HRM Curious Issue

iluvsparkles · July 2008

Alright my good friends that use the HRM. I have an strange issue, and the only thing i can come up with, is some sort of electronic problem.

First off, I have a HighGear Pulsewear duo. IF anyone else has this one, let me know. I know shorerider does...

my problem is, that for the last two days, my HRM(which works with a chest strap) seems to be counting calories very very very slowly, despite my heart rate reading.

It has been reading my heart rate just fine. It tells me my percentage of max heart rate which is reading normal. BUT a workout that generally burns 1300 cals according to this same HRM is now reading 100 cals!! I stayed at about 55-70% of my max heart rate for 2 entire hours, and the thing read 120 calories. THIS IS NOT RIGHT!

• I put a new battery in the watch part on the day i got it, and i tried replacing the chest strap battery as well a couple of days ago, but it did not correct the problem

The main reason i am freaking out, is that I used my high burned calories as a major inspiration. It pains me to see such low numbers while being covered in sweat and my legs are burning with an intense fire!!

So anyway, im thinking about taking the battery out of both pieces and resetting the information in the watch might work, but i just wondered if anyone has any other suggestions? Perhaps it is some watch setting?

iluvsparkles · July 2008

Alright my good friends that use the HRM. I have an strange issue, and the only thing i can come up with, is some sort of electronic problem.

First off, I have a HighGear Pulsewear duo. IF anyone else has this one, let me know. I know shorerider does...

my problem is, that for the last two days, my HRM(which works with a chest strap) seems to be counting calories very very very slowly, despite my heart rate reading.

It has been reading my heart rate just fine. It tells me my percentage of max heart rate which is reading normal. BUT a workout that generally burns 1300 cals according to this same HRM is now reading 100 cals!! I stayed at about 55-70% of my max heart rate for 2 entire hours, and the thing read 120 calories. THIS IS NOT RIGHT!

• I put a new battery in the watch part on the day i got it, and i tried replacing the chest strap battery as well a couple of days ago, but it did not correct the problem

The main reason i am freaking out, is that I used my high burned calories as a major inspiration. It pains me to see such low numbers while being covered in sweat and my legs are burning with an intense fire!!

So anyway, im thinking about taking the battery out of both pieces and resetting the information in the watch might work, but i just wondered if anyone has any other suggestions? Perhaps it is some watch setting?

psuastro97 · July 2008

hmmm..that's odd - and very unmotivating!!!!

i have a polar HRM and i love it. it also has a chest strap and watch. when its battery goes, the screen goes blank. i have not had the chest strpa battery go - but they say to change that youneed to send it to them so they can resyn it to the watch. not sure if that's true or their way of getting more money from me. (it's only $15 more to go buy a new HRM compared to sending it back for a chest strap replacement/resync!)

have you messed with any of the settings lately - accidentally or deliberately? maybe your weight is off or age or something????

yoginimary · July 2008

Hopefully it's an input error - typing in 14 lbs instead of 140 or whatever.

Mine reads consistently lower than what I think others are showing. I can't burn over 500 calories in a hour no matter what my HR. I've started charting it to see if there is a pattern. My last one was an average HR of 146 for 1 hour, burned 475 calories. Which according to the traditional standard is 80%. I have a Polar F11.

If yours read one value before and reads another now, I would call the company - though this may just raise your HR.

If it's over a year old, I would just get a new one. Either way, let us know what happens.

iluvsparkles · July 2008

im starting to think input error also...i don't believe i reset it by accident, but there is definitely that possibility.

I think i will reset it from the beginning to see if it makes a difference. If the polar has to be re-synced, then i wonder if that would affect mine, however it was messing up before i changed the chest strap battery.

The reason i actually went with the pulsewear was because it offered the same features as polar, but you can change the battery yourself. The book is kind of hard to understand, so if resetting it doesnt work, i think i will call the company.

i really appreciate your guys' input. it had me very frustrated yesterday!

pam0206 · July 2008

My HRM acts like that if I get interference from a machine. What type of activity are you trying to monitor? Is that a possibility? Talk about unmotivating.......GL. Hope you figure it out soon.

iluvsparkles · July 2008

it is just floor aerobics, Zumba, and i am the only one with a HRM, bc my teacher even asks me what calories im at sometimes.... so i THINK ive ruled out interferance. there are no machines in the vacinity either, except the sound system .... hey maybe my teachers wireless mic could be affecting it!
I dont think so, because it ran wrong while hiking also, around no type of electronics...

at first i thought it might be picking up on others energy and making it read too high in the first place, but i highly doubt that, bc if it dosent make contact with my skin directly, it wont even read my heart rate, let along someone five feet away.. .

pam0206 · July 2008

Yeah. It doesn't sound like interference. Hmmmmm. I'm stumped as well. :grumble: Maybe you could get more info from the company.....GL.

shorerider · July 2008

Mine started beeping and then the HR went kind of screwy and the calories count did the same thing as yours is doing. I called the company and they said that the beeping was a low battery but that the HR and calories being off meant it was basically screwed. They said to send it back with the receipt (I printed it off from Amazon.com) and they would replace it.

So, I'm waiting to see when I get the new one if this one does any better. I'm hoping that the thing doesn't prove to be a piece of junk. It had good reviews on the 'net that I could find but if this one messes up again as quick as the old one (I only had it 2 months) then I'm going to try to get my money back and get a Polar I think.

Give the company a call and see.

iluvsparkles · July 2008

whats weird is that we have had it the exact same ammount of time, and it seemed to 'fart out' at the same time! ive even recommended it to people!

shorerider · July 2008

whats weird is that we have had it the exact same ammount of time, and it seemed to 'fart out' at the same time!

Yep--that's why I'm keeping my fingers crossed about this replacement. See how long it takes them to get it back to me, too. I mailed it out Monday. Irritating because I just joined the YMCA and the machines there will pick up an HRM but now I don't have one :ohwell:

iluvsparkles · July 2008

yes, i rely on mine very heavily! i dont want to be without it, but i also do not want to spend the money on the polar that you cant change the batteries yourself!

shorerider · July 2008

I'm right there with you on that one! That's why I avoided the Polar.

If the new Highgear goes south on me, too, then I'll have to hold off on getting a different brand because of the price. I did find a website--mapmyridecom--that gives me an estimate of my rides that was always within a hundred or so calories of my HRM. If I have to, I can just go with those numbers for a bit.

HRM Curious Issue

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