Had suspicions about that earlier but I was not sure about it. Yesterday I tested it: charged it fully and left standing by. Managed get ~24h in stand by mode and then battery just run out. Anyone experiencing the same?
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Keith Just FYI, I sent the Sena engineer I've been working with the same update I gave above on 6/2/15 regarding the one unit now getting 3 LED flashes on power-up after 4 weeks of non-use. Below is the response I got today:
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Thank you for your kindly update.
My testing unit is giving 3 LED flashes.
I am using this unit from one month ago and I used it sometimes for testing features.
The powered on time may be more than one hour.Please let me know if you have any additional questions and concerns.
Thank you.
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So, it looks like my powered off battery drain is somewhat consistent with what his.
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gary carlson Trying to understand why you'd leave them in standby mode instead of powering off when not in use? Is it that hard to turn them on and off? Seriously, doesn't it make sense battery life would be fine with zero drain if power is off? -
Keith Hi Gary. There have been two different battery drain issues discussed on this thread. Stand-by time and powered off battery drain.
I agree that getting into the habit of just leaving a 20S unit powered on and in stand-by mode while not in use doesn't make sense. But, doing so just to test the actual stand-by time is what I and others on this thread have done. And what was verified by us (and acknowledged by Sena engineers) is that the stand-by time on the 20S is approx. 2 days. Which is nowhere near the original Sena advertised 10 days. That gives the user some idea of how long the units will last while on the road and how often they'll have to recharge.
The powered off battery life became a topic of discussion because I and others experienced very a short battery life of approx. 1 week while the units were powered off. Both of my units have been powered off for over a month now and only powered up only to check battery level. One is still high and the other is medium. So, not sure if they are inconsistent or what.
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Art A. As Keith stated… two issues. Mine dies after a week even with the power… And the issue with Stand-by is its advertised as lasting "n" number of days on standby and it doesn't. For me its an issue either "False advertising" or not getting what you paid for….
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Keith Just an update to my powered off battery life. As of yesterday (7/12/15), the unit charged on 5/3/15 was still reporting "Battery level is medium" (3 flashes). The unit charged on 5/7/15 was reporting "Battery level is high" (4 flashes). So, the powered off battery life appears to be considerably better when sitting on top of the box vs. what it was when I stored them in the box where buttons could possibly have been pressed. I have no idea why the one unit went to medium after only a month and was still at medium after over two months, while the other remained at high for two full months.
Just a note. I used the unit charged on 5/7/15 during a 5 hour ride yesterday. My friend and I kept the intercom call up the entire time we were riding. The unit reported a high battery level when we started and was still reporting a high battery level when I got home. That's after 5 hours of talk time. Go figure.
I fully charged both units last night after updating to the latest firmware version (1.4.1). So, my little test is officially over.
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Rudolph Gallucci I see this forum is almost a year old but my 20S just went flat sitting out of the box, not on the helmet, on my bench for a couple of weeks. Not the first time but before I thought I may have left it on. I need to check the serial number but software version 1.6.1. Many of the other problems mentioned are also mine plus I have given up trying to make my phone work with it and my GPS. I have spent a ridiculous number of hours trying things to get this system to work as well as my old system but it will not. Plus the battery does not last as long.
I had Cardo G4 units before that worked fine but my friends switched to Sena so I did. I only ride with them about 2 times a year. I wish I had not sold the Cardos.
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Keith Hi Rudolph. There is a thread regarding the 20S units draining while powered off. It's rather lengthy, but it covers what others have experienced:
http://support.sena.com/entries/66940210-Battery-drains-when-unit-is-turned-off
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.
I just checked two of my 20S units that were both charged on 5/31/16. They both report a battery level of "High"/4 flashes.
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Ajercan I currently have a case with the SENA support department because the battery in my 20S dies if I leave it lying around for a week. By leave it around I mean I turn it off and take it off the helmet. So the device should not be using the battery at all. They are giving me a bunch of run around bullshit replies. I guess to them it's normal to leave the thing plugged into a charger at all times if you want to get reliable use out of it.
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Rudolph Gallucci I had the same problem. I quit linking it direct to my phone, always charge it on the helmet and leave it there, turn it off on the helmet and loaded the latest updates. I forget which one. I did too much at once to know which one cured it but mine holds a charge now.
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