Garmin HR monitor problems (Read 81 times)

I recently started using a Garmin 35 HR monitor and the HR results seem to vary greatly. I can run the same pace on the same course 3 days in a row and get very different reading. 120 one day and 166 the next. It doesn't seem accurate. Anyone else have the same issue?

I don't trust the HRM in winter.  I am sure I can't run 6 miles at 180+ HR (see my run this past Sunday), when I am just running easy.  My theory is that in the absence of a good signal, the watch just locks into your cadence, especially with optical HRM.  This is not supposed to happen with chest strap, but it sure does in my case.

I guess I'm old fashioned, because I don't trust any heart rate monitors, other than chest strap. However, having said that, I totally agree with what's already been said about cold/dry conditions, regardless of type of HR monitor. I can ride my bike for a couple miles before producing enough consistent and constant moisture to get and maintain an accurate reading (provided I'm riding hard)...and I live in Jacksonville, Fl

Hmm, my impression has been that today's wrist monitors are as good or better than chest straps. I've only used a chest strap a couple of times, and it was old, but I have no issues at all with my wrist HR.

I've been using a wrist-based HRM for 3 years (originally a Garmin 235 and now a Fenix 5S) and have had very few problems.  Having accumulated over 1,000 runs I can confidently say the only issues I've had are:

• Laggy HR on hill repeats when I first bought the 235 (I changed the sampling rate and it fixed this instantly)
• Occasionally in a race the HR will appear unusually low (this has happened to me 3-4 times and mainly when racing in very wet conditions)
• A few runs where the HR took a while to 'warm up' and locked either unusually low or high for the first few minutes (this might have happened 10 times or so) before correcting itself
• Also, the HR on the Fenix 5S still doesn't always deal with rapid changes in effort (e.g. hill sprints) particularly well

Overall though that's a problem with less than 2% of runs and let's not forget that chest straps are also susceptible to electrical interference or issues with lack of moisture.  For the extra convenience/comfort of a wrist-based HRM (which are improving steadily even just through software and firmware updates let alone hardware), it's a no-brainer IMO.