Western CO guy

I have had my Power Tap Pro for 3 months. In the last 2 weeks the heart rate reading has gone wild. It registers a heart rate that is at least twice reality. This lasts for anywhere from 10 to 30 minutes. Then it seems to gradually go back to a semi-believable number. I have replaced the battery in the chest strap and am considering replacing every other battery I can find. But I thought I would check here first to see if anyone has a better idea.

jwible

Try to tighten the strap a bit and also rinse the electrodes pre/post ride to remove any salt residue. See if that helps.

Hida Yanra

yep - this may well have something to do with it.
are you using the 2.4 CPU or the uncoded one? when I had an uncoded cpu this happened from time to time - no problems after I moved to the newer harness & head unit.

Western CO guy

Thanks to both of you for your response. It seems all it took was to clean the electrodes.

echappist

ah ha, i'll try to clean the electrodes on my strap as well. the weird thing is that when i was riding in certain parts of Central Park, the HRM is just getting the fits & shots up to 211, obviously impossible. at other times, it's well behaved. this never happens anywhere else and i was wondering what kind of huge electromagnet they were planting

Hida Yanra

when riding near buried powerlines or generator/substations this happened with my uncoded HR straps (all of them, the PT was no exception)
now that I use coded straps (Saris & Garmin) it doesn't happen anymore.

StefanG

I often get wacky heartrate results at the beginning of a ride (especially if cold) until i start sweating. Sweat makes the contract strong between skin and electrodes.

GirlAnachronism

You could also try licking the electrodes before putting it on. This is how I have ended up with little pieces of toast in the ridges of mine. Guess cleaning it would help.

fatallightning

the fact that people spend 8-10$ on heart rate gel when licking works just as well always boggled my mind.