Problem with Kardia

[marcyh]

My Kardia 6L worked fine - until it didn't. I had an ablation a year and a half ago and have been ok so I didn't need to use it until a month ago when I went into AF. 😞 The EKG request to start recording comes up on my phone but nothing happens. Then the green command to connect comes up but when I tap that, again nothing happens.

I changed phone providers and got a new sim card. Could this be the problem? Tech savvy I am not. Do I need to reload the app? I hesitate to do that. I've only had it about three years. My battery shows it's fully charged.

Thanks for any tips.

marcyh

[marcyh]

Marcyh again. My husband replaced the battery and now it works. Are the 3 green bars at the top not a battery level indicator?

[Buffafly in reply to marcyh]

On my app the bars show how good your connection is, nothing to do with the battery. If I have a poor connection they go yellow!

[marcyh in reply to Buffafly]

Aha. Thanks!

[bean_counter27 in reply to marcyh]

When I choose to record ECG it takes me to a screen to perform the ECG which shows a battery charge indicator in the top right corner of the screen.It might have been fixed by a new battery or it might have fixed by the process of removing and reinserting battery ie powering off and back on again. This effectively reboots your Kardia, which is a common fix for many electronic devices that are malfunctioning.

Either way, your problem is solved.

[Vonnegut]

I think it is their way of encouraging you to buy another one according to my experience, sadly, but since I have been taking Flecainide regularly, I only use my second one occasionally.

[waveylines in reply to Vonnegut]

Not sure that is true. Mine became faulty and they reimbursed the cost. They couldn't replace it for some reason so I had to.purchase another one. I have mild essential tremor which can affect taking a reading. Have to use pillows to support my arms or I get very weird scary graphs though Kardi dtill seems able to check for Afib.

.

[Crystalpalace]

have you got NFC switched on, on the phone ? I think that can interfere with Kardia operation

[Kesabsy]

Do you have your phone plugged in? Sometimes that causes it to do weird things, also the NFC (Near Field Communications) try both ways. If all else fails:-Disconnect the battery from the probe for at least 2 minutes,

-Power down the phone, (make sure the app is not loaded in the background),

- Start the process again and see if it works

If these steps don't work then maybe the probe is dying. And you might need a new one then.

-d

[Vernasca]

I had exactly the same problem with my 6L Kardia.

It worked well for a few months then started to go wrong and gave me messages that there was electrical interference.

On my Kardia app there is a green bar indicator in the top right hand part of the ECG display which has the word “Battery” next to it, which showed all 3 bars. So I assumed the problem wasn’t due to the battery.

I tried several different ways of solving the problem- some of which are mentioned in other posts on this thread. Trying to take my ECG in different rooms in my house to avoid electrical interference.

After messaging Kardia a couple of times they told me I must change the battery - initially I couldn’t do that as the battery cover screw requires a special screwdriver which I didn’t have - I had to buy one.

So, if Kardia are reading this thread I think they should do two things:

1) amend your app so that it doesn’t give false information re battery status and electrical interference

2) use a screw in the Kardia device which fits the type of small screwdriver most people have

Whilst having a problem with a household electrical device usually isn’t of huge importance the last thing AF sufferers need is the stress of not being able to their ECG on a device they have bought specifically for this purpose and not knowing why they can’t.

[marcyh]

Sorry I haven't been attentive to this conversation. I've been busy with my family and I had solved the problem.

Thank you everyone for all your tips! This is a good exchange for me to save. Solved or not, I don't want to need my Kardia at all!

Best wishes to all of you for 2025!

marcyh