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Erratic Heart Rate Monitor

Former Member over 12 years ago

Hello All,

I got a Garmin 410 in December & all worked well for a couple of months. Then my heart rate monitor started being erratic & dropping down to the 60's (when it should be in the 140's). I cleaned it, cleaned the strap, tightened the strap, took the battery out & held it upside down but to no avail. It doesn't read my heart rate correctly all the time.

Can anyone help? Thank you.

0 DW152 over 12 years ago

Try using some conductive gel made for heart rate monitors. This is inexpensive and sold at many stores or online.

0 Former Member over 12 years ago

Thank you. I'll look into that now.

0 Former Member over 12 years ago

See this page, and the articles linked from there: http://www.dcrainmaker.com/2012/12/annual-public-service-announcement-how-to-fix-heart-rate-strap-dropoutsspikes.html
That has some useful tips about fixing problems with heart rate monitors.

0 Former Member over 12 years ago

I might have a solution for the HRM unit.

I have tried the HR gel and it doesn't seem to help. I have started an experiment that might actually work but is a little messy. I changed the spark plugs in my car and needed to use dialectic grease to make sure the connection is good with the plugs. I decided to try the grease on the snaps for the HRM unit to the strap. It worked great for the 1st run. I am going out today to see if I get the same result.

Here is the downside. It takes very little and has a silver mix to it that gets your hands silver if you get any on it even thought it comes off easy. It isn't a big deal but obviously isn't the best solution. Once I see if it works consistently, I will see how often you need to apply to the snaps. This is early in the process but looks promising.

0 Former Member over 11 years ago

reply on 2014-Jan-22 :
I have had my Garmin Forerunner 410 for around 2 years, but around 6 months ago it started acting up and doing a similar thing.
It would read my heart rate, and then after a few km, it would drop to 80 bpm (where I knew it was in the 130 to 150 range...).
I started running without it for a while, then I tried some things I had read on forums. ie replacing the battery in the transmitter including holding it in upside down for a bit to short/out and drain any juice... That did not help (luckily i kept the old still-good battery :)
So I did some more reading and found on a forum where someone reported a similar issue, and they determined it was caused by a failing garmin strap, and
they solved the issue by purchasing a Polar replacement strap.
I did that, and it fixed me up, i am back in business!!
This is what I purchased ,it is compatible with the snaps on the garmin ant+ transmitter:
http://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B007XCLU66/ref=oh_details_o02_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

:D

so, this a problem with the product? (I'm having the same issues). Should't Garmin be involved and replace the straps? Because the Polar strap costs about $25 (plus shipping, I'm from Brazil)

0 Former Member over 11 years ago

Now I have had this problem for a while and it showed up this morning. I changed the battery and on checking the old one I found it was only down to 2.79v. That should have been enough to run transmitter.

I have also tried a new lead when I had trouble connecting to the computer but that is another story. I look like I need a new chest strap.