I have had problems with the battery life of the remote I keep in my car. I rarely use the remote, but the battery seems to die every 6 months or so regardless. The remote I keep in the house gets used much more and out lasts the car remote by at least a factor of 3. It is either something about that particular remote in the car or the ambient environmental conditions in the car.

Anyone else experienced the same thing?

Stu

You could swap the remotes and find out.

I guess I was looking for instant gratification.

Stu

Actually, one thing that occurred to me while looking at a Rio remote recently is that there's a lot of overspray of that metallic paint onto the sled that hold the battery. I wonder if it might be conducting something that it shouldn't? And the overspray pattern could easily be different between the remotes.

The paint isn't conductive. At least not the paint they used on mine. I measured down to 2000 meg ohms and get nothing with the probes .25 inches away.

Stu

Does it get cold in your car? That might be affecting it.

- Trevor

Anyone else experienced the same thing?

My car remote (infrequently used) battery died after 9 months or so.

My house remote (used daily) is still going strong after 12 months.

Both remotes were fitted with fresh batteries from new, due to the batteries supplied with the remote being DOA.

Wierd, but this seems to mirror your experience.

Doesn't get too cold here in southern Louisiana. It does get very hot though.

Stu

The battery in my remote dies after a couple of months (or less) of no use, but since it's normally living in my car and wintertime in Norway can be quite cold, that could be it...

Stig

Heat affects battery life. That's why you freeze them to make them last longer. Your car can get bakingly hot and if you put the remote on the seat in the sun, it will discharge the battery sooner.

I live in Australia and am on my third battery in under a year.
Remote does'nt get much use, but remains in car.

It does get quite hot over hear Oz.
That's what i put it down to anyway

I never use my remote. It stays in my car but I just don't every have a need for it. I took it out a couple of days ago, I can't even remember why, and it was dead as a doornail. So no, you're not the only person to experience this.

Amusingly I had one stop working in my (cold) car while I was at work, but I brought it in my house and it started working again.

I have a spare around. I should find it and replace already.

Well, cold will reduce the ability to deliver current (ie ability to work right now), but it also slows down the chemical processes that cause self discharge...

/Michael

Hey, What part of southern Louisiana? I'm in New Orleans... Nice to see a local face.

That would be Mandeville.

Stu

Yep my remote is stuffed, I replaced the battery a couple of times to make sure, I barely used it, perhaps it got too hot, What is a good alternative remote?

Yep my remote is stuffed, I replaced the battery a couple of times to make sure, I barely used it, perhaps it got too hot.

Before assuming it's completely dead, make sure to try all the stuff listed here.

What is a good alternative remote?

This one.

From that linked item in the FAQ: If you have an infrared repeater system such as the RS/X10/Terk Powermid, they have an indicator light that blinks with each IR command.

That's such a helpful tip, thanks! It had never occurred to me before to use my Powermid's LED to check IR remotes.

Glad that was helpful. I've got two sets of those powermids.