I Keep Killing Neo's

I’m posting to see if anybody else has experienced this or whether there is an electrical/electronics guru who can offer a solution.

My original neo all of a sudden stopped offering resistance to the full effect after around 15 months. Up to around 3/4% It was ok. Above that it was like riding on easy trainer difficulty. I always have it on max.

This neo was replaced with a Neo 2.

A year later and that neo goes the same way. This time I get a Neo2T.

11 months in and that one goes in the exact same way. Replaced with a refurb which 4 weeks in is now broken.

So that’s 4 neo’s all failed in identical ways.

It’s not an issue with the software as there’s been fresh installations.
Could it be the electrical supply in my garage is killing them? No other device plugged into the same circuitry suffers though.

Anybody else had a neo go the same way?

Could it be other factors in your garage that is doing them in, such as humidity, temperature fluctuations, volatile compounds?

Electronic equipment in garage fails shocker. It’s not the ideal environment is it? It will be moisture/humidity killing it. Mines in spare room, dry, warm and strangely been working perfectly. :joy:

I doubt it is anything to do with temperature or humidity. I’m in the UK where we don’t experience extremes.

The failures have occurred 3 at this time of year which given its entering winter is when I use them more.
1 failure in the summer.

A mate of mine also runs his in his garage with no issue.

You might need to explain volatile compounds to me…

I recently received a replacement Neo 2 (due to a bearing issue, not a power issue) and it failed - with a power issue - 3 miles into my initial ride. What I found is that it had overheated due to the cooling fan not working. So, I’m wondering if you’re environment is such that the unit just isn’t able to keep cool enough to function properly. Perhaps you should try aiming a fan directly at the unit itself and see if that solves the issue. Not sure it will, but worth a shot.

Stuart,

Like cans of gasoline, paint thinners, chlorine, stripping compounds. The kind of stuff one stores in the garage because you don’t want the smell in the house.

I do have that sort of thing in the garage but they’re some distance away and not in open vessels. I’m fairly certain I’m not the only person with a neo in a garage with such liquids.

I doubt heat is an issue, it’s being used in outside temps of around 5-10 degrees and the failures have come about an hour into a ride.

You said you have trainer difficulty set to 100%. Are you doing laps on the radio tower. Maybe you are burning the poor things out :slightly_frowning_face:

If only I was that powerful. I’m 83kg and can climb at around 3-3.5W/kg.
I doubt I’m sticking enough through the neo to cause it any stress.

Potential condensation issues within the electronics?

Keeping the unit in the garage will result in small amount of moisture build-up on the cold metal components. Then you will warm the unit up pretty quickly which could create a problem.

What about dust? Dust coupled with moisture has the potential to kill electronics.

I’m not saying your garage set up is unique but there is obviously a set of circumstances that is specific enough to cause your issues.

Check the temperature of the trainer after an extended climb. You are doing 250-300 watts at lower rpm’s and that loads up the trainer and makes the brake work hard to control the output.

I was doing KOM using 100% scale and I am 103 KG at 200-210 watts and halfway up the tower climb I am having to stand at 45 rpm and 250 watts. My H3 overheated and dialed back to 180 watts max…no matter what I did.

Now I have it set at 40% and the trainer get to rev up a bit for higher watt output with less stress on the brake. I also get to use more of my cogset. And no more overheating.

I have read that low cadence heavy riders put a lot of stress on the neo but I’m not particularly unique at my weight.
Surely this issue would be more widespread

Hi Stuart,
I have also had 2 Neo’s fail on me. Both used indoors. The 1st one gave up after 11 months, the rear fan stopped working so the unit overheated. I returned it for a full refund. Upgraded to the Neo 2T, ran an external fan to the side of the new Neo, to help with cooling and that one lasted 7/8 months, total resistance loss/no lights. Full refund again.
Shame really as you would have hoped that Tacx would have ironed out any niggles seeing as they are on the third version now, especially considering to the price.
Great when they are working, but a very expensive bike rack when not.

I read somewhere recently that insanity is “repeating the same actions hoping for a different outcome”. :crazy_face:

So I have given up on them now.
I was thinking of 3rd time lucky, but you have proved that is not the case with the Neo! :slightly_smiling_face:
Let us know if you can kick the Neo habit. :slightly_smiling_face:
All the best.

I would say you are in the top 10% of ability (3.5 w/kg) and you are no flyweight. The trainer is working hard to control at low rpms. I am offering a suggestion based on your data and my experiences.

If you are going to discount suggestions without checking why bother asking?

I’m not sure I’m in the top 10% based on my stats. My best time up the Alpe Du Zwift is 51.29 and the Ventoux 89mins. I’m not holding 3.5W/kg all the way, that’s for certain.

I’m not discounting all the opinions offered, far from it. I welcome the suggestions as I need to find a cure. I am merely putting rationale as to why I’m not sure that could be the cause.

Luckily I’ve had warranty replacements. I am beginning to wonder if alternate brands might be an option.
Trouble is that’s another huge outlay.

51:29 is a stellar time…not sure of the current record but for a long time it was 38 minutes by a <60kg doped to the gills climbing specialist.

If the trainer still works, even for a short time, try setting the trainer to the 50-60% level, use more cogs, and see if it goes longer.

I’ve previously experimented with the difficulty setting but as I’m so accustomed to what max feels like I don’t actually know what it would feel like on anything less. Because I know the gearing and feel of 100% trainer difficulty that’s how I know its gone faulty.

At max in its current state I can accelerate in a 50/28 gear like I’m sprinting but the gradient is 10%. When it’s working that would almost be too hard to turn.