Ikea 5 button remote killing batteries

Update this morning from ST support seems to bode well…

‘I appreciate you getting in touch and letting me know that you’re running into some problems with your IKEA devices going through batteries very quickly! This is something that we’re aware of and we’re actively working on fixing at the moment. I don’t have an ETA for when we might see a fix implemented, however, I can see that as of Tuesday just gone (08/06/2021) progress has been made.’

So watch a space somewhere or other, looks like a resolution will be forthcoming soon :crossed_fingers:

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Report a problem is off the contact us menu for what it is worth, used the support email in the end. Ta for that :blush:

Not for everyone. I get the Samsung Members banner and then this …

Just had to replace a battery that lasted less than three days. That was the button that had been lasting two weeks. It is getting a bit tedious.

And quite expensive in batteries and time wasted trying to “almost” get things working and then have it all stop less than 48 hours later…

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almost time to just throw those things out.

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I haven’t given up just yet… I have installed a Zigbee USB stick in my Home Assistant Raspberry Pi4 and spent an hour configuring it. It is not as slick as either IKEA pairing or Samsung pairing… But it did find both the Buttoms and the Repeaters and they are working at opposite ends of my house (which is way too far for one zigbee hop)

I will update if this solves the problem or if I just wasted more money on a “Go Control” USB stick and 3 more dollar store batteries.

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5 days in and all of the buttons are still responding and all a re still alive. Almost every other hub/system has a firmware update to solve this problem…

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I have 6 of the 2 button type (dimmer switch) and this is getting to be extremely annoying. I’ve raised a support ticket. This really needs sorting out!!

I’ve got about twelve of them. Back when I first encountered the bug in mid-March I had the majority on an affected hub and got through about twenty batteries in four days.

I’ve now only got two on an affected hub, plus a Shortcut button which can also have the problem, and they are more hit and miss. I had a low battery report yesterday on a battery that was only changed a few days ago and thought ‘here we go again’ but actually it is still working. There are certainly subtleties about the problem but I haven’t seen any pattern to them.

SmartThings must be in a bit of an awkward situation with IKEA being their partners, and also probably wish to have a more ‘correct’ solution. At least one of the solutions I’ve seen to the problem on other platforms seemed to be about avoiding the issue rather than actually dealing with the cause. And what happens if the solution requires new firmware on the button?

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IF (and I understand that’s a big if when it comes to IKEA) the devices are compliant with the zigbee 3.0 standard, IKEA can send The update file to smartthings staff and they can distribute it for over the air updates for those who have hub V3 or equivalent to those customers who have over the air updates turned on.

It doesn’t mean it will happen that way, but it certainly could. Again, as long as the IKEA devices are fully compliant with the standard. :thinking:

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Yes, what I was really getting at was that there is no guarantee that any fix will happen magically without the user having to do anything.

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I have solved it by changing the zigbee to a lower channel fairway from wifi.

I have decommissioned my buttons for the moment as I can do without them until a fix (:crossed_fingers:).

My blinds however, which are on huge rechargeable’s and I can’t do without, are now cycling every 15-20 days instead of around 11 months!

Wonder if there will be any compensation for using up recharge cycles… :thinking:

Please explain more.

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Anyone found a solution? Is there an official statement from IKEA or Smartthings? I was not able to find anything, complete silence.
Frankly speaking, this situation opened my eyes. The smart home idea as overall is not mature yet for normal use. It is an expensive toy.
When a huge companies like IKEA and Samsung can’t be trusted if not for support, at least not breaking something, who we can trust?

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I’m sad to report… Nope… Even the Zigbee → USB adapters running via Home Assistant have this problem… though not as bad… My HUSBZB adapter (running the latest firmware) keeps the buttons alive for about 15 days and then some (but not all) will die…

Still holding out for Samsung to fix this… But I am not holding my breath.

I’ve moved away from ST but getting this issue with any Ikea button with ZHA though the Sonoff Bridge with flashed Tasmota.

I wouldn’t be surprised if this is on purpose to ensure suckers, I mean customers only use their hubs.

Corporate greed is alive and well

I have 2 of the 5 button remotes running on SmartThings hub firmware 000.036.00005.
The older one which works perfectly is on FW1223573 - “Remote Control (Ip44) v1.2.223.
Bugfixes and performance updates”, but the newer version on FW23014631 “Remote Control V-2.3.014. Upgrade to ZB3.0.”

Could it be that the upgrade to zigbee 3.0 kills the batteries on these products?

Is there a way to downgrade the firmware back to 1.2.223 using the ikea hub?

Anyone tested with IKEA hub?

Just go into Graph, zigbee utilities and try a lower channel, as far away from wifi as you can, there are tables online to show where they don’t colide. I had to pair everything once again, but so far so good, 5 days and remote battery’s are still at 100%