How to replace the battery in a Polar F11 Heart Rate Monitor (HRM)

14Sep/08107

How to replace the battery in a Polar F11 Heart Rate Monitor (HRM)

Disclaimer: The user manual for the Polar F11 clearly states to take the HRM to a Polar dealer and have them replace the battery - taking the back off could void your warranty. If you wish to be 100% sure that you maintain the water-resistant seal and do not want to void your warranty - or risk breaking your HRM (certainly a possibility when you take it apart...), take the unit to an authorized Polar dealer and have them replace the battery.

Step 1: Remove the back cover (4 little screws - make sure you have the right size screwdriver or you'll strip them out). Also note that the back has a water-resistant seal - keep this clean and remember that there is always a chance that the seal may be damaged if you do this yourself.
Step 2: Remove the internal unit from the watch casing (it just pulls out).
Step 3: Get something to pry the battery latch tab with (I used another small screwdriver)
Step 4: Take whatever you used to pry the latch tab out with and use it to pry the battery up by placing the device (screwdriver in my case) in the notch above the latch (see picture).
Step 5: Go to Wal-Mart and purchase a new CR2032 watch battery (you may want to do this before hand... I didn't know what battery it used so I had to take it out first) - runs about $3.50.
Step 6: Put the battery back in and put everything back together.

Tagged as: f11, heart rate monitor, hrm, polar, polar f11 Leave a comment

Comments (107) Trackbacks (1) ( subscribe to comments on this post )

Caitlin
August 6th, 2009 - 06:21

You ROCK!! Thanks for saving me 2 weeks and $30.

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KFunkenstein
August 8th, 2009 - 13:17

Works like a champ. Thanks for posting the instructions. Many thanks from Boston

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Dazzleme
August 9th, 2009 - 06:02

Thanks so much. Got my F6 Polar back up and running.

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Marcel Smits
August 20th, 2009 - 06:18

Thanks from Boxtel The Netherlands

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SteveJ
August 22nd, 2009 - 01:40

Brilliant

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steve farrell
August 25th, 2009 - 08:31

Thank you; I replaced the Polar HR watch battery in no time!

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polarjer
August 28th, 2009 - 15:07

tiny plastic piece broke off that holds the battery clip in place. Put it together anyway and it works fine so far.

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Michael
August 29th, 2009 - 20:48

Thanks for making this available. Saved me money and most importantly, I have my monitor up and going in about 1 hour versus a couple of weeks and the hassle of shipping.
I cleaned around the seal with a qtip and some alcohol.
Unit fired up, kept all my setting and history.
Works fine… again, thanks for posting this and giving me the confidence to do it.

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Patricia T
August 31st, 2009 - 18:50

Yup, you DO rock. Still gotta do it, but beats sending it out!!

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awesom-o
September 5th, 2009 - 06:47

thx from germany!

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trace
September 8th, 2009 - 07:33

worked like a charm, thanks!

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Rod
September 9th, 2009 - 17:42

Thanks, wasn’t sure how to get the battery out, so thanks… It does say on the Polar website that their service centers should charge around 13.00 to change a batt. so if you’re worried about doing this and have one nearby like I do, just take it in… I’m too cheap, I did it myself for 4.00.
Thanks again.

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daredled
September 12th, 2009 - 00:03

Hi
thanks for your post, it help me a lot
feel free to use my video in your post

http://daredled.blogspot.com/2009/09/cambio-pila-o-bateria-polar-f11.html

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- Duane
  December 15th, 2009 - 21:52
  
  daredled…….Viewed your video. Very good. Thank you
  
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David
September 16th, 2009 - 12:58

I’ve had my f11 for more than 3.5 years and Ive sent it back twice for battery changes. After being without my watch (for the several weeks it takes)I found and bookmarked your site. This morning my battery quit, :20 mins later it was up and running. Thanks a lot.

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Fred
September 18th, 2009 - 15:52

Thanks for the info. Could not find a screwdriver small enough to pry the latch, so I used a post pin that you can use to hold notes on a cork board. Worked perfect. Thanks, would not have had a clew how to start without your help!!

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Rick
September 24th, 2009 - 22:21

I had no problem replacing the battery. However when I put the watch back together, everything works except when I press the light button the display disappears. Anyone else experience this?

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daredled
September 25th, 2009 - 21:17

Rick the same happend to me, but never with the new battery (was the first symptom of drain out) maybe they sold you a bad battery

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Rick
September 25th, 2009 - 21:45

I don’t get a battery low indication. I’ll try a new battery and see what it does. I did use an older battery that I had laying around, but thought that with no low battery indication, it might be another issue.

Thanks for the reply. I’ll post my results back here.

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Rick
September 25th, 2009 - 22:13

Son of a gun. I put a fresh battery in and now the light works just fine. I’m surprised the OEM battery which showed the low battery indication did not have the same issue as the first replacement battery which never showed a low battery symbol. Oh well.

IAC, a fresh battery solved my problem.

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Curt
September 26th, 2009 - 17:59

Worked perfectly, change my batteries in 20 minutes flat. Thank you, this information was invaluable

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Rafael
October 2nd, 2009 - 20:05

Great tutorial. Pictures in high resolution make a huge difference. Keep the great work (please!!!)

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Debra Miller
October 5th, 2009 - 18:14

WOW!!! Thanks! I called the store where I purchased the heart monitor…called several other sporting goods stores and called the Polar Service Repair in Los Angeles, Calif. None of the stores had the “special ” batteries and the repair service told me to send it in–along with the fees for the battery and the labor charges. I happened to run across this posting and my husband went to a local hardware store and bought the battery. Took him a few minutes to replace and my Polar F11 is as good as new! Now gives my true heart rate—no more 210 bpm. THANKS TO YOU!!!!

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Pieter Roos
October 8th, 2009 - 13:01

Thanks for the clear instruction. I live in Peru (cusco) and no Polar service centre here. In less then 15 minutes my F11 up and running with a new battery!

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Laura
October 15th, 2009 - 15:53

I did the same exact thing. None of the buttons work. I hael all of them and did a reset, but only light came on a few times. Tried it all over again & nothing works. The screen is in exercise mose & is timing, but there is no way to stop it & none of the buttons work. Any suggestions????

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Lauren
October 16th, 2009 - 09:59

I just received a supposedly brand new polar f11 from an ebay store. Upon opening the box, I found that the battery indicator light was on (i guess its been sitting on in their store forever), and I noticed the backlight does not work, but all the other buttons seem to work fine. Do you think that maybe because the battery is going dead that the backlight won’t come on? The display still seems to be working fine when I press it though. I’d much rather just swap out for a fresh battery if that will make the backlight work again than go through the hassle of sending the watch back and all that mess.

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- Jimbo
  December 2nd, 2009 - 17:38
  
  I just had the same thing happen to me. Bought a”new” unit from Fitcorp off of ebay. The first unit was clearly used. The second unit came with a batt light on, non-working back light, and the buttons did not beep when you pressed them.
  I reset the watch (press all buttons but the light), and reset the time, date, etc. It all works fine now, and the battery indicator is off. I’m sure I’ll have to replace the battery soon. I just bought a Chilli red one. I guess they’ve been NLA for a while, so this unit’s been on the shelf a while. But at least now I know how to replace the battery without sending it out.
  
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- Chris
  February 3rd, 2010 - 11:19
  
  You probably already figured this out but the backlight does not when the battery is low. It also has trouble communicating with the monitor.
  
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Eric
October 21st, 2009 - 17:31

Thank you, this saved a ton of headache.
BTW…..if you want to maintain the water resistant integrity

*****gently pry out the rubber gasket around the case back under the cover.
carefully rinse it in water to get off any dirt. Then apply a very thin layer of a SILICONE based lubricant (commonly used to lubricate O rings in pool filters) and re-install after cleaning the caseback on both sides with some alcohol on a q-tip.
Hope this helps too.

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Tony
October 22nd, 2009 - 14:16

Instructions worked great on my F6. Knowing how to unlatch the battery clip was a great help. Thanks for the great instructions and pictures.

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Jim Chadwick
October 24th, 2009 - 17:10

Thank you so very much for the clear explanation and for the wonderful pictures. I followed the directions and got a perfect battery replacement. I skipped the disassembly of the internal unit by using two small clamps to hold the entire unit securely on my work table. My theory there is that if you don’t take it apart you don’t have to put it back together. The clamping worked well, and that way I had two hands to manipulate the little tools, hold the magnifier, etc. Thanks again for the pics.

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B Hojo
November 16th, 2009 - 07:48

who DA MAN! 10 min tops. vrs 3 weeks. I do my marathon in 25 days this is AWESOME.

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Ad
December 2nd, 2009 - 15:23

Great thank you! Saved me money and time.

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Kip
December 19th, 2009 - 12:45

This is just awesome. Thanks so much…took me an hour and that included the trip to the store AND putting the battery in backwords the first time!!

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vikings40k
December 20th, 2009 - 11:52

Thanks a lot that totally work!!!!!!:)

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ALE
December 24th, 2009 - 08:40

GRAZIE PER LE PREZIOSE INDICAZIONI, BATTERIA SOSTITUITA MA NON SI ACCENDE PIU’ IL DISPLAY !! CHI SA AIUTARMI ?
PS: LA BATTERIA E’ CORRETTA E CARICA (TESTATA).
GRAZIE

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Katie
December 30th, 2009 - 01:07

Thank you for your help! This saved me a lot of time. I have the women’s version of the F11, and there is no latch but all the other instructions were spot-on! You just have to lift up the battery with a flat edge in the light blue woman’s version.

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Michael
December 30th, 2009 - 17:34

Thanks, I love your work!
Lovn’ your easy-to-follow instructions.
MD Sydney, Australia

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Sassafrass
January 13th, 2010 - 23:21

I did what another guy did. I took my F6 to Radio Shack and found a CR 2032 battery for $4.99 plus tax and they put it in for me. They had the small screwdrivers needed and did it in about 10 minutes. I’ve used it for a while now and its still working fabulously. Note: I don’t use it in water and it was already out of warranty so no issues there.

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anon
January 18th, 2010 - 20:50

Thanks heaps! Great stuff!!! ( :

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YA
January 25th, 2010 - 21:18

Thanks great help. clicking on pictures to maginify helps. Only issue was there is a second metal frame behind the whole module that fell out wasn’t sure wihich way up to put it up to pit it back

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Dave
January 26th, 2010 - 17:16

Great instructions, but I have one question for anyone who’s replaced the battery. My F6 has a metal plate that sits infront of the unit shown in the first photo. This plate has a piece that goes over the top of the unit. I can’t remember if this piece goes infront or behind the unit. Anyone know?

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- Andy
  February 13th, 2010 - 17:18
  
  the metal piece goes between the crystal and the unit.
  
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Lin Lamm
January 31st, 2010 - 15:45

I’ve got a Polar F7 and it worked like a champ until the battery died. I replaced the battery in the watch and the strap myself, however, after this it stopped reading correctly (during excercise it’d just read 0 heart rate, then kick back in after a few min) and then the watch would completely die again after about two weeks. I’ve tried replacing the batteries twice to see if it was just a bad battery, but no luck. I’m still under the 2year warranty, but I think I voided the warranty by replacing the battery myself. Any ideas other than sending it to a service center for a few weeks?

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Andy
February 13th, 2010 - 17:17

Thanks so much! Took less than five minutes

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Tracy
February 18th, 2010 - 04:19

Great; just what I wanted, you have set a very high standard for ‘how to do’ guides you have a true vocation, very impressed with the photos.

Thanks

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Charlie Boy
February 25th, 2010 - 14:19

Excellent Instructions and pictures! I replaced watch bat. with no issues thanks to you! I was a bit leery about removing innards of watch and found in actually not necessary to do so. This may help with button issues others are having. Thanks again for pics.

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Lisa
February 26th, 2010 - 21:52

What type of battery is required for the F11?

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- Tim
  February 26th, 2010 - 23:36
  
  CR2032
  
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JohnBoy
February 26th, 2010 - 23:27

Well… WISH I HAD FOUND THIS BEFORE I WENT IN BLIND! I disassembled the watch… completely. I haven’t tried to put it back together because a VERY tiny spring fell out. I can’t figure out where it goes… anyone out there know?

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- Tim
  February 26th, 2010 - 23:35
  
  Look at the first picture. There’s only one spring in the lower left.
  
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Martin
March 1st, 2010 - 14:52

Super, thanks a lot. Normaly I’m not so skilled in handling such tiny stuff, but it worked perfectly.
Kind regards from Switzerland

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sh
March 4th, 2010 - 11:20

followed the instructions…used 2 new CR2032 batteries, but the watch is not turning on??? HELP !!

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sh
March 4th, 2010 - 15:44

Yes..Solved it…Batteries were upside down !! ie. + vs. – ; Instructions are great and it WORKED !!! Thnx

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mikeh
March 7th, 2010 - 12:00

Yay can’t believe they make you mail this thing off for a battery change. Thanks man, I am back online…

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