Zigbee Extreme Battery Drain

[RJGill84 (Bob)]

Hey guys… I have a Samsung Multisensor that is Zigbee and it has been experiencing wild battery drains in the last month or two. I’m talking 1-2 days and it’s dead. I’ve tried multiple name brands. I also have a similar issue on a Zigbee motion sensor, but it uses AAA batts so has a bit more staying power then the CR2450s on the multisensor.

I’m tech savvy and have tried the usual things, including adding a Zigbee repeater nearby. Any ideas? These devices did not experience this issue before. The multisensor has been in use for 3 years without issue.

[Mariano_Colmenarejo]

@RJGill84

I have a Samsung Multisensor that is Zigbee and it has been experiencing wild battery drains in the last month or two

Hi @RJGill84

I have 3 Samsung multipurpose sensors (Samjin), now Aeotec. Historically, batteries last between 5 and 7 months and I have not noticed a substantial change.

I have seen that the duration depends a lot on:

• the quality of the battery
• The ambient temperature, in summer they last longer, the percentage is even seen to increase when summer arrives.
• The frequency of reports sent to the hub
• And of course the use it has.

I have also seen that they have a particular behavior, which I think is related to the way the battery percentage is calculated:
When the battery reports about less than 40% at any time it can stop working abruptly and at that moment they measure about 2.3v or 2.4v, which normally should be almost 0%.

Their hardware siblings, the Samjin motion sensors, have a compensated percentage calculation formula, which increases the discharge slope more quickly, but also the battery end is not real.
Calculation in motion sensor Samjin:

local raw_percentage = raw_value.value - (200 - raw_value.value) / 2
local percentage = utils.clamp_value(utils.round(raw_percentage / 2), 0, 100)

Calculation in multipurpose sensor:
local percentage = utils.clamp_value(utils.round(raw_value.value / 2), 0, 100)

I use the Zigbee Contact Mc driver, which greatly reduces the messages sent to the Hub.

• I have customized temperature reports every 1 hour or changes of 1ºc and 3ºc in another sensor exposed to frequent environmental changes. For the stock driver, the maximum interval is 300 sec and changes of 0.1ºc.
• I have customized the open/close status reports at 3600 sec instead of 300 sec of the stock driver. This change has only been in use for a month and a half and I hope to see an improvement in battery consumption in the coming months.
• The acceleration reports were changed from 300 sec to 3600 sec in the stock driver with a PR when more than a year had passed since the beta drivers, which means that if you already had the driver and you sensor in use, then driver was updated, but device keeps sending acceleration reports every 300 sec, since the sensor is configured only in pairing process.

The app’s battery percentage graph allows you to see the discharge curve for a month and is quite different on each device, due to battery brand, use, temperature,…

I don’t know what driver you are using.
You can see with the CLI if devices are sending messages very frequently.
Maybe you should pair them again so they are set to the most recent reporting intervals. Smartthings changes them in their drivers to improve, but forgets that users who already have the devices in use configure them when they pair them again.

If you want you can use the Zigbee Contac Mc driver and customize the reports.
My driver does configure the devices when a driver change is made, although not all devices support the configuration without being in pairing mode, but the Samsung multipurpose sensors do accept the configuration and subsequent changes.

You can see that the Contact Mc zigbee driver with 4 paired devices and the custom configuration is very quiet, in 30 minutes it has only sent 6 status messages to Hub.

? Select a driver. 16
connecting... connected
2023-11-23T10:21:22.708005785+00:00 DEBUG Zigbee Contact Mc  driver device thread event handled
2023-11-23T10:21:52.672322789+00:00 DEBUG Zigbee Contact Mc  driver device thread event handled
2023-11-23T10:22:22.682289793+00:00 DEBUG Zigbee Contact Mc  driver device thread event handled
2023-11-23T10:22:52.692730129+00:00 DEBUG Zigbee Contact Mc  driver device thread event handled
2023-11-23T10:23:22.692294133+00:00 DEBUG Zigbee Contact Mc  driver device thread event handled
2023-11-23T10:23:52.702333551+00:00 DEBUG Zigbee Contact Mc  driver device thread event handled
2023-11-23T10:24:22.712334221+00:00 DEBUG Zigbee Contact Mc  driver device thread event handled
2023-11-23T10:24:52.722617224+00:00 DEBUG Zigbee Contact Mc  driver device thread event handled
2023-11-23T10:25:22.747134895+00:00 DEBUG Zigbee Contact Mc  driver device thread event handled
2023-11-23T10:25:52.732303898+00:00 DEBUG Zigbee Contact Mc  driver device thread event handled
2023-11-23T10:26:22.742241902+00:00 DEBUG Zigbee Contact Mc  driver device thread event handled
2023-11-23T10:26:52.742291572+00:00 DEBUG Zigbee Contact Mc  driver device thread event handled
2023-11-23T10:27:22.752596242+00:00 DEBUG Zigbee Contact Mc  driver device thread event handled
2023-11-23T10:27:52.759042061+00:00 DEBUG Zigbee Contact Mc  driver device thread event handled
2023-11-23T10:28:22.762438076+00:00 DEBUG Zigbee Contact Mc  driver device thread event handled
2023-11-23T10:28:52.772280090+00:00 DEBUG Zigbee Contact Mc  driver device thread event handled
2023-11-23T10:29:22.774628104+00:00 DEBUG Zigbee Contact Mc  driver device thread event handled
2023-11-23T10:29:52.782301452+00:00 DEBUG Zigbee Contact Mc  driver device thread event handled
2023-11-23T10:30:22.792294133+00:00 DEBUG Zigbee Contact Mc  driver device thread event handled
2023-11-23T10:30:52.793488481+00:00 DEBUG Zigbee Contact Mc  driver device thread event handled
2023-11-23T10:31:22.802325495+00:00 DEBUG Zigbee Contact Mc  driver device thread event handled
2023-11-23T10:31:52.802293753+00:00 DEBUG Zigbee Contact Mc  driver device thread event handled
2023-11-23T10:32:22.802314101+00:00 DEBUG Zigbee Contact Mc  driver device thread event handled
2023-11-23T10:32:52.803512449+00:00 DEBUG Zigbee Contact Mc  driver device thread event handled
2023-11-23T10:33:17.317787127+00:00 TRACE Zigbee Contact Mc  Received event with handler zigbee
2023-11-23T10:33:17.348857460+00:00 INFO Zigbee Contact Mc  <ZigbeeDevice: d5c46aef-8f26-4442-a671-2f36f00e42e5 [0x2F64] (Puerta Casa)> received Zigbee message: < ZigbeeMessageRx || type: 0x00, < AddressHeader || src_addr: 0x2F64, src_endpoint: 0x01, dest_addr: 0x0000, dest_endpoint: 0x01, profile: 0x0104, cluster: TemperatureMeasurement >, lqi: 0xC8, rssi: -72, body_length: 0x0008, < ZCLMessageBody || < ZCLHeader || frame_ctrl: 0x08, seqno: 0x4D, ZCLCommandId: 0x0A >, < ReportAttribute || < AttributeRecord || AttributeId: 0x0000, DataType: Int16, MeasuredValue: 1745 > > > >
2023-11-23T10:33:17.367681127+00:00 TRACE Zigbee Contact Mc  Found ZigbeeMessageDispatcher handler in zigbee_contact -> Temp-Sensor
2023-11-23T10:33:17.372597127+00:00 INFO Zigbee Contact Mc  Executing ZclClusterAttributeValueHandler: cluster: TemperatureMeasurement, attribute: MeasuredValue
2023-11-23T10:33:17.377702794+00:00 INFO Zigbee Contact Mc  <ZigbeeDevice: d5c46aef-8f26-4442-a671-2f36f00e42e5 [0x2F64] (Puerta Casa)> emitting event: {"attribute_id":"signalMetrics","capability_id":"legendabsolute60149.signalMetrics","component_id":"main","state":{"value":"<em table style='font-size:70%';'font-weight: bold'</em><b>GMT: </b>2023/11/23 Time: 10:33<BR><b>DNI: </b>0x2F64  <b> 
LQI: </b>200  <b>RSSI: </b>-72dbm</em><BR>"},"visibility":{"displayed":false}}
2023-11-23T10:33:17.382843794+00:00 INFO Zigbee Contact Mc  <ZigbeeDevice: d5c46aef-8f26-4442-a671-2f36f00e42e5 [0x2F64] (Puerta Casa)> emitting event: {"attribute_id":"temperature","capability_id":"temperatureMeasurement","component_id":"main","state":{"unit":"C","value":17.45}}
2023-11-23T10:33:17.387747794+00:00 DEBUG Zigbee Contact Mc  Puerta Casa device thread event handled
2023-11-23T10:33:17.730082461+00:00 TRACE Zigbee Contact Mc  Received event with handler zigbee
2023-11-23T10:33:17.740029461+00:00 INFO Zigbee Contact Mc  <ZigbeeDevice: d5c46aef-8f26-4442-a671-2f36f00e42e5 [0x2F64] (Puerta Casa)> received Zigbee message: < ZigbeeMessageRx || type: 0x02, < AddressHeader || src_addr: 0x2F64, src_endpoint: 0x00, dest_addr: 0x0000, dest_endpoint: 0x00, profile: 0x0000, cluster: Basic >, lqi: 0xD6, rssi: -80, body_length: 0x000B, < ZDOMessageBody || < ZDOHeader || seqno: 0xD0 >, GenericBody:  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 > >
2023-11-23T10:33:17.747655127+00:00 DEBUG Zigbee Contact Mc  Puerta Casa device thread event handled
2023-11-23T10:33:19.074695795+00:00 TRACE Zigbee Contact Mc  Received event with handler zigbee
2023-11-23T10:33:19.093463128+00:00 INFO Zigbee Contact Mc  <ZigbeeDevice: d5c46aef-8f26-4442-a671-2f36f00e42e5 [0x2F64] (Puerta Casa)> received Zigbee message: < ZigbeeMessageRx || type: 0x02, < AddressHeader || src_addr: 0x2F64, src_endpoint: 0x00, dest_addr: 0x0000, dest_endpoint: 0x00, profile: 0x0000, cluster: Basic >, lqi: 0xD6, rssi: -80, body_length: 0x000B, < ZDOMessageBody || < ZDOHeader || seqno: 0xD1 >, GenericBody:  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 > >
2023-11-23T10:33:19.098493795+00:00 DEBUG Zigbee Contact Mc  Puerta Casa device thread event handled
2023-11-23T10:33:22.812306130+00:00 DEBUG Zigbee Contact Mc  driver device thread event handled
2023-11-23T10:33:52.820915811+00:00 DEBUG Zigbee Contact Mc  driver device thread event handled
2023-11-23T10:34:22.829698158+00:00 DEBUG Zigbee Contact Mc  driver device thread event handled
2023-11-23T10:34:52.831106173+00:00 DEBUG Zigbee Contact Mc  driver device thread event handled
2023-11-23T10:35:22.839908520+00:00 DEBUG Zigbee Contact Mc  driver device thread event handled
2023-11-23T10:35:31.120067191+00:00 TRACE Zigbee Contact Mc  Received event with handler zigbee
2023-11-23T10:35:31.156719191+00:00 INFO Zigbee Contact Mc  <ZigbeeDevice: faeb431d-4059-472f-bc70-dbd73863aaf0 [0xE8E0] (Puerta Portal)> received Zigbee message: < ZigbeeMessageRx || type: 0x00, < AddressHeader || src_addr: 0xE8E0, src_endpoint: 0x01, dest_addr: 0x0000, dest_endpoint: 0x01, profile: 0x0104, cluster: IASZone >, lqi: 0x9E, rssi: -91, body_length: 0x0008, < ZCLMessageBody || < ZCLHeader || frame_ctrl: 0x08, seqno: 0x46, ZCLCommandId: 0x0A >, < ReportAttribute || < AttributeRecord || AttributeId: 0x0002, DataType: Bitmap16, ZoneStatus: 0x0020 > > > >
2023-11-23T10:35:31.163425524+00:00 TRACE Zigbee Contact Mc  Found ZigbeeMessageDispatcher handler in zigbee_contact
2023-11-23T10:35:31.167840524+00:00 INFO Zigbee Contact Mc  Executing ZclClusterAttributeValueHandler: cluster: IASZone, attribute: ZoneStatus
2023-11-23T10:35:31.173053524+00:00 INFO Zigbee Contact Mc  <ZigbeeDevice: faeb431d-4059-472f-bc70-dbd73863aaf0 [0xE8E0] (Puerta Portal)> emitting event: {"attribute_id":"contact","capability_id":"contactSensor","component_id":"main","state":{"value":"closed"}}
2023-11-23T10:35:31.178489191+00:00 DEBUG Zigbee Contact Mc  Puerta Portal device thread event handled
2023-11-23T10:35:31.215032524+00:00 TRACE Zigbee Contact Mc  Received event with handler zigbee
2023-11-23T10:35:31.224957858+00:00 INFO Zigbee Contact Mc  <ZigbeeDevice: faeb431d-4059-472f-bc70-dbd73863aaf0 [0xE8E0] (Puerta Portal)> received Zigbee message: < ZigbeeMessageRx || type: 0x02, < AddressHeader || src_addr: 0xE8E0, src_endpoint: 0x00, dest_addr: 0x0000, dest_endpoint: 0x00, profile: 0x0000, cluster: Basic >, lqi: 0xA4, rssi: -90, body_length: 0x000B, < ZDOMessageBody || < ZDOHeader || seqno: 0xA3 >, GenericBody:  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 > >
2023-11-23T10:35:31.233921858+00:00 DEBUG Zigbee Contact Mc  Puerta Portal device thread event handled
2023-11-23T10:35:33.186969192+00:00 TRACE Zigbee Contact Mc  Received event with handler zigbee
2023-11-23T10:35:33.201868858+00:00 INFO Zigbee Contact Mc  <ZigbeeDevice: faeb431d-4059-472f-bc70-dbd73863aaf0 [0xE8E0] (Puerta Portal)> received Zigbee message: < ZigbeeMessageRx || type: 0x02, < AddressHeader || src_addr: 0xE8E0, src_endpoint: 0x00, dest_addr: 0x0000, dest_endpoint: 0x00, profile: 0x0000, cluster: Basic >, lqi: 0xA0, rssi: -91, body_length: 0x000B, < ZDOMessageBody || < ZDOHeader || seqno: 0xA4 >, GenericBody:  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 > >
2023-11-23T10:35:33.207010858+00:00 DEBUG Zigbee Contact Mc  Puerta Portal device thread event handled
2023-11-23T10:35:52.852287725+00:00 DEBUG Zigbee Contact Mc  driver device thread event handled
2023-11-23T10:36:22.861437406+00:00 DEBUG Zigbee Contact Mc  driver device thread event handled
2023-11-23T10:36:52.872300421+00:00 DEBUG Zigbee Contact Mc  driver device thread event handled
2023-11-23T10:37:22.872297768+00:00 DEBUG Zigbee Contact Mc  driver device thread event handled
2023-11-23T10:37:52.883611783+00:00 DEBUG Zigbee Contact Mc  driver device thread event handled
2023-11-23T10:38:22.882325464+00:00 DEBUG Zigbee Contact Mc  driver device thread event handled
2023-11-23T10:38:52.892296811+00:00 DEBUG Zigbee Contact Mc  driver device thread event handled
2023-11-23T10:39:22.912734826+00:00 DEBUG Zigbee Contact Mc  driver device thread event handled
2023-11-23T10:39:52.923335236+00:00 DEBUG Zigbee Contact Mc  driver device thread event handled
2023-11-23T10:40:22.932688466+00:00 DEBUG Zigbee Contact Mc  driver device thread event handled
2023-11-23T10:40:52.942358136+00:00 DEBUG Zigbee Contact Mc  driver device thread event handled
2023-11-23T10:41:22.942334807+00:00 DEBUG Zigbee Contact Mc  driver device thread event handled
2023-11-23T10:41:52.952735810+00:00 DEBUG Zigbee Contact Mc  driver device thread event handled
2023-11-23T10:42:22.953391147+00:00 DEBUG Zigbee Contact Mc  driver device thread event handled
2023-11-23T10:42:52.962153484+00:00 DEBUG Zigbee Contact Mc  driver device thread event handled
2023-11-23T10:43:22.959539154+00:00 DEBUG Zigbee Contact Mc  driver device thread event handled
2023-11-23T10:43:52.960065063+00:00 DEBUG Zigbee Contact Mc  driver device thread event handled
2023-11-23T10:44:22.962179450+00:00 DEBUG Zigbee Contact Mc  driver device thread event handled
2023-11-23T10:44:53.012181465+00:00 DEBUG Zigbee Contact Mc  driver device thread event handled
2023-11-23T10:45:22.992295812+00:00 DEBUG Zigbee Contact Mc  driver device thread event handled
2023-11-23T10:45:52.994573827+00:00 DEBUG Zigbee Contact Mc  driver device thread event handled
2023-11-23T10:46:23.002269508+00:00 DEBUG Zigbee Contact Mc  driver device thread event handled
2023-11-23T10:46:53.002322855+00:00 DEBUG Zigbee Contact Mc  driver device thread event handled
2023-11-23T10:47:23.022701870+00:00 DEBUG Zigbee Contact Mc  driver device thread event handled
2023-11-23T10:47:53.032285078+00:00 DEBUG Zigbee Contact Mc  driver device thread event handled
2023-11-23T10:48:23.034369230+00:00 DEBUG Zigbee Contact Mc  driver device thread event handled
2023-11-23T10:48:53.035320234+00:00 DEBUG Zigbee Contact Mc  driver device thread event handled
2023-11-23T10:49:23.042222571+00:00 DEBUG Zigbee Contact Mc  driver device thread event handled
2023-11-23T10:49:53.042190241+00:00 DEBUG Zigbee Contact Mc  driver device thread event handled
2023-11-23T10:50:23.173726245+00:00 DEBUG Zigbee Contact Mc  driver device thread event handled
2023-11-23T10:50:53.095754581+00:00 DEBUG Zigbee Contact Mc  driver device thread event handled
2023-11-23T10:51:23.217007585+00:00 DEBUG Zigbee Contact Mc  driver device thread event handled
2023-11-23T10:51:53.121178669+00:00 DEBUG Zigbee Contact Mc  driver device thread event handled
2023-11-23T10:52:23.259488683+00:00 DEBUG Zigbee Contact Mc  driver device thread event handled
2023-11-23T10:52:53.098960364+00:00 DEBUG Zigbee Contact Mc  driver device thread event handled
2023-11-23T10:53:23.086039378+00:00 DEBUG Zigbee Contact Mc  driver device thread event handled
2023-11-23T10:53:41.916333054+00:00 TRACE Zigbee Contact Mc  Received event with handler zigbee

[jkp]

I agree with the OP. Since August, the battery drain has increased after one of the firmware updates. I posted in the beta thread at the time. Unfortunately, it has continued and I haven been going through lots of batteries.

[mlchelp (michael watson)]

@jkp

I agree with the OP. Since August, the battery drain has increased after one of the firmware updates.

Me too. Tons of batteries in all my Zigbee devices. I initially thought I had got a bad batch of 2450’s and CR123’s. I purchased different ones and same thing.

[Mariano_Colmenarejo]

@jkp

Since August, the battery drain has increased after one of the firmware updates. I posted in the beta thread at the time

Hi,

I have observed in the logs of all the zigbee drivers, I do not have a clear reference from when it started, that the devices periodically send messages from the Basic cluster, generic body data, which in some way someone has configured, but I do not see where and when it is done.
I would swear that this did not happen a long time ago, but I could be wrong, I already doubt almost everything in smartthings.

For example, in the logs that I published above, to report a temperature message and a closed status message, the device sends 2 messages from the Basic cluster for each message from the monitored cluster. To me, this doesn’t make any sense.

If the default configuration sends a status message every 300 sec and in addition 2 messages from the Basic cluster are sent, which are not used in the driver, then the number of messages has been multiplied by 3 and therefore the battery consumption has to increase too.

If anyone who knows can clarify something about this it would be very helpful.

[jkp]

I need to update something from my earlier post. I said August but it was September.

V2/V3 Hub Beta Firmware 50.X

Is anyone seeing battery drain on their zigbee devices? Odd how I am seeing most of my zigbee devices going down fast. It could be a coincidence and the devices are hitting the low battery status at the same time but rather odd. Replaced a few batteries and they are down to 67/51% in 3 days.

[johnconstantelo]

I didn’t see that post @jkp, but I’m also seeing significant battery drain and poor reporting levels. Thank goodness I’m using rechargeables, otherwise I would be spending a fortune on batteries.

[RJGill84 (Bob)]

@mlchelp

I initially thought I had got a bad batch of 2450’s

I thought the same thing! Alas, that was not the case.

@Mariano_Colmenarejo I am using stock drivers presently. I’ll switch to yours and report back! Thanks for the detailed reply.

@jkp agreed, there has been a substantial change in battery performance since sometime around September. It seems we’ve all identified a trend here. Perhaps @AlejandroPadilla can assist.

[mlchelp (michael watson)]

@jkp

I need to update something from my earlier post. I said August but it was September.

Yes, I looked back at some of my posts and it was September 16th when I noticed it. I also ran logcat and saw there were hundreds of messages over a short time period.

[7becker7 (Mike)]

Found this thread researching why my batts are draining too. They used to last over a year on one battery. Now ive replaced batts 3 times this year in one sensor! I have other sensors always going off and online that were also fine for the last 5 years… ugh

[Nezmo]

Yep, prior to the last few months battery life had been the best I’ve seen for a few years. Terrible now. I’m doing a continual dance between changing batteries and just battery pulls for those Zigbee devices that have just decided to start dropping here and there since Edge.

[johnconstantelo]

Wow, woke up to 13 Zigbee devices offline. After I went to bed and fell asleep they went offline. I’ll have to see if i got a beta firmware update or WTH is going on. They’re all battery powered devices.

[RJGill84 (Bob)]

@Mariano_Colmenarejo switched to your driver with no change unfortunately. Battery was dead in two days.

[Mariano_Colmenarejo]

@RJGill84

switched to your driver with no change unfortunately. Battery was dead in two days.

@RJGill84

That’s outrageous

Did you uninstall it and pair again so the device could configure?

After pairing it, did you modify the temperature and contact sensor reporting intervals?

I have it like this

and in two sensors it has dropped 9% and 12% in the last month and in another one 2% and the battery has been installed for 2 months and has 98%

[jwsg]

I had a - old style - motion sensor drop to the level below 33% with low battery alert in a few days with a fresh battery. I did the steps of remove battery, delete device from app, reset device when fitting battery, and rejoin, and its been showing 33% with no alert since.

[coolscript]

Has this been resolved or has smartthings responded yet? I’m not getting approximately 10 to 12 days on my smartthings motion sensor! I replaced the CR2 battery 12 days ago and they are drained completely! I’ve replaced 4 batteries in the last month and a half.
The last battery that drained in 12 days 1.4V with a multimeter - so it is drained completely (it’s a 3V CR2 battery).

What’s worse is that these are sensors I purchased in June this year, so not even 6 months old!

Does anyone know if this is happening with other brand motion sensors? Is there a brand that does not have this ridiculous battery drain? (I purchased the smartthings motion sensors in June, and I’ve spent more money on batteries than what I paid for the sensors!)

[mlchelp (michael watson)]

@AlejandroPadilla @Ivan_Luis_Falleau

Is ST working on fixing this? As everyone reported, this started in September right after 49.09. I have several Zigbee devices that the battery lasted for over a year and now their dead in a few months. Was there a change to the polling?

[Ivan_Luis_Falleau (Iván Luis Falleau)]

Hi @mlchelp and everyone, please let me ping the engineering team about this. I will keep you updated.

[JKnight (Keeping SmartThings limping along since 2013.)]

@mlchelp

battery lasted for over a year and now their dead in a few months

Consider yourself lucky, I guess. Mine used to last 1 to 1.5 years… now I am lucky if I can get 30 days before they die. Some are only lasting 10 to 15 days, even after changing to a driver that allows longer periods between check-ins. I reluctantly switched to rechargeable batteries to keep from going broke, but their performance is even worse.

Get it fixed folks!

[mlchelp (michael watson)]

@JKnight

I reluctantly switched to rechargeable batteries

I tried that a few years ago and the rechargeables just didn’t work well at all. Had to keep charging them after about 10 days. I feel you with the cost to keep replacing the regular ones, especially after September.