating -- like right about now.
3. Asymptomatic atrial fibrillation. If neither of the above does anything, see a cardiologist. You may have to wear a Holter monitor for 24 hours to see if it recurs.
4. HRM strap is wearing out. Replace it and see if the problem goes away.
I'd probably approach it in sequence #2, #1, #4, and #3. Spit is cheap, a battery isn't too much more, HRM is less hassle than the doctor, and I don't want to hear AFib.
More recently, I started getting weirdly low readings, and none of the other advice worked. I bought a new HRM (old one was 5+ yrs) and problem was solved.
04-11-23, 09:06 AM
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I had similar with a 8 year old strap from Garmin. I changed the battery and had similar again at a later date. The old strap had seen better days and the plastic strips where the electrodes are were peeling off the fabric of the strap. So I bought a new strap without the pod from Garmin, swapped the pod to the new strap and all has been well for the last year maybe 18 months.
04-11-23, 09:24 AM
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I had issues with the first two fancier TICKRs I owned...the ones that could send readings to up to 3 devices at once. Got burned out on the HRMs that would only do onesies, as I was always fighting to get my Elemnt "first in line" for readings at the start of a ride. I had teo go bonkers within the one-year warranty period, and Wahoo replaced them both. Thrice pays for all, they say...I suspect that the last one I got (which has been rock solid for two years, with one battery replacement) has better hardware, firmware, juju. Dunno.
It's worth mentioning that Wahoo is pretty particular about the CR2032s used in their devices. A lot of off-the-shelf CR2032s have a tastes-bad coating on them to discourage munchkins from eating them. Wahoo devices don't function as well with those. They suggest a specific Panasonic battery. Since our house is munchkin-free, I just buy those off Amazon and use them in everything that requires CR2032s.
--Richard
It's worth mentioning that Wahoo is pretty particular about the CR2032s used in their devices. A lot of off-the-shelf CR2032s have a tastes-bad coating on them to discourage munchkins from eating them. Wahoo devices don't function as well with those. They suggest a specific Panasonic battery. Since our house is munchkin-free, I just buy those off Amazon and use them in everything that requires CR2032s.
--Richard
