Training lost on PM5 - battery status reliable?

[Citroen]

I know, but someone suggested not to leave the USB connected to the PM5...

Dont use a USB memory stick in the PM5 it kills the batteries.

Plug it in before a workout, pull it when you're done to save the batteries.
Or wire the USB-B socket to a wall wart USB-A phone charger to keep the batteries fresh.

[Carl Watts]

Pretty much everyone must have a spare mains 5V cellphone charger lying about the place these days. Just buy yourself a long Printer USB cable from Concept 2, theirs is a special with a plastic tab so you cannot plug it in round the wrong way and force the USB socket off the board of your monitor on the older PM3 & PM4 and and away you go. Use only Alkaline batteries in your PM5 so it reduces the chances of them leaking and they will last for 10 years.

[Mark rows now]

I found out what went wrong. Sometimes I just start rowing without chosing the type of row (just row, standard and so on). Everything seems to be OK until I stop rowing. The PM5 then seems to start saving the data but immediately stops. Then no data of this rowing is saved or left - its all gone.

[Citroen]

I found out what went wrong. Sometimes I just start rowing without chosing the type of row (just row, standard and so on). Everything seems to be OK until I stop rowing. The PM5 then seems to start saving the data but immediately stops. Then no data of this rowing is saved or left - its all gone.

Pulling the handle without programming the PM5 gets you a "Just Row" workout (that's so the gym monkeys get numbers on their monitors). On a "Just Row" you MUST press the [BACK] button when you're done or it will get thrown into the bit bucket.

[Mark rows now]

How to empty the bit bucket?;-) It must be pretty full now. Never rowed that much before like this january. Thanks to home-office i did several short rows of 15 min during the day (just 3 k and not starting to sweat) and one session of 45 to 70 min in the evening. Summing up to 505050 m (without lost data . Guess my age, lol. But I dont think i want to repeat this torture!?

[Mark rows now]

Pulling the handle without programming the PM5 gets you a "Just Row" workout (that's so the gym monkeys get numbers on their monitors). On a "Just Row" you MUST press the [BACK] button when you're done or it will get thrown into the bit bucket.

I tried again (no USB-stick connected):

- Pulling the handle without programming the PM5
- rowing 200m
- stop rowing, waiting until the meter count stops
- press button [Menu] (there is no button [back]...)
- data is gone!

if I would have chosen a workout style, data would have been saved on PM5 storage.

[Citroen]

Have you pre-formatted the USB stick with the Concept2 utility?

Have you looked in the PM5 memory (with the USB stick removed)?

[Mark rows now]

both yes

[Mark rows now]

for my PM5, this is wrong:

PM5 101
By Concept2
Jan 26, 2021
AUTO MODE:
While the PM is a powerful tool, it can also be used in a very simple automatic mode if you prefer not to push buttons. Just start rowing, skiing or riding, and it will spring to life automatically and give instant feedback on your time, pace, power output and [approximate] Calorie burn. It will also automatically save your workout to Memory so that you can review it later if you wish
https://www.concept2.com/news/pm5-101

[Citroen]

Go here: https://www.concept2.com/service/monitors/pm5/firmware

Read this: https://www.concept2.com/service/monito ... e/timeline to see how many firmware fixes you're missing.

[Mark rows now]

My firmware is V 31, on HW Version 415 - top actual I think

some more tests: I did not know that just pulling the handle without chosing a training needs to last for more than 1 minute to be saved - thats working OK

But still: it sometimes happens the USB-stick is not recognized - the PM5 says battery is low (I then remove and connect the USB again a few times until it says everything is fine... , battery is far more than 70% energy left!)

If the USB is not recognized and nevertheless I start rowing for several thousands of meters with the connected but not recognized USB and without chosing a training then the data of this session was lost.


Well, I just need to make sure to choose a training, connect the USB after the training and write session data to USB afterwards. I do not need any special data of every single stroke right now, so I dont care about the extra data you can get when rowing with connected USB...

[estragon]

As someone said, do try ErgData if you have WiFi available. I messed around with USB sticks for the first 2 years I had my C2 but it was always touch-and-go whether it would work. Now, I still plug in the USB as a backup but rely on ErgData via phone or iPad to record and upload a session to the C2 Logbook. It hasn’t failed me yet.

Thanks for the tip about the USB draining the batteries if left in. This explains my poor battery life.

[Tsnor]

My firmware is V 31, on HW Version 415 - top actual I think

some more tests: I did not know that just pulling the handle without chosing a training needs to last for more than 1 minute to be saved - thats working OK

But still: it sometimes happens the USB-stick is not recognized - the PM5 says battery is low (I then remove and connect the USB again a few times until it says everything is fine... , battery is far more than 70% energy left!)

If the USB is not recognized and nevertheless I start rowing for several thousands of meters with the connected but not recognized USB and without choosing a training then the data of this session was lost.


Well, I just need to make sure to choose a training, connect the USB after the training and write session data to USB afterwards. I do not need any special data of every single stroke right now, so I dont care about the extra data you can get when rowing with connected USB...

USB ports get dirty and corroded. You can clean electric connectors with DEOXIT contact cleaner, look for it on Amazon. No idea if you are having a problem because the connection is bad, however its pretty easy to get a tiny spray can and give it a squirt. Hit both the connector in the PM5 and the USB flash drive, wipe away extra.

One thing you do when you change the battery is RESET the PM5. There were some water rowers at the gym (pre-covid). When one had a hung display (happened often) pulling the batteries and putting the same batteries back in again got them working. Maybe before when you swapped batteries it was the reset that fixed it and not the fresh battery. There is an easer way to reset the PM5 - it has a recessed button you can hit with a pen point.

The Flash memory in USB drives is consumable. It wears then fails over time. Older flash drive had much better quality flash and much worse error recovery than new drives. Reformatting a drive can get rid of bad flash cells. Maybe it's time to reformat your old USB flash drive -- format to FAT or FAT32. I think the concept2 utility will do this, and there are other ways. If you replace the drive get a small flash drive so it comes formatted with something PM5 can handle. Make sure when you transfer your workouts that you safely remove the drive, on windows this means use Safely Remove Hardware icon on the taskbar.

Goof luck.