Smartsense Batteries need changing at 67%

Devices & Integrations
1

Ok had my system for about a year and all of a sudden smart sense sensors start dropping one after another over a period of a couple of weeks.(>8 devices) The batteries are all at 67% so I assume all is well with them

I do a battery pull and all the other diagnostics and can’t get back on line.

However as soon as I change the battery the devices come back on. Put back in the old 67% battery and they’re dead again. So my conclusion is the batteries are dying

So is it me or should a stop believing the battery status on smartsense sensors. My working estimate is they are lasting about 1 year.

2

Stop believing. I’m seeing the same thing.

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3

Same here. Had issues with tons of false motion events off ST sensors. Battery reported somewhere around 67 like you said. Then after getting totally pissed off for about 2 weeks…It finally dropped. So put in a new battery, rock solid.

It had been installed ~1 year. And I’m sorry, if we cant trust the battery meter…what can we trust. I mean sure, if it was like <30% I’d give it benefit of the doubt. But at >50% reporting, it should be stable.

Meanwhile my ST multisensor has been at 13% for probably 6 months… New batteries just showed up but I’m going to hold out on that.

4

Hey guys @bago @KevinH @Silverpawn, what you’'re experiencing isn’t related to batteries, maybe. Check with a voltmeter to be sure it ain’t dead, but there current is a issue ST engineers are working on for motion sensors freaking out, as well as zigbee devices dropping. Please let support know you’re having these issues.

FWIW, I have a motion sensor at 11% and it’s still going strong…

5

Thanks. BUT, support keeps blaming the batteries. They won’t accept an alternative explanation. I’m sure they’re just reading a script, they have become a roadblock.

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6

People have been reporting on and off for about four months that the newest generation of SmartThings branded sensors are unreliable with regard to battery life Once they hit 67%. No idea how widespread it is.

7

Yeah I know. You and I swapped some PM’s on this topic, and it too bad they’re doing that to you. They asked me to do the same thing, but I just swapped batteries between sensors because I didn’t have any of the supported batteries the sensors need. I have no idea why, but that worked.

8

I dont disagree with you… But at the same time my battery issue really did seem to be the battery. I didnt drop off the network for weeks. I had tons of false motion alerts. I did do a reset and add back once with no change in behavior. So once it did finally just quit responding I got new batteries. Since then its been almost 100% reliable…execpt when I did a hub reboot 15min power off…it didnt rejoin.

I dont think the battery is totally at fault. I dont know if it was dead or not I think I already trashed it. But it was a year old, it had went through quite a few cold days/nights as it is my outdoor sensor. Hitting it with the low hanging fruit of battery issue has worked now for a month. Tho its reading 78% battery after one month :wink:

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9

I would like to agree with you but the simple test was this

Old battery out - Old battery in no life
Old battery out - New battery in - it works

The problem was given away on a battery pull when an old battery couldn’t light the reset LED completely but a new one could.

Now it may be the batteries weren’t totally drained but they didn’t hold enough power to keep the sensor working.

It’s also worth noting for me that the sensors are dropping in the order of purchase except for those out in cold areas which die sooner.

10

I have the same thing and submitted a support ticket. They are aware and said its a bug they are trying to fix.

11

Old out, Old in - Works for a while. Swap with another sensor, no problem, then every thing works (for a while). I think our issues are different (related, but slightly different). My sensors are not dropping off at all, they just freak out.