Nest 3rd gen Thermostat low battery issue after several years

[ErnieC6720]

After about 4 years, my NEST is now going to low battery and disconnecting from WiFi.  I can recharge with usb but doesn't seem to be charging on the wall.  Nothing has changed in my home.  Can these rechargeable batteries be replaced?  Could it be something else?  It hasn't happen before.  Maybe once after a power outage but never again.  Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. 

[-MBS]

Due to Amazon's 30 day return policy. I maybe be able to get a replacement, but I am doubtful.

[Jeff]

In that case, -MBS, I would reach out to support directly and see what your options are there. You can reach support here: https://goo.gle/31i1U5t. On contact options, choose phone or chat to speak with someone more quickly. If you have any issues there, let me know so I can continue to help.

Thanks,

Jeff

[-MBS]

I reached out and am now awaiting a response. I will let you know what comes of my communications.

[MelbaDT]

Hey there, 

Got it — keep us posted. 

Best, 

Melba

[-MBS]

I got a replacement otw, but won't know if it's fixed until it's installed for a few days.

[-MBS]

Replacement is in...

Status: still dying 

Cause: unknown

Solution: unknown - will quadruple check the wires tonight. Old unit had blue wire jumped between RC and RH, nest instructed to only connect to RC (no jumper).

[EdwardT]

Hi -MBS,

Thanks for the update. I'm sorry to hear that you're still having an issue with the battery. Could you share how your Nest Thermostat is wired? Also, please share the power readings of your Nest Thermostat by going to Settings > Technical Info > Power.

Thanks,

Edward

[-MBS]

Wired cool (yellow) to y1; fan (green) to g; heat (white) to W1; and power (red) to RH.

Battery 3.718; Voc 36.02; Vin 35.30; and lin 40. I've sometimes seen lin at 20.

[EdwardT]

Hi -MBS,

Thanks for the update. Your power readings look fine. We'd like to know more about this. Please fill out this form so we could investigate further.

Thanks,

Edward

[UDntLikeItChgIt]

Hi Edward,

Are there any new updates on this?  While many have opted to replace their units when prompted by Support (still under warranty), others don't have that option and there's clearly something in the programming affecting all of us.  There's a lot of units that need to be saved from the landfills... units that were working fine until 'something' changed.  Nest loves to report how much 'energy' is save... Mr Obvious says that causing millions of units to be prematurely sent to the landfill is a terrible Environmental offset.  All 'jokes' aside, it's very perplexing how this started for a lot of users at the same time, but no one can determine what the root cause is after months of troubleshooting and working with engineering.  (Someone 'has' contacted the Nest Engg team - correct?). We're still chasing symptoms and guessing at root causes w/out understanding all the processes that contribute to batt drain.  "Try disabling the network and see if the batt level sustains... Yes?... OH... your wifi is the problem.".... WHAAAT??  No, something that happens when the thermostat is connected to the network drains the battery.  Something that didn't drain it for years, but now does.  When the thermostat connects instantly when the network is enabled, it's not a local network problem.  And when people replace the batteries and/or get new / replacement units... and the issue remains.... and this issue started after years of no issue.  What changed?  I hope Nest has Infra monitoring in place??  Is one of the Nest API servers (I assume there are multiple behind a load balancer) having an issue and dropping connections?  Or maybe there was a partial update somewhere on the server side?   Do older units typically connect to one set of servers and newer units to another?  This might help explain why those with newer replacement units get 'fixed'.  (i.e. - Maybe -MBS got an old model as a replacement unit?)  Can we get any details from Google beyond the superficial?

[Autiomatic]

What he said ^

Outside of buying a replacement or changing the battery myself I have not had any luck. My issue has become intermittent in that my thermostat and two temperature sensors can randomly connect, but there is no discernible pattern and it is anything but reliable. It worked great for several years and is a buggy mess now. Now it’s just a fancier looking dumb thermostat that I control manually for temperature changes, which is not what I bought a smart thermostat for.

[EdwardT]

Hi folks,

Thanks for letting us know. Please fill out the form that I posted above so we could investigate further.

Thanks,

Edward

[UDntLikeItChgIt]

Hi Edward, can you describe the process that happens when we fill out that form?  I can’t speak for others, but I’ve already been through a a number of Support chat sessions that resulted in links provided for setting up wifi properly.  When that went nowhere, I was provided a link to buy a replacement thermostat.  As mentioned above, we have more than enough evidence that the thermostat isn’t the root cause, we need to know that the server side has been / is being investigated.  As well, can we get details for how often the thermostat calls home / uses the network and how that impacts the battery?  Essentially, beyond the end user’s network, what else has been investigated for this issue?  Thanks!

[EdB]

Exactly. After working with online support it's a pain to get back to the support case. I've spent so much of my time on this device I've basically said **bleep** it. I'd rather just live with this stupid Smart device as is.

[UDntLikeItChgIt]

Hello Edward,

As requested, I filled out the form you provided above.  Case ID:  4-5168000033456.

[Greygeek]

After 5yrs +5mos installation, I've given up on the Nest Gen3 Thermostat.  We recently replaced our gas furnace and in the process, put in an 8-wire cable between the 'stat and furnace.  So I now have a "C" wire, tho I wasn't having major battery issues like so many posters on this forum are  (only have heat - no A/C in the house - so it was a 3-wire hookup).   But two things led us to replace our Nest with a Honeywell T9. 

1) the very wide (and un-changable) swings in temperature it takes to get the Nest to call for heat.  We found that it was just plain uncomfortable in the house much of the time, unless we cranked up the heat to 73 degF or more, which made it too warm when the furnace finally DID kick on.   

2)  Google's total lack of response to the issues in this community over the past 4-years strongly suggests that the Nest Thermostat is not being supported, and likely going to be "deprecated".    We decided not to wait.  

I miss the convenient and nice-to-look-at form of the Nest, and the thousands of units out there could live a long life if they'd make the battery replaceable, and the swing temperature configurable.  (which should be doable with a firmware update ..)  

So far, our home is more consistently comfortable with the T9 thermostat,   The remote sensors, and Android remote control app both work very well with the T9, but of course, the real test will be during the winter.  At least now, with power from the furnace, we don't have to worry about battery life to maintain the WiFi connection.    

[EdwardT]

Hi folks,

Thanks for the response. When you fill out the form, it will create a case and our team would reach out to you via email. You mentioned that you already reached out to our team. Could you share your case number so I could take a closer look?

Thanks,

Edward

[UDntLikeItChgIt]

Hi Edward, Here’s my case info:

1st one: 0-8468000032823 ended with manual usb charge and 24 hr+ offline test (which somehow proved to the tech that my wifi was at fault, but there were / are no issues connecting to wifi, nor a problem maintaining the connection according to my router logs.)

2nd one: 8-7989000033284 ended with a link for me to buy a new thermostat.

Again, PLEASE contact the Engg team. This is not a end user device / network issue.

[Musicm9986]

I am having battery issues with my 3rd generation thermostat battery’ my thermostat is about 5years old had a new ac unit install but the battery will not charge 

[JiveJimmy]

My situation is similar. It worked fine until I added ac (along with a new furnace). Then it would require new batteries every 2 months. I turned off the proximity sensor thinking it was the drain but I'm still changing batteries. 4 times since February.

[Gnaur]

I have the same low battery/disconnect from Wi-Fi issues.  This is with a 3rd gen unit.

[bcbeak]

Same issue as everybody else. Have spent hours trying to troubleshoot the issue with no Fix.  

Google Support call started well .. and then they disconnected the call and refuse to call me back after several email requests. Very bad product and now very bad support. Very unhappy about this and will never buy a Google product again.   Here is my case # if your listening Google:   7-5579000032862

[pstreicher]

Now it's my turn to have this issue. I've had the 3rd Gen thermostat for over five years without a problem, until now. I can only believe that the lithium battery has aged to no longer take a full charge. Just like our phones and other devices. I don't know about any 'C' wire. I'm sure I connected it to the base if it was meant to be. I'm about to order a new battery. It doesn't seem that big a deal to replace. We'll see.

[pstreicher]

Looking at the power info this morning shows 3.671v for the battery and charging at 20ma. That is a small amount of charge (a Google Pop-Up just interrupted wanting me to do a survey on how they have done. I don't think so.) Next, am going to study the specs on this thing and see what else I can glean before committing to a new battery, which I'm sure is going to be the end all cause of this problem.

[Darius2C]

Hey, do you mind linking to where you found a replacement battery? I'm sure I can find the steps online somewhere to replace it, but was just curious what you found. Also, please feel free to update here if the replacement battery solves the problem (given my Nest is almost 1-year old I'd hope the battery hasn't gone already).

[Darius2C]

I'm running into the same issue these past few days that a lot of people have mentioned in this thread. I have had my Nest Learning Thermostat (Gen 3) plugged in and working since January 2022, and just recently I've had the low battery power issue. I unplug it from the wall, charge it via the USB, and then it lasts for maybe a day or so at most before needing to be recharged again.

Strangely enough, I have another Nest Learning Thermostat (Gen 3) in my bedroom upstairs, and that one has no issues at all, so I'm unsure what's going on with this specific one. Maybe a faulty battery, I'm not sure...

[AHanneman]

So I just fixed this issue by running a C wire to my nest thermostat. I was lucky that they used a 6-wire cable and I was able to use an unused wire to put in to the C slot on the Nest and then added the C wire to the C section of my furnace motherboard. 

It is really frustrating that NEST does not specify that this wire is necessary! 

[Darius2C]

Thanks for the information, but sadly I don't have an extra C-wire (or any spare wire) running from my thermostat to my heating unit. I may look into hiring someone to get this done, but rather avoid doing so since this has been working fine for almost a year with no problem. No idea what happened that caused this to fail all of a sudden (especially since my 2nd identical Nest thermostat is working perfectly fine).

[EdB]

From what I've read it seems like it wasn't necessary in the past. One write up here implied it looks like an update caused this issue. So just might be it is needed as could be some new code drains the battery faster than the past.

[pstreicher]

After just leaving it alone for several days the battery charged up past the 3.70v point where the wi-fi began working again and automatically connected to the network.

I conclude that my every morning adjustment and a couple times during the day adjustments of the temperature is causing the battery to lose it's charge. You wouldn't think so but maybe I'm right?! 

[Scott33026]

I have a 3rd Gen Learning Tstat and it keeps getting low batter signals. have Common and 36+ volts on power wire. It that voltage too high? Maybe I need to change my AC units 24vt transformer?

[pstreicher]

I don't know about the 36v on your power wire but, I do know that Google recommends 'lithium' batteries. This I found to be a good recommendation as I have tried alkaline ones and they hardly last at all. I'm going to track how long a set of fresh lithium batteries last. I believe my past experience shows that four months is all I get from lithium type.

Now, what gets me is the alkaline batteries I just changed out gave me of course the low battery warning in no time, but, when I changed to those the last time the door lock went back online all on it's own. Now, this set of lithium batteries I have been waiting two days now and it has not went online by itself. I am going to order a new set of lithium batteries from Amazon and see what that does. I'm suspecting the set I have installed now are not that fresh even though they have never been used. Batteries have a shelf life and it's important to check the date on them. Which reminds me now, I need to check the date of these lithium batteries I just installed. They could be old and not up to voltage to go online but high enough to not get the low battery alert, if that makes sense.

Oh, wait, you are talking about the video doorbell with the transformer. Dumb me. I have been using the Nest video doorbell for a number of years now. I recently got an email from Google saying I need to upgrade for $99 but there was also a notice or something in the email (I should have saved it or got a screenshot) that they would apply any remaining recent renewal to the $99 subscription. I'm still waiting for the pro-rated renewal credit. Did anyone else get this notice or pre-ration?

[bumkin1216]

Hi All - I have two Nest 3rd Gen Thermostats installed and been having the same issue, it seems that it started in early November but I did not give it much thought then as my house only has heat (no AC) and we only turned the heat on a few nights till now.  We have a very cold air mass coming this weekend and I am very worried that my two thermostats will be an issue.  The first Thermostat was install about 3 years ago and the second was install this past March, both working fine till November and never once had an issue.  I have read every post in this message board and tried most troubleshooting tips to no resolution, has any one been able to mitigate this or have any other suggestion?  Thanks!

[Sef0913]

I’m having the same issue. What did you do to resolve the problem with the battery not staying charged? 

[bumkin1216]

Unfortunately I have not resolved mine yet - everyone keeps telling me I have to run a C wire but the fist one I installed worked fine for 3 years with no C wire and the second one I installed worked fine for ten months without one, i am trying to figure out what changed and the only thing I have been able to come up with is Google pushed a firmware update leading me to believe this is a software issue more then a hardware or wiring issue.  I would really like to know how others have solved this without needing to have an electrician out to run a new C wire

[Sef0913]

Did you do the software  update? 

[pstreicher]

My thermostat had low battery issue so I took it from the base and connected a phone charger overnight. Seems a good long charge got the battery back up to spec and it's been working correctly ever since. This was some months ago now. I don't remember losing power to the house so I'm in the dark about what caused this problem.

[Chrsprc]

I tried that first. The charge wouldn't hold. I got the battery I ordered last night. It's not an easy fix and I now am going to purchase a different thermostat. It's toast. I believe the unit was dead. After charging overnight, the unit wouldn't hold a charge long enough to fasten it back on the wall. 

[pstreicher]

How old is that device? Seems no matter what type of battery there is a time limit on them. But, overall, if you have gotten more than several years use out of it, you can say you got your money's worth I'd say. I have come to accept this with so many battery devices today.
My Next 2nd Gen Thermostat is going on seven years now and almost a year since the battery issue. I'm expecting it to just up and die soon. I'll buy another one just like it when it does. I have gotten used to how it works and like it now. Let us know how it goes with replacing that battery, will ya'?

[Autiomatic]

Under normal circumstances I think I’d agree, but in this case all signs point to an update Google put out that kills the battery, which is what needs addressing. My unit is 5 years old and worked fine until around the same time last year when everyone else started having the same issue. I got the C Wire adapter to no avail. This should be an issue they can fix. The fact that out of the box units are having the same issue as mine says to me it’s not the battery, it’s the firmware.