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Cadence Sensor 2 Not Waking Up

Hi, I recently purchased a Garmin Cadence Sensor 2 for my bike. It paired and worked great for about a month and than stopped working. I replaced the batteries and it worked once. It is paired to my device,  Samsung S10 Plus. When I open my Health app and start my ride it should wake up and start tracking but does not.  I checked the batteries and contacts and all is good. Why will it not continue to work  unless I reset it by pulling the batteries out.  This is very frustrating.  It is only a couple months old.  Please help, Scott 

  • Hi, I don't know if my problem is same or not but here it is. I bought an Edge 530 + speed and cadence sensor 2. Bike computer as well as speed sensor work great but the cadence sensor is having an issue from the first day itself. With a fresh new battery it works, but after a few rides (in a time span of 3 weeks) it stops working. Like if the battery was dead. I replaced the battery couple of time already (while after one year it is still the original batteries in my heart belt and speed sensor) and each time it does the same. The batteries are not the cheapest ones so I believe it is like the sensor doesn't enter kind of sleep mode after my training stops, therefore the battery gets empty quickly, and maybe also freezing the sensor somehow. Only new battery make it work, but for 3 weeks only.

    In last June I sent a first email to Garmin support and they advised few things (change battery, reset bike computer, unpair and pair it again...). It didn't help but this is the procedure to follow so...

    Today I called the support (their last advice was to call in case of no progress) and without any further question they are sending a new cadence sensor. Maybe they know their cadence sensors have some defects, maybe it is so cheap they can send it again and again. Hopefully the new one will work fine.

    I thought of replying you because you said it started working and after a month it stopped. Replaced battery it worked again, and after some time it stopped working again. Removing the battery (kind of reset the sensor) would help but only for a new short period. Sounds similar to my issue. Maybe you can call the support to get a new one.

  • I am not at all saying this is the issue, but I know that some coin cell batteries have this coating on them to give a bad taste to stop them getting swallowed, and it is this coating that can cause contact quality issues.

    That being said, I have had recently a speed sensor battery that seemingly died after a month that did not have this coating, but a new battery again had the unit up and running again.

  • It is interesting indeed. My batteries usually get this special coating.

    However I think the contact is fine because in case of contact issue the battery would not be discharged. I tested the battery and the voltage after 3 weeks was 0.01V.

    Or maybe the coating sometimes "breaks" and the contact is established even when the sensor is not in use. I doubt but I will look into that for sure.

    Edit: I could find only Apple officially announcing a problem and advising not to use bitterant coated batteries. Later I found a Garmin page where they also mention such coating: https://support.garmin.com/en-US/?faq=2f9Dc8X1Dy8fDGEXYxtMM9

    It seems the coating is not covering the entire face, that could explain why removing and replacing the battery may work.