PowerTap SL cold sensitivity?

kmavm said:

I've heard about the PowerTaps being sensitive to cold; is this what happened to me? I'm a little skeptical, because we're talking about northern California, here. It was the high 30's Farenheit at the coldest, and probably more like the low 40's. However, nothing else was out of the ordinary about the ride. Thoughts?

Its not the PT, its the batteries. The point at which the batteries fail to provide sufficient juice is variable, since it depends on how old the batteries are (new batteries handle cold better than used batteries). If you speak with Saris, they predict problems starting around 30F or so. My own experience is that with relatively fresh batteries I'm ok down to around 22-25F, and below those temps both the batteries and I tend to fail. My guess is that with new batteries and the temperatures you mention, you would be fine.

palewin said:

Its not the PT, its the batteries. The point at which the batteries fail to provide sufficient juice is variable, since it depends on how old the batteries are (new batteries handle cold better than used batteries). If you speak with Saris, they predict problems starting around 30F or so. My own experience is that with relatively fresh batteries I'm ok down to around 22-25F, and below those temps both the batteries and I tend to fail. My guess is that with new batteries and the temperatures you mention, you would be fine.

Hmm. These batteries are less than 1 month old; I had to replace the ones that came with the unit. I haven't quite gotten in the "250 - 300 hours" of riding in this month that the powertap manual suggests I expect 🙂. Is it possible my hub is tearing through batteries especially quickly? I'm also not seeing the "flashing transmission icon" that warned me of fritzy batteries back in December...

Also, I did a two hour ride in the warm early afternoon sun, and the powertap didn't miss a beat.

If you read through the manual, they state that the computer's operating range is 0 degrees celsius to (not sure what). I generally find my indoor trainer below 0, so it's not been a problem for me, but then my batteries are still probably fresh.