Hey guys,
I own a Polar s210 monitor with 927 total hours on the watch. The strap was new three months ago. It stopped working about three weeks ago–the watch fails to pick up any signal from the strap.
I don’t think it should be a battery issue in either the watch (working fine) or the strap (new three months ago). Any thoughts?
Thanks
You may have bought it 3 months ago, but it may have sat on a shelf for a while. Also, if you put it away wet, or with some other wet gear, it may have stayed “activated” for a lot longer than you think. Find a friend with a Polar HRM and try their strap, it if works, send your strap in for replacement. You might be able to warranty it.
Do the swap-test thing the other person suggested. If you need to send it in to Polar, I can vouch for their service. The battery died out on my two-year old XT, so I sent it in with a form I got from the website. The form said to send the chest strap in, too. I wanted them to replace the battery (rather than a local watch shop) because I want it watertight, and it had some corrosion on the back. When the chest strap dies out, only Polar can service it. Basically, they just send you a new one.
For $15.95 (incl. shipping), I got a brand new watch and chest strap. They didn’t bother replacing the watch battery – they just sent me a new unit since the corrosion on the old one made water tightness an iffy proposition.
If you send the watch and chest strap in with the $15.95, you will get the watch back with a new battery, and a whole new chest strap. Takes about 10 days for the round trip.
Great company, great service.
I want to vouch for Polar customer service also. I am fortunate that I live in SE Michigan, and we have a authorized Polar Service Center right near Ann Arbor, so in an emergency, you can just drop it off.
I am always surprised when people talk about the lack of user replaceable batteries in Polar HRM’s. $16 is not a lot of money to get the watch battery replaced, and even the $30+ bucks to replace the strap is not much considering you dropped $200-$300 on the HRM in the first place.
"I am always surprised when people talk about the lack of user replaceable batteries in Polar HRM’s. $16 is not a lot of money to get the watch battery replaced, and even the $30+ bucks to replace the strap is not much considering you dropped $200-$300 on the HRM in the first place. "
I think this stems from the fact that Polar used to charge ~$50 for this same service. I was not aware that they are now doing it for a much fairer price of $16. Still, I would prefer to be able to go to the drugstore, do the battery change myself for $3, and have my HRM working the next day.
The service is actually only $10, but $6.50 for UPS Ground shipping, only $2.50 for uninsured mail, but again, for a $300 piece of equipment…
They didn’t have a direct link at www.polarservicecenter.com, so here is the info en toto: SERVICE COSTS
Basic service includes the following:
For the Receiver: Visual inspection, replace battery, check and cleaning of button contacts, reassembly including new seal, water resistance test in vacuum chamber, operational test.
For the Transmitter: Visual inspection, check on computerized Polar Tester the following: electrode conductivity, battery voltage, threshold level and transmission range. Wash and clean if necessary.
Charge for all of the basic service as above $10.00
Exchange cost for new standard transmitter $24.90
Exchange cost for new coded transmitter $34.90
Return shipping and handling: $2.95 for standard uninsured mail, $6.50 for Ground UPS, $10.50 for 2nd Day Air UPS and $22.00 for Next Day Air UPS, except for shipments to Alaska or Hawaii. If no method of shipping is indicated, we will use ground UPS at a charge of $6.50.
Other costs for items occasionally needed such as LCD’s, housings, straps, antennas, speakers, etc. are nominal and will be quoted upon request.
Occasionally a unit comes in that is beyond economical repair. In such cases a new unit can be offered under the special Polar exchange program at a price substantially below the outright purchase price.
New units are guaranteed for 1 year on watch, 6 months on watch battery and 2 years on transmitter. Serviced units are guaranteed for 90 days. New replacement transmitters purchased under the Polar exchange program are guaranteed 2 years.** ADDRESS: POLAR SERVICE CENTER 7621 E. JOY ROAD ANN ARBOR, MI 48105 PHONE 800-287-5901 FAX 734-996-4650 E-MAIL: **service@polarservicecenter.com