Is there something wrong w my heart or does every HRM suck?

[Clean39T]

Seriously. Wahoo straps always have issues for me. An ancient one seemed to be mostly consistent until it broke at the electrodes. My newer Wahoo strap had constant connectivity problems and got binned. Now a brand new Garmin one I have is all edged up with its readings too.. takes at least ten minutes to return values after starting despite being “wetted” and then can be in/out of returning values and seems to be inaccurate near my HR Max at best. Am I just forever unlucky with technology? Is my heart a lonely hunter? What the what!?!

[herb5998]

This is definitely a trend the last few years, I found the old Garmin or Polar ANT only sensors were great, long lasting. I’ve had 3X Wahoo HR sensors replaced as they were still under warranty (less than one year of use), next time I’ll try an ANT/BT HR sensor from someone else.

I think as some of the added features have come along, many of the HR sensors have been made very cheap and disposable quality wise


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[fourflys]

Originally Posted by Clean39T

Seriously. Wahoo straps always have issues for me. An ancient one seemed to be mostly consistent until it broke at the electrodes. My newer Wahoo strap had constant connectivity problems and got binned. Now a brand new Garmin one I have is all edged up with its readings too.. takes at least ten minutes to return values after starting despite being “wetted” and then can be in/out of returning values and seems to be inaccurate near my HR Max at best. Am I just forever unlucky with technology? Is my heart a lonely hunter? What the what!?!

Hmm, interesting.. I haven't had any issues with the Wahoo strap since I was told to wash it a bit more often than with other brands.. mine seems to connect pretty quickly..

I have know folks who sometimes have issues with electronic stuff on their body.. my dad could never wear a digital watch long-term as it would always go a bit weird and the readout was wig out.. no idea why, just did..

have you ever had issues with other electronic wearables? have you tried conductive gel?

[kppolich]

Polar H10 is worth a shot IMO

[John H.]

Originally Posted by kppolich

Polar H10 is worth a shot IMO

This^^^^
After having my umpteenth Wahoo strap start to give erroneous heartrate I moved to a Polar H10 strap. So far, so good.

[robt57]

+1 on PVCs quite possibly.

Some of us get them a lot. You may only notice a real premature one. As the next beat clears a larger volume from the lower chamber and the big thump is hard to miss.

But with less early premature contractions, less blood clears on the following beat. The less premature, the less volume cleared next beat, etc. Less noticeable if noticeable at all.

Nearly everybody gets these and they go unnoticed, but not by the HRM in my experience. When you see the HRM go 222 or what ever it max is, it's probably a PVC that was causal. But could be upper chamber, or non benign arrhythmia, so you'll want to know. And hope like me it is benign PVC/Lower chamber.

Certain B vitamins, chocolate and a few green teas will have me seeing 222+ misfires on my Polar HRM. And newer model made no difference when I upgraded...

If this direction continues in topic, I have general caffeine observations I can expound on...

[Clean39T]

Originally Posted by robt57

+1 on PVCs quite possibly.

Some of us get them a lot. You may only notice a real premature one. As the next beat clears a larger volume from the lower chamber and the big thump is hard to miss.

But with less early premature contractions, less blood clears on the following beat. The less premature, the less volume cleared next beat, etc. Less noticeable if noticeable at all.

Nearly everybody gets these and they go unnoticed, but not by the HRM in my experience. When you see the HRM go 222 or what ever it max is, it's probably a PVC that was causal. But could be upper chamber, or non benign arrhythmia, so you'll want to know. And hope like me it is benign PVC/Lower chamber.

Certain B vitamins, chocolate and a few green teas will have me seeing 222+ misfires on my Polar HRM. And newer model made no difference when I upgraded...

If this direction continues in topic, I have general caffeine observations I can expound on...

Good to give this heads up. I'm nearly positive it is the HRM strap malfunctioning but it's a good reminder to not just assume the geiger-counter is broken when you feel something tingly in your drawers..

[flying]

Originally Posted by Clean39T

Now a brand new Garmin one I have is all edged up with its readings too..

For many years I thought that too...Then I found out my heart is often odd with PSVT,PAC's PVC's etc

You would be amazed how many times posts like yours comes up on Triathlon forums too

[Kirk007]

I haven't tried to figure out whether you can, and how, to broadcast the Whoop strap monitor (wrist location) to something like a bike computer but I've been using it daily for over 2 years and when I wear it with a Wahoo strap , then compare readings (summaries of, highs, calories expended, they track close enough I think for most of us. Just an option if you care more about looking back rather than monitoring on the ride, although there may be a way to do that as well.

[superbowlpats]

I have had mixed results with various HRMs. currently I have a Garmin HRM Dual that I must admit has been rock solid for quite some time. I use it daily, either on the trainer or outside (and running).

[5oakterrace]

I use Garmin. Incredibly frustrating. Worked for maybe 8 months, then after 20 minutes it stops. Next session same thing , 20 minutes and stops or gives ridiculously low reading I know is way off. Has happened to me with two of these things. Replacing battery made no difference. I just figure it is good for maybe a year and that is it. For that initial 6-8 months it is ok.

[fourflys]

Originally Posted by 5oakterrace

I use Garmin. Incredibly frustrating. Worked for maybe 8 months, then after 20 minutes it stops. Next session same thing , 20 minutes and stops or gives ridiculously low reading I know is way off. Has happened to me with two of these things. Replacing battery made no difference. I just figure it is good for maybe a year and that is it. For that initial 6-8 months it is ok.

this is what my initial Wahoo strap was doing.. after getting a new one and reading somewhere that you need to wash the strap more often, I don't seem to have those issues now (knock on wood).. I take my strap only into the shower with me and wash it with my shampoo usually.. just put some on, rub the strap against itself and rinse and hang to dry.. maybe I just got lucky with this one, but works for me so far.. also, I sweat, but not a ton..

[vespasianus]

Originally Posted by Clean39T

Seriously. Wahoo straps always have issues for me. An ancient one seemed to be mostly consistent until it broke at the electrodes. My newer Wahoo strap had constant connectivity problems and got binned. Now a brand new Garmin one I have is all edged up with its readings too.. takes at least ten minutes to return values after starting despite being “wetted” and then can be in/out of returning values and seems to be inaccurate near my HR Max at best. Am I just forever unlucky with technology? Is my heart a lonely hunter? What the what!?!

If you have a wrist monitor, does it give a good reading? Your chest shape just might not work well with a chest monitor.

[deluz]

Yes they all suck.
For that reason I bought a cheap Magene strap for $23.
It has been working well for a few months.
It reads high at the beginning of a ride but then after a few minutes is accurate and agrees with my Apple Watch. If it stops working I would buy another one.

[prototoast]

Had an old Garmin, it worked for about 5 years. Got a newer one, it started being unreliable after about 6 months, and died after about a year. Replaced it with a Polar, and it's been going strong for about 2 years now. Haven't maxed out its longevity, but it seems to be going better than the Garmin. Would tentatively recommend.