ac29593

Hi,

I own a Cateye Astrale 8 and absolutely love it.

About a year ago the magnet either fell off the bike, or stopped working. I forget, but I had a shop install another magnet.

The computer read the signal, but every now and then it knocked out and I would have to tweak the location of the magnet a bit to get it to read. Aggravating, but it worked.

Now, I noticed that the magnet is working but my computer is getting such a weak signal that it is not calculating speed and mileage correctly.

It is time to fix this for good.

Can I swap out for a stronger magnet, or am I going to have to buy a new computer?

Any suggestions would be appreciated. I hope that I can still use mine since they dont make this model anymore.

Thanks!

jcbenten

Try a new battery. When mine starts going flaky, a new battery is the cure. The distance between the magnets and sensors on my bike are less than 1/4".

bitterken

Have you replaced the battery and checked the distance between the magnet and the sensor? I find CatEye to be really sensitive to weak batteries and magnets that are more the a few mm from the senor.

BTW, you can get replacement magnets from the CatEye website under support.

EDIT: someone beat me to it ;-)

ac29593

I am going to try that.

Why would the battery die so fast?

I figure it would be the same type of thing as a watch battery, which lasts for years.

My magnet is a few mm from the sensor. I am going to try replacing the battery, and then see about getting a new magnet anyway.

bitterken

^^^^ Not sure chief, but I seem to replace my CatEye batteries every 9 months to a year (I have two of the CC-CD300DW's) I have an Astrale 8 that I've yet to replace the battery on, but I've only had it for about 6 months.

redfooj

my battery has so far lasted 3 years ... and i do notice that sometimes i lose signals although the magnet & sensor are close. perhaps i need a stronger magnet

ac29593

This is exactly what I am talking about. I thought I needed a stronger magnet, since sometimes I lose signals although the magnet and the sensor are close.

I think we both need new batteries, according to the input on this thread.

I am going to pick mine up tonight if possible and I will let you know how it works.

Of course, I will need to wait until this weekend to be sure since I can ride with my girlfriend and see if we log on the same amount of miles.

jcbenten

Not all batteries are created equal. IMO buy from somewhere that has a high turnover in batteries so the stock is always fresh. I try and get mine from Target or a grocery store. Bike shops seem like the turnover is slow and therefore, the batteries are old. No proof, just observation. A watch shop would have high usage also.

ac29593

That is a good point.

When I called my LBS the guy told me that different computers use different types of batteries.

I am going to have to take mine out and check it I guess.

ac29593

I changed it, and it seems to work fine.

Glad that problem was solved.

jcbenten

I am glad you followed your elders advice.

zacster

IDK, I haven't change a battery in either of my Astrale 8s in the 4 years I've had them. They both work fine.

yogi13

I get the dropped signal on mine sometimes. Seems to happen when I've ridden some rough pavement. I can usually fix it by smoothing out the wires running down by my bottom bracket, and/or taking the cyclocomputer unit out of the holder and reinstalling. I haven't had to replace the battery in about two years of use.