Battery Life

Discussion topics covering Ooma Home Security
thively
Posts:94
Joined:Fri Mar 13, 2009 9:47 am
Battery Life

Post by thively » Sat May 27, 2017 3:15 pm

I'm a little concerned :( about battery life for these sensors. So far I've had to replace AAA in two door sensors and A123 lithium on two motion sensors.
The sensors suddenly go "offline" and no thing successfully re-connects them until I replace the batteries. I've even tried removing and replacing old batteries but they only reconnect after I put new ones in.
I kind of understand tbe AAA as the are likely very cheap batteries, but the lithiums should last at least a few months at the very least.

I've only had these sensors for two weeks.

I bought high end brand name lithium (both lithium) AAA and A123 hoping that does make them last.
Anyone else had dismal battery life so far?

These sensors are in the highest traffic areas but still, under 14 days seems bad. :o

I'd like to add that the sensors report "good" battery life when they go offline. There is no low battery warning. They just go offline.

Thanks

thomasm
Posts:482
Joined:Mon Jun 23, 2014 1:26 pm

Re: Battery Life

Post by thomasm » Mon May 29, 2017 11:58 am

How far from the Telo are these sensors? Maybe they are at the limit and only work with fresh batteries because fresh batteries let them transmit a slightly stronger signal. Try moving the motion detector right by the Telo after it goes offline and see if it then logs in.

homeforus
Posts:38
Joined:Fri May 12, 2017 7:44 am

Re: Battery Life

Post by homeforus » Wed May 31, 2017 7:11 am

Yeah, I posted on another thread about this. Exact thing happened to me. Sensor went offline, and I was confused as to why because I had never gotten a low battery warning. I have not the latest generation of Telo, but the older one that supports up to three sensors. My total time the batteries that came with the sensor lasted was about 6 weeks I think. But I'm even more concerned about the fact that they don't warn you that the battery is going dead.

Let me add that the one sensor I have is fairly close to the Telo. Maybe 30 feet max?

thively
Posts:94
Joined:Fri Mar 13, 2009 9:47 am

Re: Battery Life

Post by thively » Fri Jun 02, 2017 6:51 pm

In my case the two that died fastest are the closest. They are about 3ft from the telo. Motion is right above it and door is rihht next to it. So it's not a distance issue unless being too close is a problem.

Tom
Ooma Moderator
Posts:4378
Joined:Sat Sep 05, 2009 8:07 am

Re: Battery Life

Post by Tom » Sat Jun 03, 2017 8:14 am

an upcoming release will address these issues

thively
Posts:94
Joined:Fri Mar 13, 2009 9:47 am

Re: Battery Life

Post by thively » Sun Jun 11, 2017 11:08 pm

That motion sensor just ate through a second brand new duracell battery in 15 days.

I'll wait and see. I'll test and try another new battery and hope a software update fixes this.

This time it did alert low battery "requires battery replacement" 6 hours before it went offline.

murphy
Posts:7554
Joined:Tue Jan 27, 2009 12:49 pm
Location:Pennsylvania

Re: Battery Life

Post by murphy » Mon Jun 12, 2017 2:55 am

What type of battery does it use? My Ademco (Honeywell) motion sensors use the CR123A battery and the batteries last about 7 years. When the motion sensor detects motion it then goes to sleep for three minutes to preserve battery life.
Customer since January 2009
Telo with 2 Handsets, a Linx, and a Safety Phone
Telo2 with 2 Handsets and a Linx

Tom
Ooma Moderator
Posts:4378
Joined:Sat Sep 05, 2009 8:07 am

Re: Battery Life

Post by Tom » Mon Jun 12, 2017 8:19 am

The Ooma motion sensor goes to sleep for 2 min.

Tom
Ooma Moderator
Posts:4378
Joined:Sat Sep 05, 2009 8:07 am

Re: Battery Life

Post by Tom » Mon Jun 12, 2017 1:11 pm

For the magnetic sensor use Alkaline (LR03, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AAA_battery), not Li-Ion because the Li-Ion effective voltage is 1.2V, not 1.5V. See for instance the comments here:

https://www.amazon.com/Energizer-Ultima ... 523&sr=8-3

Thively, support will contact you to RMA two of your magnetic sensors. They show an incorrect voltage calibration.

Curious what you report on the motion sensor. As indicated the CR123A works well. The Ooma motion sensor goes to sleep for 2 min. Do you have pets or young children? Pet immunity is not supported yet.

thively
Posts:94
Joined:Fri Mar 13, 2009 9:47 am

Re: Battery Life

Post by thively » Tue Jun 13, 2017 10:33 am

I am using the right battery. It's an Energizer lithium CR123A that I got a home depot and AFIK it was fresh.
I do have a 10lb cat and 6 year old and neither seem to set off the sensor.
It is in the highest traffic area so, at times it's detecting motion frequently (but it has plenty of idle time.)
We were all away for the last week so only someone stopping in to check on my cat and bring in the mail set it off once or twice a day. It seems that during that time it ran down.

Curious. Could heat from a computer keep the sensor from sleeping? I have a remote telepresence robot parked near that sensor that is essentially like a laptop on a stick.
https://suitabletech.com/products/beam
The sensor seems to not detect it and it seems to sleep but I'm not sure how it affects it and how to know it's actually sleeping except the logs which show no motion.

I missed the call from RMA, but I'll follow up and try the replacement. As you said, if the voltage calibration is off that could be it.

Thank you for the response. I'm hoping the RMA fixes this, Otherwise, It has to be my environment.

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