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RokuMary-F
Community Moderator
Community Moderator

Re: My Roku remote uses batteries at an unacceptable level

Hi @Allsams,

Saw your post and thanks for the response.

A member of our Support team will reach out to you via email to assist you. Please let the Support team know if you have any other questions so they can assist you further and provide a resolution to this issue.

Please let us know if there are other related issues that we can further take a look at.


Best regards,
Mary

Mary F.
Roku Community Moderator
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Bismarck318
Roku Guru

Re: My Roku remote uses batteries at an unacceptable level

Model 3800x - Roko Streaming Stick

I had this issue a few years back, it would eat a set of batteries in a week to 2 weeks even in non use periods as well.  I do NOT use the voice command & had it disabled.   My thoughts were the microphone was always listening & draining power although it was disabled &/or the unit was off. 

I switched over to Rechargeables as I was tired of this, but it seems to have gone away or greatly improved about 1 to 2 months+ on a charge of my, NiMH AAA's 900mAh.  I was thinking of going back to Alkalines to see how it would perform.  

I have an older Roku Express Model 3900, without the voice activated remote, the batteries last well over a year & never had an issue. 

I was thinking one of the software upgrades may had fixed this somewhere along the way.

 

 

 

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Ericm1
Binge Watcher

Tired of replacing batteries

I have 3 Roku devices. My 3810X - SN YH00CE602598 is costing me a fortune in batteries.  I have scoured the multiple posts on this subject and tried everything suggested. I am replacing batteries almost every day.

Is there a solution?  I'm wasting time and money.  I have no battery drain issues with my other two Roku devices.

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RokuNimfa-C
Retired Moderator

Re: Tired of replacing batteries

Hi @Ericm1

Thanks for posting your concern here in the Roku Community. 

We're sorry to hear about your battery drain issue on the Roku remote. Have you tried re-pair your Roku remote, in some cases it resolves the problem occur. You can see more here: How to fix your Roku voice or simple remote that is not working

Could you tell us how are you powering your Roku device? Is it connected to the USB port of the TV or to a wall outlet? If the device is plugged into the USB port on the TV, we would recommend that you power your Roku device through a wall outlet to see if that helps the issue you are experiencing.

Let us know how it goes.


Regards, 
Nimfa

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Ericm1
Binge Watcher

Re: Tired of replacing batteries

I am powering the Roku through the USB. If I have it powered through a wall adapter then it will always be on and using bandwidth.

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RokuNimfa-C
Retired Moderator

Re: Tired of replacing batteries

Thanks for following up, @Ericm1

In some cases, the USB power provided by the TV is not sufficient to power the device. Even though your Roku device may appear to be working, running with insufficient power can lead to instability, crashing, and other unpredictable behavior. That is why we recommend plugging the device into a wall outlet to see if it helps. 

Your streaming player only uses your internet connection when streaming or during the occasional automatic software update. When not in use, your Roku streaming player does not use any material bandwidth of your internet connection.

Keep us posted. 


Regards, 
Nimfa

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Ericm1
Binge Watcher

Re: Tired of replacing batteries

And how does that cause the remote to drain batteries? 

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heidelbergkid
Reel Rookie

Re: My Roku remote uses batteries at an unacceptable level

I have yet to hear from anyone as the moderator suggested I would. Based on the hundreds of responses elsewhere in these forums it seems Roku does not really have an answer to this very basic issue.

In case it helps, my model is a 3810X - Roku Streaming Stick+ with a SN of YH0095709160.

Please let me know if there is an easy solution. In the interim, I'll be researching competitors that do not require a 12 pack of batteries every other month. 

Thank you.

makaiguy
Community Streaming Expert

Re: Tired of replacing batteries

@Ericm1-

A casual stroll thru this community will show that many people have a severe problem with battery life in their remotes. But there are also lots of people (myself included) that do not experience this problem. Is that due to some remotes being defective and others not, some Roku models being harder on remotes than others, or due to some other factor? I don't know.

I've only seen one external factor suggested that may affect this.

There is some evidence that one cause of battery drain for those with point-anywhere remotes that connect to the Roku via WiFi-direct can be use of a router channel that is crowded by nearby routers using the same channel. It's been suggested that the remote has to work too hard constantly sorting through the information packets from other devices using the same channel such that it accelerates the battery drain. This is more likely to be a problem in the more heavily used 2.4 GHz wifi band than in the 5 GHz band.

If you have access to your router's setup, try configuring it to use a different WiFi channel to see if this helps the situation. If you are connecting in the crowded 2.4 GHz band, channels 1-11 are supported. Channels 1, 6, and 11 do not overlap each other and so give you the best chance at reducing congestion, so try each in succession, although depending on what channels your neighbors are using, other channels in the 1-11 range may work best. Also, reducing router bandwidth from 40 to 20 kHz may also reduce interference.

Note that optimum channel choice can be a moving target as neighbors bring new routers online in your vicinity, or reconfigure their routers to use different channels. I periodically use a wifi analyzer app on my smart phone that can show me which available wifi channels have the least congestion and I change the channel my router uses accordingly. I don't know if that explains my wifi-direct battery longevity (usually 3 months or more with fairly heavy use) but it's probably worth a try to see if it helps.

Several people have reported that this cured their problem.  Others have never been heard from again so we don't know if this helped.  Let us know how you make out.

Roku Community Streaming Expert
I am not a Roku employee, only a user like you.  Please, no support questions via private message -- post them publicly to the Community where others may benefit as well.
If this post solves your problem please help others find this answer by clicking "Accept as Solution.".

Ultra 4800 | Streaming Stick 4K+ 3821 | TCL Roku TV 43S245/C107X
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Ericm1
Binge Watcher

Re: Tired of replacing batteries

I appreciate the very thorough response. As stated, I have two other Roku devices - different models. So if the problem was sorting through router traffic wouldn't that impact all of them. The problem remote is the only one that has a microphone (voice commands). My thought is that the microphone is always on and drawing power (not to mention always listening) _ have not found a way to turn the microphone off.  When I attempt to disable it I get a message saying it is unable to do that.

This Roku unit is in the master bedroom and we rarely watch television up there so it's not a question of over use. Not sure what a point anywhere remote is and I have one router in the home.  There are never two Rokus being used at once and it's not as if there is a huge family with everyone on their own device. It's just me and The Mrs. each with an Ipad and that's it.

Why would the remote be "sorting through information packets" when nobody is watching that Roku device? And again, why is only one remote out of three having this issue?

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