The 2nd gen motion sensor has a little label under the battery that says “NOTICE! USE ONLY: Panasonic or Dureacell Battery (CR2450)”
Seems they mean it. Bought a bunch of Energizer 2450’s and they work fine in the multi sensor but no light at all in the motino sensor. The tab in the sensor that touches the outer rim of the battery is poorly designed at an angle that attempts to make contact at the bottom of the battery toward the negative side. The Energizer battery has a thinner side profile so the contact is never made.
Obviously this is irritating, no way to know if any of the generic battery’s on Amazon or eBay will work either as the thickness doesn’t appear to be standard as one would expect.
I’m not giving advice to ignore the label but I would have to assume that indicates those batteries have been tested in that device and are approved to meet the specified length of life for the device. Battery designations are standardized as are specs for voltage and current capability. Life between manufacturers and even with different “lines” within manufacturers can vary. As I said, the label is the bible but personally, I wouldn’t give it a second thought as to which battery I use as long as it’s a know reputable manufacturer. The Energizer people know more than a little about making batteries.
Yeah, so far, the battery implementation on SmartThings devices is abysmal. I also just had to submit a ticket as one multi sensor seems to have failed, but ONLY the contact portion, temp/bat/orientation all still work. And I’ve had about 5 other sensors both motion and contact fail and need to be reset to get working again. None of my Insteon sensors have ever had this issue.
I’ve only bought a starter kit and 5 pack of each sensor type multi and motion, can only imagine the issues folks who buy boxes of these for larger houses would have.
Mine aren’t that old but batteries are not draining quickly at all and they have been 100% reliable. I have 9 motion controllers, multipurpose sensors and contacts. No complaints on any part of my system. Same for my Hue and Echo. Very happy with my system and will expand it further this summer.
The one battery I had to replace was due to it being in my garage, been chilly around here, so not unexpected that it would die. I suspect many of these issues are the scheduler issues ST is having but it seems some of the sensors just give up on reporting for random periods of time. My Iris and Insteon’s don’t ever glitch like that.
Update to this thread, arrow.com and digikey.com have great prices on these batteries. Shipping is free at arrow.com right now, digikey is always cheap for USPS as well.
Had three batteries die today (well noticed they were dead) and went to replace them. All on SmartThings MultiSensors. They read .9mv, .34mv, and .61mv each. New Panasonic’s are 3.22v.
What I realized, I have a lot of “dead” batteries from my motion sensors, they are all 2.2v up to 3v!
Reuse “dead” Motion Sensor batteries in MultiSensors. WIN!
Now, why are Motion Sensor batteries “dead” so quickly? They possibly require a higher voltage but lower amperage draw per activation where Multi’s are just an insane low voltage draw all the time? They seem to last approximately equally on both, so overall mAh usage seems similar over time.
Just cancelled an order for the Energize batteries. Thanks @michaelahess
At what point is it time to replace batteries in these ST motion detectors? Mine is reporting %77 but the sensor is only transmitting temp not motion as of yesterday.
My motion sensor died Monday night - which incidentally shows how much the family have got used to ST, as there was much stumbling down the stairs in the dark. The motion sensor covers the stairs and turns on a Hue light to 20% at night - nobody thought to just turn the light on manually with an off/on motion on the switch right below the sensor
Anyway, I bought a two pack of Energizer batteries a month back because the multisensor in my Fridge needed one, and they both use CR2450.
Multisensor is working fine with the Energizer, but I put the same cell in the Motion and… nothing. Dead. “Bother” thought I, “I’ll have to buy a new sensor”.
Opened it up and noticed that the vertical prongs are really flat and low - almost looks like they’ve been bent back too far. Thought it might just be a poor contact so tried to bend the prongs out and… PING. They snapped off at the bend.
In fixing it with the spring out of a ball point pen (“screwed down” over the remaining prong), it now sits much higher and sticks out further - and actually works with the Energizer!
So, if you’ve stockpiled Energizer CR2450 cells, then just get some ballpoint pen springs and get modifying
Hi does anyone know of other compatible sensors available in the UK. i’m fairly new to the world of smartthings and don’t really understand the coding aspects.
This is CRAZY! I purchased a ton of Energizers ('cause that seems to be the norm in brick and mortar) and I’m kicking myself for not paying extreme heed to the “Panasonic and Duracell Sheets on Samsung’s bed”.
That said… I returned two units thinking they were totally dead… and let most of my units just dye in place.
As soon as I saw this post after frustration and annoyance of multiple sensors around the house just sitting there gathering dust… I broke down and bought Panasonic… and they all came to life.
Thanks @michaelahess for this way “DUH” post, I should have seen the moment I removed the first battery.
They died a few months after setup and I’ve just let them sit outside attached to my house as a “hey prowler”.
It sure would be nice to use them again… OR… if anyone has a suggestion on a “functional” unit, I may be willing to replace them. They worked fine upon initial install.
Desires:
Motion Sensor
Lux detection
Humidity Level
Temperature Sensor
