My Garmin 910 goes off chart while I am riding. It climbs all the way up,to 200-220, even while I am riding in zones 1 or 2. Any ideas or fixes?
Garmin straps ain’t the greatest. Is it at the start of the ride or whole time? Is it in the same place?
Garmin straps get screwed up by static very easily. Take the little pod off and snap it into a polar wearlink strap. Works much better.
Give Garmin a call, they’ve warranted a couple for me…
Post a link to the workout. There are multiple reasons that it could be happening and it helps to see the graph.
I have a 310xt and during races if I dump water over my head and it soaks my tri top the heart rate stops reading? Very annoying. Second strap and it has new batteries.
Really need specifics. Are you indoors our outdoors. Does it just happen at the start of your ride or throughout? Does it mater when in your ride you are or does it happen all the time? Does it happen when riding and running? What are you wearing (cotton or fabric and what kind)? Is your top loose or tight fitting? Do you wet the strap before putting it on? Do you use conductive gel with the strap? Is the strap loose, snug or tight? When riding does it happen when going fast or slow? Does it happen when sitting up and in full aero and in between? Has this just started happening (from day 1) or does it work well sometime? What temperatures are you riding in? Does it matter what speeds you go. Does it happen regardless of what you wear?
You may have to try different things to sort this. I switched to a Timex Ant+ Strap and it is better but I can still get some issues. If I am wearing a looser fitting synthetic top, it'll rub and I assume create Static which interferes. If I go out without having wet the strap my initial results will be way high until I start sweating a bit. If it is too loose I'll get some spikes. If I open up a zipped top and the zipper hits the HRM unit as I run it'll screw up the signal. If I'm running and get absolutely soaked with sweat, it'll start to throw it off (on the treadmill). A weaker battery (one that's been used for a year+) will not be as accurate and throw out some sporadic bumps.
I know some folks that, because of this, have gone to the Mio Link. I don’t even wear a watch as I don’t like crap on my wrist but I’ve been thinking of this as a potential solution. Especially as I sometimes get chaffing with the HRM strap. Once the 920 comes out I’ll see what I do.
Possible cause, corrosion at the base if the metal poppers on the pod… If so it’s not really recoverable. I have had warranty replacement for this. On the new one I put a few coats of clear nail polish around the base of each popper and am using the polar wealink strap… Thus far it’s been fine…
I had exactly the same problem. Replaced the Heart Monitor strap and all works perfectly now.
The “new” garmin HR monitor is much more reliable and consistent than the old ones (noticeable as it has gray elastic fabric along with the black and has to be worn a certain way per the instructions on the strap). Can pick one up on amazon for $40 and will save you alot of frustration.
It could be a bad strap but if you are on the bike seeing this, make sure it’s tight enough. The wind moving through your shirt can cause it to lift up and away from your skin.
Usually at the beginning of the ride. But sometimes the whole time
Do you wet the contact patches? That helps the conductivity.
Do you wet the contact patches? That helps the conductivity.
Yes, THIS.
You need to moisten them, for best results.
I use saliva (eeew!).
Dry skin at the start of a ride + flapping bike jersey = HR strap wonkiness.
Usually at the beginning of the ride. I wear tri top or cycling shirt. I am using KY as conductive gel (yeah, I know). I only use it for cycling. Have tried using it dry or wet. I usually wear it tight. Happens both indoor and outdoor. Not related to speed nor to aero / sitting position. Temp here in Argentina are around 50-60 now, 8 to 15 Celsius.
The “new” garmin HR monitor is much more reliable and consistent than the old ones (noticeable as it has gray elastic fabric along with the black and has to be worn a certain way per the instructions on the strap). Can pick one up on amazon for $40 and will save you alot of frustration.
I had all the problems stated above and tried all the solutions stated above. I called Garmin and told them my problems and they graciously sent me a new strap. Problem solved.