Polar ft4 troubleshoot

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miamiink89
miamiink89 Posts: 103 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Hi,
I've only had my ft4 for about 6 months and it has stopped working. For a few days it was cutting out at the beginning of a workout. I restarted it and it was fine for the rest of the workout. Now it won't find my heart rate at all. I've changed the batteries on the transmitter and still no luck :(

Does anyone have any suggestions on what to do? I know I can send it to be fixed, but I live in Korea with very limited korean...

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  • miamiink89
    miamiink89 Posts: 103 Member
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    Bump
  • vorgas
    vorgas Posts: 741 Member
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    Are you regularly washing the strap in cool water as directed? Are you wetting the contacts before the workout?

    That being said, I've had two different polar straps go bust on me as well. Polar just sucks, particularly their low end models.
  • __Di__
    __Di__ Posts: 1,630 Member
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    Hi,
    I've only had my ft4 for about 6 months and it has stopped working. For a few days it was cutting out at the beginning of a workout. I restarted it and it was fine for the rest of the workout. Now it won't find my heart rate at all. I've changed the batteries on the transmitter and still no luck :(

    Does anyone have any suggestions on what to do? I know I can send it to be fixed, but I live in Korea with very limited korean...

    Replace the battery in both the watch and the transmitter.

    Put the strap in the washing machine and wash it on a cool wash (no conditioner), do that twice, this should rinse out any solidified salt from sweat on the receivers.

    After every single use, rinse the strap thoroughly under running cold water and leave to dry (not on a radiator).
  • miamiink89
    miamiink89 Posts: 103 Member
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    I was it roughly once a week. I will try washing it again tonight and see if that helps.

    Thanks
  • debraran1
    debraran1 Posts: 520 Member
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    That helped with mine..I never use the machine, but gently wash it in the sink. I also read to keep the strap seperate frm the transmitter when storing.

    I bought gel to use besides wetting it. I found it helped it be a little more accurate but some people are fine with just wetting it. It's cheap and lasts a long time.
  • __Di__
    __Di__ Posts: 1,630 Member
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    I was it roughly once a week. I will try washing it again tonight and see if that helps.

    Thanks

    Also, when you replaced the battery in the transmitter, did you replace the one in the watch at the same time?
  • __Di__
    __Di__ Posts: 1,630 Member
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    That helped with mine..I never use the machine, but gently wash it in the sink. I also read to keep the strap seperate frm the transmitter when storing.

    I bought gel to use besides wetting it. I found it helped it be a little more accurate but some people are fine with just wetting it. It's cheap and lasts a long time.

    Good point! I am so used to storing mine seperately, I forgot about that aspect. Storing them together, defintiely drains the batteries quickly.
  • miamiink89
    miamiink89 Posts: 103 Member
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    Yeah I store them separately. No I didn't change the watch battery too. Do you think I should?
  • __Di__
    __Di__ Posts: 1,630 Member
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    Yeah I store them separately. No I didn't change the watch battery too. Do you think I should?

    Yes, when you change the battery in either the transmitter or the watch, always change the battery in the other item at the same time.
  • MelodyandBarbells
    MelodyandBarbells Posts: 7,725 Member
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    When you wash the strap the next time, gently focus on the contacts. Someone recommended brushing it with a soft toothbrush and that they could tell by feel whether it had residue on it or not. I thought mine did feel a bit different as I ran water over it and scrubbed gently, I dunno. My issues did get resolved after a good wash but more importantly I think battery replacement. You sure the replacement battery was good? :D

    Could also try to ensure your strap is tight enough. I saw a polar article saying you should be stretching the elastic band 6-8" in order to make good contact.

    All else fails, call em up. I hear good things about their customer service, with users saying they had a new product in two days...

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