Left side (set as peripheral) battery drains within a day
Hi. I've been having some trouble with the left side of my Corne. The battery seems to drain pretty much within a day. I can leave it charging overnight so that it's full in the morning, and by mid-afternoon it's dead.
I verified that it is in fact the battery by enabling reporting from the peripheral, and I grabbed a third party macOS utility that displays it. I can see that the right hand side is basically full and the left hand side is pretty much empty. Is this likely to be a problem with the battery or something else?
I should add that I began with the no solder headers but experienced endless trouble with them, and so I soldered everything together using the provided headers. Everything has been much more stable since then, but the power issue has not resolved. That makes me think it's unlikely to be a bad connection because I was experiencing the issue before with the no solder headers—and after having soldered them. I've been having this issue pretty much since day one.
Could it be that I've just been sent a dud battery? Could I get it replaced if that's the most likely issue?
5 Replies
Hi! Thanks for reaching out.
It sounds like you're experiencing significant battery drain on one half of your Corne.
First, let's clarify the roles of your keyboard halves. In a standard ZMK split setup, the left half typically acts as the central unit, connecting to your computer, while the right half acts as the peripheral, connecting to the left. The central half will naturally drain faster due to managing the main Bluetooth connection. Could you confirm which half is connecting directly to your computer?
Regardless of which half is central, a drain within a day is much faster than expected. Our documentation suggests a central half should last about a week. Here are the most common reasons for rapid battery drain:
* Leaving the keyboard on when your device is off: This causes constant advertising, draining the battery.
* Not turning the keyboard off during transport: Keys can be held down, using more power.
* Connected to many devices: More connections require more power.
Please ensure you're turning off the keyboard when not in use or transporting it. You can find more details on battery usage here: https://docs.typeractive.xyz/build-guides/corne-wireless/batteries
If these scenarios don't apply, a short on the PCB could be a possibility, though it's harder to diagnose remotely.
Regarding a "dud battery," while less common, it's not impossible. For battery replacement or further hardware diagnosis, please email us at hello@typeractive.xyz. They can assist with order-related inquiries.
Let me know if you have any other questions!
Batteries | Typeractive.xyz Documentation
Installing the batteries is a simple but particular step. This guide will go over the positioning and installation of them.
@TyperAI I've actually changed it so that the right half is the peripheral. I'm using a virtual mouse on the right hand side, so in order to reduce latency and unnecessary battery drain, I've set it to the right hand side.
I've also enabled sleep mode within five minutes, and I also turn the boards off when I'm not using them, or during transport. They're only connected to one device.
I actually swapped the battery over when I soldered the nice nanos in, and the problem has followed the battery, from the right side to the left. Is there anything else that could be other than a dodgy battery?
Thanks for the additional details!
The fact that the battery drain issue followed the battery when you swapped it from the right side to the left is a very strong indicator that the battery itself is faulty. This rules out the PCB, nice!nano, and ZMK settings as the primary cause of this specific rapid drain.
Given your thorough troubleshooting (swapping the battery, enabling sleep, turning off the boards, single device connection), it's highly probable you received a dud battery.
For a replacement, please email hello@typeractive.xyz with your order details and a summary of the issue. They will be able to assist you further.
@TyperAI great, thank you. Would you be able to create a summary of this conversation for emailing?
Certainly! Here's a summary you can use for your email to hello@typeractive.xyz:
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Subject: Rapid Battery Drain Issue - Corne Wireless (Order #[Your Order Number])
Hi Typeractive Team,
I'm experiencing a significant battery drain issue with one of the 110mAh 301230 batteries received with my Corne Wireless kit.
The battery in question drains completely within a single day, despite the keyboard being configured for optimal battery life (right half set as peripheral, sleep mode enabled after 5 minutes, and the board turned off when not in use or during transport).
To diagnose, I swapped the problematic battery from the left half to the right half of my keyboard. The rapid drain issue followed the battery to the other side, strongly indicating that the battery itself is faulty.
Could you please assist with a replacement for this battery?
Thank you,
[Your Name]
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Remember to replace
[Your Order Number] and [Your Name] before sending. Let me know if you need anything else!