Unless your brand new sensors have been sitting for years in some hot warehouse, and the battery is already almost gone? Is there some sort of insulation one pulls out on brand new sensors to keeps the battery from discharging while waiting to be placed in service?

 

Working for Discount Tire (can't say for other installers) we would fly through these things. You guys need to remember that TPMS is required by law on any vehicle after 2007. So at most a sensor might sit at the shop for 3 months. And they actually have Born On/Made On dates on the box it comes in because of this very reason.

Sensors are made to last 3-5 years depending on which part of the country you live in. Its HOT as hell here in TX so auto parts (batteries, Tires, Sensors, etc) tend to not last as long.

 

Our sensors are made by Schrader in Ireland, but they're building a new tire pressure sensor and TPMS component plant in Tennessee.

Our sensors have a design life of 10 years.

When the car sits still for more than 15 minutes the sensors go into a sleep mode where they only transmit once every 60 minutes in order to save the battery life.

When you start driving faster than 20 mph the sensors wake up and start transmitting once every minute.

There is no "insulation" - the sensors are transmitting once every hour from when they are manufactured until they are installed in a car and wake up when the car drives faster than 20 mph, then go to sleep again when the car sits still for more than 15 minutes.

Some owners have a sensor problem not too long after buying a new car, but most get up near the design life of 10 years out of them.

I've got a 2006 and the original sensors are working great. I've got a set of track wheels with sensors from about a 2005 C6 that are also working great.

Bob

 

Highlighted part of the statement is the same as the other person said. Break the bead and replace without removing the tire. Think it is hard to do on a run flat try it on a low profile race slick. The tire monkeys hate to see me coming with a sensor in one hand and a race tire in the other.

Bill

 

I've got also a 2006 with the original sensors. Although my car does not drive a lot, I find that the sensors are putting more and more time to work after an extended shutdown of the car. Recently, it took for one of them almost an hour. Is it not a sign that the batteries are dying?

 

The sensors should perform the same until they run out of battery, at which time, DIC would show up an error message. After all, these sensors are not analog, and they don't change behavior until they completely run out of juice or hit a low voltage threshold, triggering an error message.

It is made mandatory starting with 2008 model-year.
http://www.safercar.gov/Vehicle+Shop...es+Rating/TPMS

Most sensors actually have ~10 years life as far as I know. Perhaps one day we could get sensors made with a technology similar to Seiko's Kinetic line of watches, so the sensors could recharge using the rotational energy? That would be nice, but I admit, with 10 years of life we already get, rather unnecessary : )

 

OK, these sensors are not analog and they don't change behavior until they completely run out of juice but the power of the signal weakens when voltage decrease. It should probably come a time when receiving the signal degrades.
How else to explain the more and more time to work?

 

In this picture the battery appears to be installed without welding. What is it really?

 

I just try to remember that it's PFM, some things can not be explained.

 

question please chaps had my sensors programmed to car great all warnings went out the very next day half way on my 200km trip warning message came on , just carried to my destination ,next day got back in car to go to our track day with corvette club and walla no warning all day , next day heading back home warning on again ,it comes up xxx on one or other front tyre does that mean batteries are going flat or have i got other issues car is running nitto invos 19 fr 20 rears as you say i think the tyre guy will cry when i turn up,thanks for any info

 

I also had two of my front TPMS sensors go out a few weeks apart. I think these sensors can only withstand so much heat, so if you do attend track days all the time, that might be the reason. A very good cool-down after track sessions might substantially reduce the heat that will build up once you park the car. Obviously I'm talking about road-course sessions, and might be wrong.

 

cool idea, but my time is worth more than this. they last up to 6 years or more anyway. thanks just the same!!

 

Actually, the '90 C4 I had for almost 20 years had kinetic sensors like this. Although many of the other cars of this vintage had the sensors eventually fail, they worked till the day I sold her! Only problem is that you could not get replacements from GM and one had depend on a fleeting universe of used sensors if you needed a replacement. C6 will eventually suffer this fate too once GM start discontinuing parts?

 

[QUOTE=KENS80V;1577590947]Here's a few pictures of the C6 (European market) Corvette tire pressure sensors with the battery exposed. North American C6 Corvette sensors are identical although they transmit at a lower frequency.The battery is the same diameter as the C5 sensor battery but it's thinner. The model number is RENATA CR2450N. It is a 3volt Lithium battery. http://www.renata.com/pdf/3vlithium/DBCR2450N.04.pdf

The steps taken to replace the battery is documented here http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c5-t...-tutorial.html Watch the "You Tube" video to see if it's something you might want to try. The batteries are about $5 each.

The C6 battery has a rated output/capacity of 540mah while the C5 battery is 1000mah. Order the batteries with a "PC Mount" configuration. If they aren't available with the legs spot welded on (pc mount) then apparently some battery vendors can add the legs for you at their store.





[/QUOTE

This is a great idea.

Even though we're Corvette owners, we are all not made of money. $100 a wheel to replace a tire sensor is a little rough.

I have no idea as to the life span of the sensor itself and after ten
years of service, changing the entire unit instead of the battery, may be the best thing to do.

Has anyone who replaced just the batteries, had luck with the life of the sensors ?

The problem I see for those out to save a buck, is walking into a any shop, with your own parts.

 

I think this will be a fun project, just for the sake of doing it.

 

Missing the point,

In the photo to the right, the tabs you see is the tabs that where welded onto the battery to begin with, and the weld spots removed from the battery to save tabs.

As for the battery, mouser has the ones needed with the tabs that are welded on to the battery to start with, and you will solder these tabs to the old battery solder on tabs when the battery is replaced.








If you are staring with these batteries, then you will need to take them to somewhere like Battery plus to have the needed tabs spot welded on to them to begin with (hence will not be able to solder the tabs to the batteries, so will need new tabs on the battery spot welded to it, so you can solder the new tabs to the old battery tabs that you have saved)