Garmin Varia Disconnecting/Reconnecting
#1
meh
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: Hopkins, MN
Posts: 4,727
Bikes: 23 Cutthroat, 21 CoMotion Java; 21 Bianchi Infinito; 15 Surly Pugsley; 11 Globe Daily; 09 Kona Dew Drop; 96 Mondonico
Liked 1,081 Times
in
534 Posts
Garmin Varia Disconnecting/Reconnecting
I've been using the original Varia (RTL500) since roughly 2016, it was getting close to end of life with limited battery life. But the reason I replaced it was that it was dropping connection with my Edge 1040s, and it always chimes when it drops connection and when it reconnects, and that was getting so annoyingly frequent. The thing that has me scratching my head, my other sensors were disconnecting and reconnecting too, like heart rate monitor, power meter, and SRAM eTap. During a training ride, I'd lose my power sensor and my training block power numbers would be impacted, that was getting old fast! Last week I took my March Madness office pool winnings (that was blind luck) to get a new Varia RTL515, and on my first few rides, I'm not seeing any sensors dropping; I've yet to hit the very densely populated areas, like Midtown Greenway in Minneapolis ... that was always the worst place for connection issues, while riding in rural areas was rarely an issue.
The question to any electronic wizards: can one sensor disconnecting/reconnecting cause other sensors to lose connection? This seems like it shouldn't happen, but my experience is making it seem like this was the issue. When my schedule allows, I'll share an update after I ride into the city and test that these high signal areas aren't causing any issues.
Follow up questions, does an ANT+ communications 'chip' (?) degrade with age, I'd guess it does, but I have older sensors, like a speed sensor, that are still working fine.
For reference, my old RTL500 on the left and new RTL515 on the right:
The question to any electronic wizards: can one sensor disconnecting/reconnecting cause other sensors to lose connection? This seems like it shouldn't happen, but my experience is making it seem like this was the issue. When my schedule allows, I'll share an update after I ride into the city and test that these high signal areas aren't causing any issues.
Follow up questions, does an ANT+ communications 'chip' (?) degrade with age, I'd guess it does, but I have older sensors, like a speed sensor, that are still working fine.
For reference, my old RTL500 on the left and new RTL515 on the right:
#2
I'm good to go!
Join Date: Jul 2017
Location: Mississippi
Posts: 16,184
Bikes: Tarmac Disc Comp Di2 - 2020
Liked 5,417 Times
in
3,739 Posts
Did you ever update the software on the RTL500? It might just be that newer versions of the software on your GPS device are not able to to maintain the connection properly if the Varia hasn't ever been updated to what ever the last update version was for it.
version 3.40 of the Varia software had ANT+ improvements to it. And there are minor ANT+ fixes in later versions.
version 3.40 of the Varia software had ANT+ improvements to it. And there are minor ANT+ fixes in later versions.
#3
I have the newer RTL515 and it often disconnects/reconnects. I haven't been able to find a "pattern" of when this occurs. (I don't have any other senors so can't address your question regarding that issue).
Likes For Pearson100:
#4
meh
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: Hopkins, MN
Posts: 4,727
Bikes: 23 Cutthroat, 21 CoMotion Java; 21 Bianchi Infinito; 15 Surly Pugsley; 11 Globe Daily; 09 Kona Dew Drop; 96 Mondonico
Liked 1,081 Times
in
534 Posts
Did you ever update the software on the RTL500? It might just be that newer versions of the software on your GPS device are not able to to maintain the connection properly if the Varia hasn't ever been updated to what ever the last update version was for it.
version 3.40 of the Varia software had ANT+ improvements to it. And there are minor ANT+ fixes in later versions.
version 3.40 of the Varia software had ANT+ improvements to it. And there are minor ANT+ fixes in later versions.
#5
Mine occasionally does this too. It only happens momentarily and doesn’t appear to affect other sensor connections. I just get the disconnection warning and then it reconnects straight away.
Likes For PeteHski:
#6
Likes For denis_987:
#7
I've been using the original Varia (RTL500) since roughly 2016, it was getting close to end of life with limited battery life. But the reason I replaced it was that it was dropping connection with my Edge 1040s, and it always chimes when it drops connection and when it reconnects, and that was getting so annoyingly frequent. The thing that has me scratching my head, my other sensors were disconnecting and reconnecting too, like heart rate monitor, power meter, and SRAM eTap. During a training ride, I'd lose my power sensor and my training block power numbers would be impacted, that was getting old fast! Last week I took my March Madness office pool winnings (that was blind luck) to get a new Varia RTL515, and on my first few rides, I'm not seeing any sensors dropping; I've yet to hit the very densely populated areas, like Midtown Greenway in Minneapolis ... that was always the worst place for connection issues, while riding in rural areas was rarely an issue.
The question to any electronic wizards: can one sensor disconnecting/reconnecting cause other sensors to lose connection? This seems like it shouldn't happen, but my experience is making it seem like this was the issue. When my schedule allows, I'll share an update after I ride into the city and test that these high signal areas aren't causing any issues.
Follow up questions, does an ANT+ communications 'chip' (?) degrade with age, I'd guess it does, but I have older sensors, like a speed sensor, that are still working fine.
For reference, my old RTL500 on the left and new RTL515 on the right:
The question to any electronic wizards: can one sensor disconnecting/reconnecting cause other sensors to lose connection? This seems like it shouldn't happen, but my experience is making it seem like this was the issue. When my schedule allows, I'll share an update after I ride into the city and test that these high signal areas aren't causing any issues.
Follow up questions, does an ANT+ communications 'chip' (?) degrade with age, I'd guess it does, but I have older sensors, like a speed sensor, that are still working fine.
For reference, my old RTL500 on the left and new RTL515 on the right:
Likes For Polaris OBark:
#8
meh
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: Hopkins, MN
Posts: 4,727
Bikes: 23 Cutthroat, 21 CoMotion Java; 21 Bianchi Infinito; 15 Surly Pugsley; 11 Globe Daily; 09 Kona Dew Drop; 96 Mondonico
Liked 1,081 Times
in
534 Posts
I've seen major improvements with the new RTL515, but yesterday I had some sensors drop out - HRM for sure - will riding the densely populated Midtown Greenway in Minneapolis. This was a more simple setup, just HRM, Rally pedals, and Varia. It was a very quick dropout, I couldn't find it in the data after the ride; and the Varia never showed disconnected. Still annoying and never saw this with my previous Edge units (510,520, 1030).
#9
Method to My Madness
Join Date: Nov 2020
Location: Orange County, California
Posts: 4,144
Bikes: Trek FX 2, Cannondale Synapse x2, Cannondale CAAD4, Santa Cruz Stigmata 3
Liked 1,702 Times
in
1,169 Posts
My RTL515, which is connected via BlueTooth to the Varia app on my iPhone, randomly disconnects momentarily a few times per ride too, without affecting my Apple watch or my HRM. I guess (from this thread) that this also happens with ANT+ connections to Garmin GPS head units.