I’ve just found out that after 4iiii’ acquisition of Stac Zero that they are no longer offering any form of support these trainers… I’ve started having a problem with the power spiking by the power easing, then as my cadence momentarily picking up in response, spiking. I’ve noticed that the magnetic unit seems to be loose at the back but don’t know if it’s always been that way and so don’t want to try tightening things that shouldn’t be tightened. Could anyone help me please.
I just checked mine and it is rock solid. I would say that is your issue
Many thanks, I’ll tighten it up and give it a go.
I have had an issue with mine when the wheel wasn’t centered, it would have trouble holding power and I’d have something like what you describe - one of the arms would pull away, resistance would drop, then as I start upping my cadence the arm would came back in and add back a lot of resistance (repeat ad infinitum). Adjusting the skewer cups to get the wheel more centered resolved it for me.
Mine is also an original STAC Zero with the upgraded Halcyon resistance unit, so I had some “fun” initially getting it centered and aligned, but that’s been resolved for close to two years now.
Thanks for both your replies. I’ve tightened the nut up and made sure everything is centred via the app. I’ve also cleaned the magnets as there was quite a bit of wax impregnated with microscopic bits of metal but it’s still doing it. Possible one of the motors that move the magnets is knackered. Anyway I’m going to get out my old Kinetic Rock & Roll which thankfully I didn’t sell and use that for a while. I’ve been looking at getting an Elite Suito or Kickr Core a a replacement but with so much on the internet about accuracy issues and other problems I don’t really want to spend the money and get something that give me problems. I think I made a mistake getting the Stac and don’t want to make another one.
Some people have reported issues with this trainer.
There is a thread about a component that might die prematurely.
That was me, one of my linear actuators that move the magnets failed, followed by the other one just three weeks later. In both cases they froze, the first time a good distance from the wheel making me spin out before any resistance came in, the second time close to the wheel leaving it rideable, but at constant resistance - no hills in Sim mode! In both cases prior to failure the resistance fluctuated for a period that was seconds rather than minutes, but plenty long enough to wonder what on earth was going on! If both of the magnets on your Halcyon seek the wheel rims on startup then the linear actuators are not seized solid as mine were at failure.
Thanks - I’ve posted on the other thread. My feeling at the moment is that I’d be throwing good money after bad if I replaced both of them.
Not quite twelve months on and another linear actuator bites the dust. Luckily I had imported a small batch of spares via the nice guys at Actuonix, and I’m back up and spinning again. Less likely now to be a faulty set originally. I’ve probably put about 2,500 miles on it since the last failure, almost all of that in Sim mode at >230W. Sad because with careful alignment and the homemade wobble board eliminating wheel rub, the Stac is good to 600W plus and 10% hills. I like that I’m riding a bike with wheels on and although quiet it often has a pleasant electro-magnetic hum when pushing on.
Center the wheel? I believe the software does this for you automatically. If you ever use the original Stac smartphone App, there is an option to “Find the Wheel” and does exactly what it says, each magnet in turn closes until it touches the rim, records this position then back off to a normally open position.
The Halcyon unfortunately have short lasting actuators. If suspect of problem, use the smartphone app and put all its functions to their paces, you will be able to manually move the actuators and see whether they are doing what is told.
Today, I’d buy something else, probably a Kickr.
@Stevers I have this same issue. My driveside actuator seems to have konked out after 12,000+km (most of it with TR). I’m looking at the Actuonix site now. Did you buy the 100:1 gear ratio and 6 volt version? Did it come with ribbon installed?
FYI. I also came across you discussing this on cyclechat.
Cheers
Wow, that’s a good mileage in 3 years! The part number is PQ12-100-6-P, so yes 100:1 and 6V, but the ‘P’ bit is vital too as the actuator needs to have a potentiometer(?) so it knows exactly how far it is extended. The ribbon is included, but the mounting at one end of the actuator could be different. It was for me, so I just used the nut and bolt supplied instead of the pin and circlip. I also used a strip of electrical tape to secure the ribbon cable to the motherboard.
Good luck!
Steve
On the Halcyon the bike still needs to be physically in the centre of the turbo trainer frame so that the magnets swing up to the same height each side. There must be a few millimetres of leeway on this, but in my experience more than that results in wheel rub at 300W+. The Fliiiiiiiight can do this for you because the magnets don’t swing in on an arc.
@Stevers Thanks for the reply and confirmation. I’ll order the part and jump into the repair. 4iiii offered me the Fliiiight for $399CDN ($200Cdn discount). But I would prefer a $100 fix and save the cash for real bike parts!
I’ve been doing high volume plans now for a few years so the miles have been adding up!
Cheers
My take is that the Halcyon with its weights is better suited to stronger riders which makes the attitude of 4iiii to support all the more scandalous. A Fliiiight that used weights and not “smart inertia pulsing tech” for stronger riders should actually be better than a Halcyon!
Well the actuator trick worked. I’m back in business. Thanks for posting this info as it saved me having to buy a new unit.
In the process of it all I managed to snap off that ridiculous plastic speed sensor arm. So now a coathanger holds the sensor in place! But it works.
Well, it’s been a while (and over 2000 miles) since the last problem with the Halcyon. On Sunday I experienced the low resistance (250W at 110+cadence) and sure enough one of the linear actuators had died - I did confirm that it was still plugged in (the connection was secured with a strip of electrical tape). This time it was the left hand side looking forwards. A replacement actuator from my Actuonix sourced stash has fixed it again. Assuming it was the older actuator of the two that failed, it managed just over two years and 5000+ miles.
For a while I had been having problems getting the Stac Zero app on my Motorola G3 to connect to the Halcyon, and I was starting to suspect that the Halcyon was the problem, but when trying to use the app to align the magnets after the ‘rebuild’, I got an error about location services being off on my phone. It seems that on my version of Android, Location Services need to be enabled for Bluetooth to work.
A problem with the Halcyon not charging earlier this year was eventually traced to a faulty magnetic USB charge cable that had worked fine to start with. Charging via the Halcyon supplied cable works perfectly OK.
It’s been a while again, but I was starting a ride on the Halcyon two nights ago, and in pulling away from the start had that familiar feeling of spinning out at 210W and immediately knew that another linear actuator had failed, this time the one that was overdue on the drive side. I knew that this one was still plugged in as it had retained a tiny part of its normal movement. The usual faff ensued the following morning to change it for one in my now depleted stock of spares. Once refitted and the magnets re-aligned, it worked OK again.
By my reckoning each actuator is lasting for around 5,000 miles on average. With two spares left, I should get another three years out of my Halcyon at current usage.
I just trashed mine 2 weeks ago… I thought about fixing it, but got a new trainer and moved on… Great job on keeping your running for as long as you have
I have a fully functioning one after a motherboard from @carytb to fix a busted USB port. I gave it to my son and now have an Elite but it has since come back to me. I’m might have a spare part or two now after the MB change.