Any one had an issue with the car not charging your key fobs?

About a year ago the main fob I use started loosing range until it eventually died. The other fob was fine so used that while I cracked the dead one open and changed the battery. The fob now worked but didn't seem to charge up despite running in the car for hours and hours. It then got dusty in the cupboard.
About a month ago the 2nd fob started to die Two dead fobs

Drove it a couple of days ago but when I got out it locked easily. Parked it in Tesco's and it unlocked from about 10 cars away !! Seems the fob is now fully charged and has full range again Tonight I used the fob with the new battery that's not been used for a year and was virtually dead. Drove the car for 30mins and hey presto key fob works and has full range

I've tried searching freel2 and the web for faults with the dash dock and looked through the wiring diagrams but haven't come across anything. Can anybody shed some light on the fault or point me in the right place to look.
I had assumed a fuse had blown but now its working again it could be a loose connection somewhere

I read somewhere that the fobs only charge if they are the 'right way up' in the fob holder. Slim chance I know, but could this be why. can't think of any other reasons why it started charging. Past: FL2 TD4 HSE Auto
Evoque SD4 Dynamic Lux Auto
Present: Audi A3 S Line.

True they only charge buttons facing up.

Buttons facing up and always have been, I've not done anything differently or changed on anything on the car for the key fobs to all of a sudden start charging.

Given that they use an AC magnetic induction field to charge up I am surprised that which way up matters unless the battery inside is acting as a shield if used inverted. I have just changed the battery in one of mine as it wasn't charging.

Update.

Still having problems with both remotes but I don't think its the batteries or charging now.
After having a period were the key fobs seemed ok, they both totally stopped working. I was using the emergency door lock to lock and unlocked the car.
Over a period of two days I must have tried one remote 50 times with out docking the fob to no avail. On the third day it worked (cant remember if it locked or unlocked) so to me that proves the battery must be ok and have a good charge. All this was while on the drive without the car moving. Now I know remotes can be blocked but this happens no matter where the car is so I don't think its being blocked.

I'm now thinking its something to do with the receiver in the car or a software issue, any one had or heard of any issues with this?
Does anyone know where is the receiver located or any areas I should start fault finding?
Would it be worth buying a new receiver just to try?
Any pointers greatly appreciated.

I had a similar problem about a year ago on a 10 reg FL2. One of the keys was a bit dodgy and wouldn't very often open the car. It would however, start the car OK once in position as this is done via a passive link. I decided that it wasn't holding a charge so I took the fob apart and replaced the battery. It was a bit fiddly but not that difficult if you have a fine soldering iron. After that everything was fine so perhaps both of your key fob batteries are on the way out.

www.ebay.co.uk/itm/FREELANDER-2-KEY-FOB-BA...3cc68c213a

I've already replaced the battery in one of mine once in 6 years. Now that fob is playing up again. It can take 4-5 goes for it to open the door and longer for the second click to open the passenger side. It's quicker to use the dash button for that. Often, a second click doesn't unlock anything but drops all 4 windows. I already have a new dock @$900. I think the key fob idea is an expensive pain in the rear end.

Well one of mine lasted less than three years so I would go for the easiest option first and fit a new battery before doing anything else. A battery with low capacity can cause corrupt signals to be sent out giving the sort of random responses that you are getting.

I was going to replace the battery again but when you can press a button 50 times and get nothing yet on the 51st time it works, how can the battery be low on charge?

AFAIK the receiver is in the roof lining and can be had for £35-£40. Its not a lot of money so could be worth a punt.

Speaking as someone with a lot of experience of electronics I would say that if it works occasionally then either the key fob battery power level is low and the system is only just working or that the unlock button is dodgy (does the boot opening button have the same problem for instance). When I replaced my battery I found that the battery already installed was showing about 3 volts however when I installed a new one the voltage was about the same but the difference was that it didn't drop when the button was depressed (ie it's about internal resistance). If you have access to a laboratory power supply you could try feeding the (opened) key with about 3.5 volts and see if it works.

Incidentally have you measured the car battery voltage?

When the key fobs don't work then none of the buttons work.
I've not checked the main car battery but I haven't had any other faults or problems starting the car in the 4 years I've owned it. I can check it with a drop tester at work if need be.

I could easily make something up to power the key fob from the main car battery using a variable potentiometer.

The reason I don't think its the battery is because I've had a flat battery before and know how they act. Like they wont unlock the car but will lock (only once) after driving the car.

As an aside, if I open the door with the KEY, YES THAT'S CORRECT, THE KEY....the alarm goes off. Who else thinks that's wonderful? I feel a bit silly thinking that the KEY, YES THAT'S CORRECT, THE KEY, should open the door without setting off any alarms. Having the key only opening the passenger door is also AWESOME DESIGN. I don't know why they bothered putting the pedals on the right hand side...they could be on the left with the keylock and the bonnet release. Putting the hand brake between the rear seats could have saved some space up front too? It wouldn't be that inconvenient to get out and hop in the back to park. There would be opportunities to train passengers as part of driving crew needed to reach all the controls. I'm having a bit of a rant here... My car is seriously stupid in some ways. Some of it was designed on friday close to quitting time.

Further to my last post, I have had the car for 6 years and 192K kms. I've driven some of the toughest places possible in it and wondered at how well it has handled it all. The single biggest aggravating issue I have had is the damn keyfob and the slot it goes in. Normally you worry about the reliability of engines and gearboxes etc. I worry if I can get into the car. I worry if I can lock the car. I worry if the ignition will start the car. I praise the Lord whenever the keyfob and slot operate correctly. I haven't even glued my fob back together now so I have easy access to the guts of it. It's poxy rubbish and the ultimate in stupidity that a $3 battery can completely ruin a sophisticated piece of machinery.

I am not sure that changing the receiver will help as these keys use a rolling code system which ties in with the engine management system to immobilise the car. Basically every time you press the key button a different code is sent and compared with a list in the ECU (to stop someone "sniffing" the code - some early single code infra-red systems failed when it was found that a TV remote could learn the code and then open the car). Have you tried the "introduce a new key" procedure (might need a main dealer)?

Incidentally for what its worth we have two FL2s in the family. If you try to use the wrong key in the ignition it just spits it out. So the fact that this doesn't happen with yours tells us that the key is being recognised.