Complete sensor connection failures

Did a 6/7 hour ride yesterday and had very significant problems getting ANT+ sensors to reconnect resulting in substantial data loss. Has anyone else experienced this?

1. Varia - the Varia connection drops typically every 30 minutes or so. however, a simple side/bottom/right button press normally resolves this.

2. Lost di2 so that the hood buttons didn't work. I WAS able to reconnect by going into the sensor menu whilst riding and forcing a reconnection (it's hard not to press LAP multiple times when doing that, but that's another story)

3. stages g3 (power/cad), Garmin hrm-pro - I lost both and could find no way to reconnect including pausing the ride. I suppose I could have entirely stopped and saved the workout then opened a new one but didn't try that

notes: I had two coffee stops (c1 and c2 in the attached image) I did NOT have the device on autopause and it continued recording with the varia also pinging away as cars passed the cafe. The hrm-pro would have gone out of range when i went to the toilet but the stages g3 woudl obvisouly have been in contact range. stages g3 may have gone to sleep. the situation at the first coffee stop was identical but all sensrs that were attached at the start of the coffee stop were ok on restarting. each sensor loss was whilst riding.

  • My problem is similar but not the same. On the second use, my 540 dropped the connected sensors (HRM and Di2) and my phone. It now also will not find any WiFi networks too. On startup it goes through “Connectivity Software Loading” with the blue bar and takes an age to start. GPS works. I’m corresponding with the support team at the moment, but so far no progress.

  • As an update, I sent it back for a refund. Support not helpful at all, one email every 24 hours if you’re lucky without answering any of my questions! I’m beginning to think it’s all AI generated responses….

    Anyway, my mate says Wahoo were great when things went wrong with him, so I might give them a whirl.

  • Richard, I'm curious about this. I'm getting very fed up with my 540 problems and unless I can get it sorted soon, will send back as faulty goods. What retailer did you use, and what proof did they require - did they just accept your word? (P.S. and yes, when I was a Wahoo user, it was all fine. Regret the move...)

  • Hi Tim,

    I got mine from Wiggle, sent it back using their usual returns policy as a faulty good. That may not be be without snags, based on past experience with them. No refund yet, but I’m a week or so away from their refund promise target. I think I’ll get the next unit from my local bike shop (I should probably have done so in the first place!), it might cost a bit more but at least I can speak to a human standing in front of me! Good luck Slight smile

  • I have a very similar problem. The unit drops my power meters and Garmin HRMPro monitor in the middle of longer rides and I  am unable to reconnect. Garmin Support has been remarkably unhelpful and with only a 30-day warranty period it would seem that I am stuck with a defective product. Does anyone have a specific Wahoo model they can recommend?

    Update, 8/6/23:

    I have a 540 Solar and a 540. Both are new. The 540 Solar is buggy- it loses sensor connections on long rides and takes a very long time to sync, sometimes requiring multiple attempts. I have not had the same issues with the 540. Speculating here but it feels like the 540 Solar has either RAM or storage capacity issues. Perhaps there is firmware that manages the solar interface that limits the device’s ability to process the other basic functions? It’s sad because the solar concept is a great one. It’s just not working. And the Garmin warranty policy is a joke.

  • I check the Garmin forums occasionally to see if the sensor dropouts are still going, and its simultaneously sad/frustrating/hilarious that this is still happening. I got frustrated with my 530 about 3 years ago and moved to Wahoo and have had zero problems since (with the same sensors I used on the 530). Make the move and save yourself the heartache.

  • Too bad. I was rdy to pul the trigger on a 1040 but with the problems i read here i will stay with the watch for my bike.

  • Same for me with my 540 and my Wahoo Cadance sensor (after every coffee break, no chance to reconnect) and very rarely with my Polar HF sensor. 

    I never had this issues with my 830 that I've used for more than 2 years.

  • Same, my 4iiii left side power meter disconnects randomly and it shows 0 power for about 10-15 seconds before it comes back. Very frustrating. I've reset both devices and issue persists (both on latest software)