- I have “the IKEA remote control battery drain” problem (Y/N): Originally Yes, reset remote, No
- My zigbee dongle (or hub or bridge) is: Sonoff v3
- Firmware version of the zigbee dongle: Texas Instruments CC1352/CC2652, Z-Stack 3.30+ (build 20210708)
- HA controller stack (zha / z2m / conbee): ZHA
- The version of the controller stack: 2022.5.3
- Name / model # of the IKEA Tradfri device: IKEA of Sweden TRADFRI remote control
- Firmware version of the IKEA Tradfri device: 0x23014631
- Other things to note (observations, battery drain rate, etc.):
- Originally, the IKEA 5-button remote only lasted 1-2 weeks before dropping off the network with a dead battery. The remote was about 1m from the Sonoff v3 USB radio with only 3x devices in total. Replacing the battery required full re-inclusion / re-configure device several times.
- About a month ago, the battery stopped being a problem.
I added several Sonoff TH01 temp sensors, and a IKEA of Sweden TRADFRI control outlet located centrally to act as a mains powered router (originally to reduce external temp sensor battery drain).
Things seem to work now - making the mesh more complex and adding mains powered devices seems to have changed the behavior.
2 Likes
- I have “the IKEA remote control battery drain” problem: No, Not any more.
- My zigbee dongle (or hub or bridge) is: Sonoff zigbee 3.0 usb dongle plus
- Firmware version of the zigbee dongle: Z-Stack_3.x.0 20220219 (current one)
- HA controller stack (zha / z2m / conbee): Z2M
- The version of the controller stack: 1.25:1-1 (current)
- Name / model # of the IKEA Tradfri device: E1757 (roller blind) E1766 (up down button)
- Firmware version of the IKEA Tradfri device: Current 2.3.088, 2.3.079 (updated via Sonoff and Z2M )
- Other things to note (observations, battery drain rate, etc.): Batter life back to “normal” on both buttons and blinds. Also working well with Aqara buttons. Currently supporting 9 blinds, 9 IKEA buttons, 9 IKEA repeaters and 2 Aqara buttons
2 Likes
Interesting, I could not get the Conbee II to work on ZHA… nor did I have any success with the HUSBZB stick (also on ZHA)… both drained batteries within a day or two… But when I tried the Sonoff updated with the latest stable firmware and switched to Z2M suddenly everything started to work. Every now and then one of my 9 roller blinds will not get the HA automation “close” command… but now that I have good buttons no big deal.
I’m guessing that certain devices and firmwares (dongle and buttons) work together and others don’t.
It also looks like the environment of your house also plays here (size, interference sources, repeaters, etc.) These all used to work great in SmartThings… SmartThings did a firmware update and then any button that used a repeater would die… If the button was in the room with the SmartThings Hub it would last a little longer. The Blinds were a joke and were dead within a month… they are supposed to last 6 months.
Update on my previous post, like others I have switched to the Sonoff Zigbee 3.0 dongle on latest firmware with Zigbee2Mqtt and I no longer have the battery drain issue. All of my other devices switched over very easily.
1 Like
@bl8demast3r - Could you help document what you have, so that to help future users coming to this thread understand what a good / working baseline would be…?
- I have “the IKEA remote control battery drain” problem (Y/N): No
- My zigbee dongle (or hub or bridge) is: Sonoff Zigbee 3.0 dongle plus
- Firmware version of the zigbee dongle:
- HA controller stack (zha / z2m / conbee): Zigbee2Mqtt
- The version of the controller stack:
- Name / model # of the IKEA Tradfri device:
- Firmware version of the IKEA Tradfri device:
- Other things to note (observations, battery drain rate, etc.):
1 Like
After seeing other positive comments around the Sonoff ZigBee 3.0 USB Dongle Plus stick, it’s worth mentioning that my original Zigbee experiments with HASS used the Sonoff Zigbee ZBridge which has history. The HASS documentation says not recommended however there is a bit more detail behind this comment.
Certainly, my experience with the ZBridge and no mains-powered Zigbee devices was poor - lots of replacement batteries (1-2 weeks life for the IKEA 5-button remote), and lots of re-configuration of devices.
Adding a mains-powered IKEA switch to the mesh to act as a router/ repeater happened first, but perhaps replacing the ZBridge with a Sonoff ZigBee 3.0 USB Dongle Plus made the crucial difference to IKEA Tradfri battery life.
Basically, if you have a Sonoff ZBridge, my recommendation is to hit it with a hammer! 
@k8gg Sure no problem I have filled out the documentation below
- I have “the IKEA remote control battery drain” problem (Y/N): No
- My zigbee dongle (or hub or bridge) is: Sonoff Zigbee 3.0 dongle plus
- Firmware version of the zigbee dongle: Z-Stack_3.x.0 20220219 I followed this guide here to update the firmware.
- HA controller stack (zha / z2m / conbee): Zigbee2Mqtt
- The version of the controller stack: 1.25.1 commit: 3f6a1378
- Name / model # of the IKEA Tradfri device: IKEA TRADFRI Wireless dimmer E1743 (Ikea article number 104.085.98)
- Firmware version of the IKEA Tradfri device: 2.3.079
- Other things to note (observations, battery drain rate, etc.): Battery life as it should be, I’m very happy I get to use my switch now. I don’t think this matters much but I have Zigbee2MQTT running on a separate VM from my HAOS Nuc.
2 Likes
- I have “the IKEA remote control battery drain” problem (Y/N): Not so far (see below).
- My zigbee dongle (or hub or bridge) is: Conbee II
- Firmware version of the zigbee dongle: Not sure but can try to find out.
- HA controller stack (zha / z2m / conbee): ZHA
- The version of the controller stack: Not sure where to look
- Name / model # of the IKEA Tradfri device: IKEA Tradfri Remote E1810
- Firmware version of the IKEA Tradfri device: 0x23014631
- Other things to note (observations, battery drain rate, etc.): Been running several IKEA Tradfri Remotes for nearly 3 months and while the % jumps around a lot (drops to 16% then back up to the 47%, 74% or even 80-something%) they have not died. But OTHER zigbee devices drain fast. I have some SecurFi open/close sensors that lasted ~4-6 months with the original battery, then 8 months with Amazon basics but now despite trying 3-4 different replacement brands (Energizer, Duracell, Ikea, and even Amazon Basics again) they won’t last more than 1-3 months.
2 Likes
Watching the MQTT logs, it seems the IKEA Tradfri remotes are interacting with the receiver constantly. This might be equivalent to pressing buttons non-stop, which might be why batteries are draining so quickly (see the sample log below). If this interaction could be limited, I believe the battery drainage could be limited.
Message 61 received on homeassistant/device_automation/0x84ba20fffef6b07b/action_arrow_left_click/config at 7:03 PM:
{
"automation_type": "trigger",
"device": {
"identifiers": [
"zigbee2mqtt_0x84ba20fffef6b07b"
],
"manufacturer": "IKEA",
"model": "TRADFRI remote control (E1524/E1810)",
"name": "Alberto IKEA Remote",
"sw_version": "2.3.014"
},
"payload": "arrow_left_click",
"subtype": "arrow_left_click",
"topic": "zigbee2mqtt/Alberto IKEA Remote/action",
"type": "action"
}
QoS: 0 - Retain: true
Message 60 received on homeassistant/device_automation/0x84ba20fffef6b07b/action_brightness_up_click/config at 7:03 PM:
{
"automation_type": "trigger",
"device": {
"identifiers": [
"zigbee2mqtt_0x84ba20fffef6b07b"
],
"manufacturer": "IKEA",
"model": "TRADFRI remote control (E1524/E1810)",
"name": "Alberto IKEA Remote",
"sw_version": "2.3.014"
},
"payload": "brightness_up_click",
"subtype": "brightness_up_click",
"topic": "zigbee2mqtt/Alberto IKEA Remote/action",
"type": "action"
}
QoS: 0 - Retain: true
Message 59 received on homeassistant/device_automation/0x84ba20fffef6b07b/action_arrow_right_click/config at 7:03 PM:
{
"automation_type": "trigger",
"device": {
"identifiers": [
"zigbee2mqtt_0x84ba20fffef6b07b"
],
"manufacturer": "IKEA",
"model": "TRADFRI remote control (E1524/E1810)",
"name": "Alberto IKEA Remote",
"sw_version": "2.3.014"
},
"payload": "arrow_right_click",
"subtype": "arrow_right_click",
"topic": "zigbee2mqtt/Alberto IKEA Remote/action",
"type": "action"
}
QoS: 0 - Retain: true
Message 58 received on homeassistant/device_automation/0x84ba20fffef6b07b/action_toggle/config at 7:03 PM:
{
"automation_type": "trigger",
"device": {
"identifiers": [
"zigbee2mqtt_0x84ba20fffef6b07b"
],
"manufacturer": "IKEA",
"model": "TRADFRI remote control (E1524/E1810)",
"name": "Alberto IKEA Remote",
"sw_version": "2.3.014"
},
"payload": "toggle",
"subtype": "toggle",
"topic": "zigbee2mqtt/Alberto IKEA Remote/action",
"type": "action"
}
QoS: 0 - Retain: true
Message 57 received on homeassistant/device_automation/0x84ba20fffe9790a9/action_arrow_left_click/config at 7:03 PM:
{
"automation_type": "trigger",
"device": {
"identifiers": [
"zigbee2mqtt_0x84ba20fffe9790a9"
],
"manufacturer": "IKEA",
"model": "TRADFRI remote control (E1524/E1810)",
"name": "Irina IKEA Remote",
"sw_version": "2.3.014"
},
"payload": "arrow_left_click",
"subtype": "arrow_left_click",
"topic": "zigbee2mqtt/Irina IKEA Remote/action",
"type": "action"
}
QoS: 0 - Retain: true
Message 56 received on homeassistant/device_automation/0x84ba20fffe9790a9/action_brightness_down_click/config at 7:03 PM:
{
"automation_type": "trigger",
"device": {
"identifiers": [
"zigbee2mqtt_0x84ba20fffe9790a9"
],
"manufacturer": "IKEA",
"model": "TRADFRI remote control (E1524/E1810)",
"name": "Irina IKEA Remote",
"sw_version": "2.3.014"
},
"payload": "brightness_down_click",
"subtype": "brightness_down_click",
"topic": "zigbee2mqtt/Irina IKEA Remote/action",
"type": "action"
}
QoS: 0 - Retain: true
Message 55 received on homeassistant/device_automation/0x84ba20fffe9790a9/action_brightness_up_click/config at 7:03 PM:
{
"automation_type": "trigger",
"device": {
"identifiers": [
"zigbee2mqtt_0x84ba20fffe9790a9"
],
"manufacturer": "IKEA",
"model": "TRADFRI remote control (E1524/E1810)",
"name": "Irina IKEA Remote",
"sw_version": "2.3.014"
},
"payload": "brightness_up_click",
"subtype": "brightness_up_click",
"topic": "zigbee2mqtt/Irina IKEA Remote/action",
"type": "action"
}
QoS: 0 - Retain: true
That’s just a sample.
Hello Alberto - Do you mind sharing what you have? See my post #351 above - We are trying to collect data.
@k8gg Yup sorry!
- I have “the IKEA remote control battery drain” problem (Y/N): Yes
- My zigbee dongle (or hub or bridge) is: Dongle
- Firmware version of the zigbee dongle: Not sure how to check this, but I did flash the dongle with this guide
- HA controller stack (zha / z2m / conbee): z2m
- The version of the controller stack: Not sure what this means
- Name / model # of the IKEA Tradfri device: E1524/E1810
- Firmware version of the IKEA Tradfri device: 2.3.014
- Other things to note (observations, battery drain rate, etc.): My prior comment re: MQTT logs
1 Like
Hi. Start by updating the remotes’ firmware.
My E1810 is on 2.3.080.
Go to Z2M> OTA, Click a remote button to wake it, click Check for updates on Z2M.
It will take hours. IKEA Tradfri - Batteries in the remote controls are quickly discharged - #306 by antonio1475
I’ve tried to update the firmware a bunch of times, but it seemingly never seems to complete the update. I can tell it initiates it when I hit “Update device firmware” after pressing a button to wake it, but there is no indication of progress nor has it ever managed to complete it.
What’s the battery level on those?
Try this with one:
- Take out its battery and wait 10 seconds while pushing some buttons to fully discharge.
- Put the battery back in. Make sure it reconnects.
- Place the remote right next to the dongle.
- On OTA page, Press Check update and Update firmware while pressing the remote every seconds or so, to keep it alive until the progress starts.
Do it with one remote at a time, not multiple.
And check the logs if it fails. Good luck
Interesting - after some search on the differences between Zigbee2MQTT (Z2M) and ZHA:
-
The current default integration ZHA can upgrade firmware OTA, however additional manual config in
configuration.yamlis needed to enable it as settings are not in the GUI. -
Z2M seems to break out version numbers (
2.3.014), whereas ZHA gives raw hex (0x23014631)
After reading the ZHA docs, I pasted the config to enable OTA into configuration.yaml and restarted HASS without any errors, nor signs of anything changing yet. 
I’ll report back if the IKEA of Sweden TRADFRI remote control changes from Firmware: 0x23014631 in ZHA.
Battery levels are supposedly decent – I replaced them with new batteries just last week…
Here is one of them:
Which is doing this weird level variance thing.
And actually, it looks like my wife’s remote is already down to 16%.
I will try this again - especially the one remote at a time piece, which I did not do.
1 Like
Yes - updating the firmware of the ikea remote would be my first recommendation also.
and regarding these…
Go to your z2m control panel, and go here:
Got it - managed to start the first update!
Regarding the controller stack:
Zigbee2MQTT version: 1.25.1
Coordinator type: zStack3x0
Coordinator revision: 20220219
1 Like
Just to report back - ZHA successfully upgraded the firmware of my TRADFRI remote control within 24h of configuring the integration to enable updates.
- Before
0x23014631(2.3.014.631 ?) - After
0x23080631(2.3.080.631?)
The remote is working fine, so let’s see what the battery life is like…
1 Like
