I hacked a wire to two AA batteries to use in place of the button cell to make the SmartThings multisensor work longer between battery changes. I hate button cells.
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Other than size, No. The AAA sensors will provide a much more reliable battery life report, and have a huge capacity compared to coin cells. 2 x AAA alkalines can be up to 1700mAh, a coin cell capacity would only be 20-25% of that, even for the larger CR2450. The capacity of a CR2032 is tiny, maybe 50-70 mAh. Lithium cells do not degrade linearly and alkalines have a much more predictable discharge curve.
That said there are some very well designed Zigbee CR2032 devices where battery life is excellent, Aqara, Nyce Contact, Visonic contact.
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I'm leery about using rechargeables in my sensors...I use them regularly in other devices, and they tend to report "I'm just fine!" and then suddenly expire almost w/out warning. That's fine for a flashlight I use around the house or a wall clock, but wouldn't like that w/my sensors.
@TArman (or anyone else) have you seen similar reporting behavior (sudden drop "out of nowhere") with rechargeables in sensors?
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I have just recently started replacing the standard batteries in my sensors with rechargeables and have no real experience with their length of service or the way they warn before they die.
Edit: I do have an eWeLink MS01 motion sensor that has one I replaced a while back that’s still working fine and reporting:
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Thanks! I'll be very interested if you can remember to share info on when you have to swap in fresh batteries on the rechargeable 2450s. I don't like having to discard a bunch of used batteries.
