Chris says:

Today on this run:

www.runnerplus.com/run/5-2882

before I started my iPod Nano to me to replace my sensor battery. I figured it would go longer than 25 runs before it barked at me!

So what's the process to replace one... can I only take it to an Apple store?

Also, how much longer do I have at this point before it completely dies on me? Do I have a few more days? A week?

It would be great if one of us can figure out how to replace it on our own!

 elbert says:

I asked Chuck Jonard about it. Here's his reply:

Dear Elbert;

Yes I have gone through about five so far. It's not as bad as it sounds; when they wear out, after about 450 hours, apple will replace them for free up to one year. Unfortunately it takes about 10 days to receive your new one, thats about 100 to 200 miles for me, so I buy a new one and wait for the replacement to arrive and then I give my new one away. The nano+ seems to outlast most shoes I have purchased by several factors one nike+ seems to outlast 2 to 3 pairs of shoes. I have purchased hiking shoes, hiking boots, and rain boots to supplement the air max 180's I usually get. This covers weather and terrain issues and they really last a lot longer.

I am trying to recover from injuries at this moment but I am not healing like I would hope. I have reduced my miles to 50 to 60 miles a week but the results are not what I was hoping for, I guess, sooner or later I will have to see a doctor.

If I can help you in any way or if you just want to chat email me any time.

Chuck Jonard

 Chris says:

Thanks, Elbert. Who's Chuck Jonard. Wait... don't answer that, I found the answer thanks to Google:

"There is a man named Chuck Jonard who participates in the Nike+ forums and challenges. He doesn't run, but he walks 500-600 miles per month. Chuck is a military veteran who was injured in combat. He lost part of his arm, an eye, and part of his skull. He spent 12 years in veterans hospitals, and most of that time he was confined to a wheel chair. Now he spends up to 8 hours each day walking as many as 20 miles. He says it is his way of thanking God for letting him walk again."

Very cool. I can see a lot of people look up to him.

Back to my question: I'm a bit confused by his response to you. He buys a new one every time the old one dies? Doesn't sound very cost efficient. I was thinking of buying a second kit so if one is out of commission for a few days while I have to get to an Apple store, I have a second sensor/receiver to take its place. I wonder if that would cause any synchronization issues though.

 elbert says:

If you check the leaderboard of nikeplus.com, you'll find that Chuck is a real life Forrest Gump. He's been an inspiration to many (myself included). A lot have accused him of cheating simply because his totals are just unbelievable. You can email him at charlesjonard at mac.com. He will reply.

Yeah, you're right, it's not very economical. I see it as an extra cost of the nike+ shoe. Since it lasts three pairs worth, then it's pretty much a cost of just $10 per shoe. If it doesn't last a year, at least Apple replaces it free of charge.

I doubt a new sensor would cause any sync issues, since uploads are targeted to the same destination--a nike+ account. The way the data is stored in the iPod looks like this:

/[Volumes]/[iPod name]/iPod_Control/Device/Trainer/Workouts/Empeds/[ID of footpod]/synched/[Date Time].xml

If you change your sensor, that would simply mean another folder under the Empeds directory. As long as you don't change your nike+ screen ID, all future uploads should be 'synced' (it's not really a sync, is it?) to the user's account at nikeplus.com. Only .xml files stored in the /[Volumes]/[iPod name]/iPod_Control/Device/Trainer/Workouts/Empeds/[ID of footpod]/latest/ directory will be uploaded. Everything else is ignored.

Which leads me to this question. If for runnerplus, I use the manual upload using the Yahoo widget, and I have two footpod IDs, will it affect the data synchronization?

 Chris says:

It uses the information the same way no matter how you synchronize... so it will not affect it.

 elbert says:

Here's what Apple's FAQ has to say about battery life:

Is the sensor battery replaceable? How long does it last?
No. The sensor’s battery has a life of over 1000 active hours. The sensor sends a low battery signal when there is around 2 weeks of life remaining (based on usage pattern), indicating that the sensor needs to be replaced.
Most Nike + iPod runners and walkers can just drop the sensor in their Nike+ shoes and forget about it. When inactive, the sensor enters stand-by mode to save battery life.

 Chris says:

Thanks! According to my charts here, I've used mine for just under 10 active hours. So that's a pretty significant difference (I only use these shoes for running). I've ordered a new one, so we'll see how long the new one lasts. Then I'll take my old one to an Apple store and see what story I get from them!

 Chris says:

I got my new receiver/sensor yesterday and I didn't need to change the receiver. It detected that there were 2 sensors in the room so I had to go outside in order to get some distance between me and my old sensor. I linked the receiver/Nano to the new sensor and now I'm ready to go again (and take back my old sensor to the Apple store for a new one). I think this will work out great... having 2 sensors to rotate between.

 Chris says:

OK, so check this out...

I went to the Apple store today. I went to the service counter and whipped out my old sensor. He asked what it was. Ummm... look fella, it's the thing hanging on your wall over there for $30! He took my sensor to the mysterious back room and about 10 minutes later he came out with a brand new Nike+ iPod sport kit.

He opened the packaging but couldn't figure out how to get the sensor out of the packaging so I did it for him End result is that I walked away with a brand new sensor, no questions asked, no money spent, fresh out of the box.

He said that I was the first (that he knew of, and who knows how long he has worked there) that had brought one back. I figured they'd have a bag of sensors in the back for just this reason, but nope--they grabbed one off the shelf and gave it to me.

Strange, but I'm glad they didn't give me any grief.

 elbert says:

Glad to hear it worked out that way for you. I should tell Chuck Jonard to just walk to his nearest Apple store (and perhaps find an employee who doesn't know what it is), and just ask for a new one to replace the one he last wore out.

 Drapes says:

Chris, your story reminded me of my own. I had problems with my nike+ system not being able to find the sensor. It would stop in the middle of my runs. Anyways, I read on the apple forum that people would just to back to an apple store, complain, and bam... a new sensor. Sure enough, that's what happened. And the guy helping me said the same thing as your salesperson, that I was the first one ever to come back and have an issue with nike+. He took my nike+ into the backroom, and then came out with a new one, which worked fine (for a while). Mine wasn't a dead battery, just quit working. Now my new one is having some issues as well. Sometimes it works, sometimes it don't.   May be going back to the store soon and see if they will give me a new one.

 LauraMoncur says:

After 14 months of Nike+ use, my battery is finally reading low. Can anyone tell me. Is it possible to put the sensor back together after a dissection? Can I hack a battery replacement or am I destined to buy a new one?

 Chris says:

Laura, just take your sensor to any Apple store and they'll give you a new sensor free, as it's not possible to replace the battery. If they give you a hard time, try a different Apple store or ask to speak to the manager and tell them you've only had it a few months

They didn't give me a hard time at all when I asked to have them replace mine.

 SuRoPhOtO says:

I wish I had an apple store over here.... when battery is low all I have left to do is buy a new kit DAMN :(

 Rasmus says:

I have yet to get this low battery message. I have close to 1500 miles on mine over about 13 months across two sensors. I only swapped the first one because my receiver got soaked in the rain and stopped working, so I got a new kit a couple of months ago. According to the charts here that is only 160 hours across two sensors which means I am nowhere close to Apple's stated lifetime. I see that Laura is right around the same number of hours at around 167, but on a single sensor.

 ted says:

I am just at about 94 hours recorded use on my sensor. I have done a number of runs without my sensor so add a couple more hours usage at least and my iPod is warning me of low battery usage.

Rather than buy another sensor I think I will just wait for Chris to release the Garmin plugin (subtle hint) for runner+ and then I can use my iPod for music. That way I will have a more accurate recording of my training. Here's looking forward to Garmin+

 TylerDCA says:

Note you don't need a new kit when the battery fails. The sensors are now available on the Apple Website for $20.

 ted says:

Thanks Tyler.
Just found it on Apple UK comes in at £14 ($28 US). Bloody Brits. Only another £4 for the receiver. decisions, decisions.

 N8te says:

It seems crazy that the battery isn't replaceable, but on the other hand, $20-$30/year isn't the end of the world, either.

Dick's Sports offered a 1yr warranty for about $5. I can see how that could be manipulated, too. But really, as long as I get a year out of my sensor, I have no problem throwing another $20 on the counter for another one.

I thought about a hack for an external battery, but it's just not worth the hassle.

 KMKMom says:

When mine goes, I'll probably just pay to replace the sensor. What is $20-$30 per year anyway? It's definitely worth it to me considering how the sensor has helped motivated me. It would feel kind of dishonest trying to exchange one at the store if I'd been using it for that long (e.g., more than a year) and it just wore out from use.