I’ve had my Schlage deadbolt installed and running for a little less than 6 months now, and recently the battery started reporting “red”. I’m just curious if anyone else has any experience that says this is good, bad, or average. I’m also curious if anyone knows whether the reported level is the battery level of the 9-volt or the AA batteries? Anyone else play with the polling settings? I’ve left it at “default”, but since I only have two other devices, it’s theoretically polling it pretty often, so I’ve been considering adding a “60 second” delay to the polling, but I don’t know if that’ll really help battery life or not.
I had someone change both sets of batteries, and now the lock appears to work fine, but it’s lost the connection to Vera, so I’ll have to reset/re-pair them when I’m there next. Ugh.
The Vera only reports the aa batteries that run the z-wave. The 9 volt runs the keypad. The aa’s last 6 to 9 months and the 9 volt over a year. They weren’t dead but at about 40% left. I just figured it was good insurance to change them out to insure that they communicated with Vera properly.
I’ve never messed with the polling from default so I don’t know if that would help but I would also say my locks have a very high usage being that they are vacation rentals. People come in and out 20 times a day sometimes. Two of my locks just worked fine after replacing the batteries and one had to be reset and repaired.
Funny, I’d have bet that the 9-volt ran the keypad, z-wave, and logic, while the AA ran the little motor which engages the deadbolt spinner.
Anyway, thanks for the feedback.
I’m using it for the same application - a vacation rental. When I’m there for maintenance in a few weeks I’ll see if I can figure out a “trick” to avoid the re-pairing. Since you’ve been able to avoid sometimes, I’m going to guess that if you swap the 9-volt quickly (a matter of a few seconds) then perhaps it can be avoided. At any rate, I’ll try something a little more scientific and post the results.
I guess I’ll try to mess with the polling setting. I’m not sure I’ll be able to tell if it makes a difference since the useage will vary, but oh well…
I have the lever, which just takes 4 AA batteries. No 9 volt battery. Anyway, after 6 months of use, I just changed my batteries and was pleasantly surprised that everything worked normally afterward. I was especially happy that I didn’t have to re-pair the dang thing!
Getting ready to deploy one at my rental cabin, I was thinking about using new lithium batteries from the start just to try to not have to deal with batteries dying too soon…
DO NOT USE LITHIUM BATTERIES IN THE SCHLAGE LOCK!!!
oh my goodness!! i have been messing with this schlage lock and trying to get it to pair with vera2. I finally found the problem, This one is going to have to go into schlages books… and to all of you who are going to change your batteries in the schalge lock. When i got the new lock i didnt use the batteries that came in the package, i bought the energizer lithium ion batteries that last much longer. DO NOT USE THESE!!! when i had those batteries in the lock worked perfectly, except the lock wouldnt lock the deadbolt when i pushed the schlage button, and it would not pair with vera. I tried everything restored the lock, updated firmware etc etc. The problem is in the batteries. for some reason the lithium ion batteries wont let the lock pair, the weirdest thing!!!
My lock now works perfectly and my advice to anyone installing the schlage lock,… dont use lithium batteries…
I also have I have the lever type and I find that if you change the 4 AA batteries one at a time with no more than a 10 second interval you will not loose your settings. Be as quick as possible but don’t remove them all at once.
enrico777
Your comment about Lithium batteries is somewhat generalized. It is true that most rechargeable batteries have 1.2volts and not 1.5v like alkaline. I use the Sanyo Enerlope batteries because they have on average of 1.4 operating volts and so far they are working with great results. Also the AAA version are great in the HSM100 3 in 1’s.
@JimMac So you are using the rechargeable NiMH (not lithium) batteries, how long do you get betwen charges (specifically for the HSM100’s)?
Another thing to note about rechargeables is that the diameter of the battery is sometimes a bit larger and they don’t fit well in battery compartments. As a result, I find that sometimes they don’t make contact in the battery holder, because they are too big to freely slide and make contact between the spring and positive side contact. Also the shape of some of the positive sides of the battery won’t allow it to touch the contact point in the battery compartment.
I guess a good way to check contact is to get a voltage reading off of each wire coming off of the battery compartment.
I also use the Sanyo NiMH batteries in my house, but even freshly charged batteries were causing my Schlage to report low voltage. I decided to use regular AA’s and they report a more accurate reading than the rechargables
My bad, they are NiMH, that is one of the reasons for the higher voltage and so far I have not had any device that they don’t fit properly.
I have them in:
HSM100
HM-FS001 - water Sensor
HM-DW001 - Door/Window Sensor
HA-07WD - Remote
I have one HSM100 is setup to reset every two minutes, a sensitivity of 220 (above normal) and polling every 360 seconds. With those settings I will get on average 3 months before recharging. My second one reset every ten minutes, sensitivity of 200 (normal) and polling every 360 seconds, I get a little over 3 months. I usually charge both when one is low. I have been using them for over one year now and wouldn’t think of using anything else.
I just started using them in my Schlage FE599 so I will test to see how long they work. Looking at the power graph for these batteries I would assume that the low voltage indicator would last a long time before a quick drop off. Newly charged they show a 78% charge so I guess time will tell unless you already tested them? How long before you had a complete failure?
I use these rechargables in lots of devices, too. When fully charged, the device will report something like 70%, but they last a looong time, longer than my alkalines did.
the lithium batteries i was using werent rechargable they were just standard energizer lithium batteries, they were expensive and are supposed to last 8 times longer then regular batteries. I dont know anything about the voltage, i just know they didnt work. And you cant change one at a time on my lock you have to take the whole cartridge out. i have the dedbolt schlage not the lever version. but it was definitly the batteries for me.
Has anyone tried the Powergenix 1.6-Volt Nickel-Zinc AA Rechargeable batteries? These look very interesting. Apparently they will be releasing AAA type later this summer. I think I will order the charger and a 4 pack of AA and try them in my Schlage FE599 door lock. Note that you must buy their charger since NiMH chargers won’t work. Check them out at Amazon or read about them at Popular Science.
Just to let everyone know that the Sanyo Enerlop batteries that I had in the Schlage FE599 door lock DON’T last very long (two weeks). I did purchase the Powergenix 1.6-Volt Nickel-Zinc rechargeable batteries from Amazon.com and have had them for three weeks now, they are working perfectly. The battery indicator on the dashboard shows 100%. I will update this post in three months from now and let you know how they are doing. I was also told that the AAA size will be out in early summer, my 3 in 1’s can’t wait.
I received a set of Powergenix 1.6-Volt Nickel-Zinc rechargeable batteries on April 6th and installed them in my Schlage FE599 door lock the same day (after a charging). The door is used on a regular basis by 8 people so I think it gets a good workout. I just got a reading from Vera and they are still showing 100%!! The door lock has worked flawlessly since the new batteries were installed. I haven’t posted until now as I was waiting for the batteries to die but they haven’t. I have since ordered a set of 8 as I have found that the extra voltage difference make most electronic devices work much longer. No work yet from Powergenix on a AAA cell. When it is available my HMS100’s are going to love them. I rate them a “must have” if you have Schlage product. I would assume you would get the same results in thermostats that use AA cells.
It’ll be interesting to find out how the Kwikset Deadbolt does on battery life after some real-world testing. We’ll have to start a new thread for that.
My Schlage Deadbolt is still going strong on the original batteries after about 8 months and 4-5 times a day use (not counting all of my testing, etc.)
It would be cool to have a Faraday-Type charging circuit, so that when you opened and closed the door, it would slide a magnet back and forth with the motion of the door to charge capacitors or batteries, like the Faraday-Flashlights.