Polar H9 issues: displaying low heart rate and negative trending rate

[nick rockliff]

Back in the days with the PM3 and HR receiver that sat under the erg. The Polar belt I used lasted for ages but was all encapsulated in rubber. Don't know how many receivers I went through though, they were always failing.

[gvcormac]

Back in the days with the PM3 and HR receiver that sat under the erg. The Polar belt I used lasted for ages but was all encapsulated in rubber. Don't know how many receivers I went through though, they were always failing.

I still have a drawer full of these sealed Polar belts and many of them still work. I have two PM3 receivers and they still work, too. But the 1/8 inch plugs and jacks do need cleaning.

In the 90's I even used a scalpel to do surgery to replace the battery in a Polar belt -- it was an ordinary 2032. Then I sealed it up with clear plastic patch and silicon seal.

[HornetMaX]

I'll be interested to hear your experience in a few months. I can't say I rinsed my strap every time, but I convinced myself for a couple of months that was the trick, until it wasn't.

I'll post for sure.

Hmm, today the H9 (with a 8 months old "Pro" strap) started to misbehave again. Already in previous sessions I noticed it was occasionally slow to pick up the HR at session start and also it had a few suspect "drops" lasting a few seconds (e.g steady state 160 bpm dropping to 150 bpm for no obvious reason then coming back to 160bpm after 10 seconds or so). The battery is very recent, I'm sure it's not the problem.

I'll test a bit more but it doesn't look good. Damn, I'm reading anywhere that the "Pro" strap is supposed to last longer but my one has only 8 months.
My previous "Soft" (non-Pro) one lasted more (~18 months) and I actually used it today after the Pro one started misbehaving.

Yawn, it's so annoying.

[gvcormac]

I have reluctantly abandoned my Polar H9 in favor of a Coospo H808S. It works perfectly where the H9 does not. I wore them both just to be sure.

The Coospo cost less than 1/2 of the Polar.

Only slight downside is the Coospo has Bluetooth and Ant+, but not the legacy Gymlink that my treadmill and elliptical use. But for my RowErg, SkiErg, BikeErg, and smart watch it is great.

[HornetMaX]

I have reluctantly abandoned my Polar H9 in favor of a Coospo H808S. It works perfectly where the H9 does not. I wore them both just to be sure.

The Coospo cost less than 1/2 of the Polar.

Only slight downside is the Coospo has Bluetooth and Ant+, but not the legacy Gymlink that my treadmill and elliptical use. But for my RowErg, SkiErg, BikeErg, and smart watch it is great.

How long did you have the H808S ?

I was inches from purchasing it, it costs just like the polar pro strap (the strap only).
But the idea of throwing away the polar module (that is very likely still working) and the fact I have a bunch of CR2025 batteries in stock made me go for a new polar strap. No need to say, if it fails as quick as the last one that that would be it.

Note: the Coospo uses a CR2032 while polars have a CR2025. It seems you can actually fit a CR2032 into the polars too (there's debate and polar advises against).

[gvcormac]

I got the Coospo November 19, 2023.

[HornetMaX]

I got the Coospo November 19, 2023.

Not even 2 months ? A bit early to draw conclusions.
My H9 (almost 2.5 years) works perfectly, except when the chest strap seems to need replacement.

[gvcormac]

I got the Coospo November 19, 2023.

Not even 2 months ? A bit early to draw conclusions.
My H9 (almost 2.5 years) works perfectly, except when the chest strap seems to need replacement.

Why? It works reliably, my Polar doesn't. Neither does my wife's (barely used) Polar.

[HornetMaX]

I got the Coospo November 19, 2023.

Not even 2 months ? A bit early to draw conclusions.
My H9 (almost 2.5 years) works perfectly, except when the chest strap seems to need replacement.

Why? It works reliably, my Polar doesn't. Neither does my wife's (barely used) Polar.

Well, mine does and reading around most H9 and H10 works really well and for longer than 2 months.
Again, for me the problem is "only" replacing the strap when it seems to act funky, the module seems to be OK after.
Within 2 months, more or less everything works fine (but yeah, there may be exceptions / faulty units).

[gvcormac]

Not even 2 months ? A bit early to draw conclusions.
My H9 (almost 2.5 years) works perfectly, except when the chest strap seems to need replacement.

Why? It works reliably, my Polar doesn't. Neither does my wife's (barely used) Polar.

Well, mine does and reading around most H9 and H10 works really well and for longer than 2 months.
Again, for me the problem is "only" replacing the strap when it seems to act funky, the module seems to be OK after.
Within 2 months, more or less everything works fine (but yeah, there may be exceptions / faulty units).

I don't regard strap replacement every couple of years to be acceptable. I have Polar straps that are 20 years old that I used for Marathon training, and still work with the gymlink sensors. And as I noted, I tried my wife's H9 which had been used maybe a dozen times. All combinations of straps and sensors. Same problems. It appears the that H9 is unduly influenced by environmental issues. Maybe a fresh strap mitigates this problem, but it is still a problem.

Can I supply proof that the Coospo won't manifest the same issues? No, but I have no indication that it will. Various boards are littered with complaints about the H9/H10, and not other brands. Maybe that's just because they're the market leader. I'm not prepared to send them more of my money to find out.

[HornetMaX]

I don't regard strap replacement every couple of years to be acceptable.

Kind of agree. I could accept strap replacement every 2 years, but no less.

I have Polar straps that are 20 years old that I used for Marathon training, and still work with the gymlink sensors. And as I noted, I tried my wife's H9 which had been used maybe a dozen times. All combinations of straps and sensors. Same problems. It appears the that H9 is unduly influenced by environmental issues. Maybe a fresh strap mitigates this problem, but it is still a problem.

Can I supply proof that the Coospo won't manifest the same issues? No, but I have no indication that it will. Various boards are littered with complaints about the H9/H10, and not other brands. Maybe that's just because they're the market leader. I'm not prepared to send them more of my money to find out.

Polar is way more popular so yeah, you find way more people reporting issues.
Your H9 may be a faulty one (I've read it happens, people usually send them in under warranty and they get replaced, but yeah that's annoying).

If in 1y time your Coospo is still running strong, (and my H9 keeps on eating straps at that pace) then I'll definitely give the Coospo a try.

One thing I was wondering is if the connection type (ANT vs BT) makes a difference: I'm not 100% sure but I think that a couple of days ago while playing with my watch and PM5 and having HR issues, the reading on the two units were not the same depending on the connection and BT seemed better (I typically use ANT). Just a hunch, I may be wrong.

[gvcormac]

Your H9 may be a faulty one (I've read it happens, people usually send them in under warranty and they get replaced, but yeah that's annoying).

My wife's H9 and my H9 exhibit the same behavior. They were purchased more than a year apart. Mine is 2.5 years old, and hers about 1.5. She used hers only a handful of times.

[p_b82]

It sounds like there's a connection issue to me - as intermittent things usually are.

I wonder, if the H9 not being fully waterproof, on some units can suffer from sweat/humidity/salt getting in and monkeying around. Perhaps they were from the same batch even with that time difference?

I know I'm a sample of 1; but my H10 has only needed one set of batteries since I bought it and I've had it 18 months. I've only washed the strap the once -and that was to remove the salt build-up the adjuster, but I do wipe it down after every session.
I got the h10 mainly because I thought I would wear it if I started to swim again, but also because I already knew I was a heavy sweater - so going fully waterproof to me made more logical sense. (even though it cost quite a lot more)

[HornetMaX]

It sounds like there's a connection issue to me - as intermittent things usually are.

I wonder, if the H9 not being fully waterproof, on some units can suffer from sweat/humidity/salt getting in and monkeying around. Perhaps they were from the same batch even with that time difference?

I know I'm a sample of 1; but my H10 has only needed one set of batteries since I bought it and I've had it 18 months. I've only washed the strap the once -and that was to remove the salt build-up the adjuster, but I do wipe it down after every session.
I got the h10 mainly because I thought I would wear it if I started to swim again, but also because I already knew I was a heavy sweater - so going fully waterproof to me made more logical sense. (even though it cost quite a lot more)

Surely not in my case: last time, swapping the strap made everything back to normal, so the problem doesn't seem to be with the module but with the strap deteriorating. I'll get my new strap in a day or two and confirm that once more.

BTW, the H9 is just as waterproof as the H10: WR30.

Battery life depends on usage, of course, and on removing the module from the strap when not in use: I track my usage and before removing the module after each workout a battery lasted only 2 months (35h of training). When I started removing the module when not in use, the battery lasted 7-8 months (~120h of training).

[p_b82]

I must have misread something somewhere then when I was looking! - I guess it was around the pro strap being better perhaps in the pool; I don't recall now though.

I've always unplugged mine from the belt after use