Yeah, that’s pretty odd. I think I have around 7 or 8 Iris motions and 2 are battery eater.
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Are you using the same DTH? (Settings can have a major impact on battery duration)
Is the sensor in a more trafficked area? (More movement = more reports)
Is it outdoors where cold temperature can reduce battery capacity?
Is it somewhere where the temperature changes more often than the other sensor? (More changes = more reports)
Are the batteries the same and from the same source? (I am sure some of the batteries I got for cheap on Amazon were counterfeits)
Yes I believe they are same DTH, didn’t check.
Less traffic area. In bathroom with another in hall on other side of wall.
Not outdoors, warmer if anything temperature wise. Basically the same. Doesn’t warm up that much. I’ll check that to be sure.
Not same batteries right now. One in hallway is still on original battery. Other is on its 3rd battery. Using cheep ones till I get it powered or replaced with GE one I bought to play with.
Not a big deal just ODD. That 2 different sensors eat batteries in that location. So would lead you to being the environment. Then another sensor 6 inches away doesn’t eat batteries, so maybe not?
Haven’t had time to swap with another one in the house and see if issue tracks. I know easy swap but would have to change some Core and smart lighting settings if I swap.
This weekend I hope to experiment.
Swap the batteries to see if the supposedly good sensor starts munching down on battery life. I suspect you will find that the “cheap” batteries may well be the cause. I purchased very cheap, albeit Energizer brand, batteries on Amazon.com and even though they look identical I think they are counterfeits or old stock. There are tons of people reporting the same issue with these good deals… just look at the reviews. I’ve had hit or miss experience with buying them on amazon however even if they last half the time, they are still a good deal if the price is less than half…
Yeah I’ll get a good battery and see what happens. Won’t be till this weekend. Work is demanding lots of time.
I would suggest that you swap batteries first just to see if the problem follows the battery or stays with the sensor. Getting a brand new battery of known good quality and provenance might get you to the same result but it is also adding a new element to the equation.
Yeah, was too late for that. The battery was already at 25%.
So as a test I took another one that was working fine. Replace both with new batteries. Placed them side by side in the troubled area. I’ll note the results on how long battery last compared to each other.
According to simple device viewer (right now) problem sensor is at 67%, one right beside it is at 89%.
I also moved a plug in smart plug in the hallway outside about 2 days ago.
I bought a GE motion sensor to put in the trouble sensors place. It’s zwave and can be powered. Problem is GE reset time is around 5 minutes. That’s too slow for my needs.
I’m going to let the 2 sensors sit there till the trouble one quits. Just to see how long they will go.
Thanks for asking. I’ll post back when it dies. Shouldn’t be much longer.
@TN_Oldman - Did you reset your zigbee network once you placed them close to each other? This would be needed to ensure both sensors are talking to the same (closest) zigbee node. I believe the equivalent of a zwave network repair is done by unplugging the hub for 15 minutes so all the zigbee devices start searching for a new node - not sure whether you would also unplug the powered zigbee nodes (that act as repeaters) but I guess that would not hurt to try.
The chance of having 2 bad sensors is pretty low but there you have it. Remind yourself to skip the lottery ticket this month 
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I don’t remember if I did. I have done that several times recently. I have been working ALOT so my days and events are starting to run together.
I had actually forgot I put them beside each other till you just pinged me.
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Yeah, I’m pretty sure it’s the sensor. That is 2 for 2. Batting 100% on this endevor. The last time it finally died was around 67% (as did the one before it) so it’s not long for this world.
I could exchange it again, well see.
Thanks for helping and offering advice, I just hated accepting it was possibly another bad sensor.
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Just an update.
The problem sensor battery finally gave up last night at 38% the test sensor beside it is reading 78%.
I’m still going to attempt to wire a USB cord to it and plug it into a wall wart to see if it will run on power. I had hopes for the GE sensor I bought, but it’s reset time is 4 minutes. That’s too long for my use case.
Good grief, I’m having the same problem. I’m using 6 Iris motion sensors and they ALL are eating up batteries like crazy. I doubt I’d have any luck if I exchanged them at this point, and it sounds like I’d just end up with more bad ones. Does anyone know of any other zigbee motion sensors that are as fast to respond as the Iris’s? I thought I finally found a motion sensor I liked…
I have made 2 of my battery powered sensors operate off USB. Working great so far! I documented how to do this here:
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