Battery-eating plip

[batwad]

I seem to have become victim to yet another common fault: my central locking keyfob is systematically munching its way through batteries. A set last about two weeks before the fob gives up the ghost.
Does anyone know quite where the fault lies in the plip that causes this? I've checked that the switches aren't leaking and I don't carry my keys in my pocket enough for it to be a result of me sitting on them.
I'm loathe to buy a new one, but I can't help but feel that the ones being sold on eBay may well suffer from the same fault...

[NiSk]

If its the old IR -type plip, then the electronics are very suseptible to ESD (electro-static discharge) like- when you get out of the car and get a jolt - or you leave the plip to close to an arc welder. The IC has protective diodes built into it's inputs, but these get knocked out by ESD and the chip then leaks a very small current all the time. even when not in use. About 2 weeks is typical for a set of batteries in such a case. You can either stick something insulating in between the batteries to stop the leak (a bit irritating when you have to open and close the plip every time you want to use it) or you can modify the internal circuit so that the push button switches the power to the IC instead of ativating one of it's inputs (not for anyone who doesn't absolutely love micro-soldering/electrinic modding!) . . . or you can buy a new plip . . .
//NiSk

[r_306_XSi]

Hi batwad,
I had a similar problem and it turned out to be due to me using the wrong batteries (CR2032 button cells instead of CR2016's).
Was fairly stupid of me as the CR2032 had to be really forced in there (being nearly twice as thick!!)
But, when you take it apart the first time you assume it's got the proper batteries in there!

[Smurf]

I had the same problem until I discovered that the button was being activated when the keys were kept in my pocket. My wife has the problem when she puts the keys in her handbag, but she will not be told.