I’m wondering if someone else has experienced this issue or knows how to resolve it.
My HRM - Garmin HRM-Pro - has suddenly stopped being found by Zwift. It was working one day, and then, with no fidgets, resets, deletes, adjustments etc., it wasn’t being found the following day when I tried to use it. It isn’t a battery issue or any kind of issue relating to the HRM itself because it works perfectly fine with my Garmin Edge and Garmin Forerunner. I’ve done what any good IT technician would do and uninstalled the Zwift software and reinstalled it but it still won’t find the HRM and neither will the Zwift mobile app.
I’m at a loss for what to do now. I’ve recently started racing and that must now be put on hold.
Thanks in advance to anyone who replies.
Your Garmin devices will be using ANT+.
What protocol are you trying to use with Zwift?
What devices are you using for Zwift?
Could be interference of some sort if you’re trying to use Bluetooth and it’s not connecting.
What device are you running Zwift on?
I’m using ANT+ for the Garmin and I’m running Zwift on PC, although it doesn’t connect to my phone app either. It worked fine for over 6 months and now it’s suddenly stopped working. I also have Bluetooth 5.1 dongle connected which has suddenly made me think about checking that. I can’t remember if the HRM connects to Zwift through Bluetooth. If it does, that may be the problem.
Hmm, not a Bluetooth dongle issue as device manager is saying everything is up to date and working, and I’m also getting the Bluetooth active icon on the pairing screen in Zwift.
Given its two separate devices that it won’t connect to it does sound like it’s no longer transmitting a BT signal. Just make sure it’s not connected to any other device such as another phone in the house etc…
Definitely not connected to anything else. I’m beginning to see that the only thing it can be is it’s no longer sending a Bluetooth signal to my PC/dongle. Which means that it’s broken. 
Not necessarily. I bought a BT dongle for my Windows 11 laptop a few months ago as the inbuilt BT radio was occasionally having issues connecting to my devices. It all installed fine, but I had to disable the internal BT radio to ge tthe dongle to work. I did a Windows Update last week and found that the dongle was no longer working. I had to, once again, disable the internal BT radio and re-install the dongle from scratch.
Bluetooth dongle is working fine because there isn’t a problem with the hub connecting through it. This is also confirmed in the device manager saying that there isn’t a problem with it. Battery is fine, and so is transmitting through ANT+ as my watch and Garmin Edge both receive a heart rate. So, I cant see it being anything other than the BT transmission part of the HRM. Alas, this is the more expensive thing to go wrong.
Thanks all for your responses.
BT is finicky and problems can arise from anything including the phase of the moon. The following is based on my experience:
-Zwift has slowed in recognizing BT devices. I prefer to use my Quarq pm as the source and trainer as the controllable…getting these connected properly takes the correct sequence and time…sometimes 90 seconds to finally connect the trainer as controllable. Much slower than Zwift of a year ago.
-BT is very picky about connections…if you have ever connected your HRM to your phone, tablet, other pc or whatever…make sure those devices are disconnected.
-The HRM can be reset…Google the proper procedure for yours but it can involve removing the battery and shorting the internals or, like my Polar, removing the battery and holding the connecting tabs. Surprisingly works well with my Polar.
-Bad battery batches do exist…get a new pack of batteries, I assume 2032, and try that. I was having connecting issues with my Polar HRM and finally seems to have stablilized on new batteries from a different pack…i.e., do not buy from Amazon or online…by from somewhere that runs out of batteries and always has to replenish (my grocery store is always out).
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Thanks. I’ll give the shorting the internals a try. It cant be a battery issue itself or the HRM wouldn’t connect to my Garmin devices.
Does your phone pick it up in the bluetooth settings? Not in the mobile companion app but in the actual bluetooth settings on the phone, where you see all the paired devices. If not, but it shows up in there as a ‘not connected’ device then try forgetting it and see if the phone picks it up again. If it doesn’t then get detected by the phone then likely the bluetooth element of it has failed as you suspect.
Incorrect. I think that is a false assumption. I had no issues connection Garmin via Ant+ but all kinds of trouble with BT. I do not know the protocols but my thinking is that BT has tighter tolerances.
I reset the HRM by shorting it/reversing the battery (in accordance with one suggestion on Reddit) and it is now working.
Thanks all for your input !!
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