Topic: So, why does Wiimote drain battery when off?

I've read about this on other forums, as it's just happened to me after a ~1.5 month break from my Wii. Does anyone know why (some? not all?) Wiimotes drain the battery when they're off? Do they drain faster if they're off? For some reason, when I play my Wii consistently for a couple weeks, the battery life is great. If I don't play my Wii for a month, I return to it and the batteries are dead.

I use re-chargeable batteries, so I'm not complaining too much, will just have to wait for them to charge. But I'm curious why this happens? I've only found a couple other threads on different sites about it and no one can figure out why Nintendo designed it this way... is it for all Wiimotes? Just the Motion Plus? Flip of a coin?

Any device that uses batteries will drain them even if the device is off. If the batteries are connected to the leads in the device, they (very slowly) will drain charge, even if not powered-up.

Also, rechargeable batteries are notorious for "leaking" their charge — meaning that they will lose charge over time whether they are connected to anything or not.

If you buy something like this then all your problems will be solved

http://www.amazon.com/Nyko-Wii-Charge-Station-Nintendo/dp/B00...

I think the_shpydar is pointing out the real issue: your rechargeable batteries. Old school NiMH rechargeables lose a lot of their charge within a month. According to Wikipedia, they lose 5-20% of their charge the first day, then 0.5-4% per day thereafter. You should try putting in a pair of conventional alkalines or one of those low self-discharge rechargeables like Eneloops. I've never had self-discharge problems with my wiimotes, neither with alkalines nor Eneloops.

interesting stuff, thank you

Buy yourself some Eneloops

envelopes?
who needs envelopes when you have email?

didn't think to ask til now - do the rechargable batteries leak if they're not connected to anything? I.e. just hanging around in a drawer or something?

http://www.amazon.com/eneloop-typical-Pre-Charged-Rechargeabl...

Low Self Discharge: Batteries maintain 75% charge after 3 years of non-use

@cheesesteak7 Yes, most do, a bit at least.

I do have one of those. It barely works anymore.
I guess the solution is to remove the batteries after playing.

Whoa! Those are indeed ugly.
Batteries lose their charge over time, any kind of batteries do. However, the Wiimotes need a low charge all the time, they are not actually off when you stop playing, they go in low-consumption standby mode. The Wiimote system needs to be "aware" of any button presses to start all other functions.

I know this is old but those are not ugly they look retro and cool like a nes controller 2.0/80s bmx. (I ride bmx)
I have this problem and I usually just take the batteries out after use, but OMC79 if this is the case why do you not get the same problem with xbox360 controllers??

Why are people talking about Wii Remotes?

_{Looks at date...}

So yeah, err... let's not revive old threads with off-topic comments.