Wiim Ultra getting hot and power draw / stand-by

[slartibartfast]

I did not know. Thank you

Standby seems to have two stages. For the first few minutes tmp102 still reads a temperature but when the power drops from 5W to 3W it reads -998. I figured the tmp102 loses power when the amplifier stage turns off.

 

[Wiimer]

Standby seems to have two stages. For the first few minutes tmp102 still reads a temperature but when the power drops from 5W to 3W it reads -998. I figured the tmp102 loses power when the amplifier stage turns off.

I see.
Then it is a bit odd that Amp Ultra and Amp Pro always display temperatures

 

[slartibartfast]

I see.
Then it is a bit odd that Amp Ultra and Amp Pro always display temperatures

If you check the power consumption of the Ultra and the Pro do they appear to have two stages of standby? Maybe the power to the tmp102 is taken from a different place on the newer amps. Remember when the original Amp first came out the power consumption on standby was much higher.

 

[QuarryHunslet]

Strange that it isn't available for the Ultra. Isn't there a status page at all?

Yes, there is the usual type of status page, but no temperatures are given.

 

[QuarryHunslet]

Standby seems to have two stages. For the first few minutes tmp102 still reads a temperature but when the power drops from 5W to 3W it reads -998. I figured the tmp102 loses power when the amplifier stage turns off.

Yes, I noticed that behaviour earlier.

 

[miLckyW4Y]

Hi all,

Turns out the secret to stopping my WiiM from running warm in standby is simply teaching it some manners. Mine used to sit there glowing like a guilty toaster even when nothing was playing, because it was constantly whispering sweet nothings not only to the mothership but to every random server it could sniff across the internet, like an excitable dog licking strangers at a bus stop. So I put it on a strict diet, tightened its DNS leash, and now the little fella finally understands what standby actually means. These days it stays cool, quiet and obedient, only waking up to stream Spotify instead of trying to chat up half the cloud. And yes, once in a while I let it out of its cage for a quick OTA firmware update, then it goes straight back in, calm, refreshed and blissfully silent.

 

[HansD-NL]

In Europe, the energy used by devices in standby mode is regulated by the Ecodesign Regulation. They must not consume more than 0.5 Watts in standby or in off mode, or 1 Watt if they are on standby while displaying their status or information. There is a separate category for devices that maintain a network connection, like routers. Limits vary by product type but are generally between 2 and 8 watts for 2025, with future, tighter regulations in the works.
Those are the current EU rules. I'm not trying to point fingers at WiiM or any of their products but interesting information non the less I think.

Because I want to keep my yearly energy use as low as possible, and monitor usage on some devices (fridge for instance) I use some smart plugs, also on my audio stuff to easily tame their standby use and switch on/off when I'm home or away.

 

[Aquaman]

My Ultra draws about 6watts in standby (screen off). My Bluesound boxes are the same. This is too much, especially when you have a few around the house. Plus SAT antenna (23watts), two routers/access points (12watts each) and twi TVs with 10watts each. That adds up to about 90watts constant base load. For nothing. Excpect for the router and access point I switch them all off when not in use.

 

[HansD-NL]

Hope you guys don't mind a short story about this topic.
My father had a B&O Beocenter model 8000 for at least 15 years and it's surroundings always felt warm. After I measured the power draw one day we now know why. It was using a constant 18 watts of power while in standby! So excluding the times it was actually in use and playing music the thing wasted 160KWh of energy a year, more then my small fridge does in a year and that amounts to a waste of 2365KWh in 15 years!

 

[HakanC]

My father had a B&O Beocenter model 8000 for at least 15 years and it's surroundings always felt warm. After I measured the power draw one day we now know why. It was using a constant 18 watts of power while in standby!

My old surroundreceiver, a Pioneer VSX-1131 (if I remenber correctly). had a standby power draw of ~48W! It took me a few years to find out and it is now sold.

 

[HansD-NL]

My old surroundreceiver, a Pioneer VSX-1131 (if I remenber correctly). had a standby power draw of ~48W! It took me a few years to find out and it is now sold.

That is a lot! I remember a NAD C355 (or maybe it was a C352) that in idle state (switched on) it was somewhere around 35 watts, so that is normal but it left it's power amp section in a low power state all the time in standby and was using almost 20 watt. Bad design just as the B&O I mentioned earlier. My (much) newer C326BEE does not do that and uses less than 0,5 watt standby. I switch the whole chain of audio stuff (including the WiiM) off using a smart plug nowadays.

 

[HakanC]

That is a lot!

Especially since it was specified to be max 15W
But since I posted #30 above I have found a Reddit thread posting that it happend when Zone 2 was activated
Reddit: Pioneer VSX-1131 standby power 50 watts..how do I lower this?

I switch the whole chain of audio stuff (including the WiiM) off using a smart plug nowadays.

Same here

 

[Aquaman]

That is a lot! I remember a NAD C355 (or maybe it was a C352) that in idle state (switched on) it was somewhere around 35 watts, so that is normal but it left it's power amp section in a low power state all the time in standby and was using almost 20 watt. Bad design just as the B&O I mentioned earlier. My (much) newer C326BEE does not do that and uses less than 0,5 watt standby. I switch the whole chain of audio stuff (including the WiiM) off using a smart plug nowadays.

I hope your smart switch doesn‘t degrade the audio quality.

Having said that, are there any ‚audiophile‘ smart switches?

 

[Aquaman]

Speaking of such gadgets, I much prefer the old style remote control (433 MHz) switches for most applications. I have the remotes wall mounted. No need to use a mobile of have wifi available.

 

[HansD-NL]

I hope your smart switch doesn‘t degrade the audio quality.

Having said that, are there any ‚audiophile‘ smart switches?

Well I don't know about the audio but the fridge now has more air, more separation and a lot more detail and my girlfriend yelled out "What have you done to the fridge, it is so good now!?"