Battery draining way too fast on temperature sensor

71 views
Skip to first unread message

AndrewG

unread,
Jul 10, 2022, 10:40:00 PM7/10/22
to PrivateEyePi
Hi,

When I first got the Wireless Temperature Sensor a couple years ago the battery on it lasted for about a year. The last few times I've tried using it however, the battery has only lasted a couple of weeks. I thought maybe I had a bad batch of batteries, so I ordered some Nightkonic batteries that seemed to be the recommended ones. I track both temperature and the sensor's voltage, so you can see how quickly the voltage drops after replacement in the attached screenshot.

Any suggestions? Is my sensor defective?
sensor voltage.PNG

woo...@gmail.com

unread,
Aug 12, 2022, 9:26:23 PM8/12/22
to PrivateEyePi
I am experiencing the same issues with Energizer CR2032 Lithium batteries. The sensor in the hot wiring closet lasts seeming years while the freezer sensor runs down in about a week. Is there any particular brand or type of 2032 battery that is better suited to cold environments?

Glenn Seaton

unread,
Aug 15, 2022, 12:50:18 PM8/15/22
to PrivateEyePi
That is not what I expected, I had not see that differences between Fridge and Freezer so my testing was at room temperature   
I used the Energizer for years before running my test on batteries and it worked find in both Fridge and freezer.
To be sure, I will repeat with a set of batteries in the Freezer and find out.

Steve Fry

unread,
Aug 15, 2022, 10:57:54 PM8/15/22
to Glenn Seaton, PrivateEyePi
I'm seeing a fairly rapid deterioration with my temp/humidity sensor as well. I converted it to use
two rechargeable AA batteries (Sony Eneloop) but it still doesn't last very long. I just put in a pair of recharged
batteries a few days ago. It sits in my living room, so should be temperature stable.

For reference, here is the BATT report from syslog from the last two days:


Aug 14 00:51:02 raspberrypi-radio serial_box_monitor.py: a12BATT2.40-
Aug 14 01:43:10 raspberrypi-radio serial_box_monitor.py: a12BATT2.40-
Aug 14 02:35:18 raspberrypi-radio serial_box_monitor.py: a12BATT2.40-
Aug 14 04:19:34 raspberrypi-radio serial_box_monitor.py: a12BATT2.29-
Aug 14 05:11:42 raspberrypi-radio serial_box_monitor.py: a12BATT2.29-
Aug 14 06:55:58 raspberrypi-radio serial_box_monitor.py: a12BATT2.29-
Aug 14 07:48:06 raspberrypi-radio serial_box_monitor.py: a12BATT2.29-
Aug 14 08:40:14 raspberrypi-radio serial_box_monitor.py: a12BATT2.29-
Aug 14 12:08:46 raspberrypi-radio serial_box_monitor.py: a12BATT2.29-
Aug 14 13:00:54 raspberrypi-radio serial_box_monitor.py: a12BATT2.29-
Aug 14 13:53:02 raspberrypi-radio serial_box_monitor.py: a12BATT2.29-
Aug 14 14:45:10 raspberrypi-radio serial_box_monitor.py: a12BATT2.29-
Aug 14 15:37:18 raspberrypi-radio serial_box_monitor.py: a12BATT2.29-
Aug 14 16:29:26 raspberrypi-radio serial_box_monitor.py: a12BATT2.29-
Aug 14 17:21:34 raspberrypi-radio serial_box_monitor.py: a12BATT2.29-
Aug 14 18:13:42 raspberrypi-radio serial_box_monitor.py: a12BATT2.29-
Aug 14 19:05:50 raspberrypi-radio serial_box_monitor.py: a12BATT2.29-
Aug 14 19:57:58 raspberrypi-radio serial_box_monitor.py: a12BATT2.29-
Aug 14 20:50:05 raspberrypi-radio serial_box_monitor.py: a12BATT2.29-
Aug 14 21:42:13 raspberrypi-radio serial_box_monitor.py: a12BATT2.29-
Aug 14 22:34:21 raspberrypi-radio serial_box_monitor.py: a12BATT2.29-
Aug 14 23:26:29 raspberrypi-radio serial_box_monitor.py: a12BATT2.29-
Aug 15 00:18:37 raspberrypi-radio serial_box_monitor.py: a12BATT2.29-
Aug 15 01:10:45 raspberrypi-radio serial_box_monitor.py: a12BATT2.29-
Aug 15 02:02:53 raspberrypi-radio serial_box_monitor.py: a12BATT2.29-
Aug 15 02:55:01 raspberrypi-radio serial_box_monitor.py: a12BATT2.29-
Aug 15 03:47:09 raspberrypi-radio serial_box_monitor.py: a12BATT2.29-
Aug 15 04:39:17 raspberrypi-radio serial_box_monitor.py: a12BATT2.20-
Aug 15 05:31:25 raspberrypi-radio serial_box_monitor.py: a12BATT2.20-
Aug 15 06:23:33 raspberrypi-radio serial_box_monitor.py: a12BATT2.20-

Steve

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "PrivateEyePi" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to privateeyepi...@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/privateeyepi/c0ecc36d-c75e-41f2-bb26-f1fe0dea8896n%40googlegroups.com.

Gadjet Nut

unread,
Aug 15, 2022, 10:57:58 PM8/15/22
to Glenn Seaton, PrivateEyePi
Lithium batteries should be ok in freezer. Did the temperature of the freezer get turned down below -40C? Unlikely. Operating temperature is -40C to 125C for CR2032 and -40 to 85C for the CC1110 chip. 

Another option is to have the radio outside the freezer:  


On Aug 15, 2022, at 12:50 PM, Glenn Seaton <glenn....@seltron.com> wrote:

That is not what I expected, I had not see that differences between Fridge and Freezer so my testing was at room temperature   
--

Jeremy Green

unread,
Aug 16, 2022, 4:43:19 PM8/16/22
to PrivateEyePi
I assume these perfom the same as CISECO XRF's are you sure you are sleeping between readings rather than just cycling.
Im guessing its correct as you have a BATT every x readings which in your case is about 45 mins.
Whats your TEMP cycle? 5 Minutes?

Reply all
Reply to author
Forward
0 new messages