What's wrong with my Cateye Velo 8 computer?

[I like Skol]

I have had a Cateye Velo 8 for about 5 years and while it has been great and seems very accurate (you set the wheel circumference to the nearest cm so not really surprising) it has on very rare occasions stopped reading during a ride. The most frustrating time was about 3-4 years ago while doing the Manchester 100 mile when it stopped at about the 75 mile point

It always starts working again without any interference from me either the next day or when the bike is next used so I have always put it down to a bad contact although removing and refitting the computer into the mount doesn't fix it at the time. In the last two weeks it has done it twice and having some time to spare I decided to investigate.

The spring loaded contact pins on the rear of the computer are moving freely and when rapidly shorted with a paper clip the screen registers the speed so no problems there then?

The mount and wire has been repaired in the past (soldered, not twisted together) but when a multimeter set to read continuity is used on the contact plates the sensor switch can be seen to close when the wheel magnet passes by, so again all ok.

The mount contact plates can be lifted slightly with a sharp blade just to make sure they are within reach of the computer contacts but this still doesn't help.

Why is my cycle computer spitting it's dummy out? The individual parts check out ok but it still doesn't work when clipped together. It worked for my ride to work on Tuesday night, stopped working halfway home on Wednesday morning and still isn't working today despite repeated faffing about and checking and rechecking that the various bits are working with a paper clip and multimeter.

Before anyone suggests it, I don't want to buy a REPLACEMENT! they may only be £16 but there is no reason for this one not to work!!!!!!! HELP.

 

[I like Skol]

TYPICAL! just popped out to the garage to give it a try and as soon as I picked up the front wheel and gave it a spin I got an instant reading. I removed the computer then clipped it back in and still ok. What is happening?

 

[Rob3rt]

Check the cables! If there is an intermittant fault it could be the sign that the cable is starting to fail (break) at some point along its length . I know you have checked it, but on that occasion you may have got lucky and had the cable in a position that it made contact, if you wiggle the cable around (yes....... a scientific method coming from an Electrical Engineer here! ), see if it makes any differenc. You could also poke the solder joint and put some new solder on it incase its a dry joint.

 

[adscrim]

My velo 5 blanked out at times, especially when it's raining. Try some vaseline on the contact points, that solved mine.

 

[I like Skol]

Thanks for the suggestions. It's definitely not a problem with the wire repair because it even did it originaly before the wire was damaged and I have checked the continuity at least a dozen times in the last 2 days so would have found the fault once? The vasaline suggestion is probably the next obvious step, it was raining heavily on Wed morning but I can't remember what the weather was on the other occasions (quite rare occurances spread over a few years).

Unfortunately, looking at the weather for tonight I am not even going to try cycle into work for the night shift so it will probably be next week before I can try again.

 

[Cheule]

Hi there, like you I have a velo 8, its only 3 months old with 496 miles on the clock and its already done what you describe. Nothing I did at the time helped, next day however all was back to normal. Not pleased.

 

[Tynan]

I've got one going begging it anyone wants it, the mount got broken so now it's rather useless in the house

I think it's the 8

 

[I like Skol]

Hi there, like you I have a velo 8, its only 3 months old with 496 miles on the clock and its already done what you describe. Nothing I did at the time helped, next day however all was back to normal. Not pleased.

This is weird, what is happening? Is yours the older style square one or the current sheild shaped model? I wonder if it is a software fault that is locking it up? All the functions still work so you can flick through the Av, max, trip, etc but it just doesn't seem to register the signal from the sensor at all, and then, inexplicably, some time later it does. Perhaps microsoft had a hand in the design

 

[Zoiders]

I know you have said you don't want a replacement but any bit of kit that keeps letting me down on a regular basis I consider to not be worth the grief.

Getting het up about it is just letting a manufacturer of dodgy kit shaft you even more (not keen on cateye kit myself).

 

[I like Skol]

I know you have said you don't want a replacement but any bit of kit that keeps letting me down on a regular basis I consider to not be worth the grief.

Getting het up about it is just letting a manufacturer of dodgy kit shaft you even more (not keen on cateye kit myself).

Yes, I know. If it doesn't improve quickly then it will indeed be heading for the skip!

Now, where did I put that vasaline?

 

[Yellow Fang]

I used to get this problem too when the weather was wet. I assumed it was something to do with the contacts because it always seemed to work again when it had dried out. Eventually it seemed to fail altogether, so I got another. Only afterwards did it occur to me that the battery might have died.

 

[Broadside]

I've got a Cateye Strada - it does the same thing in heavy rain. I have yet to try the vaseline trick but I agree with the other posters above, it is definitely worth a shot. If that doesn't fix it then it is time for the bin, no-one is going to be able to tell you how to fix it if it is knackered!

 

[kevin_cambs_uk]

If I wiggle the wire upwards towards the unit on the handle bars it comes back to life, but in heavy rain forget it !

 

[Cheule]

This is weird, what is happening? Is yours the older style square one or the current sheild shaped model? I wonder if it is a software fault that is locking it up? All the functions still work so you can flick through the Av, max, trip, etc but it just doesn't seem to register the signal from the sensor at all, and then, inexplicably, some time later it does. Perhaps microsoft had a hand in the design

Mine is I presume the shield shaped new style one, here's a pic of it before installation.



It's got 02/10 stamped on the back which I assume is the manufacturing date, so it's 11 actual months old but I bought it in September.

It happened again early this morning on my way home from the night shift. It was tipping down outside, but not torrential or anything. All was fine for the first 2.3 miles of my 3.06 mile commute home, then water must have done something as I looked down and the dreaded 0.0 was displaying despite me doing about 20mph.

I got it home, spun the front wheel and sure enough nothing happened. Magnet is in the correct place and tightened to the spoke, and the sensor isn't loose. I took it off the mount and took it indoors, put a key across the terminals. I could get the MPH legend to flash like it was registering something, but the speed stayed at 0.0 and the Odometer didn't advance.

I may be emailing Cateye for an explanation, water ingress isn't good enough I'm afraid. I used to own an Enduro 8 and I never, ever had a problem with it, hence my returning to Cateye for another computer (the Enduro 8 and the bike it was attached to got nicked sadly).

 

[heretic]

If it's wet weather vaseline the contacts and the outside of the battery cover. Failing that check how close the magnet is passing the pickup coil. It needs to be 2mm max. 1mm would be better and the vertical alignment needs to be right too. Pity they discontinued the Mity 3, best little computer I ever had, even counting the old Avocets and they were nearly bombproof.