IMO one should give credit where credit is due. I bought a Power Tap in March this year (09) and it, along with all the posts you all have written, has revolutionized my training. Now, instead of getting dropped in races I have been able to work for my team instead of just surviving and my placings have gone from mid pack or the dreaded DNP or DNF to top 10-15. Next year will be even better.
My anxiety level rose sharply in June when I suddenly noticed the "receiving signal" began to blink in the top left hand corner of my head unit (I have a wired PT). I thought, "Was that thing always blinking? Must have been and I just now noticed." As you well know, that icon is not supposed to blink and it was telling me to change the batteries in the hub. I didn't realize this (not the shiniest coin in the fountain), and then as you can imagine, a few weeks later I began to get signal dropouts during my rides. I finally cracked the owners manual and discovered the blinking icons true meaning. I bought some silver oxide batteries and changed the old ones out. It was very easy. I was still getting signal dropouts however!
Very depressed, because I had come to rely so heavily on this thing, I emailed Saris. They got right back to me; next day service! It wasn't an automated email either, it was, "Please call me. Jerrod." I called right then and he picked up! How awesome to actually to get to speak to a real person!
He said we needed to figure out if it was the head unit or the hub, so switch the head unit to cycle-computer mode, switch out the rear wheel to a regular hub and slap on a wheel magnet so it goes by the shark fin, and go for a ride. This test determined that it was the hub that was the problem since there was not one single drop in an 1.5 hr ride. Usually there were dozens. Very bummed, I called back the next day to give the results of my test.
Jarrod was away from his desk, so Brin told me she would do her best to help me. She was great! I told her the whole story and she said to get some fresh batteries, and swap them out, AND she was going to ship me a new battery holder free of charge. She was sending a new holder because she thought there was a possibility I had not re-inserted the old one all the way when I switched out the batteries. It was a gracious way of saying, "You may not be the best mechanic in the world and rather that telling you to re-do the work you did, I will take the blame and let you save face so you can blame a defective part rather than yourself."
I stopped by the drug store on the way home, got some new silver oxide batteries (date is stamped right on the box), grabbed the PT wheel, pulled off the cover and again switched out the batteries. This time I deliberately pressed the holder into place however.
Well, that was it! Just like old times....not a dropout in sight! It was me the whole time. I thought since the dropouts continued after the first battery swap that the hub/head was defective. Nope, just me. The first dropouts were from dead batteries and my failure to read the owners manual and the second ones because my mechanic's skill are sketchy.
Brin and Jarrod were great. Very nice on the phone, even though I was criticizing their product. All along it me that deserved the criticizing. The new battery holder arrived a few days later....I could send it back.........but maybe I'll hold onto it as a reminder to check my work next time and not be so quick to jump to conclusions.
Thanks Saris for a great product and great support. Thanks to all you guys on this Forum too for the great advice. It works!!!
Geebs
My anxiety level rose sharply in June when I suddenly noticed the "receiving signal" began to blink in the top left hand corner of my head unit (I have a wired PT). I thought, "Was that thing always blinking? Must have been and I just now noticed." As you well know, that icon is not supposed to blink and it was telling me to change the batteries in the hub. I didn't realize this (not the shiniest coin in the fountain), and then as you can imagine, a few weeks later I began to get signal dropouts during my rides. I finally cracked the owners manual and discovered the blinking icons true meaning. I bought some silver oxide batteries and changed the old ones out. It was very easy. I was still getting signal dropouts however!
Very depressed, because I had come to rely so heavily on this thing, I emailed Saris. They got right back to me; next day service! It wasn't an automated email either, it was, "Please call me. Jerrod." I called right then and he picked up! How awesome to actually to get to speak to a real person!
He said we needed to figure out if it was the head unit or the hub, so switch the head unit to cycle-computer mode, switch out the rear wheel to a regular hub and slap on a wheel magnet so it goes by the shark fin, and go for a ride. This test determined that it was the hub that was the problem since there was not one single drop in an 1.5 hr ride. Usually there were dozens. Very bummed, I called back the next day to give the results of my test.
Jarrod was away from his desk, so Brin told me she would do her best to help me. She was great! I told her the whole story and she said to get some fresh batteries, and swap them out, AND she was going to ship me a new battery holder free of charge. She was sending a new holder because she thought there was a possibility I had not re-inserted the old one all the way when I switched out the batteries. It was a gracious way of saying, "You may not be the best mechanic in the world and rather that telling you to re-do the work you did, I will take the blame and let you save face so you can blame a defective part rather than yourself."
I stopped by the drug store on the way home, got some new silver oxide batteries (date is stamped right on the box), grabbed the PT wheel, pulled off the cover and again switched out the batteries. This time I deliberately pressed the holder into place however.
Well, that was it! Just like old times....not a dropout in sight! It was me the whole time. I thought since the dropouts continued after the first battery swap that the hub/head was defective. Nope, just me. The first dropouts were from dead batteries and my failure to read the owners manual and the second ones because my mechanic's skill are sketchy.
Brin and Jarrod were great. Very nice on the phone, even though I was criticizing their product. All along it me that deserved the criticizing. The new battery holder arrived a few days later....I could send it back.........but maybe I'll hold onto it as a reminder to check my work next time and not be so quick to jump to conclusions.
Thanks Saris for a great product and great support. Thanks to all you guys on this Forum too for the great advice. It works!!!
Geebs
