Genius Smart connection/resistance issues

[Leanmeanmachine]

Since 2 weeks my Genius behaves strange:
- when starting training easy spinning after approx. 5 mins Genius accelerates and I feel no resistance
- when I brake the rear wheel to full stop and accelerate again I can pedal normal for a few seconds then accelerate again and over again
- sometimes connection drops as well (no watts in Zwift)
- After approx. 30 mins and several retries I can Zwift a regular session
- in This mode it’s also quiet hard to get the Trainer calibrated (seems that connection drops - I can not finish the calibration)

Contacted Garmin support- maybe you guys here have any idea? Thx!

[mcorn]

You did not mention which model of Genius this is. Sounds like either a wireless connection issue (maybe something else is interfering) or a serious problem with brake itself.

[Leanmeanmachine]

Hi Michael - thanks for the reply!

It’s a genius smart (see attached screenshot). Tried several times BT (onboard) or ANT Dongle- seems that the communication issue follows also the weird “acceleration” and wattage drops. Sometimes (if I do not brake early enough during acceleration) all the LED turn red and I have to restart the Genius. When I checked Zwiftalyzer log I see a lot of drops in the beginning- then after 30 mins I have a chance of normal training.

Any idea which part of the Electronic could cause this “warming up” effect? Is there a grounding issue or a damaged capacitor?

I’m running out of ideas-I guess I have to open entirely (I just removed and replygged the electronic “side”. Did not access the PCB.

Best regards!
Matthias

[Leanmeanmachine]

Opened it today- no thermal signs/issues found. Reassembled and added contact spray on the contacts of the PCB. Reassembled and tested - still dropouts and package losses.
Changed WiFi router settings to channel 1. Also no help. Switched to BT connection for Zwift - it seems that the issue is then worse...

Any other ideas?

Best
Matthias

[mcorn]

Which program screen shot are you showing above?

Have you tried the Tacx Utility App (either Android or Apple)?

[Leanmeanmachine]

Screenshot is taken from Taxcx Training App on iPhone. I tried also the Tacx utility App (alignment and calibration).

As stated before: if calibration runs through (you can follow it better in Training app as you see the spinning speeds) the genius still does not work for roughly 30 mins.

When I checked the last zwiftalyzer logs it shows huge (22%) packet loss and every other minute a ant+ repairing...the other ant+ senders (ngeco and hr-strap) have only 4%. After 30 mins the packet-loss goes down and no reconnects. It’s weird.

I will give a usb extension a try and then waiting for response from garmin/Tacx support.

Best
M.

[mcorn]

Yes, for ANT+, I always used a USB extension (do not exceed 5 meters total USB length) to get the transmitter closer to the brake.

I would try Bluetooth which seems more tolerant of distance. If you get the same result, then there is likely a problem with the brake itself.

[carlaltdelete]

I have exactly the same issue with my Tacx genius smart. I suspect it to be software related because it is unpredictable. Sometimes it works as expected, sometimes not. If anyone has solutions/ideas I am happy!