heart rate issues

palomalou2

I have had a Polar hr monitor which I sent back to the company while under warranty. They replaced the battery, sent it back (all this shipping was NOT cheap), and it worked about three times before ceasing again. So I got a Timex which has been a bit better, but it is sounding goofy now too: tonight I was on elliptical for 57 minutes, and it would not even read my heart rate the first 40 or so times I started it, then it would suddenly jump down to 90. The elliptical wasn't much bettter: it gave me numbers in a range from 52-213. It would make sudden jumps of over 15 beats. It also would just stop reading it at all. I most certainly don't believe it. What works as a hr monitor, preferably for more than 6 months?

GertrudeHorse

Are you getting sufficient moisture under the strap? Sounds like the signal might not be getting through consistently. You can get medical conductivity gel which works really well.

ModQuad

Agreed. Have this problem all the time now that it's freezing outside and I work up less of a sweat (no sweat!) during outdoor exercise. In the moment, I add some water or spit to the pads & keep the strap super tight.

palomalou2

I'll try the gel idea. Today it worked fine--I always run the pads under warm/hot running water before I put on the strap. My students may like the theory that I have no heart…..

davidmulligan

Plain water will not work, it needs to be conductive. Sweat works great. However when starting I just wipe a little spit with my fingertip under each pad.

imjolly

I have the Polar FT4 and it works well. I run it under water first and secure it tight enough that it would slide up/down.
I have had to adjust it higher since it has moved while I'm running.