Very short life with remote unlocking fob

[carrera]

I had to replace the CR2032 battery in my remote fob yesterday, it was down to 3.03v and was very reluctant to lock / unlock the car.

Popped a new one in & all was fine, but I only replaced them last time in November, so only a couple of months life, and I hardly used the car last month.

The new one showed 3.32v

Any ideas what could be causing this

Irony of ironies, the battery that I took out was branded IKEA

[sgould]

Some of the very cheap batteries are rubbish.  I have used Energise or Duracell usually.  But a weekend cheap battery bought as a distress purchase from a cellphone repair shop didn't last long.  It had a name that started with Zh.. so probably Chinese.

[carrera]

i've upgraded from IKEA to Hyundai

I just use them, battery procurement is the other half's department 

[Audax]

I've not had issues with ikea batteries but the thing you do get with cheaper batteries is the occasional dud.

[carrera]

I'll see how long this one lasts.

One other symptom I had was that if the car was idling & I opened / closed a door the dash would flash up with"No remote detected". No effect on the car running, just a warning to be cleared.

In the meantime I have put a pack of 4 in the centre armrest, just in case. Worst case they should see me through the summer.

[carrera]

Well, that didn't last long at all

It was ropey again this morning, took the battery out and down to 3.03v already

Quite glad that I had a store in the car, put another in 3.325v and all is fine again

Reading the small print, the back of the battery pack does say use by 31/10/2021, I didn't know electrons went off like that.

Best get some newer ones procured

[sgould]

They aren't a regular use item.  I bought a pack of four.  Used one, and by the time I needed another, all three remaining ones were dead.

[carrera]

That's the head scratching bit... all mine are showing the full 3.3v, let's see

[sgould]

Voltage is equivalent to pressure in water mains. You can get pressure.  Al it needs is a very small pinhole leak, but you can have no flow at all.

[Audax]

Given how out of date they are I would be trying a new batch of batteries, i've found some coin cells are fine long past their expiry and others have full voltage but die after a few weeks of use.

[carrera]

Another battery replacement today. Down to 2.98v, lasted 30 days. I need to buy some more, just clearing the old stock out now it seems

[sgould]

I needed a new coin battery yesterday.  I had one in stock. It didn't work.  I looked on the packet and it said "Best before Sept 2015"   

[carrera]

The remote was becoming lazy again, less than a week, time for a new Agfa Photo camera battery

Old one was down to 3.1v, new one a somewhat disappointing 3.26v, even though the best before date is October 203

Let's hope it's got an abundance of excited electrons inside

[carrera]

A little over a month on & I can report that the remote is still working

This shouldn't be news, but it does seem the use by dates do have some reason behind them

My spare battery has just been taken hostage into the kitchen for the scales. I suppose it's a fair exchange for some home made scones