Wirless sensor NBWS100H

DCIM_Support · ‎2020-07-04

The manual for the NBWS100H states an estimated battery life of five years.

My two installed in January this year have both expired already, one with no warning.

Hopefully the next battery can do better than this, or it's back to wired.

DCIM_Support · ‎2020-07-04

Hi Mark,

The batteries should last a long time, definitely more than 6-8 months. This is at least under normal operating conditions. If the sensor loses communications, it takes much more power to try to re-join a network than it does under normal conditions. Usually it'll only wake up once every 5 minutes or if the temp changes (I believe) >2 degrees. This is how it preserves battery life.

If the unit is in lost communications, it will try to rejoin the network and use much more battery than it would otherwise. The same can be said for sensors not yet configured to be in a network but turned on. It will constantly go through a cycle of searching for a network and eventually drain the battery.

There have been some firmware tweaks and there is always a chance of a bad sensor or two but I'd suggest working with your local support to see about getting the sensors replaced as due to the age, they should still be under warranty.

As always, it's your decision as to whether or not to use the wired or wireless. Whichever you feel more comfortable with.

Steve

DCIM_Support · ‎2020-07-04

Thanks Steve, I'll replace the battery and see how long it lasts this time.

One had a warning at 2.6v, and pulling out and reinserting seemed a temporary fix as the voltage went to 2.7 which stopped the alert.

The new battery measures at 2.9, so not a great deal better.

DCO graph for one shows 2.7v for 3 months, then up to 2.8 for 5 months although max. of 2.9 and min. of 2.3 are probably more accurate.

The other went from 2.9 to 2.8 with a fluctuation within a month but then just stopped, so it may not be the battery. I'll find out when someone at the site tries a new battery.

I didn't find any firmware, or mention of it for these. Is it included in the netbotz update?

Mark.

DCIM_Support · ‎2020-07-04

Hi Mark,

If you're running a NetBotz 4xx or 5xx unit, the wireless sensors should update with the firmware update on the unit itself. You can also see the firmware of the sensors in Advanced View. If you're running a NetBotz 250, you have to use the firmware update utility to update the sensors:

NetBotz 250 firmware update procedure

There's a link to the utility there.

Again, make sure of the amount of comm lost issues you have (or don't have). If you have a good deal of these, that could be the issue as well.

Steve

DCIM_Support · ‎2020-07-04

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