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Intercom "Drops" Off and is unreliable.

Karen Tunkel

August 25, 2014 16:05

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Hello everyone,

 

We are on our second set of 20s.  We bought the dual pack and installed them relatively easily and they were working fine.  We started having issues with the intercom feature "dropping off."  We'd have the headsets connected and, in the middle of a conversation while riding next to each other, the conversation would drop off.  The only way to re-establish the connection was to either go through the head shake or press the button for 5 seconds.  Finally, my unit essentially died on us.  It started repeating "group intercom failed" whenever you would try to tap a button or even turn it off and wouldn't hold a charge.  We contacted Sena support and left a voice message after we were unable to get through a few times, but haven't gotten any response.  Finally, the store we bought the units from exchanged them.

 

The new units were also easy to install and pair with our iphones.  We have the same issue with conversations simply dropping off while using the intercom feature.  We also have problems listening to music.  On my husband's unit, he can either listen to music or use the intercom, but not both.  If he has music on, the intercom will drop off after about one sentence and does the same every time we reconnect.  On mine, I can't seem to NOT have music, even if I turn off the music app that it's coming from on my phone.  I can hear him, though, so we just leave it on.

Is there any way to escalate with support?  Has anyone else had these issues and found a workaround?  The primary reason we bought these was for the intercom features and they have been unreliable on both sets of headsets.  Thank you!

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72 comments

• 1
  
  Bill Henning June 15, 2017 16:55

  Make sure the pins and seat in the cradles are clean and solid. With so many connections that would be the first suspect. Try switching units to different cradles also. Mine became much more reliable with a new cradle.

• 1
  
  Ken Kimari June 15, 2017 17:04

  Adding to Bill's comments, make sure you do not overtighten the mount to the helmet.  It should be snug enough to not come off but if you really tighten it down it has a tendency to bend the mount just enough that the pins don't connect as tight as they should causing intermittent problems along with unnecessary stress to the unit.

• 0
  
  Pbokor August 25, 2014 21:04

  Today, we took a 5 hour bike road. My headset turned off at times. They disconnected, WITHOUT our having passed anyone or anything. At times, I had to attempt two or three times to restart it and reconnect it within 3 minutes. I've read the manual several times and believe I'd understand if I'd have put either in a different priority or if I'd have been overwhelming the units with too much audio multitasking, but neither is my case. I really hope we can solve this quickly because I've used Interphone (original, F3, F4, and F5) for years and I just switched to SENA for their use of Bluetooth 4.0 and the functioning distance. They don't come cheap in Europe. I've put in two 'requests', yet so far nothing. It's only been 24 hours, but a flagship model should simply NOT disconnect at random. There've been dangerous situation that the malfunctioning has put us in.
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  Pbokor August 25, 2014 21:04

  Today, we took a 5 hour bike road. My headset turned off at times. They disconnected, WITHOUT our having passed anyone or anything. At times, I had to attempt two or three times to restart it and reconnect it within 3 minutes. I've read the manual several times and believe I'd understand if I'd have put either in a different priority or if I'd have been overwhelming the units with too much audio multitasking, but neither is my case. I really hope we can solve this quickly because I've used Interphone (original, F3, F4, and F5) for years and I just switched to SENA for their use of Bluetooth 4.0 and the functioning distance. They don't come cheap in Europe. I've put in two 'requests', yet so far nothing. It's only been 24 hours, but a flagship model should simply NOT disconnect at random. There've been dangerous situation that the malfunctioning has put us in.
• 0
  
  Karen Tunkel August 25, 2014 21:22

  We both submitted new support requests.  We haven't had any response to our previous request, but I'm hoping we'll get one now.  We're holding off purchasing our club's road captain a headset until we figure out if we're keeping these or returning them.

   

  And yeah, the reliability is a safety issue for us as well.  Since there's no way to tell if the other person has disconnected it leads to situations where we're asking each other questions expecting an answer where if we're not wearing the headsets we know we'll need to use hand signals or talk it out before we get going.  I'm actually glad to hear it's not just us, because if it's a known issue that multiple people are having, maybe they can correct it in a firmware update.

   

  But yeah...a response to any of our service requests would really help.  Otherwise, we may just return them and either buy an older Sena unit that is more reliable or switch to another vendor.  The intercom feature really is the most important feature for us and the rest were just "nice to have's."

• 0
  
  Pbokor August 26, 2014 06:19

  'Holding off purchasing the the club's road captain's headset' is FAR more patient and kind than I think I'd be willing to extend. Again, I cannot stress enough how very expensive these units are. They're a glorified walkie-talkie that cost $500.00, which beep too loudly, don't pick up the voice when not 'yelling' (or speaking at American or Italian interlocution levels - meaning, if you're speaking in a language in which the normal auditive volume of diction is lower), disconnect, have questionable water resistance (as SENA is dancing around this subject using 'inclement weather' as a technical measure), and come with a pretty antenna that makes every owner of the 20S hesitate to ride faster than 45 mph. To top it off, the start-up or shut-down voice/beeps can not be heard when wearing any type of auditive protection. Without pompous chest-beating, I can modestly say that I'm a member of a small number of riding groups, forums, communities, and friends with owners of motorcycle accessory stores. I refuse to call upon favours to return these units. I will end up having to take on the entire loss of these paper-weights - hence having nothing more that I can lose than the money I paid for them. In return to not having anything to lose, barring a miracle on the part of SENA (meaning, they miraculously answer us/me, have a firmware update ready just for this, or let me in on some 'special way of resetting the units' such that they work flawlessly), I don't see why I'd extend the same courtesy, patience, understanding, and kindness that you're willing to offer. It's been more than 24 hours, and in a PUBLIC forum, two completely independent clients (of a flagship model/product) have written in about said product having fatal flaws, and so far, no response... This is not my idea of support. It's lipstick on a pig. Simply making us jump through hoops to log in and create passwords and open 'tickets' and 'requests', having created a pretty forum/platform for clients that is all form and no function... well, I'll give it another 24 hours before calling it completely smoke and mirrors.
• 0
  
  Pbokor August 26, 2014 08:26

  BTW, my wife experienced the exact same symptoms with her unit the second day we had them. I'm referring to repeating the "group intercom failed" and refusing to turn off. Finally, we managed to turn it off. We suspected the collar from her riding jacket pressing the 'ambient' button. I believe that holding down that button for a few seconds initiates a search for group intercom or something of the sort. We reset both units (both soft reset as well as hard reset), and that hasn't been a problem since. With the charging of the units, we've found that they'll charge to full in about 2.5 hours, then turn blue. After about an hour or two, the LED will turn red again and start apparently charging again. We simply disconnect the units after the first charge cycle. Of course, this entails our being vigilant and watching the charge cycle - things that feel anachronistic in 2014. In this sense, it's somewhat reassuring that we're not the only ones having this much trouble with the units. By the same token, it's quite concerning that we're not the only ones having this much (and the same) trouble with the units!!!
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  Karen Tunkel August 28, 2014 15:51

  Still zero response from tech support, despite 2 more requests put in.  Has anyone gotten a response on these issues?  Are they working on a firmware update that will address any of this?

   

  We're looking at other options and getting these returned, unless we hear anything back.  We did have a ride last night where both units worked fine, but we also were only using the intercom feature.  That's still more reliable performance than we've had in quite a while.  WHEN they work, I really like the units.  The problem is...they don't seem to work reliably.

• 0
  
  Pbokor August 28, 2014 17:16

  Same situation as with all the other problems: no answers at all. My headset simply turned off a few times at random yesterday. Today, it 'dropped' only 3 times in 4 hours of riding. Our expectations have lowered so much, we actually viewed that as a 'success'. I rode the Stelvio Pass (among many others) in Italy and in Switzerland 6 times in the last days, and aside from the views, I remember doing it with my left hand up to my head, turning the 20S on, off, reconnecting, fearing the overly loud 'beep', etc. I know you're really hoping to not have to go back to your shop and return these things because they put your relationship with the local motorcycle accessory store in a position where you have to ask for favours, HOWEVER, I can assure you that it'll end up being your best solution. Get ANYTHING else. I recommend Interphone F5s. I'll be returning these when I get back to Barcelona. If they won't take them back, I'll send them to the CEO of SENA as an early Christmas present. Yes, WHEN they work, and don't crackle, and don't disconnect, and don't turn off, and don't beep too loudly, and connect to iphone and gps and play music, and don't break (or come already pre-broken), and when they charge properly, and when you can turn them on or off at your will, and when you're riding slowly enough to not worry about the antenna breaking off, and when it's not raining or drizzling, I like them too. Sadly, I think I have a better chance of having my pet unicorn build me a working tin-can and string communication device that works, than having SENA step up and miraculously solve all the problems that these are riddled with. If you go to that ...zilla place online and read reviews there, you'll stop waiting for a response and take the units back. I would, and I will.
• 0
  
  mbz August 28, 2014 20:34

  Karen, I don't use the intercom because I ride solo. Do you ride in the same bike or separate bikes? And do you have the antenna up or down on the 20S?

• 0
  
  Karen Tunkel August 28, 2014 20:42

  We ride on different bikes and have the antennas up.  We're usually pretty close to each other in a staggered formation.  We've found the headsets are actually more reliable when we're on the highway at higher speeds than in town with stop and go traffic, but even then, you just never know when the intercom will drop off.

• 0
  
  Karen Tunkel August 28, 2014 20:43

  My guy finally got a response from Sena support.  (I never have.)  The response was a rather rambling email.  We're going to start researching other options to switch to and look into returning the sets for a refund.

• 0
  
  Pbokor August 28, 2014 21:03

  The irony that this whole thread is occurring on their help site, is mind-boggling! I've had luck with Interphone. Wishing you an easy return.
• 0
  
  Ken August 28, 2014 21:03

  These are the same types of issues that my three friends and I had on our 10-day camping trip.  One or more of us would simply drop out.  No amount of re-connecting or even turning the units off and back on would make the intercom work again for the person(s) that dropped out.  

  Then, out of the blue, a drop-ee would drop back in . . . without even touching any buttons!  Someone would always ask, "Where have you been?"  The answer was always, "I don't know."   Followed by, "How did you reconnect to us?"  Again by the drop-ee, "I don't know."  "I just started hearing your voices."  "Have you been talking about me?"

  It was incredibly frustrating.  Sometimes, we'd all four get paired up and connected.  Like in the Monument Valley View Hotel parking lot.  But before we could  get m ore than a mile awayt, one of our members would just not respond any more.  We'd all try to raise him without any luck.   We stopped about 30 miles later to try to get connected up again.  

  We think it's the Zumo GPS units taking priority over intercom with every rain alert, dealership alert, driving directions, recalculation, etc.  (the GPS units are paired as Phone 1).  Our phones weren't paired with the Senas at all.  They were paired to the Zumo.  Zumo paired to Phone1 is the only way we can get stereo music, XM radio, etc.  I've tried pairing the Zumo as Phone 2 and it sounds horrible.  

  We need user-selectable priority.  I would give the Zumo the same priority as intercom with the ability to share audio.  

  Ken

• 0
  
  Karen Tunkel August 28, 2014 21:11

  Ken - For us, we're not paired with anything except our own iphones.  We haven't tried connecting any more than our 2 units, but we still have the same issues with one or the other dropping off with no warning.  Sometimes we'll randomly reconnect without doing anything, other times we can't stay connected no matter how many times we reset.  There seems to be no good pattern to it all.

  Support has been difficult to get in contact with and less than helpful when we can.  I think this product just wasn't ready for the market.

• 0
  
  Pbokor August 28, 2014 21:12

  I've long ago disconnected my phone. Antenna up or down, 3 inches, feet, yards, hwy, city, camping, or in front of a hotel, PROBLEMS. It really is a bit of a joke to have us all on here, guessing and hoping there are solutions or that maybe we 'missed' something. I shaking my head in shame (for them, but also for me - fool me once...) I keep writing with that same naive hope too.
• 0
  
  Ken August 28, 2014 21:47

  Karen, that's exactly what we experienced (times 4).  It was very frustrating.  We thought we had narrowed it down to the GPS taking priority.  It does that, by the way; when the GPS is connected via the  preferred channel (Phone 1).  

  You should try it with 4 people on intercom.  I can just imagine what it would be like if I had NINE intercom connections.  

  Come to think of it, I believe some of us even tried turning our GPS  units OFF and still had the intercom-dropout syndrome.  

  The product development team needs to go out on a multi-day trip and try to use the 20Ss as we are.  

  They stated that they'd have new firmware by the middle of the month.  We're near the end of the month.  Maybe that's a good sign.   Hey, Sena . . .just post once in a while to let us know the status.    

• 0
  
  Bill Henning September 18, 2014 15:41

  +1 on the disconnect problem.  Not sure if it is one or both headsets causing the problem.  We're just rolling along, my passenger and I, when the intercom just stops working.  It takes a shutdown and restart for my passengers intercom feature to come back.  A real pain.  I have also had other problems like the group intercom turning on when in rain around trucks.  I am presuming that the trucks are using bluetooth and my headset thinks they are another intercom.  That one seems to only happen when in rain.  Dunno why.

  I am also on my second pair, but in truth I don't know if the first pair also had this problem.  That set was returned for other problems, mainly that tap-tap did not work.  That works pretty reliably now.

  Frankly I am not convinced this and all other problems can be solved by software.  I think I have some hardware problems.  I am waiting for a return authorization and will be moving on to my third set when they can say that there is a new hardware version out, one with a decent working radio.

  I'm not a lawyer but I can see this whole thing degenerating into a class action suit at some point, because a top end $500 a pair setup like this should be working a lot more reliably than it does.  I think it was just released and sold before enough testing had been done to find and solve these reliability flaws.  Some day this will be a great setup after thats all worked out.

• 0
  
  Dewald Reynecke September 29, 2014 10:49

  I'm having similar issues with mine where the unit switches off entirely at random intervals. I've tried it paired to my iPhone, Zumo and another Sena in all the possible combinations but that does not seem to affect it. If I'm lucky it'll go an hour before switching itself off, other times it'll do so every 10 seconds. Terribly frustrating and I was hoping for a firmware resolution by now. Instead, no word from Sena. That's just pathetic.

  I suppose I can return it for a lesser Sena model (the smh10 and 10r seem to work without issue) but I will loose all the nice extra functions of the 20s that made me buy a headset in the first place. I'm very disappointed.

• 0
  
  Steve Hopper November 18, 2014 08:39

  I can't believe these comments are on Sena's "Help Desk" page and there is no response from Sena.  I am joining the band wagon.  Just got a pair of the 20s and the intercom drops at random times.  VERY frustrating when it is the main reason I want headsets.  I ride with my 75 year old father.  He rides behind me and I can advise on road conditions and upcoming curves.  You can imagine my concerns when we hit some slick roads and find out he could not hear me.  

• 0
  
  Ken November 18, 2014 18:06

  Steve, I hope Sena is working behind the scenes to fix this issue, along with several others that we're all experiencing.  

  When the 20S's drop the intercom, there are no alerts or notifications that the link has been dropped.  One or more of the connected units just disappears.  (I wonder why it's so quiet . . . I guess he has nothing to say).  Then, when initiating a conversation, there is no reply.  Hmmmmnm, dropped intercom link.  

  And it's not easy to recover from a dropped intercom link.  Pressing the button on either end to attempt to reestablish the link usually results in "Intercom Failed, Please Try Again Later" (or whatever it says).  Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.  Powering the units off and back on doesn't always fix it, either.  I suppose a total reset and then repairing would; but who wants to do that while riding?  

  We haven't received a new firmware update in what; a couple of months?  Maybe they're working on it and will surprise us.  In the meantime, the reviews aren't all that kind to Sena.  I'm reading dissatisfaction on many forums and review sites.  

  Ken

• 0
  
  Ron Cooper November 18, 2014 20:43

  Hi all, same issues here too, Sena replied to me at the beginning of the month saying the update to the 20s firmware is coming mid November so should be any day now...

  One of the things they are looking at is the compatibility issue with the SR10

  along with everything else I hope!!

• 0
  
  Steve Hopper November 18, 2014 21:33

  I got a response, so need to compliment Sena for at least getting back to me.  The answer was a page out of the Microsoft playbook' "ctrl/alt/del."  They said to do both a Factory and Fault reset.  I will do so this weekend, and expect it to solve as much as ctrl/alt/del.  My fingers are crossed that Ron's answer comes through.

• 0
  
  Pbokor November 18, 2014 21:41

  Sorry to tell you all, most of us (if not all of us who have been on this site on various threads) have returned out Sena20S. I don't believe anyone's still keeping theirs.
  
  It's a matter of time and your patience. No software update will solve it short-circuiting and going group intercom, or stop its hardware from automatically shutting off, at the most inopportune and dangerous moments.
  
  It's absolute crap and a waste of your money. Do yourself a favour and go return it.
• 0
  
  Pbokor November 18, 2014 21:47

  Fwiw, tried EVERY single possible fix (including the full system reset, hard, soft, software update).
  
  Nope.
• 0
  
  Bill Henning November 19, 2014 02:07

  I am on my third set of 20s units are they are working fine now.  Just got back from a week long trip and the intercom never dropped off.  However I did have this problem with set #2.  Rider and passenger would be chatting away and all of a sudden you realized that there was nobody on the other end.  It usually took an off/on reset of one or both units to get the connection back.  Needless to say, very frustrating.  I suspected it might have something to do with the set to cradle connection, too many pins that must make contact.

  However this set we have now works great, and we've never had a dropout like we did before.  As a matter of fact everything seems to be working as advertised, even the FM radio reception.  So I suggest returning your sets or a new pair.  At $500 a pair you are entitled to that!

  Just one more point - two riders must have a clear line of sight for an intercom connection.  If a car or truck gets between you then you won't be able to hear each other.  But when the car gets out of the way the conversation is immediately resumed.  Its like you stay connected but can't hear each other.  Not optimal but I suspect this is a bluetooth limitation rather than a 20S thing.

• 0
  
  Ken November 19, 2014 05:06

  I'm keeping my 20s.

  Everyone I know that bought one is keeping their 20S. 

  The launch of the 20S got off to a bad start.  But Sena's prior products that I've owned have satisfied me.  I believe that the 20S will do the same. 

  Ron, I wonder what the incompatibility with the SR-10 is.  I have an SR-10 hooked up to my Harley and it works just fine in receive mode.  I can hear AM, FM, CB, and WX; whenever I turn the volume up, the channel between the SR-10 and 20S opens up and I hear clean audio.    Is the issue on the transmit side?  

  Ken

• 0
  
  Ron Cooper November 20, 2014 01:18

  Hi Ken, on my first ride with the 20s, I suddenly got an extremely loud buzzing noise which made me turn off the 20s, told Sena about it and they said there was a compatibility issue between the SR10 and the 20s. they said they were going to address it in the next firmware upgrade.

  my setup: TPX radar hardwired via a groundloop isolator to the SR10. 20s paired to 1. my smartphone and 2. to the SR10.

  I have a turn by turn navigation app on my phone, listen to music/make/take calls and intercom to about 4 others with various Sena units.

  The problem I'm having is the intercom gets cut off when I get a radar alert, apart from the other issues!

  I had the SMH10 prior to the 20s and had very few issues with this setup, worked pretty good actually! 

   

• 0
  
  Ken November 20, 2014 06:01

  Thanks, Ron.  

  Steve Schmidt  is building interface cable/harness to get full function from the Harley factory radio (including full CB transmit as well as receive).  It works fine, except I wasn't getting any transmit audio. Was wondering if maybe the 20S-to-SR-10 issue mentioned above might be the cause.   So far, the SR-10 works in receive mode great.  But when I key the microphone, no audio gets through the SR-10 to the CB radio for some reason.  Hadn't considered the possibility of an SR-10 to 20S compatibility.  

• 0
  
  David Rotor January 04, 2015 02:53

  Hi, just installed a pair of 20s and went for our first ride. Same problem all of you are having. Intercom cuts on and off even though the two bikes are only yards apart. Did Sena ever comment or offer a fix?