Polar HRM Not Working Help

[Jim Peters]

I have a Polar HRM, not sure of the model, but it was around the $250 mark.
Anyway its about a year old and was working fine.
I went overseas for 4 weeks, and when I went to go for a ride yesterday, it
was dead.
Nothing on the screen.
I pushed every button but still dead.

What could it be ?
Is the battery dead already ?

Thanks for any help.
Jimbo

 

[flyingdutch]

take it into where you bought it or a handy retailer and get em to try it with another chest-strap-thingy to see if the battery in your chest-dooby is the issue. if oyu have one of the recent models the battery changeover is an easy fix. if its one of the older models you can do a trade-in sawp with pursuit performance for a newbie

 

[dtmeister]

Jim Peters <[email protected]> wrote:
> I have a Polar HRM, not sure of the model, but it was around the $250 mark.
> Anyway its about a year old and was working fine.
> I went overseas for 4 weeks, and when I went to go for a ride yesterday, it
> was dead.
> Nothing on the screen.
> I pushed every button but still dead.
>
> What could it be ?
> Is the battery dead already ?
>
> Thanks for any help.

Polar's bought from September 1, 2002 have a 2 year warranty. Send
it to Pursuit Performance (http://www.pursuit-performance.com.au/) and
they'll sort it out - either it's the battery (in which case you'll pay
for that) or it's dead. I use mine daily, including using the IR port on
the watch twice a day and after 1.5 years, the battery is still good.


--
..dt
1996 Diamond Back 'Expert Tg' Roadie (7spd DT shifters, favourite bike!)
2004 Trek 2300 Roadie (9spd Ultegra)
2003 DiamondBack 'Criterium' Roadie (8spd Sora, rain bike)

 

[DaveB]

Jim Peters wrote:
> I have a Polar HRM, not sure of the model, but it was around the $250 mark.
> Anyway its about a year old and was working fine.
> I went overseas for 4 weeks, and when I went to go for a ride yesterday, it
> was dead.
> Nothing on the screen.
> I pushed every button but still dead.
>
> What could it be ?
> Is the battery dead already ?
>
> Thanks for any help.
> Jimbo
>
>

I found the battery in mine only lasted a couple of months, which I
assume is because they sit int he HRM for a while on the shelves. The
second battery is goiing strong after 2 years (probably helps that I no
longer use the beep alarm outside the zone).

DaveB

 

[Carl Brewer]

On Mon, 4 Jul 2005 08:12:19 +1000, "Jim Peters" <[email protected]>
wrote:

>I have a Polar HRM, not sure of the model, but it was around the $250 mark.
>Anyway its about a year old and was working fine.
>I went overseas for 4 weeks, and when I went to go for a ride yesterday, it
>was dead.
>Nothing on the screen.
>I pushed every button but still dead.
>
>What could it be ?
>Is the battery dead already ?

It's possible, you can open them up and replace the battery
pretty easily to check without sending them off
to Polar (or the shop you bought it from). If the watch
unit itself isn't working, it won't be the chest strap
that's the problem.

 

[dtmeister]

Carl Brewer <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> It's possible, you can open them up and replace the battery
> pretty easily to check without sending them off
> to Polar (or the shop you bought it from). If the watch
> unit itself isn't working, it won't be the chest strap
> that's the problem.

Have you actually done this? I'm not looking forward to having to send
it back to Polar when the time comes, I use it most days. Mine's a 720i
and I'm concerned that it may no longer be water resistant after opening
the back - maybe they replace the seal when they replace the battery?


--
..dt
1996 Diamond Back 'Expert Tg' Roadie (7spd DT shifters, favourite bike!)
2004 Trek 2300 Roadie (9spd Ultegra)
2003 DiamondBack 'Criterium' Roadie (8spd Sora, rain bike)

 

[DaveB]

dtmeister wrote:
> Carl Brewer <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>>It's possible, you can open them up and replace the battery
>>pretty easily to check without sending them off
>>to Polar (or the shop you bought it from). If the watch
>>unit itself isn't working, it won't be the chest strap
>>that's the problem.
>
>
> Have you actually done this? I'm not looking forward to having to send
> it back to Polar when the time comes, I use it most days. Mine's a 720i
> and I'm concerned that it may no longer be water resistant after opening
> the back - maybe they replace the seal when they replace the battery?
>
>

Yep watch it. I had mine done at the local jewellers. It hasn't been a
problem for waterproofing which they're probably used to dealing with.
But the beep function never worked again after that (and yes I do know
it can be turned off, that isn't the problem) so I suspect there may be
a little more to it than just changing the battery. Not that it worries
me bacuase I hated the beep.

DaveB

 

[Carl Brewer]

On 04 Jul 2005 01:36:55 GMT, dtmeister <[email protected]>
wrote:

>Carl Brewer <[email protected]> wrote:
>>
>> It's possible, you can open them up and replace the battery
>> pretty easily to check without sending them off
>> to Polar (or the shop you bought it from). If the watch
>> unit itself isn't working, it won't be the chest strap
>> that's the problem.
>
>Have you actually done this?

I replaced a battery on an M52 a year ago with no problems.

I haven't pulled apart my S520 or S720 yet though

 

[Gemma_k]

"dtmeister" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Carl Brewer <[email protected]> wrote:
> >
> > It's possible, you can open them up and replace the battery
> > pretty easily to check without sending them off
> > to Polar (or the shop you bought it from). If the watch
> > unit itself isn't working, it won't be the chest strap
> > that's the problem.
>
> Have you actually done this? I'm not looking forward to having to send
> it back to Polar when the time comes, I use it most days. Mine's a 720i
> and I'm concerned that it may no longer be water resistant after opening
> the back - maybe they replace the seal when they replace the battery?
>
I wouldn't risk it - just send it to polar and you'll have it back in a day
or two anyway. On both my other half's and my polar 720i's both batteries
got replaced for free, and on the other half's case, the watch shell got
replaced under warranty as they said it was cracked (apparently there was a
manufacturing defect with some?).
All in all, they give excellent service.

Gemma

 

[dtmeister]

Gemma_k <[email protected]> wrote:
> I wouldn't risk it - just send it to polar and you'll have it back in a day
> or two anyway. On both my other half's and my polar 720i's both batteries
> got replaced for free, and on the other half's case, the watch shell got
> replaced under warranty as they said it was cracked (apparently there was a
> manufacturing defect with some?).
> All in all, they give excellent service.

Yeah, I won't. They claim to also do the following when the battery is
replaced :

1. Visual inspection
2. Check of battery voltage
3. Check of cleaning of case contacts
4. Re-assembly, including seal renewal if necessary
5. Water resistance test
6. Operational tests

Funny you mention a cracked case. I had my first 720i replaced after about 6
months, it started to leak water from just riding in the rain. They
replaced it without question and stated that the glass was cracked under
the metal face plate. I know that it had never been dropped or
otherwise hit by anything, so it had to be a manufacturing problem.

--
..dt
1996 Diamond Back 'Expert Tg' Roadie (7spd DT shifters, favourite bike!)
2004 Trek 2300 Roadie (9spd Ultegra)
2003 DiamondBack 'Criterium' Roadie (8spd Sora, rain bike)

 

[Marty]

Gemma_k wrote:
> "dtmeister" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
>
>>Carl Brewer <[email protected]> wrote:
>>
>>>It's possible, you can open them up and replace the battery
>>>pretty easily to check without sending them off
>>>to Polar (or the shop you bought it from). If the watch
>>>unit itself isn't working, it won't be the chest strap
>>>that's the problem.
>>
>>Have you actually done this? I'm not looking forward to having to send
>>it back to Polar when the time comes, I use it most days. Mine's a 720i
>>and I'm concerned that it may no longer be water resistant after opening
>>the back - maybe they replace the seal when they replace the battery?
>>
>
> I wouldn't risk it - just send it to polar and you'll have it back in a day
> or two anyway. On both my other half's and my polar 720i's both batteries
> got replaced for free, and on the other half's case, the watch shell got
> replaced under warranty as they said it was cracked (apparently there was a
> manufacturing defect with some?).
> All in all, they give excellent service.
>
> Gemma
>
>
If you replace the battery yourself you should give it a good clean with
a clean cloth and don't touch it again with your fingers, uses tweezers
or similar.

Marty

 

[Carl Brewer]

On Mon, 04 Jul 2005 20:47:18 +0800, Marty <[email protected]> wrote:

>Gemma_k wrote:
>> "dtmeister" <[email protected]> wrote in message
>> news:[email protected]...
>>
>>>Carl Brewer <[email protected]> wrote:
>>>
>>>>It's possible, you can open them up and replace the battery
>>>>pretty easily to check without sending them off
>>>>to Polar (or the shop you bought it from). If the watch
>>>>unit itself isn't working, it won't be the chest strap
>>>>that's the problem.
>>>
>>>Have you actually done this? I'm not looking forward to having to send
>>>it back to Polar when the time comes, I use it most days. Mine's a 720i
>>>and I'm concerned that it may no longer be water resistant after opening
>>>the back - maybe they replace the seal when they replace the battery?
>>>
>>
>> I wouldn't risk it - just send it to polar and you'll have it back in a day
>> or two anyway. On both my other half's and my polar 720i's both batteries
>> got replaced for free, and on the other half's case, the watch shell got
>> replaced under warranty as they said it was cracked (apparently there was a
>> manufacturing defect with some?).
>> All in all, they give excellent service.
>>
>> Gemma
>>
>>
>If you replace the battery yourself you should give it a good clean with
>a clean cloth and don't touch it again with your fingers, uses tweezers
>or similar.


That would be what they call an "old wives tail"

You don't have to have a watch battery spotless ... it's just
a battery. Jewelers used to spread that FUD to make sure
that punters would take their watches there to get a
$2 part replaced for $50.

 

[Marty]

Carl Brewer wrote:
> On Mon, 04 Jul 2005 20:47:18 +0800, Marty <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>
>>Gemma_k wrote:
>>
>>>"dtmeister" <[email protected]> wrote in message
>>>news:[email protected]...
>>>
>>>
>>>>Carl Brewer <[email protected]> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>>It's possible, you can open them up and replace the battery
>>>>>pretty easily to check without sending them off
>>>>>to Polar (or the shop you bought it from). If the watch
>>>>>unit itself isn't working, it won't be the chest strap
>>>>>that's the problem.
>>>>
>>>>Have you actually done this? I'm not looking forward to having to send
>>>>it back to Polar when the time comes, I use it most days. Mine's a 720i
>>>>and I'm concerned that it may no longer be water resistant after opening
>>>>the back - maybe they replace the seal when they replace the battery?
>>>>
>>>
>>>I wouldn't risk it - just send it to polar and you'll have it back in a day
>>>or two anyway. On both my other half's and my polar 720i's both batteries
>>>got replaced for free, and on the other half's case, the watch shell got
>>>replaced under warranty as they said it was cracked (apparently there was a
>>>manufacturing defect with some?).
>>>All in all, they give excellent service.
>>>
>>>Gemma
>>>
>>>
>>
>>If you replace the battery yourself you should give it a good clean with
>>a clean cloth and don't touch it again with your fingers, uses tweezers
>>or similar.
>
>
>
> That would be what they call an "old wives tail"
>
> You don't have to have a watch battery spotless ... it's just
> a battery. Jewelers used to spread that FUD to make sure
> that punters would take their watches there to get a
> $2 part replaced for $50.
>
>

You can do what you like but I've replaced a lot of batteries and they
work much better if you clean them first. You don't have to go to a
jeweler, just buy yourself some $5 tweezers or even use some clean
tissue paper. The main thing is to keep moisture and oils off the
contact area.

Marty