Last week I went out for a run, and of course I strapped on my trusty Polar FT4. I like the idea of my Polar FT4 as my own personal coach. Warning me if I’m moving too fast. I really need it.
Polar FT4 problems: heart beat is 0
But what do you know? It kept telling me I had no heartbeat! It it weren’t for the fact I was still running around, this would have been very bad news indeed. When I got home I searched the internet, and found out having no heart beat is quite common when it comes to Polar FT4 problems.
So I’ve created a handy troubleshoot list for when your Polar FT4 shows a big, fat 0 where your heartbeat should be.
1. Is the strap moist enough?
Because if it isn’t, the sensors in the strap can’t do their work. That’s why I always wet my strap by holding it under the kitchen faucet. The sensors are the two little pieces of gray fabric.
2. Are you wearing the strap tightly enough?
I don’t like the strap too tight, but if it’s not tight enough it can’t pick up your heart beat.
3. Are the batteries still working, or are they as dead as you seem to be?
Leaving the battery on the strap will drain the battery… I had checked the strap, so I figured: ‘It must be the batteries!’ I went to the store, and they checked both the batteries in the watch and the batteries in the thingy you have to put on the strap. But they were fine. At that point I was really worried, because I couldn’t think of any more reasons for my failing heart beat.
4. Try again
After running without my heart monitor for two days, I decided to simply try again. I wet the strap, put it on exactly right, and pushed the button to start monitoring my heart beat. At first I hear that annoying ‘Beeeep!’ again, telling me I had no heart beat. But after a few minutes, suddenly I had a pulse again!
I ran for fifty minutes, and all was well. I don’t know what the problem was, but it seems to have gone away on its own.
Do you run with a heart monitor? If so, which brand?
posted on 22 December at 14:33
The Polar FT4 -- I am on my second one -- seem to work for about 18 months and then they stop. And when they stop, they stop. The sign trouble is coming is loosing the heartrate during a workout... that starts happening more and more and then nothing.
posted on 22 July at 16:44
Mine keeps doing this! It's just frustrating when it IS working and then suddenly stops during the workout. You know nothing has really changed since I put it on 10-20 minutes ago. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. Very frustrating!
posted on 19 May at 19:25
Thank you for posting this. I just recently purchased a used Polarft4 watch and heart monitor. It works for about 12 minutes then looses my heartbeat. I will try some of your methods if they don't work I will try new batteries.
posted on 12 February at 11:43
Yup I have the same problem but it stick 55 BPM but sometime shoos up to 189