Polar FT60 Heart Rate Monitor Review
I purchased the Polar FT60 Heart Rate Monitor in May of 2009. My main purpose was to help motivate me and track how much cardio work out I was getting in my exercises. I chose it because it had a feminine purple color, it is water resistant, it tracks heart rate and provides weekly reports, and there is an interface to the PC. I found a great price from a dealer on ebay and purchased there.
I really like the Polar FT60. I exercise 4 – 6 times per week and wear it for my cardio and strength training. It is interesting to watch the heart rate go up and I record my maximum and average rate in my exercise log. It’s all just data to help keep me motivated and it works.
About a month ago I started having problems with the Polar FT60. When I tried to initiate the heart rate, it would show 00, then Check heart rate transmitter! Sometimes it would go in and out, showing what appeared to be the correct heart rate and then going back to 00. I wasn’t sure if there was a problem with the watch, transmitter, or belt but the error message seemed to indicate it was the transmitter. I read the instructions and realized that I had not been washing my strap as advised so washed it immediately and sure enough my Polar HRM started working again. I thought I had solved the problem. It worked for about 3 sessions and then became intermittent again. I tried washing again and accidentally put it in the dryer. Then no go, I started getting the dreaded, Check heart rate transmitter and 00’s and occasionally real high numbers like 200. I thought about sending it all back to Polar under warranty but wasn’t sure if I was going to have a problem because I purchased on ebay and had put the strap in the dryer (how would they know though). I also thought that I should check the battery in the transmitter, just in case. I opened it up and it looked like I needed a tool to get the battery out so took it to a watch shop. They were kind enough to test my battery, it was good and let me try the monitor with a new battery, it didn’t work. Argh. I finally decided to purchase a new transmitter and belt on amazon. No taxes and free shipping and others had reported that this solved their problem.
The new Wearlink strap and trasmitter arrived and they worked! Here’s the link to the Wearlink at Amazon:
Polar WearLink+ Coded Transmitter and Belt Set (Medium-XX-Large)
I also did some testing and both transmitters seemed to work with the new strap but not the old strap. So I could have just purchased a new strap, that would have saved me $34. Here’s the link for just the strap:
Polar WearLink+ Replacement Strap (Medium-XX-Large)
Now as I am writing this blog post, I pulled out my old strap to get the error message correct in this post. It did fail once and I got the error message but suddenly the FT 60 started working properly with the original strap and transmitter. Now I am confused but will keep working with the old strap and transmitter and if they are too intermittent will use the new strap.
So if you’re looking to purchase a Polar Heart Rate Monitor and have trouble with the strap, maybe the above links will help you solve the proble.
If you haven’t purchased yet, Here’s a link to the Polar FT60 at Amazon:
Also some great prices at J & R:
And I wouldn’t be cheap like me and try ebay, I didn’t save that much money and would have more options with the warranty.