I am very pleased with my iAero and iPro except for their cold weather performance. Got my poorest performance from the iAero this weekend at a three stage road race. Half way throught the Saturday Morning road race the iAero stopped functioning. Conditions were not ideal with temperatures in the upper 50s and thunderstorms with strong winds. Before the afternoon time trial, I took out the battery and dried it off --giving the iAero time to dry out. Weather conditions for the time trial had improved. No rain and dry roads but with temperatures in the lower 50s and there were strong winds gusting to 30 mph. During my warmup the iAero stopped functioning. Before todays road race I installed a new battery which seemed to function well during the warmup. However, again conditions were not ideal with temperatures in the 40s and wind chills of 32-39. The battery must have died before the start of the race because the iAero stopped functioning. I have had problem with loss of battery power on long rides (over 3 hours) this winter but this weekend has been the worst.
Is there a solution to this problem?
Tom
Poor Cold Weather Performance
Re: Poor Cold Weather Performance
At 50ish degrees with a fresh battery an iBike generally doesn't stop functioning. There is a warning which you may or may not see and if the voltage gets extremely low, the screen might fade or wattage numbers might be way off. However at 50ish degrees with a fresh battery you should be able to go for hours and hours.
There's the possibility that a poor connection either at the battery or at the head unit caused the unit to shut off. Try putting a small piece or two of electrical tape on the cover of the head unit. That will apply more pressure to the battery covers. If this solves the problem contact aaron at velocomp.com for the permanent fix.
A few users have come up with some homemade solutions that keep voltage up by adding an external battery. Here's my solution http://www.ibikeforum.com/viewtopic.php ... t=30#p7666 but the entire post is excellent reading.
There's the possibility that a poor connection either at the battery or at the head unit caused the unit to shut off. Try putting a small piece or two of electrical tape on the cover of the head unit. That will apply more pressure to the battery covers. If this solves the problem contact aaron at velocomp.com for the permanent fix.
A few users have come up with some homemade solutions that keep voltage up by adding an external battery. Here's my solution http://www.ibikeforum.com/viewtopic.php ... t=30#p7666 but the entire post is excellent reading.
Fernando
Re: Poor Cold Weather Performance
Tom,
I rode frequently this winter in the Washington DC area with temps in the 30's and 40's and high winds and never had this problem. I would rotate batteries from ride to ride to allow the voltage to come back up but I never had the issue that you're describing.
Delane
I rode frequently this winter in the Washington DC area with temps in the 30's and 40's and high winds and never had this problem. I would rotate batteries from ride to ride to allow the voltage to come back up but I never had the issue that you're describing.
Delane
Re: Poor Cold Weather Performance
Racefern,
I don't quite follow your instructions: "Try putting a small piece or two of electrical tape on the cover of the head unit. That will apply more pressure to the battery covers." Should the tape go on the outside of the battery cover or on the inside?
TomLCole
I don't quite follow your instructions: "Try putting a small piece or two of electrical tape on the cover of the head unit. That will apply more pressure to the battery covers." Should the tape go on the outside of the battery cover or on the inside?
TomLCole
Re: Poor Cold Weather Performance
Delane,
Glad to hear you have not had a cold weather battery problem. I too have rotated my batteries which has helped but not competely solved the problem. It may be a connection problem as Racefern has suggested but if so why only in cold weather?
Tom
Glad to hear you have not had a cold weather battery problem. I too have rotated my batteries which has helped but not competely solved the problem. It may be a connection problem as Racefern has suggested but if so why only in cold weather?
Tom
Re: Poor Cold Weather Performance
On the outside of the battery cover, just a small square or two. That will push both battery covers to a tighter fit and alleaviate the possibility of the battery temporarily disconnecting from vibration.TomLCole wrote:Racefern,
I don't quite follow your instructions: "Try putting a small piece or two of electrical tape on the cover of the head unit. That will apply more pressure to the battery covers." Should the tape go on the outside of the battery cover or on the inside?
TomLCole
Fernando
Re: Poor Cold Weather Performance
Tom--was this Fayetteville?
If so, I'm almost certain that battery life was not the problem: water in the wind port is. I experienced a similar problem at F-ville last year (although the weather was just misty/foggy, not the downpour of Saturday). Check your wind-scaling numbers--if they are WAY out of line and don't stay corrected after you do do the wind cal, you've got water in the wind-port.
I did not use my IAero on the morning stage Saturday (and after riding a flat rear wheel in for the last 6 miles, decided to just bag the race). I also taped over the wireless mount to prevent water getting in it.
Give your unit a couple of days to dry out, then see how it behaves. If everything looks fine, don't worry about it, but some folks have reported that their unit emerges with a different wind-scale number than it started with, so you might need to adjust your profile, or recalibrate.
If so, I'm almost certain that battery life was not the problem: water in the wind port is. I experienced a similar problem at F-ville last year (although the weather was just misty/foggy, not the downpour of Saturday). Check your wind-scaling numbers--if they are WAY out of line and don't stay corrected after you do do the wind cal, you've got water in the wind-port.
I did not use my IAero on the morning stage Saturday (and after riding a flat rear wheel in for the last 6 miles, decided to just bag the race). I also taped over the wireless mount to prevent water getting in it.
Give your unit a couple of days to dry out, then see how it behaves. If everything looks fine, don't worry about it, but some folks have reported that their unit emerges with a different wind-scale number than it started with, so you might need to adjust your profile, or recalibrate.
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lorduintah
- Posts: 662
- Joined: Fri Jan 11, 2008 9:37 am
- Location: Plymouth, MN
Re: Poor Cold Weather Performance
The cold weather reduces the chemical reaction that produces the volts in a battery - same is true of your car battery - try International Falls MN.
If you start out with a used battery - even though it may appear at room temp to be just fine, that cold temp will drastically reduce the generated voltage. If you compound that with a suspect continuity (resistance), the voltage drop is exacerbated. Grease on the case of the battery can even be enough to insulate the conductive path.
Of course, if you had water in your recent rides, then this can also contribute to some problems. Until the inside of the iBike is dry, no telling of you get it to work a little or not at all. In this case, putting the iBike in a baggie with another baggie filled with uncooked rice for a day should dry it out - remember to take the battery cover off.
Tom
If you start out with a used battery - even though it may appear at room temp to be just fine, that cold temp will drastically reduce the generated voltage. If you compound that with a suspect continuity (resistance), the voltage drop is exacerbated. Grease on the case of the battery can even be enough to insulate the conductive path.
Of course, if you had water in your recent rides, then this can also contribute to some problems. Until the inside of the iBike is dry, no telling of you get it to work a little or not at all. In this case, putting the iBike in a baggie with another baggie filled with uncooked rice for a day should dry it out - remember to take the battery cover off.
Tom
Re: Poor Cold Weather Performance
R Mc,
Yes it was Fayetteville. I had two flats Saturday morning and like you had to ride the last 6+ miles on a flat but I finished! Thanks for the advise. I'll let the unit dry out and then give it a try. So you put tape around the connection between the head unit and the bike mount to keep water out. What kind of tape do you use?
Tom
Yes it was Fayetteville. I had two flats Saturday morning and like you had to ride the last 6+ miles on a flat but I finished! Thanks for the advise. I'll let the unit dry out and then give it a try. So you put tape around the connection between the head unit and the bike mount to keep water out. What kind of tape do you use?
Tom
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lorduintah
- Posts: 662
- Joined: Fri Jan 11, 2008 9:37 am
- Location: Plymouth, MN
Re: Poor Cold Weather Performance
People are using clear packing tape to wrap up the LCD window - the edge can leak.
The same can be done at the base. The one place you run into problems is the wind port. A light rain will not do much, the spray from bikes in front of you can build up in the port. Really heavy rain and the port is going to grab some of those drops no matter what you do. At that point it is best to take the iBike off and wrap a baggie around the mount and forget about data.
Tom
The same can be done at the base. The one place you run into problems is the wind port. A light rain will not do much, the spray from bikes in front of you can build up in the port. Really heavy rain and the port is going to grab some of those drops no matter what you do. At that point it is best to take the iBike off and wrap a baggie around the mount and forget about data.
Tom
Re: Poor Cold Weather Performance
1. I've not had problem with moisture getting in through the screen.
2. I used some number tape (grizzy grip) to tape over the battery seal of the wireless mount. Looking at the forecast beforehand, I knew we were gonna get swamped, so I did not ride with the iAero mounted. I have read of other users discovering that their wireless mount had allowed leakage which damaged the mount.
3. Saturday would have been a good day to have an RWS set up for the road bike--there was no way the wind port would not have picked up water, especially in a pack.
2. I used some number tape (grizzy grip) to tape over the battery seal of the wireless mount. Looking at the forecast beforehand, I knew we were gonna get swamped, so I did not ride with the iAero mounted. I have read of other users discovering that their wireless mount had allowed leakage which damaged the mount.
3. Saturday would have been a good day to have an RWS set up for the road bike--there was no way the wind port would not have picked up water, especially in a pack.
Re: Poor Cold Weather Performance
Thanks guys for your suggestions. Fayetteville was my first experience with riding with my iAero in heavy rain (I had previous raced in the Texas State Road Championship with light rain and no problems with the iAero.). So it may be possible to ride with the iAeo in heavy rain with the iAero covered with a plastic bag to keep out the rain but the power reading will be off?? For me I'd like to have some kind of feedback from a bike computer during a race. So I'll try that option next time. I'm also considering a second computer as a backup to the iAero. Thanks again for your help.
Tom
Tom