http://forum.slowtwitch.com/...ost=4136890;#4136890

Sounds like you need to send it back. Mine had the same issue, it would get wet and water got into it. Sent it in and Quarq made it right. I ride my new one in the rain without issue. Don't ever really was my bike with a hose though

I guess if the cranks needed tightening then why would it settle and be fine after about 48 hours? I will tighten the cranks tonight and see what happens.

My impression was regular/frequent zeros (by back pedalling) was the solution.

I had a similar issue, sent mine in and the new Riken has been fine in all sorts of rainy conditions and washing. I still do now power wash the quarq but no issues now. I am thinking there was a issue in their production process or its just 50/50. Everybody i ride with who has a 2014 or newer Quarq has had no rain issues.

I had an incident about a month ago. It rained for a short period and suddenly power was spiking over 1400 watts on a 300-330ish interval effort. Offset numbers were in the -4000 to -6900 range...then 20 minutes later it was back to normal. This is an older 975S that I've had for 26 months now. I have used it in the rain many times before, and can only think of a couple other times where it has started to read off during rainy weather...but those other two cases was only 20-50 watts off. Just enough where I knew something was wrong...but it wasn't completely obvious at first glance.

Funny how I'm proven right three years after that exchange.

Jordan goes out of his way to say that there's no issue when there clearly was.



For me, the solution came in the form of a SRM; for others, it seems that the issue has finally been resolved two years down the road. I really wanted to stay with that Quarq though. Did all sorts of things to try to make it right, but even riding on wet roads (just after the rain) threw it off. Things went back to normal after one day or two, but that always made me suspect...

This doesn't mean that SRM are immune as my SRM had suffered water damage at one time. At other times, the slope changed during months of use (drifting from 24 to 25 Hz/Nm). But the offset has always been very stable during a rainy ride.

Anecdotially I know of two people with Riken/elsa Quarqs who have water and moisture sensitive quarqs. I am not sure if their problem is with the battery compartment or with the battery housing but they have clear water related issues. Units act up when wet and just dandy dry.

Also, with my riken I had some issues with drop outs related to the central battery housing bolt coming loose which open circuited the battery from the electronics under vibration. I could easily see how if the battery housing was loose it could allow water and moisture into the central electronics through the o-ring seal. Applying loctite and re torquing the central bolt solved my drop out issues.

If it's the battery compartment, put some dielectric grease in there.

It's easy to check: when wet, dry the outside with a cloth, open the compartment, and look.

I rode the Liege Bastogne Liege course a few weeks ago in the rain with my Quarq Riken. It was wet for at least 6 hours. Mine worked flawlessly during the ride, and I have had no issues with the Quarq since.

Had this exact issue with my quarq. Cold wet road spray made my cinqo go bonkers and sent the offset into -4000 range and made my power look like I was doing 2000 watts. Ended up sending it in to quarq and getting a riken and haven't had problems since. The old one was fine in dry weather.

Tried the power meter last night and as expected, it was working fine. Power was close to normal or as close normal as i could tell in a short 1 mile test. For grins I followed the Quarq procedure, reset the unit and tightened the chain rings to torque spec (they were already there).

Ran calibration. It was +495 (normally runs -116). I re-ran cal several consecutive times and it dropped each time until stabilizing at +350.
Rode another mile. Power seemed to drop a little (i could have been less enthused during the ride) and recalibrated again. Reading was +195 but at least it was stable this time.
Rode another mile. Power again seemed to drop a little. Recalibrated and this time is 14 but again stable.
Rode another mile. Same as before. Recal was 175 to 185 over multiple repeats.

gave up. Went inside. Waited about an hour. recal again, +350.

Most of these problems sound like defects to me -- specifically water intrusion -- rather than a design flaw. Some units probably develop leaks after use either on their own or from some kind of impact, and all works flawlessly until you ride in a good rain, and then water gets in and things go haywire.

So after a week of back and forth dialogue with Quarq...."Sorry your device is out of warranty". So I guess I cannot wash my bike or ride in the rain/fog and expect accruate power readings! Better not go through any puddles. WTF!

At least Garmin would exchange the device with a refurbished device.

Quarq generally does give discounts on new units, if you have an out of warranty unit, just like Garmin.

What is your definition of a defect versus a design flaw? For it to be a defect there has to be some component which doesn't not meet design specifications or deviates from the intended manufacturing process leading to the issue. Design flaw is when the product meets all specifications/processes yet still produces failures.

As someone who has designed enclosures and performed IPx5/4 testing on the enclosures I think the battery compartment of the Quarq could be better designed by far. I'll be the first to admit that sealing against water, in different environments, over a long period of time is TOUGH.

I've had my Quarq since 2010 and I am from Portland so I did plenty of riding/racing in the rain, I had no issues on that front. I have since moved to a dryer climate so I don't get much chance to see it in the rain. I did have a battery drain/short issue last year after sending it in for a factory calibration. I couldn't buy a new one so I just decided to keep it and actually I have seemed to find a way around the battery/short problem and have had stable calibration numbers. You could run some diagnostics or test the slope with the Qalvin? Maybe something else is messed up? Sorry dude!

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Dan Meehan
Coach / Athlete

As someone who has designed enclosures and performed IPx5/4 testing on the enclosures I think the battery compartment of the Quarq could be better designed by far. I'll be the first to admit that sealing against water, in different environments, over a long period of time is TOUGH.[/quote]
Since Quarq is leaving me no options except to buy a new power meter and this appears to be leakage around the battery ( I can't think of anything else...a strain gauge should be water resistant), any recommendations on how to fix it so I can ride with confidence? teflon tape on the battery cover?

I guess what I meant was it's not something that always happens as a design flaw, and not something that was was there to begin with, but rather it's something that goes wrong over time, either because of damage/impact or because eventually some kind of seal wears out. "Defect" might have been the wrong word. I've had a similar thing happen to one of my Quarq's. (I've owned at least three.) It was probably 4(?) years old at the time and had always been fine before that. Of course it would be nice if they lasted forever...

Spoke with Quarq and it appears they will be working with me to remedy the situation....BTW- product is just over 2 years old (just outside warranty) but failure has occurred within warranty.

They must be dirt cheap to manufacture. Everyone I know that has them has replaced it under warranty at least once. I'm sending mine under warranty to be replaced for the second time tomorrow, so I'll be on my third one in 14 months. My brother has had 3 in 12 months. Several other cyclists in the area have been through two or three as well.