Battery drains when unit is turned off
I have two sena 20s that both have the same problem. When the unit is fully charged and powered off, after a few days it will be dead. I never had this problem with the smh10.
Question: would it be OK to leave it plugged into a usb charger all the time? That way when I want to go riding i can just grab it. Otherwise I have to remember hours before I ride to charge it. Or I end up riding with a USB cable plugged into the unit on my helmet.
Has anyone else had this problem? I am using 1.3 firmware and serial number is 14100xxxx
Sena please let me know if it is OK to leave it plugged in all the time.
Other than that, it is an excellent headset.
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Well, on 1/4/16, I updated the firmware of my 20S units to version 1.6, fully charged both of them and left them sitting on top of my desk powered off. I just powered both of them up to check the battery level. The first unit gave 4 flashes. The second unit gave one flash then immediately shut down due to a low battery. This second unit is the one that has held its charge consistently when powered off. The first unit is the one that drained quickly after its initial charge. But, it has been fine since and its charge LED turned blue after approximately 20 minutes of charging this morning. So, it appears to have accurately reported a "high" battery level when I turned it on. The LED on the second unit (the one that was dead) is still red after approx. 1 hour and 20 minutes of charging. So, it apparently was actually drained.
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Correction to my above post. I read my notes wrong. The second unit that was dead today is the same unit that had lost 30% of its first full charge after 1 month powered off. It still indicated a high battery level when I turned it on after 2.5 months to update the firmware on 1/4/16 and "top off" the charge. Then dead within 30 days after that. The first unit that still had a high battery level has consistently held its charge since I got it.
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I give up. After charging the Sena for 10 hours, and leaving it turned off over night, it showed only 3 red flashes the next morning.
I am returning my unit.
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Hi John. Sigh...... Just curious. Are you returning the unit to be replaced under warranty? Or are you somehow returning it to where you bought it and looking for another brand? I'll be keeping an eye on one of my units in case it quickly drains while powered off again. If it does, it will be going back for warranty replacement.......again. Also, just to cover as many bases as possible, I'm now using the Sena supplied USB cable and the Sena 1 amp charger. So, a suspect cable or charging source should not be an issue.
This is a drag. I went on a 5 day/1500 mile trip two weeks ago. Both of my units (mine and my wife's) were on and sharing music at least 6 hours each day. My unit (the music sharing source) had 3 flashes at the end of each day. My wife's unit still had 4 flashes. We didn't gab a lot during the day, but with music sharing, the batteries held up well. However, to say the least, this draining while powered off issue is very irritating.
Just FYI, when I opened up a ticket with Sena regarding my last powered off battery drain issue, this is the response I got:
You can't let the units sit for that long especially at 1 month+.
It's not recommended to leave the main unit plugged in all the time.
It is not recommended to let the battery discharge all the way to zero. If the battery discharges and left is for several weeks, the battery may become incapable of holding a charge at all.
It is best to charge your SENA device once a week, even if it is not being used.If a warranty claim needs to be done for this matter, let us know.
I've never heard of or had to charge any device weekly when not in use..........
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Hi Keith, yes - a warranty return is the idea, which I have been dreading because it'll mean being without a communicator for however long it'll take to receive the replacement.
My biggest hangup is the unpredictability; sometimes my Sena holds its charge for days on end (and as it should), and at other times I charge it for 10 hours, and the next morning it's half-empty and shuts down after an hour or two of riding.
(BTW - I ride every week, so the unit never sits for a month or more. And I never leave it plugged in all the time, but I re-charge after each ride. Thing is, I never know if it will last for a full 6 hour ride or stop after 90 minutes EVEN if at the beginning of the day I get 4 red flashes. It's like playing "Russian Communicator Roulette" on every ride.... )
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Hi John. Just FYI, I returned the two units from my dual pack last April. They received them on 4/9 and shipped out the replacements (two single packs) on 4/20.
I suspect that the problem with your unit is the battery itself vs the charging process. Whenever I've had a battery finish charging in a ridiculously short time, it turns out the battery is bad. Your replacement will probably (not a sure thing) perform more reliably. The unit I have that recently completely drained in a month while powered off took the expected 2.5 hours to charge and easily lasted 6+ hours during the next ride with plenty of charge to spare. So, the battery performs as advertised when the unit is in use.
Just for the record, I don't leave the units plugged in all the time either. I unplug them as soon as I see the blue LED.
Good luck with your RMA.
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So it's been 3 days since I asked for a warranty replacement, and nobody from Sena has gotten back to me. No reply, no instructions where to send the unit, nothing.
Is this normal?
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The last time I contacted them, I used "Submit A Request" on the web site. I submitted two requests on 2/6 (Saturday) at 2:15pm and 2:21pm. They responded to the second one on 2/8 (Monday) at 11:34am. They responded to the first one on 2/9 (Tuesday) at 9:45am. If you haven't already, try calling them directly. I had pretty good luck calling them last year.
- US and Canada 1-800-607-6156 (toll free)
- France +33 9 87 67 95 00
- Other Countries +1-925-255-8936
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Thanks Keith.
It’s now been a whole week since I requested a warranty return through their online warranty request form, and still dead silence from Sena.
I have purchased 4 Sena’s thus far, two SMH10 and two 20S units, plus additional clamp kits, which might not make me their best customer, but I didn’t expect to be treated liked chopped liver either…
Very odd.
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UPDATE: I filed my request for a warranty replacement on Feb 23. Six days later, on Feb 29, I was contacted by Sena and received an RMA number. Today I mailed my defective 20S to their San Jose offices. Keeping my fingers crossed for speedy processing.
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Glad to know they finally got back to you. Here's hoping for a quick turnaround. Let us know how things work out.
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I received a 20S replacement main module today (March 15). Hoping this unit will hold its battery charge.
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i have the same problem, just sent a ticket to Sena.
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Just curious. What is the amp output of the charger you used?
The draining while powered off of my units has been very inconsistent. Sometimes it drains while off and sometimes it doesn't. I'm wondering if it has something to do with using too low of a charge current. when recharging the unit. A standard PC USB port is only rated at 0.5 amp, while the Sena wall and cigarette/car chargers are rated at 1.0 amp. I'm wondering if using too low of a charge current (regardless of what the manual says) causes the 20S to not charge properly. I don't believe I've had the powered off draining issue since I started using the 1 amp Sena wall charger. Just fishing here.....
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Interesting thought, Keith. I agree - the inconsistency is what's so frustrating about this situation. One week the unit holds its charge after several days of no usage, while the next week it's empty after only a couple of days....unless of course it never fully charged in the first place.
I usually ride on the weekends, and fully recharge on Sunday evening. Then the unit sits for a week until I use it again.That's pretty much my usage pattern.
I have had my replacement unit now for about 30 days. After the first full recharge, the replacement unit was dead after sitting for a few days. The second cycle was fine - in fact the second cycle was 2 weeks (13 days) between usage due to rain. I am now on my third cycle, with results coming in on Saturday when I have a full-day ride scheduled.
I have been charging exclusively using the Sena USB cable connected to my desktop PC. The next time I get the discharge issue I will switch to using the wall plug. After that, the unit goes back to Sena, again, should the issue persist.
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I went for a ride April 9th, Saturday, and came home to fully charge main unit using computers USB port. Today when i went out and started up sena, it just died. Hello, and goodbye. Today i did a fault reset + factory reset + firmware update. (it was 1.6, i just installed 1.6 once again)
Today i fully charged it using my USB port again, i'll wait a few days to see if the charge holds. BTW i dont think anything is wrong with the battery. Once full, it lasts about 12 hours. Problem is storage, and storing intercom for a week shouldnt drain all of it's power.
I read a review on amazon, saying the trouble is because of a software bug or something.
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I've done two things in an attempt to avoid confusing my 20S units:
1. I want to insure a sufficient charge rate and avoid the unit getting confused with too slow of a charge from a 0.5 amp PC USB port (Sena support also recommended that I use their 1 amp wall charger). So, I'm ONLY using 1 amp chargers now. I believe Sena's cigarette/car charger is rated at 0.9 amp (I haven't used mine though).
2. It's a reach, but I also want to avoid confusing the unit by powering it off when not in the helmet cradle. My thinking here is that the unit may get confused if it can't communicate with the speakers ("good bye"), mic or the cradle in general and not power down completely. Which would result in powered off battery drain. So, I'm now only powering them off while in the helmet cradle. Like I said, it's a reach.....
My unit was last charged and put away on 3/20/16. My wife's unit was last charged and put away on 3/2/16. Both were charged with the Sena 1 amp wall charger. I just checked them both and they still report a battery level of "high". Only time will tell if the above is actually addressing powered off battery drain.
I get 10-12 hours of powered on use with my 20S. This is with limited intercom call time (only when there's something to say) along with listening to my satellite radio and sharing it with my wife's 20S the entire time. So, assuming listening to my satellite radio and "music sharing" is close to the FM radio battery drain (Sena advertised 8-10 hours "radio on time"), I'm getting the advertised communication time. However, the stand-by time is woefully short of the originally advertised 10 days. Sena admits this and now states a stand-by time of only 48 hours. Which is about what I've experienced.
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Sorry. But, there's one other thing I do to avoid confusing the 20S. The "Sena Bluetooth Device Manager" has different procedures for the various Sena models. The device manager instructs you to do the following before it talks to the Sena unit:
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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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While they instruct you to leave the 20S unit powered off, it obviously gets powered on to some extent when you plug it in and the device manager communicates with it. But, it's not the same powered on state as when you push the phone and jog dial buttons to use it. So, I question what state the unit is left in when you are done using the device manager and disconnect it from a PC. It's not in stand-by mode (no flashing blue LED). Is it still left in the device manager minimal powered on state? In any case, I now always power on and off the unit (while in the cradle) after I use the device manager and disconnect from my PC.
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Hey Keith - I just checked my Sena 20S accessories that came with the dual set, but there is no wall charger (only the USB cord and a cigarette lighter plug). Am I missing something? Did your package have a wall plug?
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Hey John, The 20S doesn't come with the wall charger. Only the cigarette lighter charger. I bought the Sena wall charger after Sena recommended it. But, you can use any USB 1 amp charger. I assume chargers with higher than 1 amp output could be used. But, I wanted to stay with what Sena recommends/sells to avoid charging faster than necessary, heating the battery too much and shortening its life. I went with the Sena specific charger to eliminate any questions about compatibility should the problem persist. They cost about $15:
http://www.revzilla.com/motorcycle/sena-world-wide-usb-wall-charger
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Two days ago i fault reset and factory reset my 20S. Then charged and stored it for about 40 hours, i dont know if resets fixed it, but after 40 hours of storage time, battery was high, and showed %100 on my phone. (Dont know if every phone has it, but my iphone shows sena's battery level in the notification area if it was connected via bluetooth. I dont know how accurate though) Today i'm gonna ride, but i'll charge the main unit full once i get back using wall charger, and store it for a week and check battery level each day. Hope resets fixed the problem, since i am living in Turkey now, shipping the unit to USA would be a pain.
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It's been five days since i charged the main unit, i just checked, and it says battery level is high.
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Well, that's good news. This was after charging it with a wall charger? If so, what is the amperage output of that charger?
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Yes, i charged it with a wall charger, but i am not exactly sure about the amperage. The wall charger is quite generic one, it might be from one of the mobile phones i owned. I plugged usb cord and it is good to go. I charge my GoPro using that wall charger as well.
So i am not sure what caused it but, fault reset + factory reset + loading firmware again with charging using wall charger seems to fixed the problem. I'll wait for a few days and give feedback on battery level again.0 -
I bought a SENA SMH10R and after one season use and still under guarantee my battery unit on my helmet died. SENA to date have not given me any offer of replacement.
So far their after sales service stinks. They not only want me to pay postage for a new one but want me to pay to send the knackered one back!!!
What do you guys think of their service??
Malcolm (UK)
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Hi Malcolm, I haven't had any problems communicating with Sena. Either via email or on the phone. When I had problems with my original two 20S units, Sena immediately offered to replace them. I eventually did take them up on that offer. They were just as ready to replace my new units when I contacted them again regarding short standby (2 days) and powered off battery life (~1 week). But, I wasn't ready to replace them again and instead tried other ways to address the issues, with limited success (see my comments avove). From my experience, their first line technical support is for addressing superficial and/or operator error issues. Which is why you get the canned "try a fault reset", "use the Sena cable" and "upgrade the firmware" responses. Once you get beyond that, they are a bit lost for solutions and you have to push to talk with an actual Sena engineer. Which I believe are all in S. Korea. It was an engineer in S. Korea that worked with me on my battery issues and advised me on things to try. It was them that admitted to a 2 day standby battery life.
I admit that paying postage to return a defective product has always irritated me. I would directly ask them to both replace your SMH10R and pay for the shipping. My guess is that they will be cooperative on that. If you bought locally, you may also want to go back to where you bought it and see if they can arrange the shipping.
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My 20S hasn't had the battery drain issue for about 6 months *touch wood*. I have not changed my charging routine in anyway since i last had the battery drain issue.
However i have only had it sit for a week maybe twice in the past 6 months otherwise it has been used every second or third day. Maybe the firmware fixed my issue? (touch wood)
My charging routine is to plug it into my PC while its on. Sometimes I charge with my pc off but it has the power off charging feature (keeps the same or similar wattage/voltage while off and on)
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Update: It's been almost two weeks since i charged my Sena 20S, each day I check the battery level, and it still says high. Once again, if you have trouble with battery drain issue, do a fault reset + factory reset + firmware update and charge it using wall charger. I am getting confident that the issue on my unit is now gone.
BTW when i contacted Sena, they offered me another unit, or service; but they wanted me to pay for postage which is kind of wrong or just bad PR. I purchased your product, and it is not my fault that it is broken. So i think they should own expenses.
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Update: The 3 20S units in my household still haven't been used since March. I just checked all of them (One recharged on 3/2/16 and the other two on 3/20/16). All of them are still giving 4 red LED flashes on power up and responding with "battery level is high" to the "check battery" command.
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This has to be the dumbest statement of operation I have ever heard for an electrical device:
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You can't let the units sit for that long especially at 1 month+.
It's not recommended to leave the main unit plugged in all the time.
It is not recommended to let the battery discharge all the way to zero. If the battery discharges and left is for several weeks, the battery may become incapable of holding a charge at all.
It is best to charge your SENA device once a week, even if it is not being used._______
I live in Ohio. My motorcycle and thus any electronics that are used on it sit for 3 to 6 months unused depending on how bad of a winter we get. My old Cardo units got charged AFTER each ride and always worked just fine for the next ride. I even let them sit over the winter and could put them on the helmet and they worked well. No real numbers but I know I did that but the first rides were generally short and GPS plus phone only. Of course I have never gotten the phone to work with the Sena yet.
All those instructions are is Sena performing the typical CYA. "It is the customer's fault for not following procedures that no sane person would follow."
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