HR reading problem
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@loopylou72 Oh, you are for an early weekend of reading my friend
So many posts, so much anguish 
But I’ll spare you our pain, two years in the making and just give up the ending. Spoiler alert!For many people, yours truly including, a unique combination of S9 height, weight, and soft stretchy silicon strap results in slight wobble when running, which completely throws off recent vintages of Valencell sensor firmware and produces all sorts of OHR artifacts, from completely lost HR readings to insane spikes to 190-200 when known max HR is more like 180. Worse still, this can happen at any point in the workout.
The only known workaround to resolve this sad state of affairs is:
- Soak sensor beforehand… I don’t mean wash it, but put the watch on a good 5-10 min before the exercise and give it time on Start screen to lock on HR and stabilize reading, usually at least about half a minute to a minute
- Wear a band of sorts, like those tennis wristbands that would ensure the watch stays away from wrist and the band pushes it up to prevent wobble
- Switch to a textile loop band if you can get one (they are constantly out of stock at Suunto – probably S9 owners busy buying). It does improve things dramatically but for accurate HR, I found it to be sadly insufficient by itself hence steps above
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@NickK Well said…I managed to snag both the black and red textile bands…
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@Brad_Olwin Good man! I only got red
But it’s pretty spiffy, looks even batter with black S7 -
@isazi yes I did but found this one - did not want to start a new one as I know there would be a lot already!
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@NickK THANK YOU! I have tried the soaking… did not seem to do anything including having it on for a drive to the start of a run. I did actually think about buying a new strap as I have the copper baro and the strap sticks out from the sides of the watch so it is hard to get a snug fit without my hand going numb… I will look out for one. Tennis wristband - ‘sweatband’ - or a buff! Will try that also. It is weird though as it did work really well when I first got the watch and now is 100% fail. Not sure if it is due to updates?
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Ever thought about shaving your wrist?
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@loopylou72 said in HR reading problem:
It is weird though as it did work really well when I first got the watch and now is 100% fail. Not sure if it is due to updates?
Exactly my story. When I got my S9 in September 2018, the OHR was rock solid for me. I started to forget how a strap looked like. If not for gym, would have totally misplaced it. Then around summer last year things got worse. And by late fall the OHR became close to unusable. I don’t know what to say… Maybe it’s aging silicon in the strap that gives the watch too much wobble. Maybe it’s the firmware updates. For now I just gave up on using S9 OHR.
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@Łukasz-Szmigiel said in HR reading problem:
Ever thought about shaving your wrist?
I would shave any part of my body if it were to make S9 OHR work, but… Polar and Garmin seem to work just fine without any manscaping
As does Suunto 7. So, let me keep my fur! It’s still cold outside. -
@NickK said in HR reading problem:
@Łukasz-Szmigiel said in HR reading problem:
Ever thought about shaving your wrist?
I would shave any part of my body if it were to make S9 OHR work, but…
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@NickK sounds reasonable enough
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@NickK thanks for the info - will try a textile strap… but of an expensive fix but the strap on the baro has these rigid sides that do not fit my wrist very well anyway compared with my other suunto which has a silicon strap (also dodgy OHR but also the elevation started to read really low!)
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@loopylou72 my experiences with OHR combined with a textile strap are not as good as with a silicone strap.
The reason seems to be, that the silicone strap is flexible - even when tightened - which the textile strap is not. When pushing the tightened watch up the arm it only stays there reliably with the silicone strap. -
@Shrek3k Try the new Velcro loop strap if you can get your hands on it. It’s pretty grabby, yet comfortable. My readings aren’t perfect but definitely improved. I think between the strap and a band to push the watch higher up arm, this should do the trick.
I’m still wondering though why this became a problem about a year ago and wasn’t much of an issue when I first got the watch? Could it actually be some firmware changes last year?..
One shouldn’t have to put on a wardrobe of accessories to get a single sensor working properly.
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@Shrek3k OK thanks for that could save me some money! I can use the silicon strap from my old watch but it is white and my new one black!
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Today Tábata training
Suunto 7 with Velcro strap in the correct place and good tight and Suunto 9 with polar fc
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@jorgefd78
Both are saying you are alive
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@Mff73 hahahahaha thank you suunto to let me know!!
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Here is a comparison I did last weekend on a long run. One S9 with Velcro strap worn above the S7 (silicone on left wrist) on my forearm, one S9 on the right wrist (silicone strap) and the S7 on the left wrist. This was a very steep and technical trail so it is very hard for the watches when running downhill as they can bounce. The S7 only had a little trouble in one spot, and the S9 on my wrist was horrible, the other S9 was great. No strap but I can tell you the strap would like exactly like the S9 worn on my arm. All are OHR.
This shows the S9 OHR is fine, it just does not work well on the wrist for running. The S7 is much better.
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@Brad_Olwin way different in my case. I was doing Tabata trainings with quick movements. Next Saturday I will test running
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I’ll do my first strength training with the S7 today, and I’ll report the results of my HR later.
Watch: Suunto Vertical Ti
Blog: isazi's home
