Concept2 Forum

Hello,
Does anyone have a fix for a PM-2 (Black with orange Print) with a time delay issue? Upon pressing the on/off button, the monitor does not light up until 15 seconds after. It then works properly and the on/off button and handle pull activate immediately. After 5 minutes of non use, it goes into "time delay" mode. I recall pulling the handle lit it up though it was not immediate. I have the flywheel out and I'm unable to get accurate data on a handle pull.

I recently purchased the rower on Craigslist and it did work on the first pull though maybe the seller performed a pre-sale test run just before I arrived or the alcohol cleansing I put on the keypad was a bit much. I tried charged up batteries, have disassembled and cleaned around the keypad surface of the board and I ran the 4 button reset which came up with the 5 in the center though no improvements. I have a soldering iron and I know how to use it though I'm not tooled up enough to scope the board.
Thanks
Stephen

Just an update.

I set the flywheel and found the monitor will not kick on with a handle pull until the monitor is activated with the on/off button which powers it on with a 20 second delay. The monitor then shows zeroes. I spoke with C2 and the consensus which fits my hunch too is there's more likely a component which is intended to hold a charge and it's not.

Hi I have repaired several of these.

First check the board in the battery area for any signs of corrosion caused by battery leakage. This is the number 1 cause of problems with the PM2. Any corrosion causes problems and the unit then required quite a bit of work to recover. About half of the PM2's with battery corrosion I have seen are write offs.

The fault you describe could be any number of things. It would pay to clean the board and keypad carbon contacts with some isopropyl alcohol and a cotton bud. If you have to press hard on the on/off button or you have to press it a number of times to get the PM2 to power up when it powers up when you pull the handle straight away it needs a clean.

Even clean I have found that if you have the earlier version of PM2 that the carbon on the board tends towards too high a resistance to pull the input to the micro low enough for it to recognise the button has been pressed.

The unit should power down in just over 4 minutes if no buttons are pressed.

If you do a 4 finger reset of the unit it will enter a mode at the end of the count that you can check the operation of each key.

The monitor is in full operating Condition. Carl, I had it fixed prior to reading your post though your description below might have fit. I disassembled it and cleansed the board with a toothbrush and usual solutions, dried it down with alcohol and a hair dryer. I set in the second battery and the display lit right up. I tested it out a few times last evening and it worked with a pull and the all important test this a.m. was good. I had cleaned the contact area a couple of days ago so I believe the solution was something related to below or maybe a stuck electronics part if that's possible.

Step234 wrote:I had cleaned the contact area a couple of days ago so I believe the solution was something related to below or maybe a stuck electronics part if that's possible.

That's not possible. Electronics aren't mechanical. The most likely cause is a piece of conductive/semi-conductive dirt causing a short between tracks.

Thanks. I appreciate the explanation. I'll then take to understanding a "switch" in an electronics assembly board more than likely is reference to a grouping of electronic components which when acting together change the path and other attributes of the current. Though wouldn't a relay be mechanical? I just read up on mosfets and my hunch is this is not an argument a non electrical engineer guy should want to take up.