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route_66_guy's profile
route_66_guy

186 Messages

Thursday, January 14th, 2021 1:50 PM

Low Batteries

Last night a message announced that the battery in one of my Glass Break sensors was low.  It would be nice if there was a way to check battery levels either in the App or on the website.  We are often gone for days at a time and there is no way of knowing if a battery is about to go dead before we leave.  I'd much prefer to change them ahead of time than to wait until the sensor becomes unusable.

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7 months ago

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captain11

Captain

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6.2K Messages

4 years ago

@Route 66 Guy a great suggestion and SS should easily be able to do it, as they now have the signal strength and other technical data at the ready in the phone app. Would be nice if they transported the same tool(s) to their website.

In the interim, just yesterday I resurrected my SS2 sensor spreadsheet for proactively replacing batteries and once I get all of the updated battery info entered will go back on preventative schedule. SS, feel free to make that sheet obsolete.

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simplisafe_admin

Community Admin

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742 Messages

4 years ago

Hi all,

The ability to show the battery level of individual sensors in the app is dependant on the sensor sending the exact battery level to the Base Station instead of just a "Low Battery" signal. While I'm not sure if it actually does that or not, if it doesn't, that won't be something that we can add to the All-New SimpliSafe since we don't have the ability to update individual sensors' firmware. This is a great idea though, so rest assured that we've forwarded it on to our dev team so that even if it can't be added as a feature for the current SimpliSafe equipment, perhaps it could be for the next generation.

SimpliSafe Social Team
SimpliSafe Home Security

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route_66_guy

186 Messages

4 years ago

Thank you for the encouraging response.  Given that now only a "Low Battery" warning can be issued, what is the recommended life span of the installed batteries?  Do some sensors require more power than others; in other words do some sensors use up the batteries faster?  What would be a good time frame to use for changing batteries, 6 months, 12 months, 18 months?  All of my replacement batteries are Duracell batteries.  Is that the best one to use or is something else recommended?  Thank you...

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simplisafe_admin

Community Admin

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742 Messages

4 years ago

The lifespan of the batteries can all be found here in our Help Center, but generally, the Keypad batteries will last up to a year while the rest should all last at least 3 years before needing replacement. Duracell batteries are a good choice as that is what we primarily supply with new equipment. Any quality brand such as Energizer should work as well though.

SimpliSafe Social Team
SimpliSafe Home Security

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andypaynebrit

1 Message

Several of my sensors need a new duracell battery at least twice a week - it feels like a faulty sensor - how do i get them replaced?

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7 months ago

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emily_s

Community Admin

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3.4K Messages

@andypaynebrit​ The batteries in your sensors should be lasting a few years, certainly not a few days! This could be a hardware issue with the sensors, but it could also be due to extreme interference between the Base Station and sensors. Interference can force the sensors to work harder to maintain a connection with the Base Station, which would then cause this battery drain. 

If the Base Station is far away from these sensors, or placed is tucked away in a closet or on a metal shelf, that could be the culprit. In that case, I would recommend moving the Base Station to a more central area of your home and in an open space to see if that improves the sensors' battery life.

But if changing the location of the Base Station does not help, or if it is not in a location that could case interference, then please reach out to our Support team and they can help with a replacement.

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7 months ago

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captain11

Captain

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6.2K Messages

4 years ago

@Team S, great info and just copied into my spreadsheet. As in SS2, will proactively replace batteries at 20% estimated life to avoid any issues.

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captain11

Captain

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6.2K Messages

2 years ago

@simplisafe_admin Here we are two years later and for the past several days my keypads reported low battery in my kitchen glass break sensor. To be clear, the sensor is named "Kitchen GB) and it is identified as a Glass Break by the system so identity of the sensor in question was not a problem.  What was an issue is that the message was on the keypads only and not in the app. Should it have been? 

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davey_d

Community Admin

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5.7K Messages

@captain11​ "Low Battery" warnings wouldn't appear as a Push Notification, but they should be showing up on the Overview page as a warning card, as well as in the Device Settings page.

If you're not seeing the battery warning there, then that would be very strange. Do you get the Low Battery voice prompt as well when you disarm your system?

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2 years ago

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captain11

Captain

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6.2K Messages

@davey_d I did get the warning on my keypads in a very timely and clear manner. I knew immediately also the exact sensor, as the message on the keypad was very specific. No, I never received any message in the app. As far as the base, I am one of the many customers who have it hidden, no lights or voice. With those settings, I doubt a low battery warning would override it. (Although on a water leak, from actual events, I know it does override the setting and thankfully is quite clear and loud! :-)

Just to clarify, I usually see system messages on the upper right hand corner of the home screen in the app and expected the low battery warning to appear there.

(edited)

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2 years ago

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davey_d

Community Admin

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5.7K Messages

Yes, battery warnings wouldn't appear in that notification area, because it's not yet an urgent issue. You might still have a couple weeks of battery life left.

But the warning should appear in the Overview page, below the Off/Home/Away buttons. Or else it would be under the System Status check at the top. It might say "Everything is OK. But a few of your batteries are low".

I'm just concerned that the Keypad might be reporting a low battery incorrectly, which is why I asked about the Base Station giving the voice prompt as well. Have you already tried rebooting the Keypad? The message might clear then.

All of this of course is assuming that you haven't already replaced the supposedly low battery!

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2 years ago

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