Battery does not last for more than a day

[Shiv]

I am also facing the same issue, I ending up using 1 battery pair in about a day ( remote gets used actively for 3-4 hours, and is left dormant the rest of the time )

Activity Led Timeout set to 0.5s, brightness 3% and the colored ring brightness set to 0, timeout 0.

Need a resolution for this ASAP else will have to ditch the remote, cannot pay for 1 pair of alkaline batteries a day.

Used up Duracell batteries ( 10 pieces ) in the last few days or use. Now planning to switch to rechargeable and test for a few days before deciding to return.

Really torn down by this, worked hard to get the Denon to work along with Jason. Now i can hardly use this remote. 

Edited August 31, 2023 by Shiv

[Shiv]

Is there any solution to this ?

One observations on almost every occasion, the batteries breathe their last breath when i am powering OFF or powering ON devices using the remote. 

Still consuming 1 pair of batteries a day.

[MoSPDude]

Yeah, i changed the batteries after it went flat quick, and again, they seemed to last a day or so before being flat again. Only thing I could think of is, I'd changed some key settings and it updated the firmware (to 4.12.18 I think?) 

Seems okay after going back to 4.12.12 from the firmware thread? The windows app keeps wanting me to update though. 

Edited September 5, 2023 by MoSPDude

[TonyC]

hmm did you reduce the LED brightness?   I am going on the same batteries since I got it at the end of June.

[ytsejam1138]

9 hours ago, MoSPDude said:

Yeah, i changed the batteries after it went flat quick, and again, they seemed to last a day or so before being flat again. Only thing I could think of is, I'd changed some key settings and it updated the firmware (to 4.12.18 I think?) 

Seems okay after going back to 4.12.12 from the firmware thread? The windows app keeps wanting me to update though. 

I decided to downgrade from 4.12.18 to 4.12.12 to see if this helps the battery drain.  It would be nice if Jason or Nathan would respond to the multiple threads regarding this issue.  Upon downgrading, I noticed my remote model went from A06 to A05.  Anyone else notice this?

[MoSPDude]

I only really use my remote when the wife is out (only once or twice a week, when I can crank up the volume :D) 

It's kinda why it was a surprise it was dead when I came to use it - it had been fine with that usage pattern since I'd had it.

I've prodded it just now, and it's still alive on the 12 firmware.

If I get chance today, I might update it to see if it's flat when I want to use it this weekend... 

[MoSPDude]

Used the remote happily at the weekend on firmware 12, but didn't update to 18 until Monday evening. Came to use just now on Wednesday evening, and it managed just one button press - measured both battery voltage, both run down flat at 0.97V. 

I'll revert the firmware again - I'm happy to collect any debug information if I can (with a bit of instruction on how to enable etc.) 

Edited September 13, 2023 by MoSPDude

[Shiv]

I have been trying running some experiments to diagnose this battery drain issue.

I have now switched to a rechargeable pair of batteries ie they are 1.2V each vs the standard 1.5V; I would be thrown out of home if wifey knows I consumed the whole box of AAA batteries from Kirkland :) That expose is for a different day ...

I have some information which might be useful to Jason and team as well want to know if I am not smoking here ;)

My observation is that the battery drains quickly within the next few hours as soon as i use the power ON / OFF button. The battery lasts for 5-6 days if I do not use the power ON / OFF button at all. 

In my case I still have my harmony hub working ( i was forced to by Skip 1s as my Harmony remoted called it a day ); i am using the alexa to Turn ON / OFF my home entertainment system. 

The battery drain is still an issue but my rechargeable pair of batteries lasted almost a week.

[Shiv]

I have been trying running some experiments to diagnose this battery drain issue.

I have now switched to a rechargeable pair of batteries ie they are 1.2V each vs the standard 1.5V; I would be thrown out of home if wifey knows I consumed the whole box of AAA batteries from Kirkland :) That expose is for a different day ...

I have some information which might be useful to Jason and team as well want to know if I am not smoking here ;)

My observation is that the battery drains quickly within the next few hours as soon as i use the power ON / OFF button. The battery lasts for 5-6 days if I do not use the power ON / OFF button at all. 

In my case I still have my harmony hub working ( i was forced to by Skip 1s as my Harmony remoted called it a day ); i am using the alexa to Turn ON / OFF my home entertainment system. 

The battery drain is still an issue but my rechargeable pair of batteries lasted almost a week.

[ytsejam1138]

After downgrading to firmware 4.8.12 from 4.8.18 on the 5th of September and replacing the batteries with new ones. The batteries died today on the 15th of September. At this point, I could have bought an additional remote with the amount of batteries I have gone through in the last 3 1/2 months. 

[jason]

@ytsejam1138 @Shiv @TonyC @MoSPDude

I'm really sorry about this. I did not see your thread but did some random testing on a couple units and saw a strange edge case that could effect a small number of remotes. I worked on this endlessly over the past few days and think it's resolved. But need help confirming.

The firmware is attached, you can load it in the admin panel or you can use the update tool: SkipUpdate for Mac and SkipUpdate for Windows

skip.1s.a06.release-4.12.21.bin

[ytsejam1138]

Installing now, thanks Jason.  I will post results after testing.

[MoSPDude]

I'm going to install this now as well.

Since I last posted on the 13th to now, my batteries are dead on the 12 firmware (which is the first time for me on the 12 firmware) - and I only used the remote on the night of the 13th.

Fingers crossed! (Hoping it's not a developing hardware issue!!)

Edited September 20, 2023 by MoSPDude

[ytsejam1138]

@jason  Well, came home today and the remote batteries were completely dead. 

9/15 Installed new batteries

9/17 Installed new .21 firmware

9/20 Batteries completely drained

[jason]

3 minutes ago, ytsejam1138 said:

@jason  Well, came home today and the remote batteries were completely dead. 

9/15 Installed new batteries

9/17 Installed new .21 firmware

9/20 Batteries completely drained

Let me send you a replacement and get this back so I can tear it apart. This is not common. There are two issues this could be:

• Factory did not screen caps, I have found some remotes draining until replacing.
• There was an edge case with some remotes that were crashing while in deep sleep, this is fixed in the latest firmware

I'd like this one back to confirm it's the first. This is not a widespread issue and both should be resolved at the factory and with firmware. I have 6 remotes I've been using for 3 years, and have not had this problem. Send me a pm. @ytsejam1138

[David_]

So I've just updated the firmware via the windows tool (could you please provide a screenshot of how to access the admin panel as I can't see it in the main Skip App) and installed brand new batteries, so 2023-09-20 21:35 UTC.

Let's hope the new firmware works.

 

 

[Shiv]

"I'd like this one back to confirm it's the first. This is not a widespread issue and both should be resolved at the factory and with firmware. I have 6 remotes I've been using for 3 years, and have not had this problem. Send me a pm"{ <- Could you please clarify how this is feasible, I thought skip1s was released in 2022 or are you taking about test samples made before the project ?

I have updated the remote and still see the same issue as well, it still loses batteries within a day or less, same as the old firmware. 

Edited September 21, 2023 by Shiv

[jason]

Just now, Shiv said:

"I'd like this one back to confirm it's the first. This is not a widespread issue and both should be resolved at the factory and with firmware. I have 6 remotes I've been using for 3 years, and have not had this problem. Send me a pm"{ <- Could you please clarify how this is feasible, I thought skip1s was released in 2022 or are you taking about test samples made before the project ?

I have updated the remote and still see the same issue as well, it still loses batteries within a day or less, same as the old firmware. 

Can you message me. I need some info. Was this always happening. Did it start after an update? If not. When did it start? The remote has been out for a year but early hardware as we iterated on plastic and software was done looooong before. 

[Shiv]

I purchased the remote on Aug 09 2023 from FLIRC webpage. 

ORDER #SHOP-36821

Was unable to control Denon receiver which was fixed by you on Aug 30.

Hence have used this remote for < 30 days now, and yes have finished a box of AAA batteries and now am using rechargeable batteries.

Let me know if you need further information. This thread was created by me and yes has been occurring for the past month.

[jason]

It was always giving you this issue? I’ll get a replacement and a return label so I can tear it apart. So sorry for this. 

[David_]

So having posted yesterday here that I'd updated to the .21 firmware and put brand new batteries in, my remote just died again. That circa 16.5 hours later.

I took the batteries out and put them straight back in and I was able to switch off the coupe of devices I needed to.

So I think I'd like a replacement too and you can have mine back to see if you can diagnose the issues.

Are their any logs I can send that would help with this?

And like Shiv, I've had this issue from the start, which Is when I got the remote near the end of June.

Edited September 21, 2023 by David_

[ytsejam1138]

On 9/20/2023 at 5:42 PM, David_ said:

So I've just updated the firmware via the windows tool (could you please provide a screenshot of how to access the admin panel as I can't see it in the main Skip App) and installed brand new batteries, so 2023-09-20 21:35 UTC.

Let's hope the new firmware works.

 

 

@David_ Here's how to access the admin panel.  https://forum.flirc.tv/index.php?/topic/11180-remotes-not-detected-by-any-computer/&do=findComment&comment=29394

Edited September 23, 2023 by ytsejam1138

[Shiv]

"It was always giving you this issue?" -> Yes

"I’ll get a replacement and a return label so I can tear it apart. So sorry for this. " -> I am ok with this if this fixes the issue and the root cause is actually known, else it would turn in to another goose chase, sorry to be blunt but I do not have too much time to invest into configuring and then testing a remote, by this time I would have got a URC7880 to work with macro for enabling / disabling all devices which would not have consumed a box of AAA batteries for sure.

[jason]

6 hours ago, Shiv said:

"It was always giving you this issue?" -> Yes

"I’ll get a replacement and a return label so I can tear it apart. So sorry for this. " -> I am ok with this if this fixes the issue and the root cause is actually known, else it would turn in to another goose chase, sorry to be blunt but I do not have too much time to invest into configuring and then testing a remote, by this time I would have got a URC7880 to work with macro for enabling / disabling all devices which would not have consumed a box of AAA batteries for sure.

yeah, complete waist of your time and I'm really sorry. Assuming you are at the same address, I have a return label and new unit going to you. All tested, screened, and updated. Hopefully this is it, and you can toss that back in the mail at your convenience and I'll rip it open for confirmation. 

[Wrathwielder]

Hi Jason and all!

I ordered a few days ago and expect the Skip shortly. I'll post a "battery longevity" update after I start using it :)

Not sure if ALL the remotes you have been shipping are from the same batch from a while back (as you mentioned), or if you have done any new runs...?

Thanks!

 

-Greg