A few of our customers have been receiving transmitters with dead CR2032 coin cell batteries. Although this seems to be happening to a very small percentage of users, it has been going on for awhile now. We have changed our assembly and test procedures, have taken extra precautions in packing and shipping, and even made design changes to the hardware. Yet, it still seems to be a problem for some.
The transmitter is normally in a "Sleep mode", and the current draw on the battery is essentially zero. It is only when a key is pressed that it draws current from the battery. Under normal operation, this means the battery life is very long.
To the best of our knowledge at this time, this is a case of "infant mortality". Some of these coin cells just won't work under the relatively high momentary current demands being placed on them and they fail very early on. We are making every effort to make sure these "weaklings" fail here and not in your hands. If you do experience this problem, please do report it to us.
We have transmitters in use on our test bench, in our garden railroad, and other local garden railroads that have seen near daily use for well over a year now, and we have never had to change a battery yet. So if you are the unlucky sole that gets a bad one, it is highly likely that the replacement battery will be good for a long time.
5/5/2015
Since posting this one year ago, we haven't had any reports of prematurely failing TX batteries. We must have had a bad batch. If your experience is otherwise, please let us know.
The transmitter is normally in a "Sleep mode", and the current draw on the battery is essentially zero. It is only when a key is pressed that it draws current from the battery. Under normal operation, this means the battery life is very long.
To the best of our knowledge at this time, this is a case of "infant mortality". Some of these coin cells just won't work under the relatively high momentary current demands being placed on them and they fail very early on. We are making every effort to make sure these "weaklings" fail here and not in your hands. If you do experience this problem, please do report it to us.
We have transmitters in use on our test bench, in our garden railroad, and other local garden railroads that have seen near daily use for well over a year now, and we have never had to change a battery yet. So if you are the unlucky sole that gets a bad one, it is highly likely that the replacement battery will be good for a long time.
5/5/2015
Since posting this one year ago, we haven't had any reports of prematurely failing TX batteries. We must have had a bad batch. If your experience is otherwise, please let us know.
