Powertap SL not working after a heavy downpour.

BlueJersey said:

Today was probably the heaviest downpour that I have ever commuted in. It was so wet and rainy that it wasn't even safe to drive, let alone riding a bike. I have the rain gear on and so I was really enjoying my commute. 😄 When I got home and took the plastic cap off, I noticed there were some water inside. I also remove the batteries holder and noticed there were some water on the contact area. I dried them and put everything back on. Then, I noticed my computer wasn't picking up ANY power reading. Assuming the water shorted the circuit, any chance the hub will "come back to life again?"

Some people have had luck leaving the cap off and letting the innards air dry for a few days.

BlueJersey said:

Assuming the water shorted the circuit, any chance the hub will "come back to life again?"

Seems unlikely that any short-circuit would have caused damage to the components at voltages that low. Batteries may have been drained by the high moisture, and may need changing if it doesn't come back to life when dry. I'd probably remove the batteries, dry them with a cloth, and leave them out while the unit dries to prevent the possibility of corrosion with the contacts. I agree with letting it dry out, either by air dry or with a hair dryer on low/med heat.

I've completely soaked mine a couple of times -- pulled the cap and let it dry for a day. No problem.

Also, the biggest problem for me has been to make sure that the contacts between the computer head and harness are dry -- mine has lost signal if that area gets soaked. If I think it's going to rain hard, I just take a plastic sandwich bag and cover it up.

I am going to replace the batteries to see what is going to happen. Still dead as of this morning.

JIM WV said:

I've completely soaked mine a couple of times -- pulled the cap and let it dry for a day. No problem.

Also, the biggest problem for me has been to make sure that the contacts between the computer head and harness are dry -- mine has lost signal if that area gets soaked. If I think it's going to rain hard, I just take a plastic sandwich bag and cover it up.

Is your PT computer working other than hub data? Is it getting cadence (assuming you have installed the cadence pickup and magnet) and HR?

BlueJersey said:

"come back to life again?"

Most likely not. It sounds as if you have one of the SLs with faulty seals which allowed moisture into the hub on the freewheel side. Mine needed to go back for repair. Saying that, they fixed it and I have yet to have a problem with the rebuilt hub.

I tried replacing the batteries before sending it back and it would come back to life for maybe 30 seconds before the batteries would go dead again. I think they told me it had a high voltage draw due to something shorting out.

Do yourself a favor, call Graber and send it back to get it fixed. Don't spend a ton of money on batteries trying to figure out if it's ok or not.

Well, just got the RMA number from Cyclopes. New batteries didn't work. Yes, HR, cadence, and non-wattage mode do work though. The pickup seems to work fine.

BikeInMN said:

Most likely not. It sounds as if you have one of the SLs with faulty seals which allowed moisture into the hub on the freewheel side. Mine needed to go back for repair. Saying that, they fixed it and I have yet to have a problem with the rebuilt hub.

I tried replacing the batteries before sending it back and it would come back to life for maybe 30 seconds before the batteries would go dead again. I think they told me it had a high voltage draw due to something shorting out.

Do yourself a favor, call Graber and send it back to get it fixed. Don't spend a ton of money on batteries trying to figure out if it's ok or not.

BlueJersey said:

Well, just got the RMA number from Cyclopes. New batteries didn't work. Yes, HR, cadence, and non-wattage mode do work though. The pickup seems to work fine.

Their customer service is very good. You should be back up and running in no time.

BikeInMN said:

Their customer service is very good. You should be back up and running in no time.

I agree as to the Saris customer service. As to being up and running in no time, unfortunately there is the small matter of rebuilding a wheel. Oh, well, it's still the cheapest PM on the market that provides accurate and consistent power data.

RapDaddyo said:

I agree as to the Saris customer service. As to being up and running in no time, unfortunately there is the small matter of rebuilding a wheel. Oh, well, it's still the cheapest PM on the market that provides accurate and consistent power data.

I guess that up and running in no time to me means they have a fix now unlike when I sent mine in and the had to keep it for 3 months. They did send me a loaner PT Pro for my trouble which was again good cust service.