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Garmin Cadence Sensor

by shrinkinbggaz
Mon, May 03, 2010 14:32
11

I have killed 2 of these in 2 months of nothing but road riding, granted some of it has been in the rain but is it just me that kills them or is there a fault with how they are made ?

If you're new please join in and if you have questions pop them below and the forum regulars will answer as best we can.

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11 comments

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D71 | 14 years ago
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My cadence sensor stopped working after 6 months. I contacted Garmin who weren't interested and told me to buy a new one. Poor aftersales service from a company that I would of expected more from. Stay clear of Garmin.

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STATO replied to D71 | 14 years ago
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To be fair to garmin they are a massive global company who are distributed in many countries who are set-up to deal direct with shops so that might have been a better course of action. I know plenty of people who run Garmins with no issues and of the few friends who did a quick drop into the shop they got them from had the problem sorted in a few days/week.

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Muzzxx replied to STATO | 7 years ago
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I got my Garmin about  18 months ago.  The first cadence sensor lasted about 6 months.  I tried to replace the battery but nothing.  I boought a second one and that lastest about another 6 months.  I replaced the battery and nothing, tried again and eventually got it to work again.  after a week or so, opened it up to see what i had done differently to the first sensor and now the second sensor doesn't work again.  I'm am about to but another two sensors to replace the dead ones b ut this seems a very expensive way of maintaining my bike computer.

 

It appears there is no one that services Garmin sensors (maybe a business opportunity for someone there), not even Madison who are the UK distributors for Garmin.  All i want is someone who will look at them and get them working for less than the cost of a new sensor (currently £27 from Halfords or less second-hand on eBay).  No joy from Garmin yet, their only responses so far are to ask if i left the unit for 30 secs whilst replacing the battery (yes i did), and to ask for proof of purchase.  neither is very helpful.

 

In addition to this my HRM died after 14 months of use.  I wear it pretty much every day so i expected the battery to fail at some point.  Again i replaced the battery, and again nothing.  I ended up having to buy another HRM.

 

What is it with Garmin Sensors and replacing batteries?  I used Polar HRM's and watches for years and they were so simple in comparison.  If the battery failed, you sent it off, paid a couple of pounds and got it back serviced and working.

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davel replied to Muzzxx | 7 years ago
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Muzzxx wrote:

What is it with Garmin Sensors and replacing batteries?  I used Polar HRM's and watches for years and they were so simple in comparison.  If the battery failed, you sent it off, paid a couple of pounds and got it back serviced and working.

My experience also - I've had 2 HRMs and one speed sensor die along with the battery, followed all instructions and tips I could find... nothing.

I'm gradually replacing my sensors with wahoo ones, which seem, so far, to not suffer from the same fate (the battery dies, you replace the battery, and the sensor works again!).

Only complaint is that the wahoo cadence sensor seems very 'laggy', but it's the only one I've had. All my head/base units that they talk to are Garmin, so I wonder whether that's anything to do with it; the Garmin cadence sensors are crisp as anything, but I'll take a bit of a lag over a sensor that only lives for a year.

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ibl | 14 years ago
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Jezzer,

Thank you for that. You have solved a mystery that has been bugging me for a couple of weeks. Two new CR2032s flattened in quick succession had me wondering. Weather couldn't be to blame as this is on the turbo.

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mrchrispy | 14 years ago
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never thought to check the position of the crank arm/wheel sensor when hanging the bike up in the mancave.

I've had one of these replaced as the original one died...seems it just eats the battery up. The replacment seem fine so far (rode in all weathers).

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Jon Burrage | 14 years ago
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Ive got the cadence sensor on 2 of my bikes and swap my 705 unit between them. I only had this problem right at the start of my time using this product and also found that others had the same issue. The widely accepted remedy, as has been said here, is to stick the batetries somewhere dry and airy for a night after a very wet ride...ive not had a problem since doing this. I accept it because the cadence sensor is normally in line to get drenched when out in the wet and it is a fairly small, sensitive unit so I have learnt to live with its little flaws.

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jezzer | 14 years ago
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I've also found if you leave the crankarm magnet OR wheel magnet near the sensor this can drain the battery pretty quick

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DaSy | 14 years ago
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These have a bit of a known issue (known amongst users rather than Garmin).

You usually find that it's after a wet ride that they may decide to get a bit uppity, and appear to have died. If you take the battery out and leave it and the cover off overnight, they tend to come back to life.

I have two, which I swap around as one fails, put the other one on, when that one decides to fail the old one will have revived. It appears to be mainly down to moisture in them, and just needs a bit of time to properly dry out.

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cat1commuter | 14 years ago
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I've not had any problems with mine, and I have three. One has been working for several thousand km of winter commuting. I need to replace the battery every 4000 km or so.

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Old Cranky | 14 years ago
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I had problems with an earlier model which needed constant resetting (by holding in the white button and checking for flashing) between rides.

Have you checked the battery, contacts, etc?

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