Polar CS600 Power - First on the Block...

jeff262

Okay. Time to go back and edit all of my posts claiming flawless performance. A couple of rides ago I started to get the dropouts mentioned here. Yesterday I started it up and NOTHING. Too busy to try anything right now. If I can't it fixed on my own this weekend guess I will have to give Polar a call!

jstock

I guess this might be a little too obvious but have you checked your batteries? I did have the original bug that got fixed. But lately it started to behave exactly the same. Since my batteries were supposed to be fresh, I at first thought that the original problem was coming back. But after 2 rides with seemingly random dropouts I changed the batteries and it was good again.

Ergoman

I've had similar issues with non-functioning power. At this time, I attribute them to the crappy design of the power battery holder. As my wife observed, it looks like something from the Dollar Store.

A solution that seems to have worked for me is to carefully check and bend the bottom connector tabs on the battery holder so that a positive contact is insured. In any case, I would suggest that you check the battery connections everywhere as a first step toward solving the problem.

Why couldn't Polar just supply a nice rechargeable NiCad with a Velcro strap and enough cable to mount under the seat or at the top of the seatstays? An aftermarket setup like this would certainly sell to me.

pistole

- have been reading a bit about PM units , and caught this thread.

- sad that POLAR would release something like this , when it's not been sorted.
.

jeff262

Well, I finally had time this weekend to figure out what might be wrong. I approached it with hopes that it was the battery but that proved to not be the case. I pulled out the multimeter and got a solid reading at the point that the cord enters the paddle. A variety of cord wiggling, plugging and unplugging followed with no results. I will be giving Polar a call tomorrow and will update.

bverdon

Wow....you guys made me read all this stuff just to finally see what I was searching for....cadence and power outages.

I have only had my CS 600 for a week and have been strugling with this very issue. At first I thought it was simply the surfboard losing contact with the magnet...adjusted the surboard too close...and lost the magnet!

Replaced the magnet (had a spare!) and got things working...then dropouts again.

So...then I started looking closer at the battery compartment...I took the battery sleeve out and noticed the two springs...carefully pulled on them out a little bit, installed the sleeve back into the battery pack and things started working again. Went out for a 3 hour ride and thought I had it figured out until I hit a few bumps and then it went in and out several more times during the ride. Then I took the sleeve out again...and starting thinking. I noticed that the batteries kind of gave in the middle where the two batteries met and wondered if that was the problem...maybe when I hit some bumps, they get loose...and then when I hit another bump...the rejoin and make contact again. So...I took the sleeve out, and put a piece of electrical tape arount he middle and center of the two batteries to ensure they don't move during the ride. I will see how things go over the next few days...I hope that is it! That will be an easy fix.

I will report back my findings.

pistole

- is this thing still being beta-tested ?

- or are they shipping it out already ?



.

bverdon

No...this has been released earlier in the year.

Just a quick update...so far so good...the tape around the batteries have seemed to produce good results...so far! I rode over some pretty good bumps and never had a drop on power or cadance.

Let's see what the next few rides do though...

bverdon

Well...the tape around the battery sleeve did not resolve the issue...

I am focusing more on the spring leads of the sleeve not making constant contact with the positive/negative contact point at the bottom of the battery pack. Maybe it is just the battery pact...I am not sure. I contacted Polar but they are basically telling me to just contact my local shop where I purchased the device. I guess if they had spare parts...that would be ok...but basically they will probably have to send the entire device back.

jeff262

You might want to get a cheap multimeter, maybe $15 from Depot or Radio Shack, and make sure it is battery dropouts. I thought it was contacts but got a good voltage and the ends of the leads going into the paddle.

Judging by the response I got from Polar tech support the dropouts are certainly a known issue. Without too much hesitation I was told to send the power unit in for warranty service. It should arrive at Polar Friday. Judging by the remarks here I am guessing it will take them a week or so to turn it around.

bverdon

Well...I already have a voltmeter...but I doubt that will prove much (unless I can figure out how to measure that when I am riding :-) ) since it is intermitten. According to one person at Polar, this is not a known issue...but that is coming from one person so who knows.

If it is a known issue...what was it and how was it corrected? If nobody can give an answer...then it probably was not fixed.

Just my take.

MarkLove71

I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who has offered their experiences on this thread. My CS600 arrived yesterday. I had it all installed in about an hour, and got everything working with very little effort - in large part due to the information/advice here. I'm really happy with the device (two rides - so far, so good), and really happy I could use this thread to fill in the (major) information gaps in Polar's manuals. Thanks again.

Mark

bverdon

Just another quick update.

So far so good...I am not quite sure if bending the leads out on the battery pack did the trick, but I am getting much better performance even through very bumpy roads. I had one dropout for about 1 minute...but that could have been due to power lines or something...the remaining ride proved to be no issues and that ride was 70 miles long so it is looking better.

This is the third ride with little or no issues.

Let's see how the next few weeks go.

baffer

hello all,

I got my cs600 today and have installed it using the info posted here. The speed sensor is working, however I do not get any power readings..I have tried different gear combos, and in some combos the chain touches the power sensor, for some reason the sensor is not activated , and the computer does not find this sensor.. the cadence magnet is very close to the cadence sensor in the power unit, but no led flashes here (as it does in the speed sensor). When I try the teach function: the computer does not find the power sensor????

Another funny thing: I have turned and clicked the computer in the steermount. However HOW do I get it OUT?? It seems to be stuck...I find nothing in the manual how to get the computer out of the steermount...

all help is greatly appreciated

best regards

bas