Nest Protect - Low Battery Warning (even with new batteries)

[Fpirisi]

Dear Nest support team. I have 2 NEST PROTECT since a couple of years and never had a problem. But a few months ago one of them started getting random low battery warnings untill they run out with annoying alarms. I replaced the full array of batteries twice (with premium brands) and after a couple of weeks or a month or so they die again.
I read many people was having same issue. Any suggestions?

Rgds

Federico

[JillG]

Hi Fpirsi,

Did you use the required Energizer Ultimate Lithium AA (L91) batteries when replacing?

Jill

[JillG]

Thanks for the update and for using the required batteries. I am going to escalate this over to our Nest Community Specialists and see if there are any known issues or troubleshooting we can do- etc. 

In the meantime see if this page is helpful for any troubleshooting: Replace Nest Protect's batteries - Google Nest Help 

[MelbaDT]

Hey folks, 

Thanks again for bringing this up to our attention, JillG. 

Fpirisi, thanks for providing these details and for making sure that you're using the recommended batteries. I want to dig deeper into this. 

Is it possible to swap the batteries of your two Nest Protect Sensors then observe if the issue persists? 

Best, 

Melba

[Fpirisi]

Yes tried with recommended batteries. Just FYI i have 2 PROTECT with same batteries and only one is failing since a few months ago.

[bcron12]

I am having this same issue. Bought 4 Nest Protects back in September and one failed in about 60 days, even with new batteries it kept saying batteries are very low, replace immediately. Now a second one just started doing it today! I read they’re supposed to last about 5 years, so what gives? And how can I get a replacement for the one that always says it’s low even with new batteries?

[Glara]

I have this same issue as well.  We have multiple Nest Protects, all were working fine for several years.  Then just 1 started saying it was out of batteries all the time.  When you replace the batteries it works for a couple weeks, then says the batteries are out again.  I tested the batteries with a tester and they have a good charge still.  Something in the Protect sensor seems to be off.  What are our options to fix/replace?

[Hauer17]

Google/Nest should be sued for this recurring issue, which they refuse to address, either in forums or when directly contacted.  This is an absolute SAFETY issue.

I have this very same problem.  Installed six Nest Protects in 2018, all with the Ultimate Lithium batteries that came w/ the packets.  Good for a few years, then the "replace the batteries" message came on (at 2 am), from each detector, in series.  I tested the batteries- all full.  Still got the alert, and had to take down the alarms for our sanity.  I then bought the recommended brand of lithium batteries and replaced them all- expensive, time consuming, annoying.  This temporarily resolved the issue, but the next time the alarm went off, the alerts started again.  I just contacted Google, they acknowledged it's a hardware issue, but I'm out of warranty, so too bad for me.   This is not a car, dishwasher, phone, etc., that gets used every day.  How do SIX detectors all FAIL after just a couple of years, for no reason, but Google takes no ownership of the problem?   These detectors are expensive, they've failed well before any reasonable life expectancy, and they're failure poses a blatant safety hazard.  A quick search shows this is a common issue, but Google never offers a solution.  What was the Google motto?  "Do no evil."  Yeah, right.

[Fpirisi]

Amen brother...

Google should be sued (A Class) for this faulty product and the lack of responsability on their end.

[aatienza]

Hey folks,

Hauer17, I'm sorry for the delay and trouble. I'd like to dig deeper about what's going on — do you have the case ID from your interaction with our support team so I can take a closer look?

Fpirisi, I'm sorry if you feel that way. Our team is working hard to deliver the best experience to our users — we'll take this as feedback.

Thanks,

Archie

[EmersonB]

Hello everyone,

@Hauer17 I'm dropping by to ensure that everything is covered here. We would appreciate it if you could share with us the information we're asking above. So that we can go ahead and check what's happening. Keep us posted.

I appreciate the help, Archie.

Regards,

Emerson

[EmersonB]

Hi bcron12,

Thanks for reaching out here in the Community and for sharing with us what you've done. Normally, we direct our customers to the point of sale to claim their warranties and get their replacement units. Since you mentioned that they are demanding you return all of them we can check our options here on our end. Can you tell us what are the troubleshooting steps you've done so far? So that we can come up with the best option for you.

Thanks,

Emerson

[EmersonB]

Hello bcron12,

How's it going with your Nest Protect? Were you able to read the information I shared above? In case you have an update, you know where to find us.

Regards,
Emerson

[EmersonB]

Hey bcron12,

Just one quick final check in here since activity has slowed down. We'll be locking the thread in the next 24 hours, but if you still need help, I would be happy to keep it open. If there's more we can do, just let us know.

Best,
Emerson

[bcron12]

@EmersonB @aatienza Only took about 9 months to get to our concerns/questions. What can we do to move forward to get these replaced? I bought mine through Home Depot and it was a 4-pack, but they won't let me return only 2, I have to return all 4. And I don't want to have to buy other smoke detectors in the meantime while I wait for a replacement. 

To be honest, the issues with Nest make me so concerned about using the products going forward, especially as we are likely to rent out our house, that I am likely to switch to convention smoke detectors. If they fail so easily, how can I trust that it will work in a fire or detect CO? I thought these were good products but sadly no more. And that's compounded by how long it has taken to get ANY reaction from Nest support.