Saturday, November 06, 2010

my pm3 is dead, slain by a bad battery


I haven't used my indoor rower since June, at which point the monitor was working fine. Yesterday, I decided it was time to start preparing for the Concept2 Holiday Challenge. When I started to row, the monitor didn't turn on automatically, like it usually does. I figured, "dead batteries" and opened the monitor to pop them out. Much to my chagrin, I found one of the batteries had "exploded" and leaked all over the circuit board.

I was tempted to pour some Dr Pepper over the thing, but I didn't have any in the house. Instead I tried scrubbing on some baking soda with a toothbrush. That removed some of the corrosion but not all (the photo above shows the end result, still with plenty of gunk). I had to flush a little water over the area to remove the baking soda and detritus... I let it dry overnight, and tried it out this morning. It still doesn't work, no surprise.

I could continue to row without the monitor, of course, but then I wouldn't be able to record my meters, and couldn't participate in challenges, which is something I really enjoy.

So I've ordered a PM3 retrofit kit from Concept2 for the horrifying price of $160 (I guess I'm lucky that they still sell the things). Reminder to all: remove the batteries from expensive items when you aren't going to be using them for a while.

No comments: