random turnoff of wrist heart rate monitor

Hi all,

Just got my new 235. And i am very happy with it. Only one thing bothers me; every now and then, the heart rate monitor switches off. Not during running, but in watch modus.
I am using the heart rate widget to see how my heart rate is developing during the day. The result of the heart rate monitor switching off is that the widget misses data.
After enabling it again to automatic via: "Menu > Settings > Heart Rate Monitor > Automatic", it works again for some time.

Anyone knows about this issue?

Dennis

Yes. Everyone.
Garmin changed the sensor in the very early versions of the firmware to poll at various intervals rather than 24/7. Its probably both time/movement dependent.
Despite lots of requests for user customisation of the polling frequency, they seem unwiling to budge on this (it was presumably done to save battery).

Yes. Everyone.
Garmin changed the sensor in the very early versions of the firmware to poll at various intervals rather than 24/7. Its probably both time/movement dependent.
Despite lots of requests for user customisation of the polling frequency, they seem unwiling to budge on this (it was presumably done to save battery).

But i really disable the hearth rate sensor in the menu from auto to off...

But i really disable the hearth rate sensor in the menu from auto to off...

I would suggest you read this statement again because I cannot make heads or tails of this statement. It's a total guess but it sounds like you disable the heart rate monitor and then expect it to work.

Now a description of Polling because it sounds like you may be having difficulty understanding English. What Polling does is turn the heart rate monitor on an off at regular intervals when at rest and more frequent intervals if activity is sensed by the step counter. Basically if you are just sitting or sleeping the heart rate monitor will turn on for a brief period to take a heart rate reading and then turn off after that reading has been taken. As for the frequency of this "Polling" my guesstimate based on observing the trace during my sleep is that it happens about every 1/2 hour. During the day when I am more active and moving around it seems to turn on any time I get up and start walking or moving around. How long it stays on during these active periods I have not a clue but suspect that it goes active full time if there is a lot of arm movement.

I had a similar problem caused by a Widget for Battery percentage, and had to delete the app. Also as scooterv45 described sometimes during low activity.

Also try Settings\System\Data Recording is set to 'Every Second' instead of 'Smart'. Seems to have helped as well as fixing some recent drop outs during exercise.

Also just noticed there is a Software update to version 6.2

I would suggest you read this statement again because I cannot make heads or tails of this statement. It's a total guess but it sounds like you disable the heart rate monitor and then expect it to work.

Now a description of Polling because it sounds like you may be having difficulty understanding English. What Polling does is turn the heart rate monitor on an off at regular intervals when at rest and more frequent intervals if activity is sensed by the step counter. Basically if you are just sitting or sleeping the heart rate monitor will turn on for a brief period to take a heart rate reading and then turn off after that reading has been taken. As for the frequency of this "Polling" my guesstimate based on observing the trace during my sleep is that it happens about every 1/2 hour. During the day when I am more active and moving around it seems to turn on any time I get up and start walking or moving around. How long it stays on during these active periods I have not a clue but suspect that it goes active full time if there is a lot of arm movement.

Apologies, it was a very quick reply :).

I do understand what polling does. Though this seems a menu setting that is disabled. What i observe is that every now and then the heart rate widget lacks data for a longer period (couple of hours). If i scroll through the menu, the option heart rate monitor is switched off ("Menu > Settings > Heart Rate Monitor > Automatic or Off"). After setting this back to Auto, it starts polling data again.

My question is, how come this menu option seems to be switched off randomly...

(edit: i use(d) 5.40 Software and recently updated)

Your watch shouldn't be turning off the HRM by itself.

However one thought that comes to mind is that you may have the HRM set to off in the settings on Garmin Express so that every time you sync your watch using Express it's being turned off. BTW, if you click on the link to change the watch settings it brings up a page on Garmin Connect so in reality you want to look at what you have set in Garmin Connect.

Concerning Connect Mobile, there is also a way to change this setting in Connect Mobile. To get there you have to push the More button at the lower right of the home snapshot screen, scroll down the following screen and open Devices, select the arrow on the right for the 235, and then go to the setting for the Wrist Heart Rate.

If that doesn't solve our problem I would then suggest you contact Garmin. Because my experience with Garmin's Customer Service has been quite positive and they will probably have some additional things for you to check into.