Runner 3 battery drain issue

Andyb71

Hi, my Runner 3 has been fine for a few months, but about 3 weeks ago it started suffering from excess battery drain. I've been though all of the forums and help, to no avail, I've followed all the advice, turned off sleep, heart rate monitor, etc and it pretty much goes from full charge to nearly flat overnight, or from full charge in a morning to pretty much drained by the evening even when no activities have been tracked. I even followed the advice to do a factory reset and the battery still drains in a few hours. Interestingly when I go for a run with music on, it seems to last pretty much as long as when there is no music and no activity being monitored.

Is this an inherent fault, or do I have a dodgy watch or does anyone have any advice, it's pretty much useless to me at the moment

tfarabaugh

You seem to have done everything you can do, at this point I would suggest calling Customer Support to see what they can do as it may very well be a hardware issue. They are able to more deeply investigate and diagnose problems than we can here on the user forum. To get the number for Customer Support, go to tomtom.com/support, choose Contact at the bottom, select the service required and the product name and click Contact Customer Care and then Phone Us. It will give you the phone number for the country your account is registered under (this can be changed by clicking the flag icon in the bottom right corner of the screen).

I hope this helped answer your question. If so, please mark it as a solution so others can look for it if they have the same question.

Cookie22

Andyb71

sounds to be pretty much the same as the problem, I have, I've raised a support ticket with TomTom, but radio silence from them so far... quite frustrating

ItalyRunner73

Hi there,

I can confirm the same issue on my TomTom Spark Runner 2 (cardio).

Since last update, the battery started to drain faster after each charging cycle. Tried to do all the steps suggested on the forum (and more, I'm working in IT so quite familiar with resetting stuff etc.). Nothing to do, I was forced to send the watch to the Tom Tom support in Netherland (still there now, awaiting feedback). This is very upsetting as I'm preparing a Marathon right now and I'm forced to do it without my GPS watch (paid 199 Euro).

Two other 'running friends' of mines are experiencing similar problems after same update, so it seems to me that the software must have something to do with it.

Andyb71

Thanks - I also work in IT, so am pretty IT savvy, but this has me beaten. I've nothing enabled and all the watch is doing it telling the time and it still goes flat in a few hours. I'll give an update if TomTom ever respond to my support ticket

ItalyRunner73

FYI: I switched off all functions too (cardio, activity tracker, splits etc.), battery lasted around 40min running activity (only GPS).

Jürgen

Could it be that you are connecting to an iPhone that you have just upgraded to iOS 10.3.3?

Andyb71

I do have an iPhone running 10.3.3, but I only connect briefly to upload a run. I get the same discharge problem on days when i don't synch as well. Is there a known problem with 10.3.3 ?

I certainly did not notice any relationship between when I upgraded and when the problem started

Jürgen

Andyb71 wrote:

I do have an iPhone running 10.3.3, but I only connect briefly to upload a run. I get the same discharge problem on days when i don't synch as well. Is there a known problem with 10.3.3 ?

I certainly did not notice any relationship between when I upgraded and when the problem started

Hi Andyb71,
I have temporarily linked your account to beta. Can you please connect your watch to your computer and accept the update?

Thanks,
Jürgen

Andyb71

Hi - Unfortunately not, my support ticket was answered and I was asked to return my watch and charger back to TomTom

Jürgen

Andyb71 wrote:

Hi - Unfortunately not, my support ticket was answered and I was asked to return my watch and charger back to TomTom

Andyb71

If there is beta code, does it appear that there has been a problem with 10.3.3 (obviously I don;t want to get the same thing with the watch once it is replaced).

Has my account been moved off the beta as well please ?

If I do get the same with the replacement, I will be happy to help with any testing if something is known

Jürgen

Andyb71 wrote:

If there is beta code, does it appear that there has been a problem with 10.3.3 (obviously I don;t want to get the same thing with the watch once it is replaced).

Has my account been moved off the beta as well please ?

If I do get the same with the replacement, I will be happy to help with any testing if something is known

Yes, I linked your account back to the regular releases the moment you posted that you had sent your watch in for repair. The issue with 10.3.3 must be an edge case since I hadn't heard of it before. One of our engineers had come across you post and asked me to reply. By the time you receive your watch you will most likely be offered that newer build as a regular release. We announced that build at the IFA fair in Berlin yesterday.

brad6791

Had my watch for a solid year 2017. After update, watch drained in a few hours while not wearing. Did the resets, still had drain. Noticed watch drained when off wrist. lasted a few days on-wrist! Very uncomfortable while sleeping but had to check. Noticed while quick gps is ck'd batt bar barely moves while wearing. Took watch off, quick gps ck was replaced by little monitor and batt started draining. Any ideas...

Putthi

my Spark is running with 1.7.64.. time to time, the watch shows battery empty but after I plug it to charging cable, the watch is back to function again with good battery power. I suspect that the watch misjudge the battery power and display empty battery signage.

any solution for this so far?

MurraysMic

There is definitely an issue with with the software or the firmware.

if I plug my watch to charge overnight then it begins the charge cycle, the next day the software on pc says charging. You go to the watch itself and the full charge symbol is present.

You undock the watch and check the battery and you will see that rather than maintain the charge it appears to have reached full charge and then started to discharge the battery. You then reconnect and the watch begins to charge again.

there have been a few times where I’ve left the watch two days docked again giving the fully charged symbol to use it to find that there is not enough charge to begin a run.

010runner

Same problem over here, watch charged during a day. Then running goes 1:30 hours batteries are empty. Marathon training requires longer distances. Not useful is the watch registers up to to 15-17 Km when running 20 25 and 30 KM.
I have a Spark 3 with heart rate monitor.
I bought it for that purpose, track to see if i can run at a heart beat of 150-155 ..
Other people might have a natural feel for pace, i do not i depend on the watch.
Is there a way that would make the watch operate at least for 4 hours ?
Some advice that if i put the mode to cycling , the watch would work longer.
Is that correct ?

TMieles

I have been using the Spark 3 for more almost 2 years. Before this I used the Nike Sportswatch by TomTom. I have been using it to train regular runs of 10k, 21K , 30K and running full Marathons last year. The watch never let me down, I really enjoy it.
But suddenly 2 weeks ago, i went for a 18K and the watch stopped at 14k. I though I put it wrongly on the dock. This last weekend I had to do 21k . Again the battery drained and stopped at 14 K .
This is a real issue. If there is no software update soon to solve it I will change definetely to GARMIN.

010runner

is there any news on how to fix this particular problem as described in the last 2 post?
i read about a new update , but did not get an alert yet.
Quite annoying we are 4 weeks from the marathon and with the watch going no further than 19-20 km we are going to need 2 pairs.

TMieles

Last week I did a factory reset and run for 24k. Apparently it has worked since I did not experience the 14k battery drain. I could finish without problem. Next time I go for 30k and will check again

010runner

Many thanks for your update
i Will see what the support dept will
advice . In the meantime i put the
connection to the mobile Phone on disconnect
see if that helps

Imbujo

Hi, i've spark 3 with HR monitor, i've update to fw 1.7.64 with the hope to solve battery drain problem. With my old TT Runner 2 battery was great, i've bought TT Spark 3 about 8 month ago and after some fw update the battery goes down even attached to my pc-usb port.
I will update on the next days.

010runner

I have reset the watch
Will see on sunday if this helps
wkup

Wayne911

My Spark 3 has worked fine (except two straps perishing) for just over a year, now that it is out of warranty, the battery decides to do what everyone above has experienced. I'm lucky to get a day out of the battery, regardless of how I use it. Is it battery age or software problem? TomTom is there a software fix coming if its the later?

010runner

I now ran 40 km after o did the factory reset. That works the watch
kept on going.
guess that this is the solution.
somewere in the updates there is a
bug that designed the battery .
this means that i am not going to update these next 3 weeks
we the watch and i Will be partners
on the road for 42 km
best regards and good luck all