Connecting FluidRower by First Degree Fitness Rowing Machines to asensei

asensei supports connection to Fluid Rowers from First Degree Fitness rowing machines that support Bluetooth - such as the Fluid Rower Apollo, Viking, Trident or Apollo series.  If your console looks like the image below you should be able to connect it to asensei. This means that great indoor rowing workouts and training programs from asensei's coaches such as Eric Murray, Dark Horse Rowing and Johan Quie are now available for Fluid Rower users for the first time.  Read on to learn how to connect.

How to Connect the Fluid Rower Console to asensei

As always asensei looks for a Bluetooth connection after you start your workout.  When you reach the connection video asensei will display SCANNING FOR... on screen and will start to look for a suitable Bluetooth enabled rowing machine that is advertising.

To make your Fluid Rower console ready to connect you should do the following:

1. Turn it on, using the RESET button.

2. Press the UP and DOWN arrow keys simultaneously.  You will see the screen change to display a countdown timer and BT and HR. 

3. To enable bluetooth connection press the yellow UP arrow key.  This will start advertising that the console is ready to connect.  The 4 digit number displayed on the top of the screen shows the ID of the rowing machine and asensei will see it as Rower1234 (where the actual numbers match your console ID). 

The rowing machine will now be visible to asensei and should connect automatically.  Once the connection is established the workout will progress. 

Note that the console will display "bt" at the top of the screen to show it is connected via Bluetooth and will not show your data when you are connected, so you must rely on the onscreen data in the asensei app.

Troubleshooting Connections

If your Fluid Rower console does not connect then try the following:

• Press the UP and DOWN keys again to initial the connection sequence again.  You may need to do this if the countdown reaches zero before you manage to connect.
• Check there is a Bluetooth symbol on the console - if not you may not have a Bluetooth compatible console.
• Try updating your Console's firmware to ensure you are running the latest version.  To do this you must download the Fluid Connect app from the appstore and then follow the instructions in the app.  
  • Once your firmware is updated you should restart your phone (turn off and on again) to ensure that Bluetooth service updates are picked up correctly.
• Make sure you have the latest version of asensei installed -  only app build 1.15.0 and later is compatible with the FluidRower console.

Known Limitations of asensei with FluidRower

• The effort to achieve a given split time on a FluidRower may differ from other rowing machines (such as a Concept 2), so we would generally recommend that you use asensei on a single brand of rowing machine only.  If you use a mixture of rowing machine types then you may find that your split targets will be less accurate for you.  Currently asensei does not attempt to normalize between different types of rowing machines. For more information see this article: Working out on multiple types of rowing machines.
• The CREW X ASENSEI FAST FRIDAY workout in the CREW x ASENSEI program (subscribers only) will not progress when you reach the 500m race segment at the end of the workout.  You must tap the screen and hit Stop to end your workout.
• The data from the Fluid Rower console is currently only sent once per stroke, this means that the on-screen metrics update in a rather jerky fashion.  A future update to the console firmware will address this.
• Various workouts talk about Concept 2 specific features, but the workouts should be fully functional.
• If you created your asensei account some time ago and are coming back to the app the legacy connection video displayed for existing asensei users only gives instructions for connecting to a Concept2 rowing machine, even though FluidRowers are now supported.  To have asensei display the new connection instructions video you need to logout of your asensei app and back in again.  
• If the console disconnects during a workout asensei will attempt to reconnect automatically, but you may need to manually make your Console advertise for connection again (as explained at the top of this article)

More Information about FDF Fluid Rower Consoles

Compatible FDF Fluid Rower models will have the same console as shown in the images above and include the following:

• Trident PRO V
• NEON PRO V
• Apollo V
• Apollo PRO V
• Viking 2 V
• Viking 3 V
• Viking PRO V
• Apollo PRO XL
• Viking RO XL
• MEGA PRO XL
• E350
• VX-2
• E550
• VX-3

For more details you can download the FDF FluidRower Bluetooth Console Guide PDF

How do I Update the FDF FluidRower Console Firmware?

To update the console firmware see the manufacturer firmware update instructions