This discussion has been locked.
You can no longer post new replies to this discussion. If you have a question you can start a new discussion

Heart Rate Monitor Stopped Working

Former Member
Former Member
My heart rate monitor randomly stopped working on Saturday. It is now Monday and it is still not working.

I also charged my FR235 on Saturday and when I disconnected my watch from my PC, it froze on the charging screen and would not power off. Finally after several minutes and holding the power button, it finally powered off. Still no heart rate monitor when it came back on.

Software: 5.40
GPS: 3.00
Display: 2.20
WHR: 0.00 (0.00.00) ?? Pretty sure this is f*cked
Connect IQ: 1.3.1

Unfortunately, I am 3 weeks away from running a half marathon and cannot send my watch to Garmin for repairs at the present time. I need it for training. Great time!

I have tried powering on and off. Turning the HR monitor on and off. No updates available.
  • Former Member
    0 Former Member over 8 years ago
    I have the exact same issue. No HR data for my runs and no RHR data when I push the down arrow to look at realtime HR.

    Happened sometime between 9/10 (last run with HR data) and 9/15 (no HR data since). I've had the watch about 3 months now, probably 40+ runs. Wear it 24/7. Dont use it with my phone (although did connect it once) -- do all my uploads and updates via USB to my computer. Have power cycled the watch a bunch of times, with HRM on/off, activity on/off. Hasnt fixed it.

    Same firmware version #, although my software version says '5.40 (e121039)'. Agree, the HR version is suspicious - I've seen other posts of the firmware versions where that wasnt all zeroes.

    Would love to know if others are seeing this -- wondering if it is problem with latest firmware update. Everytime after I usb connected my watch the last week or so, it says it needs to install an update. The update appears to work but it seems odd that it happened multiple times in a row (no, I havent been setting new PR's each time).


    Charlie


    ASIDE: My 220 was flawless - never a single glitch/issue. then tried a 225 - that was a disaster. Garmin upgraded me to the 235 (b/c they didnt have a replacement 225 to offer) and now this... Ugh. Maybe I should have been happy with the 220. Might just go back to it, but I really like not having to wear the chest strap to get HR data (dont need 5 9's accurate HR data, just like having roughly correct data).
  • Others have had a similar issue. This thread might help...

    "]https://forums.garmin.com/showthread.php?351968-Forerunner-235-No-Heart-Rate]
  • Former Member
    0 Former Member over 8 years ago
    Heart Rate Monitor Stopped Working

    Thank you jlgranth. That seemed to do the trick.

    This appears to be a common issue that Garmin is aware of, going back to a post from May 2016, but clearly has yet to implement a permanent solution.
  • Hey! I know its a n olkd thread but i have exactly the same Problem. What was the solution? The Link provided(forums.garmin.com/showthread.php) does not work anymore.

    Thanks!

  • The forum was completely changed, so any links will go nowhere.  might be able to provide some information.  There are other threads that describe a fix - https://forums.garmin.com/sports-fitness/running-multisport/f/forerunner-230-235/235769/hr-stopped-working-on-235

  • Unfortunately, I don't remember the exact fix. I would suggest reaching out to product support. In the mean time, you could try holding down the power button until the screen goes blank (takes about 15 - 20 seconds), then release and power it back up.

  • See the youtube video where steps 1, 2, 3 and 4 fixed my 620 heart monitor.

    Note some instructions for replacing the battery say "wait 30 seconds" which may be to allow something to discharge - short circuiting the contacts presumably guarantees it is discharged.

    1.  Remove the battery from the heart monitor

    2.  Short circuit the two_battery_contacts_in_the_heart_monitor with a paper clip - NOT the battery itself!

    3.  Put battery back

    4.  Pair the monitor with the watch.

    It may be useful to reset the watch to DEFAULT settings as well. 

  • When you plug your Garmin into a PC, it will go into USB thumb drive mode. Before unplugging your watch from the PC, make sure to eject it from your computer. On windows, you can do this from the USB thumb drive notification on the taskbar.