Karoo 3 constantly disconnecting from Varia
Has anyone else had problems with the Karoo3 losing connection with the Garmin Varia radar? I have come to depend on the Varia for my commuting and have had increasing problems with the K3 disconnecting from the Varia. Often I will have the radar in the morning commute and the Varia will either disconnect at the start or during the evening commute home. I did not have this problem with the K2. I’d go back to the K2 but I gave it to my daughter to use on her bike.
Hammerhead tech support has not been much help. Each time they suggest unpairing the Varia and re-pairing, which does work but is not a long-term solution.
At this point I may have to go to a Garmin Edge, which is disappointing as I like the interface of the K3, but I don’t want to continuously (and unpredictably) have to re-pair the Varia to the K3.
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I had the disconnecting problem when I had a Garmin 830, and it now happens occasionally with my Karoo 3, so I suspect it's a problem with the Varia itself.
To note, the disconnecting issue would happen during a ride - it would connect/disconnect a couple of times and then sometimes be fine, or else I would have to pair/unpair.
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I get temporary disconnect alerts on my Karoo 3 while riding. It never happens when I'm completely by myself but if I'm near another rider with a Varia I often get repeated disconnect alerts. I don't think it's really disconnected since it continues to alert for cars. But the multiple disconnect alerts are quite annoying. I don't know if the other riders have the same problem with their head units.
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This also happens to me with bike computers from other manufacturers, such as a Bolt 2, an Edge 830 or a Bryton Rider S810. And also with a Bryton Gardia radar. Just as sometimes the connection to a speed or cadence sensor or to an ANT+ light is lost. I remember that with the Edge I often got the warning that my speed sensor had lost the connection. Last time my Bolt lost connection to the cadence sensor at least three times (as my cadence wasn't showing) but I didn't get any warnings - so maybe some head units only show warnings for the radar as this is more important than a few seconds of lost cadence or speed?
I think the loss of connection could be caused by interferences around the ride. There are some interesting stories on the web, for example one guy kept losing connection at the exact same spot.
What irritates me a bit more is the fact that the lighting pattern of the radar (and also an ANT+ headlight) sometimes changes by itself (with every bike computer used) and I can't figure out when and what the reason is. I suspect it might have something to do with losing the connection, but that's just speculation.
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I had this problem with my Garmin Edge 530 and the Varia radar where it would randomly disconnect and then repair. That was still better than the fact the auto-on and -off does not seem to function at all with my Karoo 3 and my Varia headlamp and taillight/radar. I am having to start them manually - quite disappointing
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This is a real pain. I have a Varia RTL515 purchased last year. Worked fine with Karoo 2 but now ugraded to Karoo 3 and whenever I go a group ride it just keeps dropping connection. It would not be so bad if it happened silently because it reconnects but the warning tone is so loud it annoys everyone. And it appears it can not be disabeled? Also it is not possible to force a bluetooth connection instead of Ant+. All very dissapointing. Buy another Varia? Buy a Wahoo radar? Buy an Edge instead?
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