Zwift Play - Brakes engage mid session

Personally, I don’t think it has anything to do with the latest software update. I’m having the same problem since a very long time (and several software versions).
Once again, I ask the software developers the possibility to manually disable braking from the options.
Please, listen to your users.

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3rd set of Play controllers now rapidly deteriorating with the constant braking; starts with constant haptic vibrations and very sensitive brake paddle on left controller; and randomly brakes uncommanded.

I have been diligently removing and drying this set of controllers after every ride as requested when I got the last replacement set. This does seem to have helped as this set has lasted a a bit longer (circa 3 months) but still they have failed in the same manner.

To make things worse now I cannot use the recent virtual shifting option for my Kickr as I can’t risk pairing the plays………

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Same here…100% braking randomly applied during group rides…so annoying…this issue is not solved at all.

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Hi @Luigi_Piva. Welcome to Forums. This is Juan from Zwift Support. I appreciate you taking the time to share your braking issue. Let’s move on.

If your avatar is permanently braking - this indicates a continuous signal is being received from the controller and may be an indication of sweat ingress. I’d like to suggest you to try calibrating your Zwift Play to see if that helps with the issue. For steps on calibrating the Zwift Play, check out this article.

If you’re still experiencing issues after, please let us know. It’d be great if you contact us directly to the support channel to provide you with one-on-one assistance. We will be delighted to help.

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Dear Juan,

Having the same issues. Offcourse something is wrong with the controller. But this shouldn’t be possible for a product which was developed for indoor use (high sweat area) in the first place. (And it is not a one of problem)

Also this happens so often, I’m afraid to use Zwift-play. So I don’t use them anymore. They have destroyed to much rides/races.

So let me to choose to turn of braking, so when (not if, but when) they fail. I can easily turn them off, but not after the point they grinded me to a halt in the middle of a race. (Or lost my nice group in a group-ride)

Juan, thanks for your kind reply.
I calibrated the controllers but after a couple of rides the issues came back.
I am afraid I will have to stop using them until the issue is solved.

btw…why dont’t you enable the possibility to disable the braking function?

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i got my plays replaced having the same problem with re-calibration no longer possible at all.
used the new ones for only a few rides and never for breaking. and it did happen again twice already. after about 5 rides… i can’t imagine its a sweat problem, or the product would be a complete mis-construction. i rather like to believe its about the type of connection, signal qualities, etc that crashes controller firmware.

btw its always the right controller failing like this. the one frequently used for ride-ons…

hope it does get fixed soon!!!

I´m on the route: Steering to the left (often triggered by using the Up-Button) - Recalibration - Works - Starts all over again.

Recalibration does not work the first time. When flashing white the left controller already vibrates once as if I had already pressed the steering left. After a couple of tries it suddenly calibrates correctly. Works fine then for a couple of rides. Contacted the support now.

Cool, able to turn braking of, so they where usable because brakes were applied all the time. It where 3 happy rides.

But now I have ghost-steering. :partying_face: back to square one, perhaps used my Zwift plays 20? Times without an issue……

How’d you turn braking off? My right controller is braking without touch consistently the past 3 weeks. The screws on the back are heavily corroded, so I suspect there is ingress.

There is a braking sensitivity slider in the game settings. Move it all the way to the left.

In all due respect, this problem has not been solved. I’ve written Zwift support and hope to hear back. In the meantime, here’s my issue.

My right controller brakes without input from me. I’ve updated the firmware and tried to recalibrate, but the brake lever/toggle did nothing when I hit the solid white button. The right unit pulses now whenever it’s turned on. I’ve turned off the haptic feedback and moved brake sensitivity to zero (thanks, Paul!). Will see tomorrow if that works to at least use the top buttons or I need to ditch the controllers entirely.

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Quick update. I tried recalibrating and resetting the controller with no success. Paul’s hack did work, however. Then today I reversed the hack and found the unit working as normal, at least for now. My strong suspicion is that sweat got in there and took a while to dry out. Fingers crossed this is a one-off

Looks like we’re approaching two years and this issue still persists. Only been on Zwift a few months, with Zwift Play even less than that.

Turned brake sensitivity to None, which let me finish the ride, but the brake light was still lit and the steering didn’t work.

I’d rather have no brakes and no steering at all, as to have had this happen even once. These are extraneous features (pointless, even, I’d say), and this bug is so egregious, so game breaking, as to negatively effect my reviews of the Play controller moving forward.

My gremlin returned on today’s pizza ride and bumped me out of the Coco/Eric blob. Maddening. I’m going back to brake sensitivity at 0 and haptic feedback off.

Mine just did this and it ruined my race. Had to disconnect to continue. It’s infuriating to learn that this has been an ongoing issue for literally years without resolution!

It’s quite likely that the controls are faulty and need to be replaced, but you don’t have to disconnect them. You can just move the braking sensitivity slider all the way to the left.

My controllers (seems to be right side) still engage the brake at times. Once engaged, the only way to fix is to give a tiny bit of right steering pressure. Not enough to actually steer right. This stops the brake vibration feedback. Needless to say I turned off braking sensitivity long ago. Doesn’t happen on every ride, but does happen often enough. I’m reasonably confident it’s not actually applying brake, but that vibration on the controller is very distracting and I don’t completely trust it isn’t braking. It’s not realistic to hold that pressure on steering for an entire ride to make it stop. If I unpair the controller mid ride and then wait for it to power down then power up and re-pair it will be normal again - until it isn’t.