Stages G2 power meters

[mzlewis]

Hello,

I've followed all of the reports regarding the terrible water sealing on the Stages G1 cranks but now they've released the G2 is it still an issue. The crank arm will spend an equal amount of time on my road bike and mtb. when it is on the mtb I was thinking of water proofing it further with electrical tape just to be sure buy any real life feedback would be great.

Thanks,

Matt Lewis

[synthesis]

I would look around for a good size Heatshrink tube, that fits over pod and arm.
Or just use a piece of inner tube.

[jmaccyd]

I have seen forum posts of people that covered their Stages crank in tape, layers of it, and it still failed. I got through three units before the current one, that lives in the house now, and has stayed reliably working. I wondered if condensation was part of the problem as I used to leave my bike in an unheated shed in the winter and these where the units that failed. I use my crank on my CX bike so it does get wet/muddy and jet washed (carefully) I sometimes put a plastic bag over the crank when cleaning it but have forgotten occasionally with no harm so maybe just being over cautious. So far so good and mine is the mark one. I wouldn't bother with tape or covering just take the precaution of protecting it if you you jet wash your bike.

[mzlewis]

Thanks both. I'm lucky in that I get to keep my bikes inside so that may help avoid the possible condensation issues. I'm going to give one a go. Cheers.

Matt

[BikeAnon]

I have a G1. Swaps between road and CX.

CX bike is my all-weather bike, and my gravel-bike.

Once I had the Stages stop sending data. I swapped batteries, and the new battery lasted only a couple of days. Another battery... lasted a couple of days.

I read about water problems, and left the battery out (door open) for a couple of days. Problem gone.

I have added this as insurance:
http://www.lowes.com/pd_316733-1003-ORL ... Id=3152031


Haven't had an issue again. Even with power-washers in the pits.

[bwdftp]

I had consistent problems with G1, but G2 is much better. I've had a few 4 hr+ rides in heavy rain, no problems. With the G1, after any wet ride, i would remove battery and battery cover and let it dry out during the day/night before the next day's ride. Whilst not ideal, it kept it operational.

[DanW]

No problems with UK MTB riding on G1 Stages. Use a Nomad mobile washer and give the bike a good blast without much regard for the NDS crank and no problems. The bike is kept indoors which may aid drying though and the point above about condensation or being kept in a shed outside is a good point I hadn't considered before

[glepore]

I've often thought about that silicone lube on the oring, good call.

[Rick]

Automotive stores (Checker, etc) and even Walmart also sell silicone grease that is intended for waterproofing electrical applications that works will as an o-ring lubricant and has the property of very high insulation strength so it will not cause batteries to drain if you get a little inside contaminating the surfaces. I use it on all the sealing surfaces of a PowerTap, and it works good there.
The pool stuff is probably the same, I just don't know that for sure.

[BikeAnon]

Thanks, Rick. The automotive grease is probably a better choice. I should have thought of that. It's the one designed for this sort of application.

Shop for "dielectric grease".

I've used this on connections for my Jeep, which has lights and winch components that have seen more under-water time than our power meters will ever get.

http://www.amazon.com/Permatex-22058-Di ... B000AL8VD2

[jmaccyd]

No problems with UK MTB riding on G1 Stages. Use a Nomad mobile washer and give the bike a good blast without much regard for the NDS crank and no problems. The bike is kept indoors which may aid drying though and the point above about condensation or being kept in a shed outside is a good point I hadn't considered before

I have used a Nomad jet wash as well with no problem. It is just interesting that three CX'ers in our club got Stages Gen1 cranks, two of us kept our bikes in the shed had problems and multiple cranks went back. The other guy is still on his original crank and he is lucky enough to keep his bike in the house full time. Stages where great at changing the cranks over, no questions asked, and we where able to keep running with power by just taking the battery out after use (not ideal but otherwise the battery would discharge itself overnight)

[Rick]

I am pretty sure that Permatex silicone grease is exactly what I am using.
I was having quick battery drain problems with my Powertap, so a cleaned everything and blasted it all out with an electrical contact cleaner. I let dry over a heater vent overnight, then put it all back together using the silicone grease, and it fixed the battery-drain problem.
Batteries can drain if there is any dirt or humidity on the contacts and electronics, even if the circuit is turning itself "off". There is still a path to ground through the conductive contamination.
Once you have gotten water on the contacts, they continue to be a drain path even if you dry them out, because the water leaves behind conductive minerals. So you have to use a contact cleaner (or some equivalent to remove the residue).
This might be applicable to the Stages power meters too.

[Jaroslaw]

No issues with G2 for me. I got it late summer last year, so it has seen a lot of rainy/ muddy conditions since then as well as some jet washing.
The unit is working as well as the first day, although I know the time I had it is quite short - just a couple of months.

[borist]

I purchased a G1 in March 2015 and had a few issues with the battery cover. Stages replaced this no issue and it kept working for a while. I ride a lot in the rain so used some tape as extra insurance, but always found that water got in somehow. As above, whenever this happened I just removed the battery and cover, let it dry overnight and then replaced the battery the next day.
The issue is that this kept happening and the unit eventually died earlier this month. I spoke to my LBS (Sydney, Aus) and they happily sent it off to Stages who gave me a brand new G2 for free. Word is that Stages are worried about bad press and lost customers so are replacing G1 units for free if the user sends it back to them and their story checks out.
Two weeks now and G2 has been working great. It is a much better unit all around.

[BikeAnon]

What's the difference between the two gens?