Spy 005 "off" battery drain?

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paulr

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I just tried to use my 005 (ver. 2) for the first time in a couple months and the batteries are dead. The batteries are a pair of Duracells that had had very little use and should have been almost full, so it makes me think the Spy is draining significant power when turned off. Anyone experienced something like that? I guess I will put in new cells and see if I can measure the current drain somehow, i.e. connecting up a DMM with the battery cap removed.
 

Data

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Send it back to me and I will check it. Probably only needs the firmware upgraded. Most were OK but a few went out with the wrong SW loaded. I do not take the light apart, just put it on the programmer, zap it and send it back.

If the off current is a couple hundred uA or more then it needs zapped. There are other threads here talking about the details but the bottom line is the off current should be about 5 uA.


Cheers
Dave
 

starfiretoo

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My Black Spy005 does the same thing. Killed two sets of new batteries before i figured something was wrong. Email out going.
:thanks:
 

fasteddie

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Dont fret, guys. Dave updated mine and it solved the problem. There's a thread around here somewhere with some info on it.
 

AndyTiedye

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Both of my SPY005s will drain a set of AW R123s in a couple of months.
That suggests a drain current of around 500uA.

Is the updated firmware to fix the current drain the same as the firmware
that comes in the SPY007?
 

Data

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Both of my SPY005s will drain a set of AW R123s in a couple of months.
That suggests a drain current of around 500uA.

Is the updated firmware to fix the current drain the same as the firmware
that comes in the SPY007?

Yes, if your light drains the battery it needs to be flashed. That will fix the problem.

However, you will loose some of the easter eggs as I have pulled some from the code to add other features. The biggest egg that is gone is the 5 digit pie lock and the candle flame.


Cheers
Dave
 
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cave dave

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I think they want to know if they will get the 007 firmware, which has new features like lock-out and voltage report.

It's hard to read the off current because of the flash at startup. You have to bridge the batteries wait for the flash, then connect the meter then disconnect the bridge. Takes about 4 hands.
 

Data

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Hi CD, good to hear from you.

Yes the only code I keep up to date is the current code. It is the only code there is so to speak.

I have not done back-wards compatibility testing but I do not know of any pitfalls.


Cheers
Dave
 

gswitter

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Thanks for bumping this. I'd forgotten I needed to contact Dave about this issue as well.

E-mail sent, Dave.
 
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