IKEA Tradfri - Batteries in the remote controls are quickly discharged

bl8demast3r · May 15, 2022, 8:05pm

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.

k8gg · May 16, 2022, 9:23am

@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.):

FloatingBoater · May 16, 2022, 12:25pm

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!

bl8demast3r · May 16, 2022, 2:23pm

@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.

bverkron · May 24, 2022, 11:53pm

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.

albertoh · May 25, 2022, 11:04pm

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.

k8gg · May 25, 2022, 11:30pm

Hello Alberto - Do you mind sharing what you have? See my post #351 above - We are trying to collect data.

albertoh · May 26, 2022, 12:51am

@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

antonio1475 · May 26, 2022, 11:52am

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

albertoh · May 26, 2022, 1:13pm

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.

antonio1475 · May 26, 2022, 1:27pm

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

FloatingBoater · May 26, 2022, 1:31pm

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.yaml is 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.

albertoh · May 26, 2022, 1:49pm

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.
Screen Shot 2022-05-26 at 9.48.05 AM

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.

k8gg · May 26, 2022, 10:35pm

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:

albertoh · May 26, 2022, 11:49pm

Got it - managed to start the first update!

Regarding the controller stack:
Zigbee2MQTT version: 1.25.1
Coordinator type: zStack3x0
Coordinator revision: 20220219

FloatingBoater · May 27, 2022, 3:29pm

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…

albertoh · May 28, 2022, 9:15pm

I have two remotes, one on the updated firmware and one not. I’ll let you guys know if the battery lasts any longer on the updated remote

ur7x · May 29, 2022, 1:15am

How far are the buttons from the dongle? Ikea buttons normally need a powered IKEA repeater close by.

FloatingBoater · May 29, 2022, 10:34am

Hi,

Distance does drain batteries faster (e.g. a temp sensor in the garden drains faster), and adding ZR mains-powered routing devices may help. That said, my original system had one dongle plugged into a RPi4 and (pauses to get a measure) 480mm away, a remote. The remote battery drained in 1-2 weeks over a distance of under a half metre.

A quick look at Wikipedia for Zigbee and IEEE_802.15.4 suggests transmit power management is at least in the spec BUT the network can be mesh or point-to-point which is interesting as my initial test network only had 2x devices.

Based on my very short distance issues, I don’t think the high battery discharge rate the thread is discussing is explained by RF transmit power - a firmware or protocol interaction seems more likely. Like all good complex faults, the root cause is probably a mix of things across the Zigbee network.

My experience suggests fixing the battery drain issue can be fixed in different ways:

Don’t use a Sonoff ZBridge
Tasmota works but the WiFi radio doesn’t.
Enable firmware updates in ZHA or check the remote firmware version in Z2M
The latest Tradfri remote version seems to be 0x23080631 / 2.3.080
Add a mains powered Zigbee device(s) to act as a router (ZR) - e.g. a TRADFRI control outlet
Mains powered radios can shout louder, and help move from point-to-point to mesh topology
Add any Zigbee device(s) to increase the amount of mesh coverage
More devices help move the topology from point-to-point to mesh
Upgrade the firmware in the Zigbee controller stick (or try a newer device)
Likely to need manufacturer software and a PC/Mac, so fiddly

Note Tradfri remotes are handled with custom Quirk code in ZHA, although on inspection, this looks to be more to remap the device into a general purpose device, than anything power related.

All the best,

James

agarbato · June 5, 2022, 1:10pm

I’ve been through the same path. Just don’t hammer your old zbridge yet, there’s a router firmware now and it works pretty well.