Hi,
What sort of Battery life should I expect from this device?
Most of the time it is struggling to last 36 hours at the moment, with everything turned down.
Thanks,
Geoff
0
Hi,
What sort of Battery life should I expect from this device?
Most of the time it is struggling to last 36 hours at the moment, with everything turned down.
Thanks,
Geoff
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Hi Geoff,
A battery life of 36 hours is indeed very short. Normally with normal use, a battery life of 1 to 3 months should be achievable.
Battery life depends on a number of factors, such as:
Would you please provide me with the device ID of your doorbell so I can have a look in the logs of your doorbell, check this link for instructions: https://help.calex.eu/hc/nl/articles/10916832563613
Perhaps we can get some more information from that that will point us to the cause.
With kind regards,
Brian - Calex Community Team
Hi Brian,
Is that 1 - 3 months between charges ?
In the few months I have had the doorbell, it has at best lasted 3 - 4 days between charges.
Doorbell should be properly and fully charged with a good 5Volt USB adapter that can deliver at least 1.5Ampere. Preferably use a normal USB charger and not a fast charger.
-> Checked the chargers I use, these all deliver at least 2.1 Amps at 5 volts
The sensitivity level of the motion detection and the number of detections registered per day.
-> This could be an issue, it does make a lot of detections due to some building activity taking place over the road, maybe 30 metres away. We have had some high winds whcih has caused a lot movement over there from a tarpaulin they have covered parts of the works up with. That said this was still a problem prior to both the high winds and Tarpaulin.
The recording of each motion detection to the SD card.
-> We are not using an SD card.
The number of rings per day.
-> Maybe rung once every two - three days.
The ambient temperature. The colder it is the more negative impact this can have on a battery's capacity.
-> So far this winter it has been pretty mild in the UK.
The number of times per day you open the live view of the doorbell in the Calex Smart App.
Again. maybe once twice a day/
Poor Wi-Fi signal where the doorbell is mounted. If the doorbell receives a poor Wi-Fi signal, this also takes extra battery capacity because the doorbell is continuously trying to maintain the connection.
-> The Doorbell is located aroun2 - 3 metres away from my downstairs hotspot. All that is inbetween is a brick wall and a UPVC window and door.
Got a Virtual ID from the App - bfcd8870810304de44s2wj - is this the right one?
It is not on line at the time of writing this, need to charge it up again.
Geoff
The sensitivity level of the motion detection and the number of detections registered per day.
-> Should have added, I have dialed all the settings right down as well to minimise consumption where possible.
Hi Geoff,
I suspect the problem is caused by the number of motion detections combined with bad Wi-Fi reception.
From the logs of your doorbell, I can see the following:
In the period from 22-12-2024 11:24 to 23-12-2024 12:38, there were 1599 motion detections.
In addition, I see that the doorbell also reported itself offline and back online about 139 times during this period, with an interval of a few minutes to half an hour. Which may still indicate insufficient or unstable Wi-Fi reception, or something interfering he Wi-Fi signal at the doorbell.
This could explain that the battery drains at a very fast rate. However, the question is whether we are dealing with so many motion detections or whether there is a possible hardware defect that makes the doorbell 'think' it detects motion.
Would you like to fully charge the doorbell once, as soon as the Calex Smart app indicates 100%, let the doorbell charge for an additional 1 hour just to be sure. In addition, completely disable the PIR of the doorbell so that the motion detection function is completely disabled.
I would then be happy to hear again your findings of battery life.
Hi,
I have turned off the PIR and whilst it is charging it has not detected any motions at all. It is still charging however at the moment and will update once it is fully charged and let you know the outcome.
Though turning off the PIR is not a solution though, kind of like buying a car then never driving it at night as you are unable to turn the lights on.
On Prior charges inside where it would have been even closer to the Wifi point it was still making a lot of detections, even when it was placed with the camera looking at a wall and no interferences from any known third party (in my case cats).
I have ran 3 speed of me tests over the space of 5 minutes on my phone from the same spot where the Doorbell is located
Morning,
Had this running for the last couple days still sitting at 100%, ran a network test, this is the results -
Hi Geoff,
First of all, best wishes for 2025!
Thank you for testing and providing this information.
Obviously, disabling the PIR sensor is not the right solution, but this was more to test whether that would provide better battery life. Based on your Wi-Fi test, the Wi-Fi signal should be sufficient. From your report I gather that after disabling the PIR sensor the battery life is fine.
The question now remains why the doorbell has so many motion detections. Is there so much activity within the detection range of the doorbell, for example many moving objects such as trees, bushes, passing cars, cyclists, pedestrians, etc.? Or is there possibly a hardware defect in the PIR sensor, which seems possible based on your indoor test where there were still many motion detections even though the doorbell was facing the wall.
Since the PIR sensor, according to what I have been able to find in the logs, makes an awful lot of motion detections, that seems with some certainty to be the cause of the rapidly draining battery.
You might choose to go back to the store with the doorbell and your purchase receipt and have the doorbell exchanged for a new one under warranty.
Thanks Brian,
Is there a knowledge article on how to raise an RMA with yourselves?
I purchased this direct from Calex. Are you also OK with me mentioning this conversation with you as well as part of the RMA ?
Thanks,
Geoff
Hi Geoff,
If you purchased the doorbell directly through our webshop: https://shop.calex.eu, you can register your return via this page: https://calex.returnless.com
Log in with your order number (CLX...) and your e-mail address. There you will find instructions on how to register your return.
With kind regards,
Brian - Calex Community Team