HRM is inaccurate??

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sisa2324
sisa2324 Posts: 164 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Hoping someone here can give me some advice. I bought a hrm a couple of weeks ago. (sportline 1025, cost $100) First week seemed to be okay, but then it started to give me erratic readings. It would go up to 215, then drop to 120. Recently, the readings have been lower (i check periodically with my pulse and a timer, as well as on the Treadmill) When I called the company they told me that it was due to interference from other electronics. The only thing that they could suggest was to not use it by any other electronics. So my question is....does anyone else have this problem? I want to use my hrm while on my treadmill, elliptical, and while watching workout DVDs, so staying away from electronics is not a possibility, not to mention my iPhone which I use for music. So what do I do? Are other brands more reliable?

Replies

  • loseatonlady
    loseatonlady Posts: 160
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    Is it possible to return it and get a Polar brand or Garmin? I paid almost $100 for my Garmin w/chest strap & have never had this happen to me & I'm using it in gym almost daily ,...
  • audram420
    audram420 Posts: 838 Member
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    OOH I did and I have a sportline too. I found the same problem only when I used my earphones with my iphone. It took me a while to narrow it down to that but thats what it was...specifically if it was higher than my heart with the cord of the earphones inbetween me and the wrist watch. so now i strap it to the handle of the treadmill or ellipitical and make sure it's below my heart. it works fine when I do that.

    I was so wondering if it was just me!?!?!
  • areittinger
    areittinger Posts: 69 Member
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    I bought a polar ft4 and it does the same thing, It sucks because they are a pretty penny. Some days it works other days i have to just take my average hr from it and put it into the formula to figure out my calories burned.
  • josavage
    josavage Posts: 472 Member
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    I don't have problems like that with my polar (use at the gym) or my garmin (run with).
  • ksheyman
    ksheyman Posts: 1
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    why do you need a hrm? just work out
  • amymoore728
    amymoore728 Posts: 72
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    I have a Timex

    http://www.amazon.com/Timex-T5G971-Unisex-Personal-Monitor/dp/B000P8VWQS/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1314930048&sr=8-1

    and it's been great. About $40 on Amazon with the chest strap and I get similar readings as other women in my workout classes, so it seems accurate with calories burnt. I love it.
  • Banks01
    Banks01 Posts: 985 Member
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    I have one of the sport line duos Nd really like it. No issues
  • kellekaj
    kellekaj Posts: 11 Member
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    My Polar FT4 has been doing to same thing of late after having it for a year with no issues. I'm sending it back tday to have it checkout out in the testing center they seem to think it can be fixed under warrenty??? Fingers crossed.
  • sisa2324
    sisa2324 Posts: 164 Member
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    Has anyone had any luck fixing this by just changing the battery in the chest strap, or in the watch?
  • km5dx
    km5dx Posts: 16 Member
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    My first HRM had this problem (Nike Model)... To avoid (or at least minimize it) you need a HRM that uses an encoded chest strap. The things that I have noticed that are the worst offenders for interfering are:

    1) Other HRMs (I remember riding my bike with others and it reading 300+ .. it just kind of adds them all together)
    2) Smart meters (Electric or water meters that can be read remotely.
    3) BPL (Broadband networks over powerline)
    4) Some WIFI networks

    With the encoded chest strap the only thing I see now is sometimes it stops reading. Sometimes this is just that I didn't get enough water on the sensor pads but other times it is interference.. Touching the watch to the chest strap re-syncs the encoding and usually corrects this.

    I use a Polar SX725 HRM with added sensors for my bike (Speed, Cadence). I ride mountain bikes through the trails and neighborshood in NW Houston. The Polar HRM has been working nearly flawlessly for 5 years, 6 times a week.
  • sisa2324
    sisa2324 Posts: 164 Member
    Options
    My first HRM had this problem (Nike Model)... To avoid (or at least minimize it) you need a HRM that uses an encoded chest strap. The things that I have noticed that are the worst offenders for interfering are:

    1) Other HRMs (I remember riding my bike with others and it reading 300+ .. it just kind of adds them all together)
    2) Smart meters (Electric or water meters that can be read remotely.
    3) BPL (Broadband networks over powerline)
    4) Some WIFI networks

    With the encoded chest strap the only thing I see now is sometimes it stops reading. Sometimes this is just that I didn't get enough water on the sensor pads but other times it is interference.. Touching the watch to the chest strap re-syncs the encoding and usually corrects this.

    I use a Polar SX725 HRM with added sensors for my bike (Speed, Cadence). I ride mountain bikes through the trails and neighborshood in NW Houston. The Polar HRM has been working nearly flawlessly for 5 years, 6 times a week.

    Good advice, I'll look into this.
  • sisa2324
    sisa2324 Posts: 164 Member
    Options
    OOH I did and I have a sportline too. I found the same problem only when I used my earphones with my iphone. It took me a while to narrow it down to that but thats what it was...specifically if it was higher than my heart with the cord of the earphones inbetween me and the wrist watch. so now i strap it to the handle of the treadmill or ellipitical and make sure it's below my heart. it works fine when I do that.

    I was so wondering if it was just me!?!?!

    Were your readings going high and low? Or just high?
  • NotGoddess
    NotGoddess Posts: 1,198 Member
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    I bought a polar ft7 and the transmitter is encoded (or coded as it says on the transmitter). I've only had it a few months, but I'm around a lot of electronics and I've not had issues with it. I know some early FT7's weren't coded so you do have to check the package-it says 'coded' right on the transmitter.

    I checked Sportline's website- looks like the model you bought has a 30 day no questions asked return policy so you are in luck there.
  • rileysowner
    rileysowner Posts: 8,239 Member
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    I have the hr go really high when I am in the car travelling to where I plan to workout, but not much other than that and I have a sportline.
  • audram420
    audram420 Posts: 838 Member
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    OOH I did and I have a sportline too. I found the same problem only when I used my earphones with my iphone. It took me a while to narrow it down to that but thats what it was...specifically if it was higher than my heart with the cord of the earphones inbetween me and the wrist watch. so now i strap it to the handle of the treadmill or ellipitical and make sure it's below my heart. it works fine when I do that.

    I was so wondering if it was just me!?!?!

    Were your readings going high and low? Or just high?

    They were high like in the 200s and then would stop reading and bounce back and forth like this!
  • dad106
    dad106 Posts: 4,868 Member
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    I have a Timex

    http://www.amazon.com/Timex-T5G971-Unisex-Personal-Monitor/dp/B000P8VWQS/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1314930048&sr=8-1

    and it's been great. About $40 on Amazon with the chest strap and I get similar readings as other women in my workout classes, so it seems accurate with calories burnt. I love it.

    Well if you do decide to return the HRM, don't get this one because it's a piece of junk.

    I have a Polar FT7 and have never had any issues like that... I'd personally return it for something else if you can.

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