rifraf

Never once had any issue with mine and its now a few years old (3 or 4) being bought when the 800 first came out.
Have you tried wetting the pads OP?
I've never had to but I've heard of people who either wet, via saliva or gel, or it doesn't work.

rifraf

Whilst I'll accept that your one is junk, maybe, I have serious doubts Garmin have marketed a "junk" strap that they've continued to sell and not recalled.

Edit: I've changed my position and opinion on the above and renounced it in post #30

There is always a percentage of items in a manufacturing run that don't work as they should.
Sounds like you've been unlucky
Mine has worked from day one as I expected it to after paying my money.

jimincalif

I don't think so. Here is an Amazon link to mine:

Amazon.com : Polar Soft Strap Set : Sports & Outdoors

on the path

Ok great. I've seen similar on Ebay, can be had for very cheap from China. I don't typically order from China so I may check out Amazon this time. Thanks!

rifraf

Just in case anyone hasn't seen these links I found on DC Rainmaker

Troubleshooting your heart rate monitor/strap HR spikes | DC Rainmaker

How to fix cold/dry weather erratic heart rate readings | DC Rainmaker

A solution to heart rate dropouts/spikes with Garmin HR Soft Straps | DC Rainmaker

Hope it helps someone find a solution that works for them

Plenty more in google like:

https://support.garmin.com/support/s...00000000000%7D

Wow, I now acknowledge there is a major issue with the straps as there is a huge amount of anecdotal evidence easily found with google.
I must simply be one of the lucky ones.
Whats funny is many suggest its a salt issue needing lots of cleaning to keep on top of it.
I'm not sure barring a wipe with a damp cloth occasionally mines ever had a more thorough clean, let alone a machine wash.

Ravenwing

Yeah, kind of hard to tell with the packaging, and I don't remember what the package for mine looked like. This is the one I have.

bikepro

For what it's worth, I went through 3 or possibly 4 Garmin soft straps, and everyone had numerous dropouts from the first day. I have Log file graphs for around two years showing 20 or 30 dropouts per 2-3 hour ride.

Yes, I wet the electrodes with every type of water short of holy water as well as electrode cream. Nothing helped. There are numerous posts on this forum complaining about the strap and alternative ways to remedy the problem, from replacing the entire strap with another ANT+ strap, to using a Polar strap -- which I was never able to make work.

At any rate, I happy that you're satisfied with your Garmin strap, but I'm not the only person to have problems with them.

dwmckee

Have you called Garmin support? I had similar trouble and they were very helpful diagnosing and in my case sending me a replacement.

rifraf

As per my edit in the post you quoted, I unreservedly withdraw my initial stated position as per post 30.

You are indeed correct and the online evidence of dissatisfaction with the heart rate monitor belts appears common.

I must be one of the lucky ones that, touch wood, has not had any issues with the belt.

Fangowolf

I switched over to a scosche rythm+ and won't be going back to chest straps

jen_turnbull

This.

It may start working once sweat has built up, but to guarantee it to work from the moment you start wearing it, just run your finger under the tap and glide across the sensor area of the strap.

The OP's Garmin may be a faulty unit, but I always have to wet the sensors of my HR strap first before putting it on.

This is with my Garmin premium strap, with daily usage over the last 2 years. The old Garmin standard strap I used to wear was the same, I always had to apply liquid before it started to work.

I would also agree with the earlier post who suggested washing the strap after usage, even if just from a hygiene point of view.

GSJon

I did that too for a bit but the drop-outs I was getting extended to 3+ minutes at a time and multiple times per session running or biking. Got about 60% of each workout recorded.

Fangowolf

I haven't had any problems with drop outs with mine

jimincalif

As I've mentioned before the Garmin chest strap never worked well for me, I bought the Polar strap last spring and all has been good. However recently the HRM has been dropping out or misreading, so I figured I would get a new Polar strap.

Unfortunately the snaps in the new strap I received will not grasp the Garmin HR sensor. It is as if it needs longer pins, it partially clicks in and then as soon as I let go the pins pop out. No amount of pressing will get it to lock into the new strap. Comparing the snaps between the old and new Polar straps, they appear identical, but apparently they are not.

I guess Polar straps are no longer compatible with the Garmin sensor.

chong67

I got the Polar H7 and use BT on it with my phone.

Yesterday I bought the Garmin Premium Cloth HRM for $19.99 at Kohl with a $10 coupon. Since I am going to be using a Edge 520, it need to have ANT+.

Lets see how well it goes later.

gecho

I used a box cutter to shave down the plastic on my Polar strap so that my Bontrager sensor would snap into it.

jimincalif

Great idea, I just did this and got it to work. Thanks!

FlashBazbo

I've used a Garmin soft strap since they first came out. It solved the cold weather wild readings problem I had with the old strap. And I've never had any kind of functional problem with the Garmin strap. Perfection. BUT . . . after close to 20,000 miles, the strap is beginning to show its age. Not quite falling apart, but getting there.

$45 is a ridiculous price to pay for a new strap -- even if it is perfect. How are the Polar and other straps for durability?

jimincalif

I have the Garmin soft strap, it's the one that doesn't work for me. I got my first Polar strap in May of last year. Done about 9,000 miles with it so far. It looks fine, I clean it from time-to-time but it is now starting to behave as the Garmin soft strap did, with lots of dropping out and inaccurate readings at times. My next ride will be my first with the new Polar strap so we'll see how it goes.

FlashBazbo

It sounds as if I would be better off staying with the Garmin soft strap. Longer life and, for me, flawless performance. I got 20,000 miles out of this one before it started looking ragged. I reckon a jersey would have looked pretty sad if I had worn just one jersey for all those rides.

jimincalif

It seems to me that these things work differently with different people. Lots of people have no problems with the Garmin strap where it never worked well for me. Polar has longer contact patches and worked great for me up until now. So it could just be my body and the way these things pick up the signal just doesn't work as well for me.

If the Garmin works for you I can't imagine the Polar wouldn't work as well, and at $17 instead of $45 you could go thru a couple of them and still be ahead of the curve a few bucks. You just may have to shave down the plastic around the snaps to get the Garmin sensor to snap in.

chong67

I bought the Garmin Premium HRM for $20 last week. It was on sale at Kohl. Check your store. It works just fine on my Garmin Edge 520.

I also have the Polar H7 HRM and its BT and it works fine on my android phone.

jimincalif

Update with my new Polar strap - 3 rides, 104 miles and it works perfectly. So my first Polar strap lasted about 15 month/8,700 miles before it got dodgy to the point where it was as bad as the Garmin strap.

chong67

Some of the strap lost its elasticity as it age right? Its to be expected.

I wash and hang it to dry after my exercise.

Garmin HRM is still $29.99 at Kohl: Garmin Heart Rate Monitor with Adjustable Strap

I use $10 off from Discover. They always sent you 20% or 30% off coupon.

I never seen HRM this cheap. So get a few. LOL