Concept2 Forum

So the title pretty much says its all. Have had Model E with PM5 for about a month. I just purchased Garmin HRM3 heart monitor chest strap. Confirmed chest strap uses ANT+ technology (which is what Concept2 indicates the PM5 needs to be able to receive). I could get the PM5 to link to the chest strap but when I did the medium workout today the heart rate didn't show up. Anyone know what I'm doing wrong?

Thanks for advice as I'm new to having erg in home. Been rowing for about 18 months, in gym and on water in summer.

-k-

Installed the software last night, after I transferred my workout to a spreadsheet. Was curious after reading this thread so I put on my HRM (Garmin's 010-10997-00 Heart Rate Monitor and Strap), inserted my 128MB USB (yeah, it's an old one) and turned on the PM5. First thing that comes up is a notice it's beta software, v22 - wants to know if I wanted to install v23. ??? Thought I did that last night - some sort of firmware was installed as I watched the process. Told it later. PM5 recognized the HRM and my heart rate showed up in the "just row" menu. I didn't row because it's a rest day for me, but my HR did change as I moved around.

Now I'm unsure whether to install v23 if that's causing issues.

I've been having a similar problem for the last week or so; I can connect my HRM (ANT+ or BLE, I've tried with a couple) to my PM5 no problem, but within 2 or 3 minutes of starting my row, it loses the signal. It's worked flawlessly over the last year, so I'm not sure why it should suddenly have started doing this.

The HRMs I've been using are a Garmin HRM Run and a Wahoo Tickr

I have noticed when I pair the HRM, the device appears on the PM5, but when I press the button to select it, it takes quite a while before it asks me to confirm

I wonder if replacing the batteries on the PM5 might be a fix.

Thanks all for advice. I have tried some above and will try more. I'm still flummoxed by why this is a problem. I snapped this pic when I did a workout the other night. So the PM5 'sees' my HR strap but when I start to row it'll track heart rate for about 30 secs and then I can't get it to keep tracking. Frustrating for sure.

And now I cant attach the pic bc I get a message indicating:

Sorry, the board attachment quota has been reached.

Grrrrr.

-k-

Stick the photo on http://imgur.com stick the IMGUR link on here.

Has anyone found a solution yet? I have the same problem. I've had my Concept2 Model E with PM5 for 1.5 years after buying it new direct from Concept2. It has worked great with my Garmin Heart Rate Monitor chest strap which I have used for every workout in that time. However, for the past week, it has not worked. As K8GR8 and Neil Jones each described, the PM5 recognizes the strap right away and begins displaying the heart rate. However, about 1 - 2 minutes into the workout the heart rate indication goes blank. During one workout, it did flicker back on several times but then quickly went out again.

What I've tried:
At first, I thought it was a problem with the Garmin unit. I washed the sensors and replaced the battery. I removed the battery and left it out overnight to make sure the Garmin unit was fully reset.
I was on the verge of buying a new Garmin ($20 on Amazon) when I decided to first try it with my Garmin Etrex 30 GPS receiver. The Etrex 30 received and displayed the heart rate without issue for a much longer period of time. This has led me to believe that the problem is with the PM5 rather than the Garmin Heart Rate Monitor.

It seems strange that this would start failing after working well for so long.

To update, I started getting frequent error codes flash up on my PM5, so I got in touch with Garmin and they said the codes indicated a problem with the bluetooth radio and sent me a new PM5 and a pre-paid return label for the faulty one.

The new one works fine, no problem with the HR connection any more

My C2 is 2.5 years old, but they never even asked about the age, just the serial number from the C2. This was Concept2 in the UK, by the way.

Suggest you drop Concept2 an email outlining your problem, in particular if you've had any error codes appear.

Hi Neil-
Thanks very much for the update. Its great to hear that Concept2 stood by their product. I live close to the headquarters in the US so I could go see them in person. Anyway, I have contacted them. They suggested trying new batteries in the PM5 as a start. I readily agreed since the batteries were low and there is good reason to believe that could be the issue given the symptoms. However, new batteries didn't solve it. We'll see where it goes from here... I have a few ideas of my own. By the way, for those who thought it could be related to the new firmware update earlier this year.... That's not the issue in my case as I'm still on last year's firmware. Here are some details from my PM5 utilities:

PM5 details:
Battery: 37% (100% after changing batteries)
PM5 Firmware Version: 22
Hardware Version: 502
Date code: 2812015

Nathan

I've been using the Garmin's 010-10997-00 Heart Rate Monitor and Strap since March 2017 without any issues. Concept 2D, PM5 with the most recent firmware.

I wear a 100% cotton shirt as I've read that synthetics can interfere with the signal.

I had this issue when using a Polar HR monitor with my PM5 that I also had paired with my iPhone. When I deleted the iPhone pairing (in my cyclemeter app), heart rate began displaying on my PM5 and in ErgData on my iPhone.