V3 drop outs

Attach it to a post and ask nicely!

+1 on the list of frustrated customers.
I have continuous right pedal signal drops on longer rides +4, +5, +6 hours. Very frustrating! I did everything I've read on this forum from depairing and repairing to replacing and lubing the batteries... nothing helps.
(Most expensive and last Garmin product I bought, I already switched to the perfectly working Elemnt Bolt.)

Left pedal issues returned today after about 15 hours of successful operation since I replaced the stock batteries with CR1/3N in both pedals. My initial problem was left pedal resets and thus zero power throughout most of my ride. Today, it's low power readings, but no drop outs (power is at about half of where it should be) that seem to be the result of the left pedal based on my power balance being 6%/94% L/R). Two Garmin fit files attached. The first is the bulk of my ride. I stopped twice, once to remove the pedals from GCM and re-calibrate them on my head unit (Wahoo Elemnt Bolt) and the second time to remove them from the head unit, re-sync and calibrate once again. The second file is after stopping, removing the pedals from the head unit, resetting the head unit, and then adding them back to both GCM and the Bolt for the final 5.6 miles home, where L/R balance was 22/78. Have been on firmware 3.30 since replacing the batteries and I'm connecting to the Bolt via ANT+. I don't see any of the typical indicators of battery issues (mis-aligned insulating tape, depressed negative battery contact, etc.)

Any thoughts? Much thanks.

Hi Garmin,

Can you please have a look at the attached fit files and let me know what you see. I have started experiencing problems with my Vector 3s power meter. On Saturday I got a low power warning when out riding, so I stopped by the shop and swapped out the original batteries (even though I had only done 60hrs or so on the pedals from new, should have a 120hr battery life??).

No issues at first, but within about an hour of swapping the batteries, I started getting power drop outs. The drop outs were for a few seconds plus, and when they reconnected I would get really high power readings. You can see in the fit file when it started to do this by the 2000W+ reading (about the 3hr mark). I also for a period of about 10minutes. Also for a space of about 15minutes (from the 3hr 20min to 3hr 35min mark of the ride) I was getting error messages display on my edge 520, telling me I was getting error 8000 and 8001 with my power meter.

I got home and read about the issues with the battery doors. So i took out my one, and the tape on the sides are in place, nothing appears out of order. But since even with the tape in place I was still getting drop outs, I have tried the trick with taping the batteries. Then I did a 20 min indoor cycle on the turbo. I got 4 drop outs in that ride, however they were only for a second, and the power readings jumped straight back to normal readings, I wasn't getting the high readings when it reconnected. This is still out of the normal though, as previously I never had drop out issues.

I have attached the FIT files from both rides. Can you please have a look and let me know what you recommend.

Thanks,

It appears my pedal has the power/cadence drop out.

I've followed the instructions to replace the batteries, adding a tiny amount of baby oil to contact areas and ensuring the cap side insulation tape was still in place. And I've also only tightened the battery door to around 1.5nm.

I don't have to cycle far to show drop outs, 5 minutes on the trainer will show several power and cadence drops for a few seconds at a time.

I'll take measures to rule out interference by switching off my home WiFi and power off the kickr snap (just using the roller) tonight, but to be honest there's to many people with the same problems still experiencing this issue for it to be resolved that easily.

Hopefully not a hardware issue but this doesn't bode well.

Edit...
So I done what I said and nothing changed, the drop outs remain. Opened up the battery cap checked all contacts and everything looks perfect, nothing flattened or anything else out of the ordinary.

I tested with 3 easy 5 minute sessions, only bouncing around 80watts. Everyone of the tests had multiple power/cadence drops.

Annoying... Anyway attached is a typical 5 minute cycle with everything disabled including wifi, kickr trainer powered off, HRM & Speed sensor turned off. Basically it's only the pedals and the Edge 520 that's on.

Any help is appreciated

I don't have to cycle far to show drop outs, 5 minutes on the trainer will show several power and cadence drops for a few seconds at a time.

I looked at your file. This is a known problem relating to a communication conflict between the Edge and Vector 3S configurations. Despite the power message drops, the total work you are doing is being recorded correctly. I don't see signs of any other problems (such as intermittent battery contact) in your file.

This problem will be fixed in the next Vector 3 firmware update.

Hi,Vector 3s user here.

So ever since my second battery replacement as well as a firmware update on the same day(to 3.30), I have been experiencing short power and cadence drop-outs as well. I also tried all the above methods to no avail. I did and experiment with zwift where I recorded the activity via an ANT+ dongle and to my edge 520 as well. Drop-outs happened at the same times on both interfaces. I repeated the experiment but removed the ANT+ from my mac and recorded the zwift activity using bluetooth instead. I still received drop-outs on my edge 520 but zero drop-outs on zwift via bluetooth.

This kind of indicates to me a firmware issue rather than a hardware or battery issue, or else the bluetooth would also have received drop-outs?

I also managed to strip the thread of my battery door accidentally, however it still screws on quite well but I do feel a bit uneasy about it. I am kind of buggered as I got my vector 3s on a warranty claim from garmin after my vector 2s system failed and my warranty has just lapsed. Any idea if I can get the thread repaired or the body replaced by garmin?

Thanks.

Hi,

t_smit could you please take a look to my Fit file to Know what would be the root cause on my Vector 3, I cant get data continuos on Power/Cadence, just few seconds
I ride almost 4 hours, the data just appear few seconds on my Edge 520, many spikes almost 21K Watts

If it is a Firware Issue when will It be release ?
If it is a Hardware Issue what would be the nxt step to send for Warranty I am in Colombia and I get it on USA

Regards

Hi,

t_smit could you please take a look to my Fit file to Know what would be the root cause on my Vector 3, I cant get data continuos on Power/Cadence, just few seconds

The main problem in your file is left side power interruptions. You should remove and inspect the left side battery cover to see if there is something is out of place there.