Nest Gen 2 (battery draining)

[Ramzee]

So I paid $119 x 3 for the Nest Protect Gen2 battery powered, one for each floor. This product worked great for a little over 2 years and then a problem kept reoccurring. I had to change the batteries out literally every month. It seems like now I'm lucky to even get a month out of fresh batteries. I've now spent more money on batteries than what it would've cost to buy 3 new Nest Protects. Customer service said sorry but it only has a 2 year warranty (convenient since after that is when the problem started). I should've just stuck with the 9volt battery smoke and CO detectors that you replace every time the time changes. It is ridiculous to pay as much as I did for a product to only function properly for just over 2 years, and being a loyal Google Nest client with other Google products just be told sorry and good luck. Google will now be done at my house and reviews or whatever I can do to deter others from making the same mistake I did will be going out everywhere, not to mention to the firefighters union to make sure they never advise someone to buy these products. Thank you Google for showing me your true colors and customer service.

[Teemu_Miettinen]

One more in the chain! I have two Nest Protects. About 2 years old. One works fine, the other drains the batteries in couple weeks.

[SirTav]

Mine are months old and one of them are acting up. Battery usage is ridiculous. Replaced 12 L91 batteries in 2 months ( 6 batteries per month).

Google/ Nest respond as this is not good customer support and branding. 

[SirTav]

Google Support

 Q:

Can the battery units be wired in?

[Lorigag]

The problem is the battery sensor in the device in most cases, since it occurs in many of them after warranty is over you can either switch to ring or buy a new one and give them the old one back ,you might have to switch the rear lid since it has dates in it, it's unfortunate to have to deal with it this way.

[Lorigag]

Same problem here with low battery notice, I checked the battery's with volt meter they are 1.5 volts like new, so here's the answer since they want to **bleep** people around with their product buy a new one bring it right back a couple days later put the old one in the Box you may have to change the lid on the back of the device because it has dates on it. It's a shame you have to deal with people in this way

[PerthPhil]

Heya Ramzee - I have maybe five wired and three battery units. I suspect this is a problem with the unit detecting battery voltage incorrectly as I have had this happened multiple times with brand new batteries within a day or two of installing. Each time the only solution is to replace the unit (which is under warranty).  Once it does this, nothing (factory reset etc...) seems to fix it. Given it is happening within 24 hours of new batteries being installed I don't think this is related to battery draining but incorrectly sensing voltage.  You may have a different problem but mine is far more sudden. Replaced unit and fault has not re-appeared in that residence. Just had same occur in another residence a few weeks ago and replaced. No problems for several days where old faulty unit wouldn't go 24hours with new batteries without reporting 'low battery'

[LastLadd]

I have 4 Nest Protects (plus 2 Thermostats, 4 cameras and a doorbell) and I’m having the same battery issues with all 4 of my Nest Protects. They have been consuming batteries faster and faster over the past year. The path lighting was my favorite feature but I turned that completely off over a year ago to conserve energy. Yesterday I put brand new batteries in all 4 units and 2 of them are already chirping saying they are low. What is being done about this?

[Phlog]

Hey Google, one of my nest gen 2's has started beeping hours after being given fresh batteries. What's the problem and how can it be fixed?

I've tried different batteries as suggested and there's no difference. 

[NDickerson]

I'm having th same issue, 2 Nest Protects. Tried different batteries, and it keeps beeping. I've had to take both down and plug them into phone chargers. This is ridiculous.

[dfriedland]

I have 8 Nest smoke alarms, and 7 of them work fine. But one of them goes through a set of batteries about every 2 months. Is Google addressing this issue? 

[solarsun]

The really weird thing is when I test the batteries they are completely fine so basically the batteries drop less than 10th of a volt from brand new the smoke alarm perceive them as being depleted which is clearly a firmware issue

[solarsun]

I put the lithium batteries back in the smoke detector(after the alarm went off tell me the batteries were depleted) and tested them and each battery while in the smoke detector is reading 1.54 V.   so there is nothing wrong with the batteries. these are high-quality energizer lithium batteries.  Maybe I just need to mail these smoke detectors to 3400 Hillview Ave. in Palo Alto California and advise them of their product defect and see how they respond.  

[PerthPhil]

Just a status update. I replaced the unit entirely and learned in to the system. I cycled through each of the (brand new) battery sets which the old faulty unit were claiming as flat.  Each battery set - regardless of brand, and even the cheapies - worked fine. The problem is definitely with the old unit which has now gone back under warranty.  Google online support were great and they gave me a claim code or reference number which was helpful in expediting the return with my supplier 'Officeworks'.  If it happens to you with multiple sets of what are new batteries then definitely return for replacement and don't waste your time trying to work through diagnosis.  So many people having same issues with this I can't believe Google haven't been more upfront in a formal resolution / recall. 

[paul0605]

Same issue here with 2 I bought in 2018 & recently had the original batterys changed (twice now). My other 4 bought later are still ok.

[Tibojo]

Same issue here with 4 units. Still no solution? 
I was about to buy a nest camera but now after reading these posts I’m out on Google products for good.

[PerthPhil]

Only solution is to replace those units. Contact Google support, go thru the diagnostics to get case number and then return for replacement unit which will fix problem (until next time anyway)

[Marknnnnn]

Ok great!  Thank you.  I did that before with a google mini and they were pretty easy to deal with 

[ChrisPBacon10]

Nice thread going here. I was researching these for a major upcoming work project. I will be staying very far away...

[Skrewit007]

I just placed an order for 24 smoke alarms to use across different homes across my extended family. I will be returning the entire order. The issue I wanted to solve for is frequent or sudden need to replace batteries. It seems the more efficient and economic thing to do would be to stick with my current First Alert alarms and just set a reminder in my calendar to replace all batteries every 6 months. Thanks all, you saved me $2.4K.

[PerthPhil]

Maybe saved you $2.4k but are you considering all the facts here
- Nest Protect detects carbon monoxide (CO) as well as smoke.  CO is a silent killer so if you have combustible heat in any of the houses then you really should consider a CO detector either built into the smoke detector or separately
- The Lithium batteries in a Nest Battery Only unit are good for 7+ years. The batteries I took out of faulty units have been fine in other items and I have pretty conclusively proven the issue to be the battery voltage sensor on the faulty unit rather than any issue with batteries. 
- The WiFi connectivity and multi-site features of the app are pretty good in managing and alerting if anything is going wrong. This may be handy in your situation (I can't advise) or provide safety and peace-of-mind benefits
- My experience (3 failed units, extensive testing, but three sites and 10 units working combo of battery and wired) has been that the units work absolutely fine up until they don't. If a battery replacement doesn't fix the device then replace the device. They are not intermittent or hard to diagnose, just an issue with Google recognising / acknowledging the fault publicly and doing a recall.
- Smoke detectors are an item I personally would not skimp on. Also - in the wired versions the Pathlight feature is really helpful with small kids. I will probably turn back on again for the battery units now that I have identified what the problem is (I had prev suspected pathlight consuming battery but subsequently resolved that issue was faulty battery voltage sensor)

Good luck with whatever you choose. PS - never had any issue with battery sensor and the wired versions! 

[Dantheman33]

Okay Google Nest.  It looks like it is time to fix the problem.  I have three in my home that are doing the same thing after about 3 years of being installed.  Hundreds of stories like this are not a coincidence.  I really hope someone does not get hurt because of your defective smoke/c02 sensors.  There is an obvious reason why these units are draining batteries so quickly.  If you have have examined any of these, your engineers have determined the reason.  How about you step up and correct this problem.

[PerthPhil]

Dan - they are not draining batteries quickly. I take batteries out of faulty nest and put into other devices which then last a year without needing changing. Brand new batteries in the faulty nest device show low battery within 24 hours. 

The issue is a faulty battery voltage detector, not excessive current drain.

[Debaclerx]

Nest stopped caring after your purchase. Its been years of this happening and they haven't responded in anyway. Only this community outlets. This is a way for the company to hide and have us figure out Thier problems. I changed companies. I don't care if they figure it out. Do you. Lack of support I don't want to Be a part of nest. 

[jimboman]

Same issue,  2 nest protects in service for ~ 3 years, suddenly 1 of them is going through a pack of batteries per week.  

[Randomnamegen]

My detector went though about 60 bucks

of the very specific lithium batteries mentioned in the instructions in about 4 weeks. Useless. 

[bnw_]

I am having the same issue with my gen 2 nest protect - it’s just out of warranty and the batteries drain in less than 4 weeks. I tried brand-new lithium batteries and like several other users have spent more on batteries than the cost of the unit. Having service reps telling customers that the batteries are the problem is very irresponsible.
I am a big fan of Google products and services but if this issue isn’t embarrassing for the Nest team, then it ought to be.

[FrankDux]

Is anyone looking at a class action for this issue? Beside the fact that they're still pushing out a product that's obviously defective this is a serious safety concern. All the treads simply get the same response from support...check your battery type. This is crazy. 

[GSmart]

Same problem, this is brutal.

[PerthPhil]

Just an update - replaced both faulty units and now 6+ months on one and 12+ months on other without having to touch it. Definitely the unit that is at fault and suspect it is a faulty voltage sensor causing the issue I only used batteries in new sensors that, whilst new, was told were low in faulty sensors. Prob def not the batteries...

[Giselle]

I am having the same issues. It is time for a class action lawsuit if nest does not fix this issue. At least give customers the options with trading in the battery for wired nest protects. Lithium is not only hard to find but the price has increased over 50% in 2022. Please help us with these issues. 

[MoTheSeeker]

I have same quick batteries drain issue. However, when I checked the batteries the batteries voltages fine and when I put the same batteries, it works well for a day and start beeping for low batteries. 

This is very known issue and Google should take it serious and provide solution. Either through software updates or products rollback. 

[Markjosephp]

Hello MoTheSeeker,

I apologize for the delayed response and I'm sorry to hear you're still having issues, even after replacing the batteries. Let's see what's going on.

A few questions: do you have the battery-powered Nest Protect or the wired Nest Protect? How many beeps do you get from the Nest Protect? Also, what are the battery specifications that you replaced?

Looking forward for your response.

Thanks,

Mark

[MoTheSeeker]

Thank you! @Markjosephp for getting back to me. 

Here are the answers to your questions:

- I have a battery powered Nest Protect.

- After changing batteries it last for about a day and start beeping. And it beep short but loud after about every minute. And app shows that batteries are low.

- I am using Energizer MAX Alkaline batteries which last long. 

FYI, it manufacturer date is 2018 May and Replace by date is 2028 May.

I will really appreciate if you can came up with solution or any findings. Please let me know if you have any other questions. 

Again thank you in anticipation 

[Markjosephp]

Hi there,

Thanks for sharing the details and I appreciate you've tried finding a fix.

The reason why your Nest Protect keeps draining its power is because of the batteries that you replaced. We suggest using an Energizer Ultimate Lithium AA (L91) battery for long term use. Here's your reference about Nest Protects power. 

If there’s anything else I can help you with, please let me know.

Best,

Mark

[jimboman]

Ummm, no.  I've replaced the batteries 8 times in the past 11 months, with Energizer Ultimate Lithium AA's, and have seen no change in behavior with the problem protect.  And for the record, I've had  NON-lithium AA's in 2 other next protects for > 2 years with no issues.

It would be great if someone from Nest or Google...

1) acknowledged that this is a systemic problem

2) offer a solution, workaround, exchange or refund

I can't speak for the community, but based on this thread I'd bet these actions would go a long way toward having fewer pissed customers.

[Markjosephp]

Hello imboman,

I'm sorry if you have to go through this. We'd like you to have a better experience.

To further assist you with the next possible options, please fill out this form and let me know once you're done.

Regards,

Mark

[MoTheSeeker]

Thank you! @Markjosephp , I will try using the ultimate lithium batteries. However, based on my search in Google lot of people having the same issue even they replaced the lithium batteries as mentioned by @jimboman . I will update you my experience after replacing ultimate lithium L91 within a few days.

[PerthPhil]

This issue is absolutely UNRELATED related to using the Lithium batteries and it is dumbfounding that anyone with any understanding of battery technology could even suggest such a thing. I went through six full sets of Lithium batteries (more than the cost of the smoke detector) over several weeks and none lasting more than a day, following this ridiculously uninformed advice. Whilst you should absolutely use the longest lasting manufacturer specified batteries, literally any battery type should get you 3-6 months.  This is absolutely a manufacturing issue on the device and should be treated as such, not trying to force poor consumers to purchase new batteries which is just kicking the can down the road.

Both times I have had this happen, I have replaced the Nest Protect Battery Powered unit and the problem has never re-appeared (a year down the track). In both cases I opted to use some of earlier purchased and 'Google-advised as faulty' batteries which have now all lasted 12+ months.  Time for Google to 'fess up' and take responsibility for their products here. Shameful behavior all-in-all...

[Jake]

Hey there,

I wanted to check in with you, and let you know that we are showing a Case ID. Please be on the lookout for an email from our Team, and let us know if you have any questions from here.

Best regards,

Jake

[Jake]

Hey there,

I wanted to check in, and let you know that I will be locking the thread in 24 hours.

Best regards,

Jake