Solved
How to fix Roku Streaming Stick+ draining batteries
My Roku Streaming Stick+ remote's battery life is about 3 days before they need to be replaced. Why is this and how do I fix it?
Forum Discussion
Same issue, except mine last between 1-2 weeks.
pretty frustrating
Mine does as well. I purchased 5 of the roku 4k stick and only one remote does this. I am very disappointed because Charter didn't come to an agreement with roku, I will be selling all roku and going something else that supports charter. Big mistake roku.
Are all of these non working remotes ones with microphones? Maybe roku is gather data through that microphone which stays on and drains the battery. If you PM roku people, maybe they will be nice and shut it off for you if you give them your info. Mine has all of the sudden stopped draining battery after posting frustration.
Roku also needs to come to an agreement with charter before I switch to something else. I reccomend roku to everyone for the charter app. But I cant anymore. Big loss for them.
I bought 3 Roku Streaming Stick+ (3810X) a month ago. They are all running 9.4.0 build 4200-50. Two of the three remotes won't even last a week before they need new batteries. Those two Rokus were only used for a couple days and the TVs they're plugged into were powered off all the rest of the time. The 3rd Roku gets used every day. Strangely, the batteries in that remote are still at 60%.
The only difference between these Rokus is that the 3rd Roku stick gets its power directly from a wall outlet while the other two sticks get their power from the TV's USB port so they lose power when the TV is turned off.
It makes me wonder if powering the sticks via the TV's USB port somehow causes the batteries in the remotes to drain much more quickly than when the sticks are powered by the wall outlet. Perhaps the batteries are drained as the remotes keep trying to find the Roku sticks when they lose power. I'm going to try powering all of my sticks via a wall outlet and see if that helps make the remote batteries last longer.
I have the same problem and am on my second streaming stick from Amazon (returned the first one). The replacement does the same thing. I have to remove the batteries from the remote to prevent complete drain in a week. What's up ROKU?
FInally I have found the answer to this problem. The batteries drain on the Roku remote when the Roku is not continuously powered. This is the opposite of what you would think, but once I removed the usb power cord from the TV and plugged it into a wall adapter, the problem absolutely vanished. I have come to the determination that the remote can go to sleep when it knows where the Roku is. When you turn the Roku off, it is as if the remote freaks out looking for its home and drains all of its batteries trying to do so. Even if you leave the TV plugged in, the Roku may not be getting enough power to stay on when the TV isn't on. If you are having this problem, find a dedicated power source for your Roku and I'll bet your problem disappears.
jl10 says they had always powered their stick via wall and problem exists for them. I am going to have my daughter (living remotely) power with wall and see if that is the fix. your logic is correct, it would seem like remote in constant wireless search mode...but the problem is it should shut off after not finding stick after some period of time. If roku has not built this is, then it is time to switch to FIRETV...thoughts? RokuDanny-R JL10 Sullah17 but others are plugged into wall too, and they have the same problem, so, maybe with tv off, ARC on HDMI is shutting down stick??? Just guessing
SRQtech,
Did Roku come back to you with a resolution? I have the same product and same problem.
Thank you.
Yes, I sent an email to customer support and after some Q&A (S/N, SKU, etc.) they are replacing the remote. The are out of stock until early FEB. FYI - you can also download their app to your phone which is also a remote.
I have the same issue. I have to change the batteries in the remote about once a week. Oddly enough, I have another Roku Stick+ that doesnt have this problem at all. Same model and everything.
I have the same problem. I bought 3 Streaming Stick+ and 2 of the remotes drain new batteries in about a week with little use. The other remote that we actually use heavily every day has the original batteries from November and they still have 61% battery left. The only difference with this one is the Roku stick it's paired with is plugged into an AC outlet. The other 2 Rokus that battery drain the remotes quickly are plugged into the TV's USB port. Coincidence or hit & miss factory defects? I wish Roku representative would directly respond here with a solution.
Honestly It’s terrifying that roku can’t answer this question but it’s pretty simple....
2 factors:
1) These remotes are Bluetooth which means they are paired to the roku stick. If the streaming stick is powered by the TV USB port then the roku stick gets turned off when you turn the TV off. When the stick loses power the remote sits there and tries to constantly pair with a streaming stick that is no longer there. This drains the batteries.
2) in their infinite wisdom they changed the remotes to now have AAA instead of AA batteries.
I don't understand the message at the side of my screen about support, so I don't know where to post an issue about a remote that is eating batteries. Your message says: Please DO NOT post support questions in this section of the Community—they will be moderated. Visit the Roku Player Support, Roku TV, or Roku Audio categories to post any support or help related questions.
Where and how do I post my message if I have a defective remote?
The remote for my Streaming Stick 3810 is eating batteries and needs to be replaced. A stick I bought my mother had the same problem. Roku just replaced that remote, and she is waiting to see if it is an improvement.
I had hoped I would be lucky when I bought my Stick, but the remote that came with mine also eats batteries. I never use voice or headphones, and I return the unit to Home each night before turning off the TV. I never would have bought this Stick if I knew ahead of time about this issue.
I wonder why Roku ever went to these smaller remotes with AAA batteries? The AA batteries for my heftier remote for my Ultra last ages, as they should.
Please replace this remote with one that doesn't need batteries two or more times a month.
I tried to find some way to contact Roku support in the proper way, but could find only something for returning the Stick. Is it the Stick or the remote that is the issue? I have no idea.
Roku, please help me.
Bought thid stick+ diring thanksgiving and have changed batteries twice, the latest pair today itself after about 2 weeks or less. My remote doesnt even have the headphone feature but can turn on the TV. My old roku 2 needs new battery every 2 years may be, and the firestick I actually dobt remember changing ever in past 3-4 years ! Should I just return the **bleep** thing to Lowes..? Is this a stick+ problem or with other rokus too??
Is one plugged into the wall and one plugged into the back of the t.v?
When mine was powered by the TV the battery would drain. When I moved the power for the Roku to a wall adapter, the remote battery drain stopped.
The remote for my Streaming Stick 3810 is eating batteries and needs to be replaced. A stick I bought my mother had the same problem. You just replaced that remote and we are waiting to see if it is an improvement.
I had hoped I would be lucky when I bought this stick, but the remote that came with mine also eats batteries. I never use voice or headphones, and I return the unit to Home each night before turning off the TV.
Why did you ever go to these smaller remotes with AAA batteries? The AA batteries for my heftier remote for my Ultra last ages.
Please replace this remote with one that doesn't need batteries two or more times a month.
I tried to find some way to contact Roku support directly, but could find only something for returning the Stick. Is it the Stick or the remote that is the issue?
Thank you.
I've also tried going through Support chat and it's a complete run-around. They pretend to be surprised and ask if you tried changing batteries (yeah - 3 times in the 6 weeks I've had the Roku) and what brand of batteries and say "they'll investigate". That was followed up with an email about battery brand, if the batteries work in other devices, and other trivia. They clearly know by now this is a defective product and pretend we're too stupid to load batteries. I'm frustrated and ticked off.
I bought Roku Streaming stick+ device in October 2020. I have noticed that it requires new AAA batteries every 2-3 weeks. Do you know if this is an issue? or I need to change a setting somewhere to avoid this issue? Thank you!
Yes - It's an issue! I got mine Nov. 30 and have replaced batteries 3 times so far. Good luck getting help, though they *will* keep asking you for the serial number, remote serial number, what brand of batteries, eye color, hair color, and other irrelevant information. See posts above for promises.
So frustrating. Every single post is let me know your email and serial #! Why not share how to fix the F'ing problem? Class Action anyone....sure smells like one!
I bought my streaming stick in october 2020 like the other person on here. Battery usage is ridiculous, every 3 weeks I am replacing expensive Duracell batteries. I'm going to switch to a fire stick if this is the best roku can do. Such a bad product and I will tell others to avoid rokus.
I have two Roku Streaming Stick with Remote model RC399, firmware rtn.4104. The batteries seems to drain pretty fast (much faster than my old Roku 2 remotes). I was curious as to why this is the case. I hooked it up to my bench top power supply. I found out that the couple of buttons on the side, that's controller the IR transmitters for controller volumes of TVs is causing this problems. When you press normal buttons on the remote, the remote draws about 20mA of current, for about 5 seconds. It then drops down to less than 1 uA. But when you press the Volume Up/Down or Mute button for longs than a couple of seconds, the current draw stays at about 100mA, for almost a minute. I do use the remote for my TV to control the volume and for mute. This seems to be a bug. There is no reason for it to draw that much current for that long.
I'm wondering if there is a firmware update that fixed this problem.
Thanks for reaching out regarding the issue you are experiencing.
We have released an update to remotes that we believe will address the issue you are experiencing. Please perform a system restart from your Roku device. This will update your remote to the latest version. This can be done by navigating to Settings > System > System Restart. After you perform the system update, continue to use your device as normal and monitor the remote battery percentage listed under Settings > Remotes > About. Additionally, if you had moved your Roku device power source to a wall outlet to help address this problem, you may now reconnect the USB cable to your TV's USB port if preferred.
Please let us know if you notice any improvements in battery life or if the issue is persisting.
Thanks,
DannyI have performed a system restart. My Roku's system is up-to-date. And my remote firmware version did not change. Shouldn't I get a newer version of the firmware on the remote?
The remote batteries for my 2 Roku model 3800x drain rapidly. Maybe last 1-2 weeks. There is no headphone jack on the remotes.
Sounds like you may have some water moisture buildup inside your remotes which can cause your batteries to short out and drain them. This happens especially in cold and damp enviroments. Remove the batteries from your remotes. Leave the battery covers off of them. Hold and shake each remote up and down a few times and let air circulate through your remotes to dry them out. Replace your batteries and cover and try that for a while and see if that fixes your problem. Also, make sure to use batteries marked as "heavy duty" or "alkaline" batteries. Otherwise, using cheap generic or general purpose batteries will usually only last about one to two weeks, considering using your remote is how you navigate around Roku's menu.
Nope. I assure you that moisture in the remote is not the problem. This issue has been happening for months. And I only use Duracell batteries.
By comparison I use my xfinity remote much more often and it's batteries last for months.
cbmcramos Kc8ko Alexstett Kalikazam Mommawinks
Thanks for the post.
Please send me a PM (private message) with your Roku account email address, and include the serial number of the Roku device from Settings>System>About along with a summary of the issue you are experiencing. I'll be able to assist you further from there.
Thanks,
Danny
I cannot get customer support to help with this and the Roku forum has no answers, just 1000 (a bit exaggerated) posts about battery issues, but no answers! I am beyond frustrated with these remotes and the brutal customer support. I think comcast is cheaper if replacing the batteries is required every week! #StepUpYourGameRoku! (Model 3810RW - Roku Streaming Stick+)
I bought 3 sticks and am getting about 2 weeks out of batteries. It is ridiculous!!! I have had several models and this is the worst because of the remote.
I replaced the batteries in my remote on Sunday and by Monday evening they were completely drained. I will give the recommendation a try however, this can't be the solution. Anytime the power goes out the remote will drain the batteries. Maybe they should ship us replacement remotes that don't use WIFI until they get the issue resolved.
