Replacing battery in my Polar HRM

I have a Polar s720i heart rate monitor (got it for Xmas 2003). The
battery appears to be nearing the end of its life, as the heart rate
and speedometer functions no longer work for more than 7 or 8 km into
my ride. And there isn't enough juice left to power the infrared
transmitter to send files to my computer. The watch function still
works fine though, :-).

I will probably send it back in to Polar to get the battery replaced,
although the next time I might just do it myself. But I'm curious, do
I just send in the wrist receiver unit, or do I also have to send the
chest strap transmitter as well? The chest strap still works fine,
and from what I understand the battery in those things is rated for
~2500 hours of use. And why pay extra for a new chest strap when I
don't really need one at the moment.

I figure when the chest strap finally dies I will probably replace it
with one of them new Polar Wearlink ones as the Wearlink has a user
replaceable battery.






J. Spaceman

Jason Spaceman wrote:
I have a Polar s720i heart rate monitor (got it for Xmas 2003). The
battery appears to be nearing the end of its life, as the heart rate
and speedometer functions no longer work for more than 7 or 8 km into
my ride. And there isn't enough juice left to power the infrared
transmitter to send files to my computer. The watch function still
works fine though, :-).

Had similar symptoms, although with mine it was the IR transfer to my
PocketPC that got harder and harder to complete. The battery warning
indicator never came on, and the backlight was still bright. New
battery fixed the IR data transfer problem.


I will probably send it back in to Polar to get the battery replaced,
although the next time I might just do it myself. But I'm curious, do
I just send in the wrist receiver unit, or do I also have to send the
chest strap transmitter as well? The chest strap still works fine,
and from what I understand the battery in those things is rated for
~2500 hours of use. And why pay extra for a new chest strap when I
don't really need one at the moment.

I just sent the watch back. As for the strap, mine died well before 2500
hours, more like 1300 hours. Symptoms were an increase in the level of
erratic HR readings over time.


--
..dt

So if I'm reading this page correctly --
http://www.polarca.com/service_repai...nfo_con.asp#d1

I need to include a money order for $21 (Canadian) when I send the receiver
in, $13.50 for the battery and $7.50 to ship it all back to me? And I send
it to Polar's service centre in Lachine, Quebec?







J. Spaceman

Jason - do it yourself ! It's a $3.00 job - buy the right battery (a
2032 for my model), unscrew the back and change it. Takes about 2
minutes - remember to hit the reset button inside. Instructions come
with watch or are available on-line as pdf if you've lost them. There's
no magic to it. They talk about the waterproofing, but it's just a
matter of making sure that the little rubber seal in the caseback
groove goes back in position.
Save yourself some cash (and downtime) on something eally simple.

Lou D'Amelio

On 12 Sep 2006 03:30:22 -0700, "Lou D'Amelio"
wrote:

Instructions come
with watch or are available on-line as pdf if you've lost them.

My s720i never came with instructions on removing the back. Are there
instructions online somewhere?






J. Spaceman

dtmeister wrote:
I just sent the watch back. As for the strap, mine died well before 2500
hours, more like 1300 hours. Symptoms were an increase in the level of
erratic HR readings over time.

Happens when the strap is not cleaned dry after use and/or stored in a wet
environment and/or the contacts of the strap are dirty. The contacts stay
closed and the transmitter remains on, draining the battery.

Ciao,
--
Roberto Divia` Love at first sight is one of the greatest
Dep:PH Bat:53 Mailbox:C02110 labour-saving devices the world has ever seen
Route de Meyrin 385 ---------------------------------------------
Case Postale Phone: +41-22-767-4994
CH-1211 Geneve 23 CERN Fax: +41-22-767-9585
Switzerland E-Mail:

Jason Spaceman wrote:
I have a Polar s720i heart rate monitor (got it for Xmas 2003). The
battery appears to be nearing the end of its life, as the heart rate
and speedometer functions no longer work for more than 7 or 8 km into
my ride. And there isn't enough juice left to power the infrared
transmitter to send files to my computer. The watch function still
works fine though, :-).

I will probably send it back in to Polar to get the battery replaced,
although the next time I might just do it myself. But I'm curious, do
I just send in the wrist receiver unit, or do I also have to send the
chest strap transmitter as well? The chest strap still works fine,
and from what I understand the battery in those things is rated for
~2500 hours of use. And why pay extra for a new chest strap when I
don't really need one at the moment.

The symptoms are those of a drained battery. You can replace it yourself,
it's like any regular watch with a special waterproof o-ring. Take care
of the o-ring and ensure it is where it should before closing the case.
After a few years it will wear off and you'll have to get it replaced.

This for bike use. If you use it for swimming then it's a different story...

If you choose to have it serviced, send in only the watch. In alternative,
go to any shop that carries Polar and they should take care of it (at least
they do here in Europe).

Ciao,
--
Roberto Divia` Love at first sight is one of the greatest
Dep:PH Bat:53 Mailbox:C02110 labour-saving devices the world has ever seen
Route de Meyrin 385 ---------------------------------------------
Case Postale Phone: +41-22-767-4994
CH-1211 Geneve 23 CERN Fax: +41-22-767-9585
Switzerland E-Mail:

Jason Spaceman wrote:
So if I'm reading this page correctly --
http://www.polarca.com/service_repai...nfo_con.asp#d1

I need to include a money order for $21 (Canadian) when I send the receiver
in, $13.50 for the battery and $7.50 to ship it all back to me? And I send
it to Polar's service centre in Lachine, Quebec?







J. Spaceman
Battery CR2354 as I remember is a $1.95 item I bought online. I bought
two of them. Shipping included the cost was 6 bucks. One caveat, if you
change the battery yourself you will void your warrenty.

Roberto Divia wrote:
dtmeister wrote:
I just sent the watch back. As for the strap, mine died well before 2500
hours, more like 1300 hours. Symptoms were an increase in the level of
erratic HR readings over time.

Happens when the strap is not cleaned dry after use and/or stored in a wet
environment and/or the contacts of the strap are dirty. The contacts stay
closed and the transmitter remains on, draining the battery.

Nope, cleaned and dried after every use. Still looks like new...but
won't work more than 50cm from the reciever now. I also have an accurate
hour count because I download all my stored rides to some training
software on a PocketPC.


--
..dt