Modern Vespa

Does any one know of a battery make that lasts in the Primavera 125 key fob?!

My original battery lasted nearly 3 years (wish I had held on to it to see what brand it was ), but any batteries that I have bought since have not lasted longer than a month!!

I've bought brand names like Panasonic and Duracell, but 4 weeks seems to be the best I can get out of them. This is my 4th attempt and it's starting to drive me a bit mad, I'm not doing anything differently. If anyone knows of the brand Vespa use or another one that lasts I'd love to know.

Thanks loads

Rather than the brand, is it the type of battery? ie, lithium,alkaline etc

Or do you have some other issue going on thats causing the battery to be drained?

Hmm, just checked and all of the ones I have bought have been lithium.

Perhaps that's the next test - I'll give some alkaline ones a try. 👍

I'm not doing anything differently from before and I only use it to open the seat. So it seems crazy that pressing the button suddenly drains the battery so quickly.

Do you happen to know of any other issues that could drain the key battery?

Thanks

It's 2x CR2016 batteries that are required and looks like it's pretty hard to find them in anything but lithium.

I did think Lithium was meant to be better than alkaline, so not sure if this is going to be the solution.

Thanks for the suggestion though.

I didnt know if there was anywhere in the manual that specified. 3 years vs a month seems a big difference. have you given the fob a good clean to make sure theres nothing pushing on one of the buttons and making a constant connection?

does the owners manual say to use one of lithium,alkaline etc?

Are you buying from a reputable source or getting a really good deal from temu or their myriad counterparts?

Annoyingly the manual doesn't say anything about the key fob at all. It has information about the keys (brown vs blue etc), but nothing about the fob.

Batteries have been bought from a well known supermarket here in the UK and are also well known reliable brands (Panasonic and Duracell).

I'll have a go at cleaning it, otherwise I'll get in touch with the Vespa supplier in my area and see if they have any ideas.

Thanks for everyone's suggestions

Another thought, and obviously not one based on personal experience. Has the key been through the wash? The battery life on our quashqai remote dramatically shortened after a trip through the washing machine.

I don't think it's down to the battery manufacturer. Nevertheless, I have opened my remote control for you. The battery pictured is definitely the original one from the first delivery by Vespa.

That is very kind of you to take a look at your battery - much appreciated.

Having looked up the same battery I have ordered some off eBay - they are significantly cheaper than the ones I've used as a replacement so it doesn't really make sense that they will be better quality, but I'm happy to give it a try for £3!

Based on everyone's help I suspect it isn't an issue with the battery and maybe something going on with the fob itself (although it definitely hasn't gone through the wash!).

I'll see if I can check for any debris or anything unusual when I change the batteries again.

Thanks for everyone's help and suggestions.

I wonder if when you are not using the key fob, that you are storing it somewhere where there is significant electromagnetic radiation which is running down the battery.

Try not to touch the bottom of the batteries when you install them. Wear gloves if necessary.

Landy89 that would make sense if I was storing them somewhere new, but they are being kept in the same place they have been for years. The old battery lasted years stored in that position, so I don't think that's the issue here.

@der blechfahrer now this might be worth a try. I'm sure I will have touched the bottom when putting them in. Typically I just changed some again this morning, so can try that trick in 4 weeks time 😆

Thanks

At 3V you wouldn't expect them to discharge even with sweaty, salty hands, but it's a recommendation I have read numerous times. Worth a try.

Ensure you are using CR batteries, not ones with any other prefix. The LR2016 is only 1.5V (it's just an alkaline battery) as opposed to the CR2016 at 3V, being a Lithium battery. You might find some doubled-up LR2016s that are 3V, but the discharge curve is very non-linear, unlike the CR2016 which will hold 3V right up until a few moments before it dies.

Ebay and online sellers are the worst for buying coin batteries. They might be cheap but they might also be 5 years old.

Consult Yoda….Help you he will !

possibly you keep the fob near the Vespa and they are communicating all the time and draining the battery just a theory I don't know if true. You could get a Faraday bag or box to keep the fob in and that would for sure break the connection between the 2 while sitting idle.

The radio receiver in the vehicle switches off after a certain time if it has not received a signal from the remote control for a longer period of time. Therefore, the button on the remote control must also be pressed for longer to activate the radio receiver. The difference in how long you have to press the button before, for example, the seat is opened, is clearly noticeable if you have not used the vehicle for a while compared to repeatedly pressing it after the last time you used the remote control.

This is often regarded as a fault, but it is intentional.
If this is the same for you, you can at least rule out the possibility that the radio receiver is permanently on (and would also drain the vehicle battery) because it is constantly receiving a signal from the remote control.

Unfortunately, this says nothing about whether the remote control has a defect that is draining the button cells…

I think someone touched on this up above, but be sure that reassembly of the fob is correct.

You might have something interfering with one of the little buttons on the inside, causing unwanted activation of the key fob function and running the battery down. I had that happen on another type of remote previously.

GermanGTSDriver thanks this makes total sense as it often takes longer to open the seat when I first use it, so I think we can safely assume the key and bike are not in constant communication.

The keys are kept at the back of the house, the scooter is out front, we have trouble receiving WiFi at the back of the house, with the hub at the front, so I'd be amazed if my scooter fob is superior to that 😆🤣

Also I'm still keeping the keys in the same place as they were when the battery lasted years, so the only change has been the change in batteries.

GTdespatchcourier yes very aware that batteries from eBay are unlikely to be of good quality. The ones I have been buying are brand names from a well known supermarket. I just bought those ones from eBay as it was the only place I could find the same brand as the one that comes with the original Vespa key (which GermanGTSDriver kindly confirmed) for £3 it is not an expensive test.

I've cleaned out the key fob, just in case there was something pressing, nothing obviously visible, but happy to test that out too.

Maybe there is something new near the place where you have been storing the key that is interfering with the fob. Maybe a new electrical appliance? Maybe something from a neighboring home? I suggest putting your fob in a faraday bag for a few months when not using the fob to see if that is the reason.

I buy batteries from Ebay. I make sure to read the description concerning the expiration date, and verify the batteries when they arrive. So far(years), no problems.