Powertap issue

Laflore

I was wondering if anyone else has had a similar problem with their Powertap powermeter. The heart rate function of my powermeter is no longer working after approximately 100 hours of usage. I had thought the battery went out on the transmitter, but that turned out not to be the problem. I've also tried things like adjusting strap tightness and resetting the monitor to default, to no avail. Any other ideas to try would be much appreciated.

Since I've gone to training by power, I almost never monitor heart rate. I find it to be almost meaningless next to wattage. Still, it would be nice to have at times, especially when running tests such as MAP.

Thanks for any help.

Woofer

Have you tried switching straps with someone who has a non coded HRM?

Also bring the HRM into the test and see if either works with your strap. Then try the other strap. This should narrow down the problem straight away.

Laflore

Hmm, I wasn't aware that Powertap heart rate signals are encoded. I do recall once use a coded Polar transmitter with my Powertap. I think the normal PT transmitter quit working then or shortly thereafter.

Maybe that somehow skewed the coded 'signature' expected by the Powertap monitor.

Thanks for the suggestion.

Woofer

I should clarify. Only Polar uses coded. PowerTap and SRM only use uncoded. I just said uncoded so you didn't get a 710 or 720 and have it not work and wonder why. IIRC the non700 models use uncoded.

Laflore

Ah, I see. Well I do have several Polar straps and monitors, both coded and noncoded. I can run some trial and error experiments to look for clues as to what is going on with the Powertap.

I hadn't thought of trying this so thanks again for the help!

beerco

I stopped using HR a while ago but I've heard that HR is the first thing to go when the Head Unit batery starts to go dead. Try chaning that and let us know how it goes.

fabiosav

I like to set my powertap to cadence and I strap an old Polar monitor to my bar. On occasion I set them to both show HR, and what I have found is that the HRM continues to pick up the HR while the PowerTap looses the signal. Basically, I found the HR pickup in the PowerTap not as sensitive. I assure 100% it does not use an encoded strap, BTW. Enjoy the data: I would spring for CyclingPeaks software, BTW...

Woofer

I have an entirely different anecdote. I stopped wearing my heart rate strap this year because it was giving me a rash. In every crit I have recorded, there are a few slivers of someone elses heart rate strap sending a signal to my PowerTap. I'm only about 173 cm tall and ride narrow handlebars so folks can get pretty close to me. Also, I'm using a PowerTap Pro CPU.

fabiosav

Woofer,
No probably a sign from another planet, sort of an ET phone home... was there a Jodi Foster movie on this?
Actually never happened to me, but dropped so fast from peleton distance may be a factor!