Any advice on how to get my wahoo heart rate strap to read accurately on all my rides? I go out sometimes reads fine and then other times it will be temperamental and not read for some of the ride . I’ve seen others say on videos etc that there’s is always good, I’m always disappointed coming back from a hard effort and Strava says I completed an easy ride 😂😂
Posted Mar 11, 2021, 7:08 AM UTC
The best results have come from wetting the skin on my chest rather than the strap itself: this binds more moisture between the two and I don't have to wait for sweat to build up in between. My strap is made by Polar.
If the strap is getting old, you'll end up getting problems as well but I kind of get the impression that's not the case here. (free tip: if you suspect the strap is getting old, wet the contacts, press them against each other and use a multimeter to measure the resistance between the buttons that connect to the transmitter --> a brand new one may have less than 500 ohms of resistance, but once you're close to 10 k-ohms (10 000 ohms), you better replace)
Cheers for the tips HR monitor is only had three months odd of use
If the strap is getting old, you'll end up getting problems as well
My Garmin HRM strap is now about 13 or 14 years old and has no problems at all.
As you say, its down to moisture contact.
There are different technologies out there, and I've even heard that the consistency of people's sweat differs to some extent, making some people get much more miles out of these than others. I've followed the care instructions to a tee and still have to replace the strap every couple of years. Now that I know about the possibility of checking the resistance, I don't have to bang my head against a wall, wondering what's going on when the problems start.
The soft straps break down internally. Your 14 year old strap is assuredly the hard plastic one which doesn't break down.
And even if you do have a soft strap, the anecdote that yours hasn't failed yet is not contrary to the fact that soft straps die easily.
Just wet the two little rubber pads on the inside of the strap. This worked perfectly for me every time. Also make sure strap is clean.
I had an issue with one HRM which was solved by sandwiching a little sheet of aluminium foil between each of monitor body contacts and strap.
That worked temporarily, but I realised that rinsing the sweat out of the strap after each ride really helps to keep it working well.
Something which affects the Garmin soft straps, but I didn't think affected the Wahoo ones as much, is static charge. A lot of people have had problems with certain synthetic fabric shirts, when when not worn tight, flap in the wind and rub against the strap.
Make it tight and wet and it will work wonders.
Have you had your strap for a long time? And used it quite a lot, and got a lot of sweat over it?
It happened to me, used it fot 8 months or so, with pretty intense indoor sessions, and i never cleaned it (it was crusty and disgusting indeed). At some point it stopped reading correctly. I swapped batteries, tried different things, but things never got back to normal. I got in touch with the wahoo support team and they sent me a new one with the "newly designed" strap. On the new one, where the electrodes are, instead of being completely flat, there is some kind of texture. I dont know what difference that makes in reading accuracy, but if you think yours is deffective/broken and its still under warranty, you could try to contact them and they are gonna help you with the issue
I’m kinda grossed out that you didn’t wash the strap for 8 months 😂😂
It is indeed very gross hahaha
I had the same problem. Started to apply a bit of water on my chest before the ride and have not have the problem since.
Have no idea if this is correct, But seemed to help for me..
Yes I’ve read that too about wetting the strap,also washing the strap regularly which I’ve done and tried wetting it a couple of times, it’s about 23 degrees ( Celsius) today so usually sweating a fair bit on my current rides I’d thought that would help! Perhaps I’ll wet the strap each time then!
It’s the skin I’m getting wet :)