D3 Key Fob - any way to charge out of the car?

[Marmoset]

I've replaced the batteries in both keys over the last few months, along with new cases, and my wife has managed to run down the charge in her key in a few months (Plenty of locking/unlocking per Km driven!) mine's usually fine as I only tend to drive at the wekeend and then for a lot longer than my other half.

Does anyone know if we can charge the car key up on a wireless induction type charger to boost the battery when it's not in the car?

I know it's the battery as it recovered enough to turn on the lights remotely but couldn't turn them off afterwards or on for a second time.

[jonesfam]

As far as I know & per the Handbook, only the car itself charges the keys.
I was told to make sure & change the main key used every 6 months or so so they both get a good charge.
I would think if 1 key is only getting used for short trips it may not get charged properly, take it for a good Sunday Drive with the less charged key.
Jonesfam

[bbyer]

I understand that if you tape the dead fob to a good one and then drive around with the good one, power will field itself into the dead one as well.

An elastic band will work to hold the two fobs together and the dead one does not have to be in a key hole, just near the one that is in the key hole and getting a normal charge.

I have never actually done this as every couple of months I switch key fobs but I gather the procedure works.

[Marmoset]

Wil try the two keys togather when we next do a long trip. Someone over on Disco 3 also suggested that quality (or lack thereof) of the soldering may be leading to increased resistance and a lack of charging - it was the case on one of his keys. A re-solder solved it, so will also try that.

[bbyer]

If the battery is weak just because of lack of use, then tieing the dead to the living procedure may just work.

If on the other hand, the dead fob has been in pretty much daily use, then yes, the problem is most likely a defective soldering of one or both of the battery tabs to the printed circuit board.

Apparently there are a lot of keys out there with less than perfect soldering of the battery tabs. Battery replacement, while it appears initially to resolve a key fob problem does not, as the real problem eventually proves to be the soldering.

To make matters more of a challenge, some days there is sufficient contact at the defective joint that the battery will charge and operate the various push button functions, other days, not.

[Marmoset]

A quick go over with the soldering iron this afternoon has solved the problem, strange how it worked for several months like that though, being dropped a few times didn't seem to have loosened the battery. All good now :)

[bbyer]

That is good news, re-soldering the tab(s) and the fob now works. The battery itself is supposed to be good for at least ten years, and I suppose actually longer if kept in use so it is good to hear that the fix worked.

I presume it was just one of the tabs that looked bad and the other seemed OK?

I assume the hard part was prying the case apart?

Thanks for the update - it is nice to hear of success.

[Fatso]

Was told by an old rangie guy two swap the keys over every 2 weeks , seems to work 4 me . :) .

[Marmoset]

One tab did look untidy compared to the other. Getting the case apart was the hardest part - my enthusiasm with the superglue when putting it together last time was evident!