Rechargable AA/AAA batteries (usually NiMH) have different voltage curves from single-use batteries. And battery status reporting relies on this curves. So, when battery the device is designed for other type of batteries, it will probably report wrong battery status, even if the device works well in other aspects. And since IKEA recommends Ladda batteries (i.e., NiMH), it is apparently designed for rechargable NiMH batteries. Maybe it can detect battery type and adjust battery status reporting (some devices do that, although it probably has some limitations), maybe it will report wrong battery status.
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What did you use them for? Assuming they were IKEA Ladda AA or AAA batteries. They might be great batteries or terrible ones, depending on what you use them for:
a. Intensive use, e.g. you put them in a headlight and expect to deplete them in weeks or even overnight. In this scenario, they aren’t good, because they have low capacity rating.
b. Long-term use, e.g. a low-power sensor that is expected to run many months or even years without recharging. That’s where they often perform great (better than many higher-capacity batteries), because they are low self-discharge. They seem to be from the same factory as Eneloop ones.
What to also consider with Ladda and other Eneloop-like batteries:
Made in Japan are reportedly better than made in China. Globally, you can find both. On your local market, you can probably find just one of them.
AA batteries have multiple capacities. The lowest capacity (usually about 1900mAh) are usually the best at low self-discharge. It’s a tradeoff. Thicker layer of separator implies lower self-discharge and lower capacity at the same time.
I used them for the promoted use… Just like Ikea provided them, or suggested them with the devices cr2032, or the AAA.
it’s as simple as that.
I now only use high quality batteries and have no issues of depleting batteries within a month or 2. Even the former type of motion sensors remain without change for far over 1 year, several even more than 2…
IKEA CR2032 is probably single-use battery, and very different from IKEA Ladda. I don’t know much about them.
Also IKEA has offered various AAA batteries that they no longer offer. They’ve offered single-use Alkalisk. They’ve also offered 900mAh AAA Ladda (rechargable NiMH). I don’t know whether they are Eneloop-like, but even if they are, they will likely have a higher self-discharge rate than the 750mAh ones.
So, I don’t know what IKEA AAA batteries you have tried. So far, the 750mAh Ladda batteries (made in Japan) perform well for me (mainly in Styrbars) and outperform some higher-capacity batteries, probably due to lower self-discharge.
Same here, I bought two of these contacts for my entrance doors. After some days of AAA rechargable battery use they show as unknown before having a battery low state. They immediately work with newly chaged batteries.
Now I started to test with single use VARTA batteries because of the voltage Delta and they seem to work longer for now.
BUT the cool thing of teh IKE one was that they CAN be used with a rechargable form factor. Otherwise the aquara one is not much more expensive but smaller.
I Use Z2M through a Sonoff Stick on a HASS VM on Unraid (for Context)
I also see a massive battery drain with my PARASOLL sensors and the IKEA LADDA AAA rechargables.
The sensors just last for 2 weeks, then they are unavailable in Z2M.
I enabled the “Availability (simple)” option in Z2M. Could this be somehow related?
• Three Parasoll Sensors
• Zigbee2Mqtt with Sonoff P
• First failure: 4-8 weeks? (most active sensor)
• Reinserting the same battery did not work - new battery worked
• Measured voltage: 0,8V
• Battery type: IKEA AAA Rechargeable
There’s obviously something draining the batteries.
The device which failed had a battery state of 83%. My two others currently have a battery state of 83% and 86%. I’m giving them two more weeks before failing.
Is this an IKEA firmware bug, IKEA hardware bug, or a Zigbee2MQTT thing where it’s somehow polling on and on and destroying the battery life?
EDIT:
I now see that after updating Zigbee2MQTT, the battery life haven’t been updated for a long time. This seems to be another issue. After an update my replaced battery now is 86%, the other two (not replaced yet) are at 69% and 60%
Just fyi: I gave up on these Ikea sensors and will return them. Bought replacement sensors from Aqara and couldn’t be happier, as they have been purring without any issue or hickups for 2 months now
I’m not there quite yet, but found this thread after the second time in a week that one of my Parasoll sensors I have set up in my garage went unavailable. I really want to like these sensors…cheap, easy to install, and relatively easy to replace the batteries (and I already have a bunch of energizer AAA rechargeables), but if I can’t get more than a week or two from the battery life, may have to switch back to the Aqara sensors I was using previously. Main downside of those, IMO, is that they’re smaller, and I’ve found they’re easier to knock loose, and also not quite as sensitive, so if the garage door alignment shifts, I’ll get false open readings.
Not had any issues with incorrect readings from the Parasoll, but the battery life is a major bummer.
Using them on ZHA with a Conbee II, and I have a very solid mesh with the coordinator and several Hue bulbs (IOW router devices) just the other side of a wall from where the sensors are.
EDIT: I should, in fairness, note that it’s possible that the battery that died quickly may have been one I used straight from the package. Although the batteries are supposedly charged when you buy them, it’s possible that they don’t have as full a charge as if you charge them right before using.
Also, for grins I tried removing and replacing the same battery, and the sensor did come back online, and was showing around 28%, so it may be that below a certain voltage it just becomes unreliable.
I was having failing Parasoll sensors too. Replacing the battery would help. But as others mentioned, they quickly become unresponsive.
Bought new rechargeable batteries and made sure they are completely charged. The first sensors are failing after around 1,5 - 2 weeks. Reuseing the same battery doesn’t work, since the battery is completely dead. I tried measuring it, but the isn’t even enough current to power my battery meter.
I tried updating to the latest Z2M and updating to the newest Ember firmware, still the same issue.
My network is really stable with enough hops. I guess I have to return them. I use them for monitoring windows with rain and opening doors for light and burglary. So i need reliable sensors.
i bought seven parasoll sensors. All are working so far with my sonoff stick and latest firmware. All are connected directly to the router (sonoff stick). After I relocate one sensor its connection is lost. How can I achieve that the sensor connects via repeater of another working sensor?
Are your sensors reporting the last seen timestamp? All my sensors have no last seen data (shown as N/A).
Thanks for the tip. At the end all my sensors are working after I add another router.
But what about the “Last seen” status? I didn’t find somehing about it in the linked thread.
Has anyone found a fix for this issue ?
I’m experiencing similar behaviour from my Ikea sensors. I recently had an issue that knocked my HA setup offline for the last 2 weeks until I had the time to set everything back. Once my instance was restored I realised all my Ikea Parasoll sensors were unavailable and all the batteries drained. These were less than 2 months old.
This is in stark contrast of an old aqara sensor I had that not only went back online without issues but still has a lot of battery life left.
A small update to inform that I recharged all batteries for my 9 Ikea Parasoll sensors. Batteries are the AAA Ladda batteries and most of them are brand new, bought for these sensors.
All batteries were replaced about 5 days ago.
My Home Assistant is currently based upon an RPI3 that has been causing some issues recently and it became unresponsive once again yesterday.
I am migrating to a NUC so today I am restarting my HA setup from scratch and when I try to pair the Parasoll sensors I find that all sensors are drained dry.
Am I missing something obvious here or do the sensors start massively draining power when they can’t connect to the Zigbee network ?
damn this §$%& (sorry for my language) …
maybe we need to get our hands at the firmware and change that…
also… people who use them with the ikea bridge…to they experience the same issue?