After fully charging the S20 overnight, I got the low battery announcement within one to two hours of use and then the unit would shut itself down. On one of the days of our trip, I tried shutting it down as soon as I got the "low battery" announcement and had some success with the S20 working for several hours more (never got close to 12 hours of use, however). On other occasions when the unit would tell me that I had a "low battery" (early in the day of use), it would power down and then not come back to life. I am wondering if the battery itself is just faulty? I'd like to hear from Sena directly about my issues.
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3 comments
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Thomas Bishop Unfortunately this is a common issue with Sena 20s. They don't even bother responding to posts anymore. I have had mine for just over 2 years and it has always been an issue. You can log a fault with them to get a replacement but i think you will notice the replacement with the same issue.. I just gave up and charge it before using. luckily i dont go on super long rides and charge when i get to work
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Elena Duval I have the same issue with one of my units. Initially Sena helpdesk suggested updating the firmware. We did that and the unit worked great - but only if you used it immediately following a full charge. We find that if we fully charge it, say after a trip, then wait (say 1-2 weeks) the low batter beep sounds about a half hour into the next trip.
I'm not sure what else to do.I'm going to send another email to the helpdesk, but I'm thinking we'll just have to wait to charge the unit until the night before a trip versus immediately following a trip.
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Keith I wrote the below in other thread a year ago. A year later, I still have had no problems with a low or dead battery after a full charge and then letting any of my 3 units sit for 3+ months.
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July 04, 2016
I've also experienced the draining (in as little as a week) while powered off problem. I've listed below what I've done in an attempt to avoid the draining while powered off issue.
1. I only charge my Sena 20S with a 1 amp or higher charger. PC USB ports only put out 0.5 amp, which may not charge fast/full enough. I even went as far as buying the Sena 1 amp wall charger to eliminate as many compatibility issues as possible. The car charger that comes with the 20S is 1 amp as well.
2. I only power off my Sena 20S while it's mounted in the helmet cradle. This is to avoid confusing the unit in case it needs to communicate with the speakers and/or mic while powering down.
3. I power cycle my Sena 20S on/off after disconnecting it from my PC whenever I've updated the firmware and/or used the Device Manager. The Sena 20S is at least partially powered up to enable the Device Manager to communicate with it via the USB cables data wires. I'm concerned that the Sena 20S might be left in this partially powered on state after disconnecting from the PC and slowly draining it over a week or so. It could be that this is the problem and not the PC low charge rate I mentioned in #1 above. The Sena 20S may be partially turned on any time you connect to a PC with a USB cable that has data wires. The Sena Device Manager instructions are different for the 20S than other units. The 20S is to be left powered off, while the other units require some sort of button pushing or turning them on:
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* 20S: Leave it powered off
* 10R, 10U: Press the [-] Button for 5 secs.
* 10C, Prism: Insert the SD card.
* 10C, 10S: Press the Phone Button for 5 secs.
* Other Sena products: Power it on.
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I can't conclusively prove that any of the above is the reason, but since I've started doing all of the above, all of my 20S units (I have 3) have gone 3+ months sitting on my desk (haven't ridden much this year) and still report a battery level of "High"/4 flashes when powered up. Since I know there's going to be at least some battery drain with any unit, I top off the charge after 3 months.
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