strader
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 Posted: 11-01-2008 20:54 |
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After having a Powertap die on me I found through searching on the web there have been a lot of caveats to the system's use that are not mentioned in the documentation provided by Saris. Listed below are some common problems and troubleshooting steps that should be considered in addition to the troubleshooting procedures suggested by Saris.
Hub Moisture - Moisture in the hub seems to be a common problem among users, especially with the older models of the hub. The suggested solution is to remove the left side battery cover from the hub and allow it to sit in a dry warm place for 24 hours or more to dry out. Visually inspect the rubber seal to make sure there is no visible damage.
Zip Ties - Oddly enough the zip ties included with the hub have been reported to cause problems when overtightened on the sensor cable. The suggested method is to use clear tape to run the sensor cable. This was also one of the suggestions made to me by the Saris phone rep.
Sensor Placement - Saris documentation suggests placing the shark fin sensor 3" from the hub, however many users have found that placing the sensor as close as possible to the hub results in the least amount of dropped data.
Hub Bearing Cones - Overtightening of the hub bearing cones has been reported to result in a loss of signal from the hub.
Harness Troubleshooting - The best way to trouble shoot a harness is to try a known working one, but since not everyone has that option here is another method to try: Mount a different rear wheel with a bike computer magnet, and set the computer into cycle computer mode per Saris instructions. If the harness is good you should at least be able to get speed data from the wheel magnet. If you get neither speed or power data there is a good chance your harness or computer is bad. If you get speed from the wheel magnet, but no power data from the PT hub, chances are the hub needs to be sent in for repair.
Computer Troubleshooting - No Power or Speed Data - In my case I was not able to get either power data from the hub or speed from a wheel magnet. I only got the "----" indicator for power and speed. If this happens try hooking the computer up to the USB cradle and loading PowerAgent. In my case the computer showed up as an "unknown device", indicating the computer was bad.
Feel free to add anything else. I will continue updating this post with new information. |
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