Battery drain after 2+ years of use.

gone troppo

I have had my suunto vertical solar since they came out in May 23 the watch has been phenomenal absolutely love it. I have noticed now the battery is no longer what it used to be. I remember at the start only having to charge it every 3-4 weeks would go through maybe 2% battery a day. I feel I’m now charging it every 1.5-2 weeks. It can go through 5-7% plus a day especially when it starts getting below about 35% I’ve noticed. I did a soft reset but that didn’t change it. Just wondering if this is what others are seeing after 2 years and is there anything I should try. I haven’t changed my settings at all in 2 years. I always charge the battery once it gets to 20% and try to take it off at 80%

Tieutieu

I intensively use my Vertical solar since it was launched, and I don’t observe any particularly drop with battery life. For me it has still the same performances.

gone troppo

@Tieutieu

Yeh ok wonder if it’s just mine then.

thanasis

@gone-troppo said in Battery drain after 2+ years of use.:

@Tieutieu

Yeh ok wonder if it’s just mine then.

mine is also draining the battery a lot faster. I don’t know what the issue is but it is obvious

Egika

@gone-troppo said in Battery drain after 2+ years of use.:

I always charge the battery once it gets to 20% and try to take it off at 80%

Maybe the internal monitor is off after so long time without a full charge. The battery level is estimates by summing up all incoming and outgoing current to and from the battery. This balance will never be accurate over long time. The full charge state will tell the meter to get a fixed point of a certain full charged voltage and re-calibrate the whole thing.
I think it is a good idea to fully charge your watch to 100%.
Those 20-80% ideas have no real advantage for today’s hardware.

Squirrel

@Egika said in Battery drain after 2+ years of use.:

Those 20-80% ideas have no real advantage for today’s hardware.

If lithium-ion/lithium-polymer batteries are today’s hardware, premature battery aging due to high cell voltage is definitely a real thing. That’s why many devices have customizable cut-off limit for cell charging.

Those experiencing decreased battery capacity due to aging, under warranty, or even out of warranty battery replacement is an option to consider, depending on the severity of capacity loss, price, and estimated turnaround time.

gone troppo

Ok so maybe I should charge to 100% then although the next post disagrees with this. I’m
Not looking for any warranty thing or anything like that I was just curious if others had noted a noticeable drop in battery life after 2 years and looks like at least one other poster did. It is still a great watch and the Battery life is still likely better than just about anything out there even after 2 years however it is a very noticeable drop compared to that first year or so of owning it

gone troppo

any more ideas on this? Going through around 8-10% a day

Audaxjoe

@gone-troppo I charge mine to 100% nearly every time. Have had my watch a few months less than you (non solar Vertical) and have noticed no drop off.

I also had the 9baro before for around five years, fully charged every time and noticed no drop off.

I haven’t got the technical knowledge to answer but I’m my limit experience charging to 100% isn’t a problem.

Old advise was always to run battery right down then charge to 100% to recalibrate battery.

MeazzaS9

@gone-troppo Did this happen after the latest software update? Have you tried a hard reset?

JonasLarsson

@gone-troppo said in Battery drain after 2+ years of use.:

I have had my suunto vertical solar since they came out in May 23 the watch has been phenomenal absolutely love it. I have noticed now the battery is no longer what it used to be. I remember at the start only having to charge it every 3-4 weeks would go through maybe 2% battery a day. I feel I’m now charging it every 1.5-2 weeks. It can go through 5-7% plus a day especially when it starts getting below about 35% I’ve noticed. I did a soft reset but that didn’t change it. Just wondering if this is what others are seeing after 2 years and is there anything I should try. I haven’t changed my settings at all in 2 years. I always charge the battery once it gets to 20% and try to take it off at 80%

Same for me. Drops 8-10 % per day (no training). Significantly drop after last update? Not sure.

SuperFlo75

I also have my SV since may 23 and I‘m still happy with it… I noticed a little bit more battery drain after the latest firmware update and after I changed to another watch face (UTMB watchface)… I did this the same day… and after that, the battery consumption was a bit higher… but I think this was due to the changed battery save settings after the update… after checking out all settings it seems to be like before

VoiGAS

@gone-troppo Yes, load to 100%, discharge to zero (really, until the watch shuts down) and then charge to 100% again. Especially after a firmware upgrade the battery logic goes crazy and needs to be resetted that way.
You will see if thats the problem when you try to discharge completly. It should stay on 1% for a looooong time. Thats the most annoying part of the procedure as you cannot use the watch in this state

JonasLarsson

@SuperFlo75 said in Battery drain after 2+ years of use.:

I also have my SV since may 23 and I‘m still happy with it… I noticed a little bit more battery drain after the latest firmware update and after I changed to another watch face (UTMB watchface)… I did this the same day… and after that, the battery consumption was a bit higher… but I think this was due to the changed battery save settings after the update… after checking out all settings it seems to be like before

What have changed and what are your settings?

Stefano M64

@VoiGAS said in Battery drain after 2+ years of use.:

Especially after a firmware upgrade the battery logic goes crazy and needs to be resetted that way.

from where this info comes?

VoiGAS

@Stefano-M64 I got it somewhere here in the forum, I think during a firmware upgrade last year. Since then I had the procedure 3 or 4 times - always with consistent battery behaviour afterwards

Tieutieu

One cycle of charge after update on my SV, battery drain is around 2% a day without activity.

Gunnar

@Stefano-M64 please See Q1 in FAQ

Elipsus

@Squirrel said in Battery drain after 2+ years of use.:

@Egika said in Battery drain after 2+ years of use.:

Those 20-80% ideas have no real advantage for today’s hardware.

If lithium-ion/lithium-polymer batteries are today’s hardware, premature battery aging due to high cell voltage is definitely a real thing. That’s why many devices have customizable cut-off limit for cell charging.

Those experiencing decreased battery capacity due to aging, under warranty, or even out of warranty battery replacement is an option to consider, depending on the severity of capacity loss, price, and estimated turnaround time.

Yes and no.

Yes 0-100% ages the cells faster, which is relevant in a smartphone scenario where the phones are charged almost daily, and where a 20% capacity drop means you have to recharge it a 5 PM.

However, in our watches, the cells are rated for 300 cycles, which is not a lot, but once you factor in that you charge your watch every 2 weeks, those 300 cycles gives you 600 weeks, or roughly 11 years before your battery reaches 80% capacity (more likely 8 years factoring the degradation due to ageing), but at that point you still have 10 days of battery life.

So my two cents is to not bother, charge it when you need, and remove it once you think about it again.

SuperFlo75

@JonasLarsson my settings are:
Helligkeit niedrig (brightness low?)
Stand by off
Licht durch anheben niedrig (raise to wake low)
after updating, I had stand by on, brightness high…