goose70

I generally have been happy with Wahoo products, but I've had bad luck with their HR monitors. My first Wahoo Tickr died after about six months. Wahoo sent me a new one -- good service. Now, after about another 5 months, it is giving wildly inaccurate readings (showing 180-190 on a relatively easy base ride yesterday, then 104-120 on a much harder ride today). I've been training for a long time so have a good idea of where my HR should be in given efforts, so I'm certain that these are way off. Additionally, the HR seems to "stick" for long periods (e.g. - exactly 136 for 10-minutes despite varying efforts).

Has anyone else experienced this issue with Wahoo Tickr? Any known fixes? I did recently replace the battery.

Carbonfiberboy 

The problem with HRM straps is almost always within the strap itself. The electrodes on your chest are connected to the transmitter unit by thin wires which are easily corroded or fail at their attachment points. Some straps are much better than others. I like straps and transmitters which snap to the straps and thus are not integral with the strap. Transmitters like that last almost forever, with battery changes of course. Straps may only last a year with frequent use. The best straps I've used are Garmin HRM-Dual and Polar Pro. They both accept industry-standard snap-on transmitters of whatever brand.

surak

Wet the electrodes. https://support.wahoofitness.com/hc/...s/115000359464

Mista Sparkle

probably this.

As it gets cooler and drier hrm's get touchy until there is enough moisture between the strap and your chest to get an accurate reading. They often steal or read erratically if they are to dry.

goose70

Thanks. I forgot about that. The cool air snuck up on me. I'll give it a try and see if that works.

jpescatore

I've had a Wahoo TICKR chest HRM for 4 years now, no problems. Last year, my daughter gave me the TICKR Fit arm band optical one, no problems with that one, either.

I'm a copious sweat producer - with previous HRMs I had to replace the straps every couple of years, the Wahoo one has lasted longer. That also means I don't have to worry about chest contact on the strap but a friend of mine who barely seems to sweat has to use that HRM sensor cream kind of stuff to have any HRM be reliable.

MinnMan

My Wahoo TICKR is much more reliable than my old Garmin.

As others have said, your problem is almost certainly a good connection between the strap and your chest in cool weather.

goose70

Unfortunately, it's not that. I tried again today after putting contact gel on it and since it was indoor workout, I also sweated a lot. Two thirds of the way in, it started reading 180-197 even during easy rest periods and stayed at exactly 197 for the cool down.

Carbonfiberboy 

Many folks haven't been using a HRM for every workout for 25 years. I knew you were doing it right. Try a new strap and xmtr. It is still possible that it's the transmitter, not the strap, but you'll toss that too since it's unfortunately integral with the strap. All the better transmitters now are snap-on because of the well-known strap issue.

MinnMan

More likely to be the strap than the transmitter. You can get a good replacement strap for $20.

burnthesheep

Sometimes early in a workout before sweat. I don't lick or wet it, so that's probably it for mine. Usually it sticks in the 130's for a minute as I'm warming up and getting into Z2 before working.

I've had corrosion issues on the button snaps on my Wahoo. Very disappointed about that. I went with it for the bluetooth since my old Garmin is Ant+. I will likely swap back to the Garmin for on-bike at least as it was more reliable I felt.

jadocs

Yes that is definitely it.

Good practice to rinse the strap and head unit with fresh water after each use to prevent exactly this.

Iride01 

How old is your strap? My first Garmin strap starting doing like you describe when it was five y.o. I just replaced it and the new strap is better made than the first version and still going strong into it's sixth year.

I'm not saying Garmin because I think it's better. It's just the only HR strap I have any experience with. I wouldn't expect any brand of strap to last forever. Sure, there'll be a few that tell us they are using the same strap they bought 100 years ago, but I'd be certain they are just outlier data compared to the normal experience.

MinnMan

Probably true for the strap, I'm not sure it matters for the transmitter.

But for me, that isn't going to happen, replacing the strap say, every two years, for $20 is less trouble. I do rinse the strap now and again just to keep it from getting too grody.

jadocs

I started making a point to rinse mine after I corroded through the snaps on my strap in less than a year. Wahoo was really good about it and sent me a new one. I figured since the snap on the strap corroded that it stood to reason that the male end on the transmitter could as well.

spelger

I have a hunch about the stuck HR...one of the things i have noticed about my wahoo ticker is that when i descend there is so much air flow that i am pretty sure all the sweat on my chest is completely evaporated. pretty sure this is causing the strap electrodes to competely dry out. it lasts until i begin to slow down again and need to put in more effort to keep going, that is, i begin to sweat faster than it can be evaporated away. this is just my theory anyway based on the graphs i see when i get back from riding.

maybe the same for you when the reading seems to stick.

83cannondale

Old thread I know..I have a tickrx doing the same thing. I always use contact gel. I've had the issue indoors and out. I have a bontrager transmitter which works fine on the wahoo strap. The wahoo fails on the bontrager strap...reads very high..I had a tickr which I tossed away because it was failing..drop outs I think..Imo, the tickr straps just don't cut it... I'll try their customer service and maybe I can get a replacement..

83cannondale

Update - Wahoo did replace it at no charge - I discarded the old one. I did try the old one again but it did still fail so trashed it.