3

Replacement 20s MUCH BETTER

Thomashohl

April 02, 2015 23:29

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For those of you having problems with the latch, the plastic cover, the FM radio, or the battery life on your 20s, Sena replaced my 2 units with serial numbers 1501xxxx. These new units are WAY better than the first ones serials 14xxxxx. The latch is fixed. Period. The FM works perfectly now. The battery on my old ones would die overnight even after turning the units off. Problem has been fixed. They now last months if turned off. The plastic cover seems much sturdier.

Overall the product has been fixed and works perfectly. I have put about 1000 miles on my units so far over about 2 months and I see no problems. The intercoms work perfectly, the volume is a bit low at speed though but a minor complaint.

Keep in mind that Sena's warranty is 2 years so get an RMA and get your units in before it runs out. Totally worth it.

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23 comments

• 0
  
  Keith April 08, 2015 05:52

  I hope you are right about the later serial number units. While I don't have problems with the plastic cover or the latch, the battery life on both units in my dual pack is 24 hours or less in stand-by mode. That was with firmware version 1.2. I'm now testing the battery life with version 1.3 to see if power management is any better. If not, I'll be RMA'ing both of them as well.

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  Keith April 08, 2015 17:27

  Hello "Thomashohl",

  Do you know what firmware version you were running on your 14xxxxx units and what you are currently running on your 1501xxxx units?

  As I mentioned before, I got less than 24 hours in stand-by mode with my current serial number 1409xxxx units running version 1.2. After updating the firmware to version 1.3, one unit has been in stand-by mode for 24 hours now and the unit says the battery level is still high. The other unit is at just over 12 hours in stand-by mode and still says the battery level is high. I will let them both run until they shut down due to low battery and report back on my findings.

  The above is being done with both units mounted on helmets sitting next to each other on a table. There is zero use of the units other than the very occasional "check battery" command to see what the battery level is. The "Hello Sena" command followed by "check battery" command ONLY works consistently on my units with version 1.2. The "Hello Sena" command stops working on both of my units after 60 seconds in stand-by mode in version 1.3. After that, I have to use either the ambient mode button or tap twice on the unit body to get it to wake up and respond to voice commands. The units not monitoring for "Hello Sena" after 60 seconds in version 1.3 may have something to do with the longer battery life with that version. The Sena folks would obvioiusly know better than I.

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  Thomashohl April 09, 2015 01:00

  I don't have any of those problems with the newer units. "Hello Sena" seems to work great for commands. It's a little quirky but works pretty good. "Hello Sena, FM Radio" works everytime for me.

  Battery life is crazy good. Like days. Using the intercom all day riding gave me almost 2 full days of life. Radio works for 5-7days on one charge. 

  I would really watch that latch on the older units. They break. The new one is bullet proof. Made from aluminum.

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  Thomashohl April 09, 2015 01:10

  The firmware in my new units is 1.3. Not sure on the old ones because they only lasted a few days and literally fell apart in my hands. Cases broke on both units and latch stopped working on one.

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  Keith April 09, 2015 01:17

  Thanks for getting back to me. Glad your units are working out.

  So, you can turn on either unit, let it sit for say 5 minutes in stand-by mode (no intercom connection, no voice commands, no button pushing, no phone pairing) and then pick it up and say "Hello Sena" and it will respond with the expected "Hello. Say a command"? Neither of my units will respond to "Hello Sena" after 60 seconds in stand-by with version 1.3. Works fine with version 1.2 no matter how long they sit in stand-by mode. But, battery life suffers.

  If yours will respond, my units are going to be RMA'ed ASAP.

   

  Thanks

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  Thomashohl April 09, 2015 01:26

  Well, let me check. Standby

   

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  Thomashohl April 09, 2015 01:34

  Well, turns out that's how mine works too. It must go to sleep if nothing happens for 60 seconds. I just hit the ambient mode button and she says "say a command". Maybe that's how it's supposed to work.

  I guess I never noticed it because when I turn on the units, I immediately ask for "FM Radio". 

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  Keith April 09, 2015 01:55

  Thanks for checking it out. I don't think it's supposed to go to sleep after 60 seconds. It doesn't do that with version 1.2. I can let it sit in stand-by mode for hours with version 1.2 and it will respond to "Hello Sena" 100% of the time. I'm thinking that the "Hello Sena" monitoring going to sleep after 60 seconds with version 1.3 is conserving battery. And that's why mine is still running with a high battery level in stand-by mode after almost 33 hours and counting. It would have been dead around 10 hours ago with version 1.2.

   

  Thanks again for checking yours out. I think what you got with the later serial numbers is better constructed units. The FM radio issue (whatever that was) and battery life was most likely due to a firmware update.

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  Thomashohl April 09, 2015 02:10

  Yeah i will take the longer battery life any day. Mine stays charged forever seems like. My original units were some of the very first units produced and the build quality was pathetic. Hope that helps.

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  Keith April 09, 2015 02:19

  It would be nice to have a completely hands free device. But, I totally agree. I'll trade the "Hello Sena" command for long battery life any day.

  Just FYI. Another thing that looks to be broke in version 1.3 is the LOUD "Hello" command to answer the phone. Which, given the fact that you had to literally YELL to get it to work, it's not a big loss. But, it did work in version 1.2.

  I'll keep an eye on my latches. They do look delicate.

  Thanks again. Have a good one.

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  Thomashohl April 09, 2015 02:39

  Yeah keep an eye on your latch. My first units lasted 3 days and started not "latching" after that you cant fix them and the units are useless. If you think you might have sketchy latches send them in. They RMA those easily. It appears to be a very common problem.

  I haven't paired my cell to these yet but I assume it works. I really want the cell pairing for GPS directions from Google maps since I ride in new areas all the time. Haven't tried any of that yet. 

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  Keith April 09, 2015 02:55

  My cell paired with the unit just fine. The only issue I had was trying to answer by loudly saying "Hello". That doesn't work at all with version 1.3. But, answering via the phone button on the back of the 20S unit works fine. As does accessing the voice commands on my actual phone via one push of the Sena phone button.

  Oh. One other issue I had was, while I was on a phone call, my friend was able to conference themselves into MY phone conversation by simply making an intercom call from their unit. That happened twice on a recent trip. I believe only the unit in the call is supposed to be able to conference another intercom unit in. This was with a Sena SMH5 (his) to 20S (mine) pairing. I tried reproducing this with both of my 20S units. But, could not get it to happen. However, I also only got the 4 beep "Intercom requested" alert 1 out of 5 times when I tried. So, while on the phone, the majority of the time I would not have known there was an intercom request.

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  Keith April 09, 2015 03:46

  Oh well. I thought I was in battery life eutopia. But, the battery fell off a cliff after 33 hours or so. It now says "battery level is low". Better than the less than 24 hours with version 1.2. But, only by about 8 or 9 hours. I can see it lasting for 2 days of riding *if* powered off after the ride each day. But, there's no way it will last 2 solid days without powering off in the evening. Especially if the intercom or radio is used. This is no where close to the 10 days on stand-by advertised.

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  Wilsonjw42 April 13, 2015 17:34

  I have 14XX radios, purchased new from Revzilla in February. Both have latch problems (as in won't latch into the helmet mount) and one has a case problem. I opened a ticket last week, and am in the queue.

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  Thomashohl April 16, 2015 02:28

  Exactly what I had and same thing happened. Be patient. Its worth the wait.

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  Keith April 16, 2015 18:56

  I've RMA'ed both of my 14XX units for the battery life issue. I didn't have a problem with the latches. I was very careful when mounting/unmounting the units. But, they are obviously delicate. You have to firmly but carefully press the units into the mounts until you hear a click. You also have to firmly press down on the unit while pushing the release button to unmount them. They have a video on that.

   

  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=59eu1oG7f4A

   

  You can see how he squeezed it together when mounting it as well. I'm sure a lot of users expect it to just easily click on. But, it requires a deliberate squeeze as shown in the video to get it to latch. But, with a plastic latch, it looks like the tension on the plastic latch that requires this squeezing will take its toll over time. I can definately see the latch breaking if a user just forces the button to unmount it like the first part of the video.

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  Anthony Rizzo May 11, 2015 17:42

  *** Firmware version 1.4 seems to have fixed the battery drain issue while the unit is off ***

   

  It worked on 2 of my units.  5 days and they are both at 100% power.

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  Keith May 11, 2015 19:36

  Unfortunately, my current two units are running firmware version 1.4 and they still drained in a week (4/25/15 - 5/3/15) when powered off. I recharged them both on 5/3/15 and put them back in the box powered off. I took them out of the box and powered them up on 5/7/15 (4 days later). One said "battery level is medium" and the other said "battery level is high". A Sena engineer said that, if any buttons are pressed while powered off, it may drain the battery. I had stored them in the box exactly as they were shipped. The only thing that could have pressed any buttons is the documentation sitting on top of them pushing the jog dial. I can't imagine the docs pressing that hard on the jog dial, but I guess it's possible. I recharged the "medium" one, but not the high level one and left them on top of the box to avoid any button pressing. Today (8 days later) I checked the unit that reported a high battery level on 5/7/15 and it still says "battery level is high". I haven't checked the one that reported medium level on 5/7/15. I'm going to just let that one sit on top of the box untouched for the full 8 days and see what it reports on 5/15/15. If either of them completely drains by 5/15/15, I'll need another fix besides firmware version 1.4.

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  Douglas Olin July 29, 2015 03:03

  I just received a 20S with serial number 1505xxxxx. The manual says it has firmware 1.3 and Bluetooth 4.0 (as opposed to 4.1). Does anyone know if this is an older unit or a more recent production run?

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  Keith July 31, 2015 16:29

  Hi Douglas, I don't know what serial number they are on now, but 1505xxxxx is anything but an older unit. My original units bought from Revzilla in Dec 2014 were 14xxxxxxx running firmware version 1.2 and the replacement units I received directly from Sena in April were 1503xxxxx running firmware version 1.3. Another way to tell if you've got a completely new unit is the cradle latch. The older cradles have a plastic latch (black) where the newer ones have a metal (aluminum?) latch.

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  Douglas Olin July 31, 2015 17:13

  Thanks Keith. This one has the aluminum latch. Sena actually just gave me two different responses. The first said return it and an hour later I got a response saying it's recent, just update the firmware and download the new manual.

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  Keith July 31, 2015 18:45

  If you are not having problems, I would just update the firmware and run with it. After some initial questions about powered off battery life (I'm chalking that up to buttons being pressed while stored in the box), I'm happy with my current 1503xxxxx units. I was disappointed by the real standby battery life of 2 days, and wish it was the original stated 10 days, but I can live with it..

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  Rodbowen December 01, 2015 03:48

  thank you for heads up

  Sena WA replaced  my 14 series  with 1508 series and amazed at the improvement in all areas

   

  my 20s #14 series had problems with intercom not connecting,never been happy since buying a year ago,blue tooth music never worked,obviously problem with early batch.

   

   

   but new 15 series intercom connects and works consistently and the quality of stereo music sound is amazing, a million other functions also work

   

  very impressed with 20s

   

  thank you to George at motogps for your help in getting problem sorted.