Li-Ion batteries keep running dead when not using saber

[pol]

Hey all, new saber owner here. I ordered an Apprentice LE v5 recently with Li-Ion + Buckpuck setup. I also ordered a couple of more basic sabers with just the standard setup. The other two are still running just fine on the batteries they came with, but I find the Li-Ion batteries keep going dead even when I have left the saber off the whole time. This has happened to me twice now, and actually when I first received the saber the batteries were dead but I thought nothing of it at the time.

Has anyone else encountered this issue? I'm hoping it's just dodgy batteries and replacing them will fix it.

[tx_tuff]

Do you have sound or anything with your saber? Emerald driver?

The bottom line is you have batteries in a electronic device. US sabers don't have a deep sleep mode or come with a kill switch. So if you have batteries in the saber it is always going to drain them. If you have premium sound or LED driver it is going to drain them faster.

Sent from my LM-V405 using Tapatalk

[pol]

No sound or Emerald Driver, I do have Tri-Cree lights. I've also used this saber comparably little compared to the other two because I've been getting into spinning and didn't find the Apprentice v5 as comfortable for that compared to the Initiates v2 and v4 I have.

I've had the saber for 12 days and I've had to recharge the batteries to full three times since then (first time when it had just arrived), while the other two are still running fine on their 4x basic battery setup. Just wondering if others having the same issue with their Li-Ion batteries.

[Racona Nova]

That's not normal. Although every setup has a small battery drain (no matter if stunt, sound, Emerald or any other setup) it's so small that it takes months until you notice a significant drop in charge.

I suggest you email UltraSabers Customer Service - Marlena ([email protected]) is your first address!

[Therion Jinn]

Might have a bad batch of batteries, or a short somewhere if they're draining that fast.
My Emerald with V4 doesn't go through batteries that fast

[Edon Bluewolf]

I do a weekly light em all up check on my sabers for this reason.  From my experience, a diamond saber just sitting without being used will drain about once a week, an emerald with sound about every two weeks, a premium sound about every three weeks, and all these are the Li-on setups.  These are ballpark estimates from my experience but as tx said they don't have deep sleep mode so you have to be watchful of the constant battery trickle.  I don't have any stunts with tricree and li-on so cant really compare to your exact situation but it does sound like something is a little off from the timeline of recharging you are mentioning, they shouldn't discharge more than a diamond but maybe there is something with tri-cree and li-on in particular that I don't know.  Now all my AAA setups with basic sound and with tricree  both or just plain no sound stunts will last months being off without having to recharge.  So in this respect the AAA setups are much more reliable in terms of long term battery life when left in hilt turned off.

pol, I would like to know what customer service tells you because I was planning on going with tri-cree li-on setup on the stunt Omen I want.  So now I am interested if there any quirks about this setup that I need to know or if your particular saber or batteries have some unique issue unfortunately.

[pol]

Thanks guys, I'll get in touch with CS then.

I'll update this thread with their response Edon!

[pol]

Hey Edon,  here is the response form Marlena:

"I am sorry to hear that this has happened with your saber. The Onyx (Buck Puck) that the saber was built with has a slight parasitic drain. This sounds more like the batteries needing to relearn after arriving dead. It typically takes a few charging cycles for the batteries to function properly after a complete drain. Do not let the batteries completely drain during this time frame. The best place for the batteries when not in use is always on the charger. Let me know after about 5 more charge cycles if this is continuing. I apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused."

[Racona Nova]

So they're using a new BuckPuck model which has a different behaviour....good to know, point for sharing this info!

[Edon Bluewolf]

Thanks for getting back on this pol! +1

I hope it clears up after the suggested recharge cycles.

[Taratx]

I had this issue with an emerald saber. It would drain the batteries within 2 days. I did as marlena said and started taking them out and placing on a charger when saber was not in use, then invested in a couple sets of new batteries. I now find that the US batteries keep their charge much longer. From 2days idle, to approximately 2 weeks idle.

My suggestion is to invest in some more batteries so you've always got a backup set and are able to rotate. Waiting for batteries to charge when you're in the mood to play is very frustrating.

P.S. my US batteries did begin to function as they should after a few weeks and still function as expected a year later now.

[Musashi Padawan]

I purchased a Savior tri-cree stunt with recharge port and lithium ion setup back in December. Like Pol, when I opened the saber, the batteries were dead (this can be verified watching my unboxing video). Exactly as Pol describes, each time I would charge the saber, it would be completely dead in 2-3 days whether the saber was used or not. I have two other sabers with the same set-up that do not require charging, sometimes for weeks, even with regular use. The issue never resolved itself through April with charging it every couple days. I guess I was prepared to just live with the annoyance, especially with the ease of port recharging.
However, in April the 2 of the 3 LEDs stopped working so I contacted support and sent it off for repairs. I also described the battery life in the issue description. In the typical US superior customer service fashion, the saber’s LED was replaced and back in my hands in mere days. When I opened the box, the battery was completely dead. After charging the tri-cree looked great. The tech wrote on my repair summary, “remove batteries when not in use for a couple days”. Really? That’s why I got a recharge port... oh well. If left in, they still drain completely every 2 days and require a full charging cycle. Not the end of the world, but reading this thread makes me wonder on that bad batch of battery theory of Jinns. 
I guess I could do a little experiment this weekend and swap the batteries with one of my other sabers. I’ll report back how it goes.