We need to be able to replace the battery. It will not last forever, and then the units will be dead. Please make this high priority, it should be. Offer us instructions as to how to get inside the unit, and what battery is required. This is the worst point of the entire set. The other thing that is needed is a mic support, maybe a wire type like some aviation mics use, the spiral wound mic boom always turns itself, it trys to unwind like a spring. Every few minutes it must be repositioned. These two physical improvements would make it a perfect set for me. I am hoping the qualitiy of these units will last alot longer than the short life of batteries. Thanks, Woody King
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56 comments
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Tedd Greenwald WARNING-I got a "similar battery" that was 600ma off eBay and installed it but had to solder the wires from the new battery to the old one. It worked fine but was a tight fit. I guess it was too tight as the SMH5 started to smoke. You can't squeeze LiPo batteries as I have now learned.
I opened it up quickly and ended up putting it in a metal bucket with water. I can see why these are dangerous goods. Lesson-get an EXACT replacement 400ma and make sure you have the PST terminal. It's nearly impossible to unconnected the original.
I wrote today to see if SENA has a send-it-back-to-the-factory battery replacement option. This is nuts with option to replace it.
MY LAST SENA product ever. A company goes bankrupt one customer at a time. At least 3 here.
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RBEmerson Yeah, um, well... get the wrong size and what follows... where's the surprise?
Agreed, though, that Sena has a miserable record on comms and item maintenance (e.g., battery replacement). Agreed, too, that if the net customer count drops, it's not good.
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Steve Willis It’s both shocking and disgusting that Sena don’t make available a replacement battery kit. Having opened up one of our headsets to re secure the battery plug the other day, I was surprised to find how easy the headset was to get into and with care change the battery. Not bothering to help past customers will be their downfall especially when they know the battery size, already deal with the manufacturer and could buy them at a sensible price for resale to customers.
The fact they don’t even follow up on sensible ideas just makes matters worse for them. They are already an expensive item compared to other units that are available elsewhere and prices have not dropped as technology has marched on. Sena seem more intent on supplying action cameras. :-(
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M. Davis Steve, it is not that uncommon. I am going through the EXACT same thing with my LG Nexus 5 phone now. The battery is 2 years old and weak, and LG refuses to sell a battery for it. I have replaced many batteries in "non-replaceable-battery" devices before with no problem. The Sena would be a snap. The Nexus 5, a little more challenging. The bummer is that NOBODY is selling batteries for the Nexus 5- the Ebay listings are all china companies selling used, defective "pulls" from old phones that are being scrapped. And they are selling them as "new" and "unopened" and "OEM" and whatnot.
Sometimes you win- I replaced the touchscreen on my Garmin Zumo with a $12 part on Ebay, even shipped from a USA vendor, works perfectly and took me all of 20 minutes to completely fix a $500 device.
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Steve Willis -
Oh well i had a reply:-
Greetings Steve,
Thank you for using SENA.
We currently don't carry anymore of those items in stock.
We have new product launching that'll make the SMH5 obsolete so they discontinued making the batteries for the older products.
Sorry for the inconvenience.
Thank you for understanding.
Best,
PeterI just replied:- Thats OK. I simply won't buy Sena products again and I will advise others of the same. Too expensive by far for their short life.
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RBEmerson Sena: Love the products, don't love the company
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Davisward Totally stupid response from a company that doesn't give a hoot about their customers. The SMH10 is current still, and no batteries for that either. Plus, this thread started in 2012!!!!!!!!!! What's your excuse for that Sena??? Hello??? Oh, you don't have one, do you? -
RBEmerson Keep in mind that it is possible to replace the batteries. Everything you need to know is described above. If you're not comfortable with the job, try a computer fix-it shop, a cell phone repair shop, search for a ham radio operator. You'd be surprised at the options available, if you spend some time looking for them. All of that said...
Sena's customer relations are simply inadequate. There is virtually no dialog with customers. About the only obvious communications support is this forum. Even here, we're mostly talking to ourselves, with no indication that Sena is even aware of our discussions. But we all know that, and Sena doesn't care about.
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Barry Seah No response yet. I'm using sena smh5 as well and my battery now only lasts for 30 mins. I went to the shop where I purchased it and they say they don't replace the batteries. I'm from Singapore and where can I get my battery replaced? If there's not enough support, that means I had to forgo this unit. Pls response. -
RBEmerson Your only choice, since you're in Singapore, is do it yourself. See the posts above for how to do it.
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Barry Seah I'm having problem getting the battery itself. I ordered one from.ebay on 28th Dec 2015 and till now it's not delivered. -
RBEmerson Have you told the seller about this? Unfortunately, you don't have the shipping "pipeline" between PRC and the US. The US Postal Service has a subsidized service that gives airmail. Anyway, your only options within eBay are to complain about the seller to eBay if the seller won't reply. And to buy a battery from another seller.
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Barry Seah Yes. No reply from the seller. I shall complaint then -
RBEmerson I assume the seller is in PRC (China)? They should be in roughly the same time zone (BTW, it's 10.57 Eastern Standard Time on 20 Jan. here) but sometimes they can be slow to reply. If they don't reply by tomorrow, complain to eBay.
Back to Sena... the battery issue is one example of a problem they seem to simply ignore. I understand why they don't want customers opening up their units. Unless it's done right, any water resistance is lost. But there should be a better way to handle battery replacement. And, of course, their other problem is ironic: poor communications. Sigh...
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Barry Seah Yes. Anyway I'll see how u can handle eBay stuff. As for Sena after sales, yes it really disappointing -
RBEmerson Good luck!
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Johnstorey321 We have sena 20s units and when charging one of them - the red light comes on and after 5-10minutes turns blue, as soon as clipping to helmet the low battery warning comes on??????
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Sena @Johnstorey321 Please contact our Technical Support department for assistance regarding your 20S. You can visit the home page here http://support.sena.com/home to see how to contact them.
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failingbattery So SENA replies in 2 days, they ARE reading this thread. It's a shame you don't have a replacement battery, or even an option to send the unit in for battery replacement for a fee. My SPH10H-FM is 3 years old and the battery is failing. I'm going to replace it myself using the method above, but it's pathetic that SENA as a company is not supporting your customers, instead abandoning them by telling them that they're out of luck, throw the whole $200 unit away and, oh, buy a new one! Yeah right!
It really is a shame because your products are top notch. Excellent. But with customer service like this, I won't be purchasing anything else from you and I'll advise everyone I can to do the same. You should know better. Motorcycle riders are a tight knit community and word of mouth is the best (or worst in this case) advertising,
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RBEmerson It takes years to make a good reputation, seconds to lose it...
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ettienne scheepers Hi Guys
Does anyone have a guide to open the sena 20s as I would like to replace the battery myself but dont want to completey destroy the device in the prosess.
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RBEmerson Not that I know of.
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Etyrnal What, you don't want to just shell out $350/year to keep buying new units?
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g-gatto I asked about the sena 20s battery and here was my response
Agent#5, Feb 3, 12:13 PM PST: Hi,
Thank you for contacting us.
The 20S has an irreplaceable rechargeable battery inside. If the battery is being faulty and the unit is still within 2 years from purchase date, we can process an RMA replacement for you. If it's beyond two years, you can try the resets on the attached file while the unit is on.
If the issue still persists, I'm sorry to say you will have to purchase a new set.
Sincerely,
Martha
SENA TechnologiesTY Sena you have been such a great help
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RBEmerson I just took a look at my 20S. Unless Sena glued the case halves together, it should be possible to unscrew the screws with the right Torx driver, and open the case with some care and patience (and no screwdrivers used as a wedge!!!). Once inside, with any luck there should be an ID or part number on the battery.Run a new one down (eBay should do it - expect to order it from China or Hong Kong), solder the connector to the new battery, and you should be good to go. Note, as someone wrote above, size matters, polarity matters. LiPO's have zero tolerance for being mishandled. Think of the Samsung battery disaster...
When it comes time to close the case, grease the o-ring (I'm sure there is one) with dielectric grease to lube the o-ring and improve the seal. You get dielectric grease at any "box" auto store. (It's also recommended for greasing battery terminals before tightening the screws or clamps) Do not use Vaseline! It's petroleum-based and will slowly dissolve most gasket materials.
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