Hello - is anyone having issues with battery life on the hose timer? I replaced the batteries March 25, 2024 and just noticed that the battery icon was “red” and the bar was pretty much non-existent. I replaced it with a fresh set of batteries and now it is all black showing a “full” icon. Any idea what would cause the battery to run down so quickly? I only have one schedule that operates daily for 5 minutes.
I bought my hose timer right when it was released. I run it every other day, plus random quick runs, and I had to replace the batteries about a month ago. I assume that it is still tweaking its connection and has had a couple firmware updates, so I’m not concerned.
Also, I think the battery “bar” isn’t really a scale of battery life based on how the API shows battery state. I think it’s either good or low, no middle ground.
Yeah - I did too. Ran it regularly and the first time I replaced batteries was in March 2024. That is the reason I was concerned about the short life span this time around.
Oh wow! So I guess there is no way to know unless it dies I guess!
this season, I am going through a set of batteries every week, the timer is used only three days a week. the other timer is functioning normally, i.e., lasting a season or more. What’s going on? Thanks
Same here. Have two timers and both have low battery life as told by the Rachio notification occurring within 24 hours of one another. Installed May 4, 2024 and new batteries low as of May 18th. One isn’t used at all (backup system) and the other not scheduled, just manual 10 min. runs once a day while setting up garden. Temps in 80’s since install and timers located in shade behind large bush. Makes no sense.
It’s been about 20 days since I changed the batteries and I haven’t received a notification. Battery icon still shows “full”, so hopefully they will last a while. It’s getting hot where I live too (north Texas) but the timer is on the east facing side of the house, so is not exposed to direct sun during the hottest part of the day.
I just installed 2 timers late May / early June and I’m getting regular notifications about them being low on battery despite a full bar showing in the app for both. I’ve been ignoring them, figuring it’s probably a connection issue or heat issue (mine are in direct sunlight since I have no other option) more than a battery one but I guess I’ll find out if they completely give up.
Rachio pop-up notifications stating the hose timer’s batteries are low and I need to replace them immediately. I began getting notifications before the latest firmware update and was hoping that might fix it, but alas, it has not. Thanks for looking into it.
Yes, I’ve gone through 3 sets of AA batteries in less than 1 month. At first I thought I may have put the old ones or one of back in. The second change, I made sure they were fresh. Now, 10 days later it won’t even turn on with the manual press. I think I used it for about 4-6 hours in the last 10 days. Flow detector is off as well. I have 3 hose timers and only one is doing this. The other two are used just as frequently.
I came across this thread: I too am burning through batteries all of a sudden.
I have four hose timers, and all of them had to have new batteries in the past month. That was the original set from last year (everything removed for the freeze, batteries removed, bagged up together, etc.).
Right now, three of them are critical and on the last tick of dying, and they went downhill very quickly. The fourth is hanging in there - no idea why. All four were replenished from the same shipment of batteries. All four are the same distance from the hub. All four pass through the same number of exterior walls, etc.All four run on the same type schedules, water for similar duration, etc.
There was a recent firmware upgrade. Any chance the timers are all 60 times as chatty, or something else along the same lines? At this rate, we could be spending more for the batteries than the timer in rather short order! That might make a lot of sense if Rachio had proprietary batteries maybe, but not when you’re just picking them up at the store.