I had an old Polar Accurex (anyone remember?) HRM that I recently replaced with an S210. I had it for about three weeks and the bottom left button fell off. I only found half of it as it was cleanly cracked right up the center.
I orded a replacement HRM and returned the defective one. Well, the “new” one had the exact same problem last night. I used this one for about three weeks also before it broke.
I have always been pleased with Polar products and didn’t drop, squish, melt, drag, or freeze these last two. When I wasn’t wearing it on the bike or run it was sitting on my dresser.
Anyone else have this same problem? I am going to place my order for #3 and wasn’t sure if I needed to go for the next model up or if this was just a case of being unlucky. I would rather not spend the money to jump higher than the next model up (400-something).
I have the 720 and this has happened with the side buttons as well as the large front button. I emailed Polar and hey sent me a little baggie of replacement buttons. If a button cracks it is still sealed and waterproof, I’ve actually used it without the button while waiting for replacements.
I never had a problem with buttons cracking but my hrm died in the middle of my swim at IMFL in nov. since I was also using it as my bike computer (S-520) i was a bit dismayed. It dried out and the display was ok for a while but once again the display was washed out when i ran in the rain this feb. I think Polar is great about replacing their products, but for $250 i think something should last longer than 9 months, so i am replacing it with the most basic model i can.
I have an older S510. Bought it in 2001. The button fell off last year at a race. I really didn’t think much of it because it still works fine (only wear it while training and racing). I didn’t contact polar because I thought it had been too long. I will now and see if they will send out a new button.
I’ve been using the same Polar Protrainer XT for 4yrs. The plastic covering to the side buttons cracked and came off last year but I haven’t seen any signs of water intrusion or had other problems because of it (although they are a little harder to push).
used to see a lot of 520s and 720s coming back full of water, my own 720 died an early death during a swim. Seems they have fixed the problem though as I haven’t seen a 720 returned in a while and it used to be one every other month or so.
On the buttons, same thing, used to get a lot of broken buttons, the big red button on the 510/710s would fall off and the 210/410/610 would crack side buttons. Then it stopped but all of the sudden after over year or two of no problems a couple of button cracking 610s came in last week…
I emailed customer support about my button problem and they are sending me replacement buttons that supposedly just snap in place. Sounds like this isn’t too common but easy to fix at least.
Awesome and fast response from Polar to resolve the issue. Should get the buttons within the next week.
I have a S410 and have had all of my black buttons crack in the three months that I’ve owned the HRM. Polar has been pretty good about responding to my button cracking problems. I think they know that their off the shelf product is faulty as I’ve had absolutely no problem asking for replacements and they’ve been more than happy to handle my request. I have one lone button left on my monitor that is hanging on with a growing crack, and all of the other buttons that I’ve had replaced are holding up fine. It makes me wonder if these newer buttons are of a different composition. Either way I’ve been happy with the service. If you’re only replacing one or two buttons now, you may want to ask for a few more buttons just in case. I wish I had.
The buttons are very easy to replace. All you need is a small flat head screwdriver to pop the button out of the watch, the new button will pop right in with a little push.
Just recently happened to my 720. The red button cracked during a swim session. Guess I was swimming too close to the wall or something. I was not very diligent in getting it fixed. The unit still worked in the pool and it was more cosmetic than anything. So I left it alone for a few months until during a swim session, it appeared that water got into it.
Sent the unit to the Montreal repair station and within a day that had repaired it. Brand new button on the front, including a new face plate. So all the scatches I put on it over the year I had it are now gone, and it looked brand new. All covered under warranty. Unfortuneate that it happened, but still happy with the purchase. Fast turn-around-time for fixing the issue also.
Just remembered I had posted about my Polar buttons cracking and never followed up on the outcome here in Slowtwichia…
Emailed Polar with the problem and they had a replacement button in the mail the next day. Had it in my hands by the end of the week and it snapped right on without any problems. The buttons on my model are specific to each position so make sure you specify which one you need.