Suunto Heart Rate Belt - Heart Rate too high

[SuperFlo75]

Hello guys, today I saw a really crazy behavior of the heart rate during my run. I used my Suunto heart rate belt the first time after many month of using the OHR. As usual I gave water on the skin under the belt.
When I started the sports mode, everything seemed to be normal, the heart rate was about 80/min as I expected to be normal. After beginning my run, the heart rate was extremely high, over 200/min, much higher than expected. My feeling was good, and I expected a heart rate of about 150/min… after about 15 minutes, I did a little break the get my pulse at the arteria carotis, I counted and used my stop watch of the phone… the heart rate was about 140/min, and the watch showed about 210/min after that I continued my run, and a few minutes later I saw the heart rate on the watch with a frequency of 150-160 as expected…
Can anybody explain me what happened there? I thought the heart rate belt is better than the OHR? Are there any factors that explain a too high heart rate?
I don‘t have any problems with my heart and no atrial fibrillation or something like that which would cause a difference between EKG and peripher pulse…
I’m looking forward to your opinion!

[VoiGAS]

@SuperFlo75 I had the same or a similar problem with my belt. After cleaning and a massage of the belt everything worked well again. Maybe it works for you too

[GiPFELKiND]

@SuperFlo75 had similar thing, opened the battery Box, put a new battery in and all works fine again

[timecode]

Usually when the belt behaves funky it’s a battery issue, or the belt is old. Try a new battery and see if it helped : )

[jussim]

What kind of “mileage” do folks get out of the battery in the belt? Say you train for a neat 500 hours in a year - and always use a belt - how often do you change the battery? Yearly? More often?

Can’t comment on my own experiences since I’ve had the belt for less than a year now and use it mainly on just workouts and races so maybe 2-3 times a week Just curious!

[Mff73]

@jussim
not mileage but time

@Mff73 said in HR low battery alert:

yesterday i made the first run with my Suunto HR Belt that reach 0% battery level
HR records are still nice and mesurments are true (at least twice in the move when I stop to check with fingers on the neck )
i will try to push it as long as I have metrics on the watch.

FYI, this battery totalize 380 hours of recordings (so some extra hours when plugged and moves not started).

[alebalbis]

I have exactly the same problem that @SuperFlo75 is having, when using my Suunto strap the heart rate spike almost instantly from 80 to 160 but after a few minutes the HR comes back to normal.
But today it was a mess, HR was very irregular at the beginning and then increased to near 200 and stayed there for several minutes.
It was so bad that for the first time zonasense was not registered and it is not shown in the graph.
I always moisten the strap and I pair the sensor before running.
I will try changing the battery (it is not so old) and if the problem persist I’ll contact the Suunto customer service.

[Mauerwegler]

What colour does the contact area on the strap have? My all black strap (with black contact patch for the sensor) also behaved like that after half a year of usage (with 8 sessions per week maybe). I then learned in this forum that Suunto has changed something and the „good“ straps are black with grey contact patch. There are threads about this in this forum.

[SuperFlo75]

@Mauerwegler this sounds interesting, I didn’t know this. I will look at the colour at home. But I bought a new strap, because a new Battery didn‘t solve the problem. With the new strap, the Heart rate seems good as expected… but I have still problems with ZoneSense because I still don‘t see the ZoneSense metrics of all trainings with the belt…

[Pasi80]

Hi.

Anybody still have problem with Suunto heart rate belt/strap?

I have Suunto Vertical and heart rate belt. Problems with heart rate monitoring (show totally wrong heart rate) start 2024 summer and finally Suunto changed both devices (vertical/belt).

4 months new watch/belt work correctly, but after that the same problems start again.

The problem have not gone away so next week I will send both (vertical/belt) to maintenance (warranty).

[SuperFlo75]

@Pasi80 actually I have no problems with SV and belt… but I bought a new one after the problems I had when I opened this thread

[Brad_Olwin]

@Pasi80 does the belt have the grey color between connectors or black? The older belts (black around sensor connector) are not as robust and the connection degrades. A second issue if wearing a tech shirt and you don’t sweat enough static can build and affect reading HR. I always wet the belt under running water not just my skin. That keeps the belt wet enough until I sweat so static does not build. Even the new belts only last I to 1.5 years for me.

[Pasi80]

@SuperFlo75 okay… So after you bought a new one you haven’t got any problems (if I understand right)

[Pasi80]

@Brad_Olwin Can you send a picture so I can be sure what “area” you mean (gray or black)? I can check it later when I get back home.

Also I always wet (enought ) my heart rate belt before exercise. My Garmin Fenix 5 and Garmin heart rate belt working with no problems.

I have weared both SV + belt & Garmin Fenix 5 + belt -> Garmin gave correct pulse but Suunto is not…

[SuperFlo75]

@Brad_Olwin The new belt is the grey one, and the old was the black one. But the old belt was about 3 years old… I always make the belt wet before using it, and I wash it with clear water after using… but now, with the new one, everything is good

[SuperFlo75]

@Pasi80 yes, that‘s right

[SuperFlo75]

@Pasi80 I think he means this area…

[flyinono]

@alebalbis same for me, exactly the same problem withe the HR spike at the beginninng. I have the belt with the grey area which seems to be the latest.

[Pasi80]

@SuperFlo75

It seems to be black… So it is old series. Need to take contact to Suunto suport. Thanks

[Pasi80]

@SuperFlo75

Thank you. Mine seems to be black. I will take contact to Suunto suport