Trainer smells burnt

My Neo 2 smells kind of weird when riding. Itˋs somehow like electric devices that are getting too hot. At the beginning I thought it was because it‘s new but after ten rides it‘s still the same. Has anybody got the same problem? I only use it indoors, so it becomes slightly annoying...

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marcusso over 3 years ago in reply to KeithMc007 +1

Thanks for your posts! My trainer still smells kind of electrical after my rides, also after the slow ones... Think, I have to contact Garmin as well.

@ lamour1975: Have you already had any reply from…

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0 Luko79 over 3 years ago

Did You do sprints on every rides ? And the sprints got stronger and stronger? Because if You reach ~750w at 1st, the capacitor in the Neo burns again (there is a burnt smell after it) and the upper limit will be your max power. If the next sprint will be stronger than this previous high power sprint, your capacitor in Neo will be burnt again and You will smell this again and again (until You reach your max sprint power )

0 marcusso over 3 years ago in reply to Luko79

Really? Well, I didn't actually do sprints on every ride but maybe I reached peaks of about 750w at each ride... But I don't get the burning capacitor idea (?) - no joke?

0 Luko79 over 3 years ago in reply to marcusso

No joke, i'm always very serious! (I mixed capacitors with resistors and 500w is the factory upper limit)

0 Luko79 over 3 years ago in reply to marcusso

Martin is the head of engineers at Tacx

0 marcusso over 3 years ago in reply to Luko79

Hi Luko79,

thanks for the explanations and quotes above! I really didn't expect this explanation. But well, I still don't see the point of burning the resistors - what's the effect or gain or is it just a kind of calibration?

0 Luko79 over 3 years ago in reply to marcusso

i'm not electrical engineer but i suppose it is the normal behaviour of this type of power capacitors. So You may smell it in the 1st days but it should disappear afterwards. I hope your Neo2 is working without smell already! Ride on! :)

0 lamour1975 over 3 years ago

I had the same thing tonight. I was sat at 190w (not very high) and my partner noticed a smell. On investigation it was coming from my neo 2. The case was very hot. I'm not sure if I can continue to use. I plan to contact garmin Monday.

0 KeithMc007 over 3 years ago in reply to lamour1975

I had the same problem - sudden loss of resistance and all power. There was a strong electrical burning smell. I tried again 10mins later with the Tacx Utility app connected. The app did not report a problem but, I didn't spin for long enough. Typically the app needs about 10mins of spinning to diagnose problems and after 5mins the strong electrical smell returned and the turbo was hot so I stopped spinning.

I had an online chat with Garmin on Friday and a phone call today. Garmin are repairing/replacing the turbo as it is within it's 24mth warranty. I've actually had it for 22mths.

0 marcusso over 3 years ago in reply to KeithMc007

Thanks for your posts! My trainer still smells kind of electrical after my rides, also after the slow ones... Think, I have to contact Garmin as well.

@ lamour1975: Have you already had any reply from Garmin?

0 Marco_Cardinale over 1 year ago

Sadly for me it was 2 years and 2 months old. NO replacement and no discount. I have to buy a new one! Crap device if it does not last longer than the warranty