DIY bike computer repair

In detail: do-it-yourself bike computer repair from a real master for the site my.housecope.com.

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In most cases, the cycling computer can be repaired by yourself. To do this, you need a tester (avometer), which can be bought for less than $ 15, a soldering iron and the ability to use it.

Electronics cannot be repaired on your own, but printed circuit boards and microcircuits of modern bike computer models are very reliable and rarely break. And the most common faults are easy to fix. There are three main reasons for bike computer breakdowns: battery problems, wiring problems, or improper magnet or sensor positioning on the bike computer.

Battery faults are the easiest to identify. If you can see clear black numbers on the screen, then everything is in order with the battery. When the battery runs out, the liquid crystal screen dims, and when it is completely discharged, the screen goes out completely. Open the bike computer, remove the battery, check the terminals for corrosion. Remove plaque with a cotton swab dipped in ammonia. Replace the battery. If the screen is still blank, try rebuilding the terminals with a soldering iron.

Some cycling computers are very sensitive to nutritional quality. Ideally, the battery should have direct, solid contact with its terminal blocks. When the contacts "rattle" due to battery displacements, the bike computer will receive "erroneous" data, confusing it. It can show one eights, or random fragments of numbers, or it can go out altogether. This problem is especially common with Cateye Solar cycling computers, which have very firm elastic contacts and use two small batteries that are quite difficult to replace. Many Cateye Solars bike computers that simply needed to be properly reinstalled have been rejected as defective. Previously sold Cateye batteries came with a special small piece of thin plastic that was used to clean the contacts - it was inserted between the two batteries and then removed.

Video (click to play).

Some cycling computers have a special procedure to “reset” the processor, usually by pressing all buttons at the same time.

Electrical wiring on bicycles is very often damaged, torn, especially if the wire is not properly routed and protected.

Usually problems arise in the area of ​​the steering column, where the wire can become very taut when steering. Front-mounted bike computers are more reliable in this regard, because there are no loose areas when the bike computer is installed correctly. The wire rises from the fork blades to the front brake and then goes along the brake cable to the handlebars without any attachment to the frame.

Rear-mounted bike computers require more care because of the loose cord that must not touch the tire, which can quickly wipe it down in just a few kilometers. Also, when installing the bike in the simulators, you can accidentally damage the wire laid under the downstay of the rear triangle. At the same time, it is impossible to install the sensor of the bicycle computer in front, since it will not work!

Wireless bike computers have a second battery in the radio transmitter. When this battery runs out, the speed readings become inaccurate and eventually disappear. To get at least some reading, the bike computer sensor must be moved from the rear wheel to the front wheel.On a bike with small wheels, you can break the rule of placing the magnet close to the hub and place the reed switch with the magnet closer to the bike computer.

You can also try placing the wireless bike computer below the handlebars. On sale are available special mounting brackets for installing bike computers, headlights to go. Tilting the bike computer forward and back with the steering wheel can also prevent it from picking up the sensor signals due to the displacement of its internal antenna. This is especially noticeable on the liguerade.

It is easy to check the wiring using an ohmmeter or a tester, you just need to understand how the sensor of the bike computer works. The "sensor" is actually just a magnetically operated switch (reed switch). When the magnet is close enough, the reed switch closes, making contact between the two wires in the cable. When the magnet is far from the sensor, the reed switch is open and there is no contact between the two wires.

If you remove the bike computer from its position on the handlebar, you can see two metal contacts (three for cadence cycling computers). For trouble-free operation, these contacts and contacts on the bike computer itself must be clean and provide a reliable spring-loaded connection. If cleaning the contacts does not solve the problem, you need to check the wiring and the correct installation of the magnet with an ohmmeter or tester. Hold the tester probes on the two mounting pins on the handlebar. If you have three pins, one is for the wheel sensor, the other is for the cadence sensor, and the third is common to both. To determine where is which contact, you need to try all the combinations one by one.

Turn the wheel so that the magnet moves away from the reed switch. There should be no connection between the two pins. If the device shows a connection, then the wires are short-circuited and you need to change the sensor, wire or block with the sensor. (This method does not apply to Avocet bike computers. See the methodology below for Avocet bike computers.

Then turn the wheel so that the magnet is next to the reed switch. The tester should show that the circuit is closed. You can shake the wire back and forth and make sure that the connection appears and then disappears again when the wire moves. If this does not happen, then the wire is damaged and at best the bike computer will work intermittently. If the bike computer passes this test, then the wires and magnet are installed correctly and are not damaged.

If you cannot close the reed switch with a wheel magnet held close to the reed switch, try using a pocket magnet. Hold it exactly opposite the sensor on the same side it should be on according to the instructions. If the circuit still remains open, the wire is faulty. If the pocket magnet works, but the wheel magnet does not, then you need to try to bring the wheel magnet and the reed switch as close as possible.

Expensive Avocet bike computers work a little differently. The sensor on the Avocet bike computer is not a reed switch, but an inductor. A 20-pole magnetic ring spins past the coils of the sensor, generating a small electrical current that can be measured with an AC voltmeter. When the wheel is rotated by hand, an alternating voltage of approximately 50 millivolts should be generated at the terminals on the handlebars.

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When testing, a tester or ohmmet will show the connection regardless of the position of the magnet. Unlike most bike computers, Avocet bike computers can only replace a wire, without completely replacing the bike computer sensor or handlebar assembly. The Avocet 15 and 25 use a conventional reed switch with one magnet on the spoke.

The magnets used in various brands of cycling computers are very simple and interchangeable. Some are more powerful than others. The sensor will not trigger if it is too far from the magnet - therefore a stronger magnet is easier to install.Replacing a stronger magnet with a weaker magnet can lead to problems.

Incorrect installation of the bike computer magnet can also result in irregular or double readings.

The magnet of the Cateye solar bike computer has two lines printed on it. One of these lines must be located on the same axis with the corresponding line on the reed switch. Cyclists do not install the cateye bike computer according to the instructions, assuming that this line on the sensor should go somewhere between the lines on the magnet. This error results in completely incorrect readings on the bike computer. Each of the lines on the magnet is located in the region of the maximum fields of the magnet, and the middle between these lines is not magnetized.

The Cateye Mate bike computers use 4 magnets mounted on the rim. If the rim is bent, one of the magnets will be farther from the reed switch than the others. This can result in a bike computer reading of 15 mph when you are actually riding 20, etc. You can check that all the magnets on the rim are close to the reed switch by spinning the wheel a few inches back and forth at low speed to allow the magnet to pass. here and there near the reed switch. A speed reading will appear on the screen, even if it is only 2 or 3 km / h. This test must be repeated for each of the four magnets. You must get speed readings from all four magnets, otherwise the reed switch must be reset.

Isn't it easier to disassemble the bike computer itself?

In this model, there is no such function.

PS In the evening I will arrange ritual dances with a tambourine - after that I will unsubscribe.

The bike computer is new, as you wrote, so it could be exchanged.

In this model - this function is absent
The sensor is filled with banal thermal paste - it's not difficult to restore.

They would ring like this (if there is no multimeter), a battery and a TV (if the reception is on a conventional antenna or cable). We would connect a battery or power supply unit instead of the controller's head and run it with a magnet - small ripples on the TV set showed that the wire with the sensor is working properly, or vice versa.

Do not do this under any circumstances! A surefire way to kill a low current signal reed switch. And maybe, at the same time, the power supply unit, if it does not have short circuit protection.
andrey_9999, refrain from advice on electronics if you don't know a lot about it.

Image - DIY bike computer repair

In most cases, you can repair a bicycle computer yourself; you only need a tester (workshop). The electronic part cannot be repaired on your own, but the boards and radio elements of modern bicycle computers are very reliable and fail very rarely.

The most common faults in cycling computers are caused by poor contact or broken wires and are easy to fix. There are three main reasons for bike computer breakdowns:

- problems with wires;
- problems with batteries;
- incorrect location of the sensor of the led computer or magnet.

Wires from a led computer are very often damaged and torn, especially when they are not protected or routed incorrectly.

Most often, problems can arise in the area of ​​the steering column - when you turn the steering wheel, the wire can stretch and break. In this regard, the most reliable bike computers are those that are installed in front - with proper installation, there are no areas with sagging wires. The wire from the fork stays goes up to the front brake, and then goes along the brake cable to the handlebars without attachments to the frame.

When installing the sensor and magnet of the bike computer at the back, you need to be more careful, as the loose section of the wire can be damaged when it touches the tire. When the bike is installed in the simulator, the bike computer will not work when the sensor and magnet are located in the front (the wheel does not spin). And, with the rear position, you can accidentally damage the wire that is laid under the lower rear stays of the frame.

They are the easiest to identify. When the battery is good, the numbers on the screen are clear.When the battery "runs out", the liquid crystal screen starts to dim, and when the battery is completely discharged, it goes out completely. In addition to a dead battery, the problem may be in the contact terminals (corrosion, oxidation, plaque). The plaque is removed with ammonia.

Cycle computer malfunctions - some models are sensitive to power quality. In case of poor contact with the battery, the cycling computer receives erroneous data and gives an incorrect result.

If the sensor on the fork or frame or the magnet on the wheel spoke is not properly installed, the bike computer either does not work at all or malfunctions, giving incorrect readings.

The optimum distance between the sensor and the magnet is approximately 1.5-2 mm. During operation, the magnet attachment may weaken and it will break, the same happens when driving on tall grass or when overcoming obstacles.

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On the modern market, there are a large number of people who produce computers for bicycles. Each model has a different pricing policy and a set of many useful functions, which we will talk about a little below. The cycling computer on our bike plays an important role. For one, it serves just so to speak for beauty.

Well, for more advanced cyclists, it is able to show the necessary parameters we need, such as:

  • travel speed
  • average travel speed
  • total mileage
  • clock

These are the main functions of the cheapest bike computers, there are also more advanced devices that can have a wider range of functions, these can be:
  • LCD display backlight
  • storing data in memory
  • current travel speed
  • average speed
  • maximum speed
  • travel time
  • total travel time
  • air temperature
  • heart rate monitor
  • calorie burn rate and other features that are added as you improve.

But everyone is not insured against device failure or breakdown. What to look at if the bike computer does not work?
  1. The most common thing that can happen is a malfunction of the position of the magnet on the spoke. I personally encountered such a problem. It is treated by checking the gap between the magnet and the receiver.
  2. The exact same problem can happen with the magnetic pickup sensor that is attached to the bike fork. Checking the gap.
  3. If the computer on the bike is wired, then the problem may be a bare wire or a fracture. We diagnose the wiring from the base to the magnetic receiver. If a fracture is found, it is necessary to carefully solder and isolate the problem area.
  4. Oxidation of the contacts on the bike computer mount (socket). Solution lies in cleaning the jack contacts and on the device itself.

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  • And the worst thing that can happen is the breakdown of the device itself.Diagnostics of the computer consists in closing the contacts, you can close them with your fingers and rub them, thus closing and opening the contacts on the device, numbers and speed readings will appear. If the numbers appear, it is necessary to diagnose the above points. If the computer does not respond to the closure of the contacts, then you will probably have to contact the electronics engineers for repair, or, if the malfunction has not been eliminated, you will have to purchase a new cycling computer.