Does this thing eat batteries even when powered off?

[Halgraf]

I've been using my Steam controller only occasionally. It has happened several times that after an extended break the controller will not power on until I've replaced the batteries. This is after a few weeks of inactivity, with less than an hour of play-time logged before having shut it off.

Any info on this? I'm about to return it for replacement.

[Got Kevlar™]

I've had the same batteries in mine since November and they are 98% charged still. And it sits more than 75% of the time.

Are you running the latest controller firmware ?

[cammelspit]

There is ALWAYS a stand by current on any device that remains powered in some form or has a software power switch like the SC. That having been said it drains so slowly I would be surprised if the standby time for the SC wasn't measured in decades. Game time is easily better than the advertised 80hours. Try doing this again with a fresh set of batteries and see. if it happens again its the controller if it doesnt you have a bad set of batteries that discharge too much. it happens.

[Tucu]

What type of batteries are you using? Normal NIMH will self discharge around 30% per month on their own. The self discharge increases with temperature and age of the batteries.

[cammelspit]

Originally posted by Tucu:

What type of batteries are you using? Normal NIMH will self discharge around 30% per month on their own. The self discharge increases with temperature and age of the batteries.

The self-discharge is 5–20% on the first day and stabilizes around 0.5–4% per day at room temperature. But at 45 °C it is approximately three times as high. Low self-discharge[edit] The low self-discharge nickel–metal hydride battery (LSD NiMH) has a significantly lower rate of self-discharge.
https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&es_th=1&ie=UTF-8#q=nimh%20self%20discharge%20rate&es_th=1

SO in reality it is typically much less than the 30% unless your batteries are bad, I have had bad ones die in a day or two tho so it's still a possibility. EDIT: It is almost always MUCH less than this in practice because modern batteries are MUCH better than they used to be. NiCad, 15–20%

EDIT2: You can slo keep them in the freezer, I used to and they would keep their full charge for nearly 6 months without having to leave them in the charger and trickle. This is unnecessary since you can always just charge them again anyways. :)

[Tucu]

Originally posted by cammelspit:

Originally posted by Tucu:

What type of batteries are you using? Normal NIMH will self discharge around 30% per month on their own. The self discharge increases with temperature and age of the batteries.

The self-discharge is 5–20% on the first day and stabilizes around 0.5–4% per day at room temperature. But at 45 °C it is approximately three times as high. Low self-discharge[edit] The low self-discharge nickel–metal hydride battery (LSD NiMH) has a significantly lower rate of self-discharge.
https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&es_th=1&ie=UTF-8#q=nimh%20self%20discharge%20rate&es_th=1

SO in reality it is typically much less than the 30% unless your batteries are bad, I have had bad ones die in a day or two tho so it's still a possibility. EDIT: It is almost always MUCH less than this in practice because modern batteries are MUCH better than they used to be. NiCad, 15–20%

EDIT2: You can slo keep them in the freezer, I used to and they would keep their full charge for nearly 6 months without having to leave them in the charger and trickle. This is unnecessary since you can always just charge them again anyways. :)

The self discharge of regular NIMH always felt faster than the stated percentages when I used them for torches. They would be flat in 4 or 6 weeks even with very occasional use. LSD NIMH don't have this problem.

[cammelspit]

Well, yeah. A flashlight is one of those directly connected super high drain devices without cut off circuitry and all that. As a safety measure, it's always a good idea to keep some primary cells (alkalines) on hand but NOT installed in you flashlights in case of emergency. I was born in California where earthquakes happened all the time. We always kept a fresh pack of alkaline batteries physically taped to our lights in the "safe" corner of the house where we would go when a quake happened. This was because alkalines have the tendency to leak if they are left installed for long periods. Rechargeable batteries shoudlnt be used in lights or toothbrushes and such cuz they wont cut off at 1.0V like most electronics and if they go below 0.8V they have a risk of being damaged.