Polar CS600 Power - First on the Block...

[shoots]

just to add my $0.02
ive been using my polar unit for 2 months now and the few drop outs we're sorted out by jiggling the connectors....very technical i know other than that ive been very happy with the unit

but i had a drop out that lasted for over an hour riding home so thought maybe it was time for new batteries....inserted new batteries(duracell) and i couldn't get the unit to work...tried relearning sensor and it found it just fine...just no cadence and power readings while riding....Grrrrrrrr

so i've just tried the bending the battery terminals as suggested by bverdon and voila ive got power and cadence readings
i haven't tried it out on the road yet but here's hoping

so i for one vote for the crappy power pack design....but then maybe there's issues with various parts of the design!!!!! who knows

shoots

well it lasted 30mins on the road before dropping out...




still think it must be the battery supply...even more annoying after having 2 months of it working 98% of time

getting close to send back to polar time i think

shoots

 

[baffer]

out of utter frustration I de-installed my polar cs600 power kit alltogether...

ive tried everything you guys tried, to come to the same conslusion: I keep experiencing dropouts. I will be contacting polar about all this.

Is there anyway I can get a refund? Did someone try?

I dont feel for sending this thing back to polar and then receiving it after a number of weeks with the remark that it "works just fine" in our lab......

 

[jeff262]

Didn't try for a refund, but they quickly replaced the paddle with no questions asked. Of course the new paddle didn't work either which pointed me to the battery holder. I fixed that and all has been good so far. I have been through some brutal rides and big temperature swings since the fix with no issues.

out of utter frustration I de-installed my polar cs600 power kit alltogether...

ive tried everything you guys tried, to come to the same conslusion: I keep experiencing dropouts. I will be contacting polar about all this.

Is there anyway I can get a refund? Did someone try?

I dont feel for sending this thing back to polar and then receiving it after a number of weeks with the remark that it "works just fine" in our lab......

 

[mortimer99]

Didn't try for a refund, but they quickly replaced the paddle with no questions asked. Of course the new paddle didn't work either which pointed me to the battery holder. I fixed that and all has been good so far. I have been through some brutal rides and big temperature swings since the fix with no issues.

I also must say that since I made sure the batteries were in the holder sleeve correctly I haven't had any dropouts either. FWIW

 

[SteveO2]

FWIW... Just got this email from Polar support in Finland:

According to the Power Output serial number you have one of the first
versions. Since that we have made improvements of the coil and battery
contacts. Please contact your local Polar distributor so they can service
your unit...

My serial# begins with: C717L.. Sounds like the same runaround others have been getting who replaced their paddles? JohnMcP and J/V: would you agree they've fixed it, or do you still think there are also battery connection problems?

SteveO

 

[J-V]

My serial# begins with: C717L.. Sounds like the same runaround others have been getting who replaced their paddles? JohnMcP and J/V: would you agree they've fixed it, or do you still think there are also battery connection problems?

I've got a message in to my Polar contact here in the U.S., and I'll update when I hear something.

The battery case I'm currently using was sent along with the replacement power sensor, which worked just like the last power sensor (i.e. with dropouts), until I swapped to the 'new' battery case. I could visually discern no differences between the two cases, but in 2 months of riding, I've only had 3 or 4 very sporadic, very temporary cadence/power dropouts, each of which was immediately 'fixed' by dis- and re-connecting the wires (the power 'reset', I suspect). This 'reset' procedure did not really work when the prior battery case was causing dropouts.

In general, I'm now quite happy with how mine is performing, and I personally suspect that it is indeed a battery case/cord issue.

[PS: I am the originator of this thread, despite the 'handle' change... ]

 

[JohnMcP]

FWIW... Just got this email from Polar support in Finland:

According to the Power Output serial number you have one of the first
versions. Since that we have made improvements of the coil and battery
contacts. Please contact your local Polar distributor so they can service
your unit...

My serial# begins with: C717L.. Sounds like the same runaround others have been getting who replaced their paddles? JohnMcP and J/V: would you agree they've fixed it, or do you still think there are also battery connection problems?

SteveO

What's the coil? (No, don't start, missus!!)

Just to recap...after much correspondance with Polar UK I currently have two C717L..serial # units, with two battery cases. Unit 1, running with case 1, failed. Unit 2, which Polar UK say was extensively tested in-house before they put it in the stretch limo to me, worked fine with battery case 1 and has continued to work fine (after installation on the winter bike) with battery case 2. They suggest it has been modified in some way.

I have emailed my contact at Polar UK and asked for a straight and simple explanation of any fix they have applied to unit 2. I still think the fix is in the unit (paddle) componentry and not in the battery case...if only they'd come clean and tell us we'd all stop a) theorising and b) modifying the thing ourselves (bending/soldering/kicking etc)!

If/when they reply I'll post.

As an aside, I've just had two of the wettest rides on record, so we'll see how the kit does over this weekend....

McP

 

[J-V]

I've got a message in to my Polar contact here in the U.S., and I'll update when I hear something.

For those of you still chasing your tail with respect to the cadence/power dropouts, you might want to simply send your power sensor in to Polar and have them replace it. Loosely stated, it would 'appear' that the coil issues in those first 500 units may have lingered beyond that production number, some units of which found their way beyond Europe. It would 'appear' that Polar has not confirmed any manufacturing defects/issues with the battery case assembly. It also 'appears' that those receiving tested replacement units from Polar are no longer having problems beyond the occasional hiccup...

Bottom line: If you are having power/cadence dropouts, bite the bullet and contact Polar support for a replacement, and I'm 'guessing' that your problems will be solved. Report back here with the results.

-J\V

 

[jeff262]

Not to confuse the "appearance" of things but this is what I did earlier in the year. The replacement arrived and it did not work, just as the original had stopped working. It wasn't until I soldered a lead on the battery holder tab that it started to work again. It has since worked perfectly for over 100 hours. In my case I stick to the assumption that the current was low because of a poor joint in the connection and once that was solved it started to work again.

I stick to the assumption that there is more than one thing going on here. Of course the primary problem could be the power sensor.

For those of you still chasing your tail with respect to the cadence/power dropouts, you might want to simply send your power sensor in to Polar and have them replace it. Loosely stated, it would 'appear' that the coil issues in those first 500 units may have lingered beyond that production number, some units of which found their way beyond Europe. It would 'appear' that Polar has not confirmed any manufacturing defects/issues with the battery case assembly. It also 'appears' that those receiving tested replacement units from Polar are no longer having problems beyond the occasional hiccup...

Bottom line: If you are having power/cadence dropouts, bite the bullet and contact Polar support for a replacement, and I'm 'guessing' that your problems will be solved. Report back here with the results.

-J\V

 

[baffer]

I sent my unit back 2 weeks back, and of course I got the phonecall yesterday with a guy from polar telling me that there was nothing wrong with my unit. Apparantly he had tested it on his test-setup and found no problems. Bottomline is that they dont even want to replace my unit. The polar test-setup would be the following: sweeping magnets in front of the sensor and seeing the lights blink

I told the guy there is no way that this thing works on a bike. So I asked him to install it on his own bike and test it "real-life". He would try this and contact me later...

bad thing is that he denied that there were any problems at all with this unit in the netherlands, I was the FIRST person to have issues

pretty frustrated now, and I expect the phonecall again that the unit works fine, even on a real bike... I am thinking of going there and letting them install it on my bike.

 

[J-V]

"...I told the guy there is no way that this thing works on a bike. So I asked him to install it on his own bike and test it "real-life". He would try this and contact me later...

bad thing is that he denied that there were any problems at all with this unit in the netherlands, I was the FIRST person to have issues..."

If you can get a hold of the same guy, call him back and give him a link to this thread, and make him promise to read it. One of the Polar guys here in the US now monitors it after my several phone calls. I think the "You're the first person to report this" line is just the first line of defense for phone support; it's probably what they are told to pass on by the computer in front of them.

 

[jeff262]

I can say that with all the problems I had with the hardware Polar Service in the US was easy and quick to deal with. There were no questions asked about returning it and it was about a week from the time I sent it out to the time I got a new unit back.

If you can get a hold of the same guy, call him back and give him a link to this thread, and make him promise to read it. One of the Polar guys here in the US now monitors it after my several phone calls. I think the "You're the first person to report this" line is just the first line of defense for phone support; it's probably what they are told to pass on by the computer in front of them.

 

[Ergoman]

It's now getting close to three months without any problems with my CS600. I'm thinking about getting another one for my wife. To make mine work, I paid a lot of attention to getting the batteries mounted right in the holder (see previous posts). A switch to Lithium batteries also seemed to help. I can't help but think that the CS600 is very sensitive to voltage.

Since the arrival of foul weather, I've had the opportunity to use the CS600 on my fluid trainer. I've found that for any reasonable range of gears and speeds that the power readings are consistent, and closely in line with the calibration curve of the trainer. Since trainer use was apparently a problem with previous Polar designs, I'd be curious to hear what results other users are obtaining.

 

[JohnMcP]

I sent my unit back 2 weeks back, and of course I got the phonecall yesterday with a guy from polar telling me that there was nothing wrong with my unit. Apparantly he had tested it on his test-setup and found no problems. Bottomline is that they dont even want to replace my unit. The polar test-setup would be the following: sweeping magnets in front of the sensor and seeing the lights blink

I told the guy there is no way that this thing works on a bike. So I asked him to install it on his own bike and test it "real-life". He would try this and contact me later...

bad thing is that he denied that there were any problems at all with this unit in the netherlands, I was the FIRST person to have issues

pretty frustrated now, and I expect the phonecall again that the unit works fine, even on a real bike... I am thinking of going there and letting them install it on my bike.

I've had all this before from Polar. The argument I used was that if I spend UKP400 on any other piece of kit for my bike (e.g. a pair of wheels) I expect them not to collapse after a couple of rides. The same has to be good for their power sensors. Don't let them get away with saying that it works on their test rig...if they're that confident then they can take it back and repackage it but send you one that works on your bike. That's what you've paid for. Either that or they refund you. PS, if you ask they will also reimburse all your postage for sending units back for test.

 

[Andre.T]

Hi,
maybe one of all the Polar PM users in this Forum can help me with my current problem.
I have a Polar S710i with PM wich only works on the big chain ring.
If I ride on the small ring the power readings are about 50% lower than they should be. I veryfied it today with a Powertap SL. (File attached)
Big chainring values are very close to the PT values (more than I expected ) but on the small ring values are fluctuating a lot. Speed and cadence were equal.
Meanwhile I tested it on two bikes (Shimano 9speed and 10speed, 39 and 42T) with different chain speed sensor positions but the problem ist still the same.
Does anyone has an idea?

 

[Tom Anhalt]

Hi,
maybe one of all the Polar PM users in this Forum can help me with my current problem.
I have a Polar S710i with PM wich only works on the big chain ring.
If I ride on the small ring the power readings are about 50% lower than they should be. I veryfied it today with a Powertap SL. (File attached)
Big chainring values are very close to the PT values (more than I expected ) but on the small ring values are fluctuating a lot. Speed and cadence were equal.
Meanwhile I tested it on two bikes (Shimano 9speed and 10speed, 39 and 42T) with different chain speed sensor positions but the problem ist still the same.
Does anyone has an idea?

Are you doing these comparisons with the bike mounted on an indoor trainer, by chance?

 

[Andre.T]

Are you doing these comparisons with the bike mounted on an indoor trainer, by chance?

No, I was riding outdoors on a flat road.
During the record I used the 19,17 and 16 cog on the 53T chain ring and the 13-15cogs on the small (42T) ring.

 

[SteveO2]

The saga continues... I bought this product on 10/4//07 and immediately got the power/cadence drop outs mentioned here and elsewhere. So, I shipped my Power WIND module to Polar USA on 10/9/07 and finally got back a replacement on 11/2/07. The replacement module SN began with: C720L..., which supposedly is the incarnation with the fix to the drop-out problem of power and cadence. I eagerly installed it on my bike. After install I turned the cranks and could not get the cadence or power LED's to light and the CS600 would not discover the power module. I measured the DC volts where the power cable plugs into the paddle and got 3.04v DC. No amount of tinkering would make it work at all. And yes, I've tried everything having become quite an expert on installing this beast.

So, looks like I got another lemon from Polar. I've had it and don't plan to go on with this. Even if this product really does work, it's obvious their quality control stinks and I am tired of being a beta tester. I am now contacting Polar USA for a full refund. Given that I have had the product for a total of 7 days and it's never worked reliably, that's the least they can do. Will keep this thread updated with my efforts to get a refund.

SteveO

 

[Tom Anhalt]

No, I was riding outdoors on a flat road.
During the record I used the 19,17 and 16 cog on the 53T chain ring and the 13-15cogs on the small (42T) ring.

Interesting. Obviously it's not a signal strength problem since it's happening on the small chainring where the chain is, in general, closer to the sensor. I asked about the trainer since if there isn't random road vibe transmitted into the chain to get it vibrating at it's natural frequency with a large enough amplitude, the chain vibration sensor can tend to "lock on" to the wrong signal, i.e. the change in density of the pins passing the sensor (just as the chain speed sensor does). How smooth was the road?

If this was happening to one of my units, I'd send it in to Polar to have them take a look at it.

 

[Andre.T]

Interesting. Obviously it's not a signal strength problem since it's happening on the small chainring where the chain is, in general, closer to the sensor. I asked about the trainer since if there isn't random road vibe transmitted into the chain to get it vibrating at it's natural frequency with a large enough amplitude, the chain vibration sensor can tend to "lock on" to the wrong signal, i.e. the change in density of the pins passing the sensor (just as the chain speed sensor does). How smooth was the road?

If this was happening to one of my units, I'd send it in to Polar to have them take a look at it.

The road was very smooth. I have this problem since spring. It appeared from one day to the next and stayed until now. I mounted the PM on two different bikes, used 9 and 10 speed chains, changed the position of the chain speed sensor becouse I thought the chain speed on the small ring is higher.... nothing helped.
(Big chain ring measurements are still OK)

The problem with polar is that I have bought the PM used by ebay.
So I have no warranty and believe that the polar service is very expensive.

I have a second defect Polar PM here. I used it for 3 years before the electronics died. If I would know if the chain speed sensor or some cables are defect I would replace them (electronics engineer) but with the running big chain ring it makes no sense