PowerTap G3 - can't pair with Edge 800 or USB stick



EvinKaless

New Member
Mar 5, 2013
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0
1
I just updated the firmware on my G3, and now it will not pair with the Edge 800 or the Movestick Mini USB stick (and neither will my HR strap). I've only had the G3 for 2 weeks, so it can't be the cattery, can it? I had used it successfully on a couple of trainer rides, but had some issues with it initially, and that's why I did the firmware update. The firmware update went-off without issue.

I recently replaced the battery in the HR strap and I had it paired for a ride, but it dropped-out during, so I decided to re-seat the battery, and now—nothing.



Thanks for your help!
 
I am very happy to report that I was able to resolve both issues last night. I'll share with you what I sent the CycleOps technician this morning because it may help others that find themselves in a similar situation. (He had told me that I needed to return the wheel for repair.)


[SIZE= 10pt]I'm very pleased to inform you that I will not need to return my G3. Let me explain what happened so that you might be able to inform others with similar issues.[/SIZE]

  • [SIZE= 12pt]Tried again to pair with the Edge 800 — nothing[/SIZE]
  • [SIZE= 12pt]Installed a new battery and tried again — nothing[/SIZE]
  • [SIZE= 12pt]Connected to PowerAgent and checked for update firmware — firmware update found (v1.030 installed, I think)[/SIZE]
  • [SIZE= 12pt]Tried again to pair — SUCCESS!! (Used it this morning without incident.)[/SIZE]
[SIZE= 12pt]
As I explained yesterday, my troubles started when I had previously upgraded the firmware on Sunday evening. I believe v1.028 was installed then. So this begs a couple of questions:[/SIZE]
  1. [SIZE= 12pt]Was v1.030 release in the 24 hours between Sunday and Monday evening? If not, why wasn't it installed when I checked for updates the first time on Sunday evening? Does each update need to be installed sequentially? [/SIZE]
  2. [SIZE= 12pt]Why wasn't I able to pair after the upgrade to v1.028 (again, I think it was 1.028—might have been 1.026, or 1.02x, but not 1.030) [/SIZE]
[SIZE= 12pt] [/SIZE]

[SIZE= 10pt] [/SIZE]
BTW: I also resolved the Garmin HR monitor pairing issue. I followed the Garmin tech's advice and temporarily reversed the polarity of the battery, and I also made sure that I left the battery out of the monitor for at least 30 seconds (as prescribed by the user manual — I hadn't really paid any attention to that when I replaced the battery, and that, I believe, is probably the source of my pain.).

The CycleOps tech. has made no attempt to answer my questions regarding the G3 firmware updates.

I don't know what the ID # was for the HR monitor before the battery replacement, so I can't say if it has paired with a new ID. Does anyone know if this is accurate?—that the device needs a new ID to be re-paired (and by extension I assume all ANT+ devices would work the same)? I'm skeptical because I replaced the battery in the Garmin speed/cadence sensor and had no such issues. Of course I could have had the battery removed from the GSC more than 30 seconds and a new ID was generated? As I stated above, I wasn't paying attention to how long the batteries were removed from the devices.


Thanks,
 
I am very happy to report that I was able to resolve both issues last night. I'll share with you what I sent the CycleOps technician this morning because it may help others that find themselves in a similar situation. (He had told me that I needed to return the wheel for repair.)


[SIZE= 10pt]I'm very pleased to inform you that I will not need to return my G3. Let me explain what happened so that you might be able to inform others with similar issues.[/SIZE]

  • [SIZE= 12pt]Tried again to pair with the Edge 800 — nothing[/SIZE]
  • [SIZE= 12pt]Installed a new battery and tried again — nothing[/SIZE]
  • [SIZE= 12pt]Connected to PowerAgent and checked for update firmware — firmware update found (v1.030 installed, I think)[/SIZE]
  • [SIZE= 12pt]Tried again to pair — SUCCESS!! (Used it this morning without incident.)[/SIZE]
[SIZE= 12pt]
As I explained yesterday, my troubles started when I had previously upgraded the firmware on Sunday evening. I believe v1.028 was installed then. So this begs a couple of questions:[/SIZE]
  1. [SIZE= 12pt]Was v1.030 release in the 24 hours between Sunday and Monday evening? If not, why wasn't it installed when I checked for updates the first time on Sunday evening? Does each update need to be installed sequentially? [/SIZE]
  2. [SIZE= 12pt]Why wasn't I able to pair after the upgrade to v1.028 (again, I think it was 1.028—might have been 1.026, or 1.02x, but not 1.030) [/SIZE]
[SIZE= 12pt] [/SIZE]

[SIZE= 10pt] [/SIZE]
BTW: I also resolved the Garmin HR monitor pairing issue. I followed the Garmin tech's advice and temporarily reversed the polarity of the battery, and I also made sure that I left the battery out of the monitor for at least 30 seconds (as prescribed by the user manual — I hadn't really paid any attention to that when I replaced the battery, and that, I believe, is probably the source of my pain.).

The CycleOps tech. has made no attempt to answer my questions regarding the G3 firmware updates.

I don't know what the ID # was for the HR monitor before the battery replacement, so I can't say if it has paired with a new ID. Does anyone know if this is accurate?—that the device needs a new ID to be re-paired (and by extension I assume all ANT+ devices would work the same)? I'm skeptical because I replaced the battery in the Garmin speed/cadence sensor and had no such issues. Of course I could have had the battery removed from the GSC more than 30 seconds and a new ID was generated? As I stated above, I wasn't paying attention to how long the batteries were removed from the devices.


Thanks,
 
I had exactly the same experience with a G3 and Edge 500. I needed to recalibrate the G3 zero torque via the Edge 500 - my power readings had suddenly jumped to 1000W+ while freewheeling after changing the G3 battery.

To do so I had to upgrade the Garmin firmware. I thought I may as well update the G3 firmware at the same time (esp. after reading about and experiencing the battery life issues on the old firmware).

I update both sets of firmware only to find that the Edge 500 could no longer find the G3! After much fiddling and fretting (incl removing batteries for more than 30 seconds, reseating everything, etc) I finally found this article and decided to try the firmware upgrade again.

Sure enough PowerAgent told me the firmware needed to be updated to version 16.030 despite previously telling me the firmware was up to date (after, I swear, but can't prove, initially updating me to the same 16.030!). I did the update (again) and, voila, everything works.
 
I'm glad you got it to work... I just sent this email to customer support in the hopes that it's something simple. I've had a similar, but far worse set of circumstances. Luckily, I don't live that far from Saris HQ in Verona, WI.

============
(Hello, my contact info...)

This is concerning a PowerTap G3 hub. I skipped out on usage of this hub pretty much all last season because I could not get it to work. This is after getting a little bit of usage from it the year before. Typically when I can get it to work, it stops communicating with my Garmin Edge 800 partway through a ride. That year, I had a ride in Wisconsin and I stopped by the HQ in Verona. Someone there took it to the back and brought it back to me telling me that I just needed to remove the battery and let it sit for 5 minutes before reinserting the battery to resolve the problem. During my ride later that same weekend, the Garmin and PowerTap stopped communicating partway through the ride. This spring, I decided to try to get some use out of this expensive piece of equipment. I put in a fresh battery, (Energizer 3v CR2032) and re-attached it, set my Garmin to search for it, and spun the crank to rotate the rear wheel. Nothing. I tried removing the battery, adding it back in, removing it, waiting a few minutes adding it again, and each time it will not pair. So, I did my first few rides this year just like all of last season, without benefit of the hub. Now I'm trying to make it work again. After 2 months the battery is completely dead (tongue test confirmed it had zero charge) so I buy another new battery. Pairing still does not work. I thought that maybe if I did a firmware update on the hub, I can get it to work. Using PowerAgent 7.5.7.34, I removed the battery and then connected the device to the computer. It tells me I'm running version 16.000 and I can update to 16.037. So I run through the update process, connect it back, try to pair, nothing. I reconnect and check, and the firmware is still saying 16.000. I look around online, find a lot of people are having problems with the firmware update process for the PowerTap hub. Still, I follow the advice of someone who says to perform the update , then rather then re-insert the battery, disconnect and reconnect the hub and each time PowerAgent will report that you are running 16.000, but keep updating the firmware until one time it should report the current version is 16.037. So I try that, 6 times in a row, no update. I give up, add the the Powertap back into my system, try to pair again, no luck. So I do a firmware update, then re-insert the battery put it in the wheel and spin it (as if I were going to pair it). I wait for 5 minutes in case the firmware update needs to be applied internally with a combination of 1) the cap connected to the rest of the hub and 2) motion. I still cannot pair, so I remove it again, remove the battery, connect it to my PC again, and the firmware is still reported as 16.000. I've only had about 100 miles of data total from this device, over 3 years in which I put 4000 miles on the bike. Granted, I did not try to pair every time. just made sporadic attempts like this spring and now. But I'm very frustrated that a device that costs more than many people's entry-level bikes boils down to just a pretty hub with a logo. Some background - I work in IT, since 1995. I have updated the firmware of countless devices from cameras to printers to server components, personal PC components, and more, and I've never had these kinds of problems. I don't think I have a hard time understanding the instructions, especially when they are as easy/dumbed down as the Youtube video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nrUdy43AnHw or the owner's manual. I'll be in Wisconsin again (Delevan and then Wisc. Rapids) for a ride and for Mother's Day, and I may take Monday off just so I head in to the office in Verona with my device again. I'm just disappointed that if I do that, my long ride on Saturday will have no watt metrics, and I didn't want to start the serious part of my season like this again.
 
Perrofelix,

I got a new G3 on Monday, and it ran fine on my first ride on Tuesday, pairing up perfectly with my Garmin Edge 500. On next ride on Wednesday, and I could not longer pair it up with the Garmin. Searching the web, I realized that a firmware update might fix the problem...

And I then experienced the same frustrating problems you had with the firmware update using PowerAgent... I eventually got the latest version of the firmware applied (after dozens of attempts on three different systems), and getting the new firmware installed fixed my Garmin pairing problems. I had also emailed Saris/CycleOps customer service, and eventually received the following reply regarding the firmware upgrade process. Note that it is not the same process as the one shown on their video. Go figure...

I've not yet tried the procedure below, but as I was assured by the support rep that it would not cause any problems with the PowerCap, and since it's raining this morning, I might try it in a few hours... /img/vbsmilies/smilies/smile.gif
Quote: Please follow these steps to properly update the firmware on your PowerCap.
[COLOR= rgb(31, 73, 125)]To update the firmware, you must have the battery OUT[/COLOR]
To check whether or not the firmware update succeeded, the battery must be IN.

Here is the best way to do it:
Plug in PowerCap with battery IN.
Click "check for firmware update"
When it says that firmware update is available, click OK.
It will then notify you to take the battery OUT.
Disconnect PowerCap, take out battery, wait 10 seconds, plug in PowerCap (battery is still OUT at this point)
Click OK on the window that instructed you to take the battery out
Firmware will install
When it says that it was successful, unplug PowerCap
Wait 10 seconds, plug battery back in
Plug in PowerCap (with battery IN) and click configure device (button that looks like two blue arrows)
It will then tell you what version of firmware you have. Current firmware version is 16.037.


Please report back if this works....

Good luck.

Rob