Z-Wave Locks & Battery Issues

[VirtualPanther]

So, how many users of the Yale touch-screen motorized locks enjoy "months" of battery life when the locks are activated several times per day?

I've been tempted to buy a few of these these several times, but can't bring myself to do it for concern that I'll need to change batteries every week or two. To me that would be a bigger PITA than using a key!

Good question. As I said earlier, I have two of these, with a touchscreen. They do work great indeed. But... And this is a big one that drives me nuts: it is a battery-powered device that has a motorized bolt. So, every time I open the door and the lock locks automatically after a minute, the bolt must be moved. Same action when you lock and unlock via touchpad. The touchpad is backlit, so more power demands there. Musical tone accompanies every locking and unlocking...
Would I still buy this lock? Quite likely. Unless, of course, there is something hard-wired that can be used residentially, without a central controller and software (i.e. hotel locks, office locks, etc.).
I do make good use of being able to lock and unlock doors on demand remotely.

[dschoppe]

VP, thanks.

What batteries are you using?

Have you contacted Yale to see what they say? Even under extremely heavy use, I can't imagine Yale claiming (with a straight face) that your 1-2 week battery life is to be expected.

Cheers,
Don

[VirtualPanther]

VP, thanks.

What batteries are you using?

Have you contacted Yale to see what they say? Even under extremely heavy use, I can't imagine Yale claiming (with a straight face) that your 1-2 week battery life is to be expected.

Cheers,
Don

Don,
I have never contacted Yale (or, actually, Abloy Assa, who is the manufacturer) about the batteries. I did have to return one of the locks for an exchange because of the screen malfunction. That process went exceptionally smoothly, including the troubleshooting portion with tech support. Everything done via telephone and expediently.
But, back to the point. The replacement lock has the same low battery life as the one I returned. So it doesn't seem to be a specific lock issue. Quite plausible that turning auto-lock feature off will extent the battery life. I doubt it will ever be months...
I used to use your basic alkaline AA batteries - four at a time. I was buying them bulk at a local Home Depot. Given the continuous issues and following an example of someone else here, I have purchased my first set of lithium batteries on Amazon. Considerably more expensive, but we'll see how long they last.
The most annoying part of the experience, to be honest, is the fact that despite lock supporting "alarms" at various low battery levels, and despite me setting events to send an email when the low level is reached, these never, ever, work. Even if I check the battery level in HS literally minutes before lock dies, it still shows 70% or something similar. Thus, everyone in the family is frustrated to find - once every two weeks at least - a dead lock, without any warning.

[Dave W]

Don't you worry about the lock not working during a power outage?

FWIW A fix for this is to use a power supply AND rechargable batteries. Select a power supply that is the same voltage as the total voltage of the batteries so it ends up just floating the batteries.

[dschoppe]

Don,
I have never contacted Yale (or, actually, Abloy Assa, who is the manufacturer) about the batteries. I did have to return one of the locks for an exchange because of the screen malfunction. That process went exceptionally smoothly, including the troubleshooting portion with tech support. Everything done via telephone and expediently.
But, back to the point. The replacement lock has the same low battery life as the one I returned. So it doesn't seem to be a specific lock issue. Quite plausible that turning auto-lock feature off will extent the battery life. I doubt it will ever be months...
I used to use your basic alkaline AA batteries - four at a time. I was buying them bulk at a local Home Depot. Given the continuous issues and following an example of someone else here, I have purchased my first set of lithium batteries on Amazon. Considerably more expensive, but we'll see how long they last.
The most annoying part of the experience, to be honest, is the fact that despite lock supporting "alarms" at various low battery levels, and despite me setting events to send an email when the low level is reached, these never, ever, work. Even if I check the battery level in HS literally minutes before lock dies, it still shows 70% or something similar. Thus, everyone in the family is frustrated to find - once every two weeks at least - a dead lock, without any warning.

VP, thanks very much for the info. I wonder how the locks would perform on some of the low self-discharge NiMH rechargeable batteries like these (http://us.sanyo.com/eneloop) Sanyo eneloops. I use them in LED flashlights and they work better than NiCD and NiMH batteries of just a few years ago.

Don

Don

[VirtualPanther]

It's good to know that, according to makers of Yale lock, it features "one year battery life"...

[etc6849]

VirtualPanther,

What ever came of your battery issue? Please tell me Yale solved this issue...

I made the mistake of purchasing the fancy lock too. I didn't have auto lock enabled, but I have the indicator light and sound enabled. Today I've disabled those. I'm not polling the lock either. Events work great with the thing (much faster than other z-wave locks I've used too).

I just put a third set of batteries in the thing, and my invoice date was 8/5/2013! So in 2.5 months, I've used three sets of 4AA batteries?!? False advertising to say the least. This electrical design should have never made it to market. 48-72 batteries/year for one device is not going to cut it.

Previously, I had a Kwikset z-wave lock that died after about 2.5 years. However, it only required new batteries every 6-8 months! I've made sure there is no binding and the lock works very smoothly.

I have two Yale z-wave locks, which work mostly OK. The problem that I have is the need to frequently change batteries on both locks, especially on one of them. We do use that lock a lot, but changing batteries once a week is a nightmare...

I just spent an hour searching on Google for some hardwired solution and came up with nothing. I wanted to replace the four AA batteries with a power supply. I have no issues with running a small wire is a plastic chase across the door to the lock, but... is there something reliable out there that can be used to continuously power a $250 lock and not frying it in the process?

[VirtualPanther]

Z-Wave Locks & Battery Issues

Well, talking about reopening a can of worms...

I still have two of Yale locks. I still think it is the most aesthetically pleasing and user friendly design for my family. But...

The issues with batteries continues. To be fair, I did contact Yale support (different company name, but I just don't recall). They told me that the initial wave of z-wave modules used in these locks had problems. They also sent to me two new z-wave modules free of charge. This, of course, would mean a brain transplant on every lock, necessitating removal of old locks from HS and addition of new ones (i.e. with new z-wave modules). Initial inclusion of locks was very, very, very painful. Additionally, I did not expect miracles.

So, where does that leave me? New batteries every 28 days on my most used door. I use an app to keep track if recurring events. Here is a screen capture for that lock battery exchange:

[NeverDie]

I wonder if your deadbolt is encountering higher than normal friction while opening and closing? One possible clue: Are you seeing any wear on the surface of the deadbolt if you look at it extended? It's not always easy to precisely align a door.

I second the suggestion made earlier about using the slow self-discharge eneloop's. They should handle high discharge rates better than alkaline. Wikipedia explains the different versions, as not all of them are slow self-discharge.

Still, I doubt you'll get more than 3x the life out of them, which still leaves you changing 4-5x per year. That's pretty high maintenance.

Then there's the mystery as to why you aren't getting low battery warnings.... You might inquire with the manufacturer about that. Is it working for others?

[etc6849]

Have you tried lithium ion batteries? They're expensive, but maybe they could help decrease the change-out frequency to 6 months? So far, I've been using the Ryovac alkaline Home Depot batteries (Thanksgiving deal). I buy a bunch of the 48 packs every year.

Do you think the non-touchscreen version would have better battery life?

I love everything about the lock except the battery life. It is by far the most well built lock I've installed, and I was really impressed with it. It is by far better than the mechanical build quality of the Kwikset lock it replaced.

Initially, setup was a pain for me too. Inclusion and everything went fine for me once I was able to enter the setup wizard on the lock.

The one thing it doesn't do is allow you to type a code and then lock it if you want to also use hand to lock. This sucks as with the old Kwikset I had separate events for when the lock was locked via the outdoor lock button (arm stay mode, lock all other doors, etc...) or via a code plus the outdoor lock button (arm away mode, lock all other doors, etc...). This was actually very handy, not a deal killer though. In the lock's advanced menu you have to choose one or the other, but can never have one touch lock and user code to lock.

[VirtualPanther]

Z-Wave Locks & Battery Issues

Sorry to say but no, alignment is not an issue. The door lock definitely gets used a lot, but still...

I did once try buying lithium batteries on Amazon. They are not rechargeable, but we are expected to last much longer than regular alkaline. No such luck, not even five extra days. I could, of course, replace the old a-wave modules with the new ones, disable each and every notification, ping, light, etc. I also could stop using the lock altogether.

What I would like to have is a hard wired power module. I'd happily take time to run the wire in a chase, concealed in the best possible way. At least I wouldn't have to keep worrying about kids not being able to unlock, the pet sitter not being let in remotely, etc. - all of those reasons I spent almost a grand on buying and installing the locks in the first place!

Sorry for the rant...

[NeverDie]

What I would like to have is a hard wired power module. I'd happily take time to run the wire in a chase, concealed in the best possible way.

How would you get the power across the hinges to power the deadbolt motor? That's the fundamental problem. Even though it's low voltage, I'm not aware of any off-the-shelf solutions that offer that. I'd be interested if you found one though. One could imagine some kind of inductive coupling, for instance. That's what charges my electric toothbrush.

I hadn't realized you hadn't changed out the z-wave modules.... It's a long-shot, but maybe attaching some kind of antenna might help? Having it sandwiched between metal doesn't seem very RF friendly, especially if you happen to have a metal skinned door.

[etc6849]

I don't think running the wires would be fun, but it's definitely doable if you have a crawl space. To do it right, you'd need to bore through the door horizontally and route the wire through and down the opposite side of the jam (so you'd see a small horizontal piece of the wire at the hinge).

This may or may not be possible depending on your door. If you search on Cocoontech, I think this has been done before with other locks.

I'm going to call Yale and see if they'll swap my lock out for the cheaper one with buttons. My door sees heavy use, about 12 total (locks+unlocks) per day, but this is ridiculous.

As crappy as the Kwikset deadbolt was (no rubber gasket so humidity took it out, much slower event triggering, etc), it did it's job on a lot less batteries.

[gearyt]

they make hinges for passing power between the frame and the door panel

[NeverDie]

they make hinges for passing power between the frame and the door panel

Found it. Names like "electric hinge" or "power transfer hinge" will bring it up.

Now just need to get the power from over at the hinges to where the deadbolt is.... Just drill a bore hole using a really long auger bit (so as to keep it straight)?

Anyhow, for someone who is determined (virtualpanther?), it sounds like a feasible project.

From what I've read, float charging only works on lead acid batteries. I'd be more than happy if someone shows I'm wrong about that, because float charging is obviously simpler. I'm pretty sure other types of rechargeables like Lithium Ion or Nmh require a charger circuit that cuts out, but those should be readily available.