@Alex Rogers
The issue of warping of AudioMoth battery holders has been going on for a long time, with several enquiries on the support forums but as yet no solution. I have the same issue with two ver 1.0.0 and two 1.1.0 AudioMoths. The older pair has now deteriorated to the extent that simply the vibration of driving to a survey dislodged the batteries in both detectors. Since my mobile phone and laptops are too old to run the Time apps I was unable to reset the clocks on the devices and, as I had programmed a night-time schedule, the survey had to be abandoned and two night's data lost.
Other models of detector use similar battery holders without exhibiting this issue - eg the Anabat Express uses a 4-cell Keystone Electronics holder and the Peersonic RPA3 a 3-cell COMF holder of identical design to the Keystone unit in the AudioMoth.
There would appear to be two possible explanations for the problem:
1) GroupGets is using counterfeit Keystone Electronics components of inferior quality.
2) The battery holder in the AudioMoth is being used in a manner for which it was not designed and so is not fit for purpose. This design of holder is intended to be fixed by two screws or rivets in the centre of each side of the holder, which would secure it flat against the circuit board or case of the instrument and prevent the bowing of the holder that we are experiencing. In contrast the holder is not securely fixed to the AudioMoth at all - held only by the solder pins and a single spot of hot-melt glue.
I would be grateful for comments from the team before I waste time and money replacing the holders only to find that the same problem rapidly occurs.
Thanks
David
Could temperature of the installations be a factor, especially inside a case and in direct sunlight? My battery enclosures (in Finland) are warped too, but not to a point of malfunction. Nowadays I try to set the devices up in shadow.