Battery Not Charging

[naples39]

Seems that my pandora battery won't charge. I'd expect when you plug it in you get a charging light like on DS? Light or not, I can plug the pandora into the wall for a while, come back, and the battery will have less juice than where I left it.

Am I missing something? The unit will turn on, so I don't think the battery is bad. Maybe a bad charger? Or a bad World->USA plug converter (included with Pandora).?

 

[WizardStan]

try plugging it in to your computer's USB port, see if you can charge that way. As I understand, there should be a light when charging.

 

[Sarlix]

Yup, a red light should come on to show it's charging. If your using the plug adapter thing make sure you plugged it in the right way. And try what wizardstan suggests, plug it into your PC's USB port.

 

[paddy]

If you have a psp charger use that one to test it ,just make sure it is a real official psp charger tho ,yep try what WizardStan said ,try out the usb.

Also ,take the battery out and just run it through the charger and if it powers on ok ,move the charger cable about a little to see if there are any breaks in the line.


If your charger is working try this ... kill your battery ,run it dry first and then remove it and power on the pandora with just the charger ,boot it up and turn it on to standby ,then when the screen os off ,remove the charger cable.Then put your drained battery back in to the pandora ,make sure it's nice and tight fitted with the lid on and plug your charger back in ,boot up and then go back into standby ,do something for one hour and then come back and do this ......

take the pandora out of standby then hold the pandora key down ,turn the power switch on the pandora to the right direction as if you are turning it on/off ,the pandora will reboot and reset the battery info and boot up ,then check your battery level ,if it's at zero then you have a failing battery,if the charge is under 10% you have a failing battery if it's over 15% you have a battery that needs to be charged properly and you should then let it charge for upto 4 hours.

 

[verm71]

That's an interesting procedure Paddy. What level of power-down does Standby mode achieve? I though we weren't getting a true standby mode until all device drivers supported it. And the "standby" mode we have now is just lowering the clock speed and turning off the screen and a few other things that can actually be turned off in software. Thus by disconnecting the power cable and removing the battery, wouldn't that be powering off the Pandora completely, even if it's in standby mode?

 

[naples39]

Thanks for the responses.

I left my unit plugged in all night just to confirm, and it didn't charge the battery at all. It also won't power on without the battery out, even when plugged in.

I also tried USB this morning and no luck there either. Won't charge or run off USB power with battery removed. Are you guys sure the Pandora is supposed to be able to run/charge off USB? The answer to that question might dictate if it's a bad PSU/plug converter or something wrong with the unit itself.

May be time to get in touch with OP team.

 

[mali]

^ Try using a wall charger with USB connector, if you aren't already. Charging via USB needs quite some power some ports might not be able to provide so they shut themselves off.

 

[naples39]

^ Try using a wall charger with USB connector, if you aren't already. Charging via USB needs quite some power some ports might not be able to provide so they shut themselves off.

I don't have a wall charger with a USB connector, and I'd rather not find one just to run a test that may or may not indicate anything.

Can anyone with a Pandora confirm if you can charge via a standard USB cable?

 

[EvilDragon]

Well, we tested all the units using an AC Adaptor before they were assembled, so that seems right.
Seems like a broken PSU to me.
USB only works if there's enough power - PCs don't work always - you might need really try a wallcharger, an active hub or (even better) a PSP adaptor, if you have one.

 

[naples39]

Well, we tested all the units using an AC Adaptor before they were assembled, so that seems right.
Seems like a broken PSU to me.
USB only works if there's enough power - PCs don't work always - you might need really try a wallcharger, an active hub or (even better) a PSP adaptor, if you have one.

Hmm, I have no PSP. Maybe I can see if I can find a cheap and easy wallcharger or active hub, though if it's a bad PSU none of that will help.

What's the process for replacing a bad PSU?

 

[MrMarkWatson]

Yup, a red light should come on to show it's charging. If your using the plug adapter thing make sure you plugged it in the right way. And try what wizardstan suggests, plug it into your PC's USB port.

If you've got what i got - what I would call a continential sytle two round pronged plug, and an adapter to go into the UK wall socket, you actually plug in the two round plug into the wall socket adapter horizontally!!! Not vertically, which would be the obvious thing to do!

M

 

[craigix]

Yes, the EU power supply with adaptor goes in SIDEWAYS.

 

[MrMarkWatson]

Yes, the EU power supply with adaptor goes in SIDEWAYS.

Put a note to that effect in every box that ships to the UK!!!

But big kudos from one Teessider (now in Essex) to another for realising the vision!

 

[naples39]

I'm in the USA and I think I've tried to plug in the EU plug into the converter every way possible.

 

[Sarlix]

I'm in the USA and I think I've tried to plug in the EU plug into the converter every way possible.

But you shouldn't need a converter if your in the US... Or you were just pluggin it for fun?

 

[WizardStan]

But you shouldn't need a converter if your in the US... Or you were just pluggin it for fun?

The plugs have the European style prongs on them. A cheap adapter allows them to be plugged into North American outlets. Yes, this is ok, they are (or should be, assuming I haven't misunderstood again) smart adapters that accept all voltage levels, just the prongs need to change. Usually such smart adapters come with easily changeable prongs, but these ones apparently do not.

Naples, the one last thing I can suggest is if you have a multimeter use it to test the adapter and make sure the prong goes to the plug you think it does, and that it is completing the circuit as expected. If the prong adapter is no good, this is easily solved with a trip to the dollar store (at least it is mine, but I also live near an airport). Or if you you're feeling dangerous, an extension cord, soldering iron, and electrical tape.
Hopefully that's all it is and not a problem with the Pandora. If it's not charging or at least doing anything with USB I have some unfortunate suspicions though.
Maybe you know someone with a PSP you can borrow the charger from?

 

[Sarlix]

The plugs have the European style prongs on them. A cheap adapter allows them to be plugged into North American outlets.

Whats the difference between the EU and US prongs then? The US plugs i've seen look the same. Are the prongs thicker or something?

[quote name='WizardStan'just] the prongs need to change[/quote]

Right, the adapter I received is just your standard 3 prong UK type. I'm guessing the US guys got sent a different one anyway.

Just for clarity:

 

[WizardStan]

Whats the difference between the EU and US prongs then? The US plugs i've seen look the same. Are the prongs thicker or something?

The US uses type B vertical flat blade prongs, with an optional round grounding pin. The two blades are different sizes to discourage plugging things in the wrong way.
The EU plug on the power brick being sent appears to be a type C, which is two round prongs.
The prong adapter you've received appears to be the British type G, two horizontal flat blade prongs and a vertical ground prong. Not only are the prongs a different direction from the US prongs, they're also much thicker, and lack the "locking" holes that's on the ends of ours.

 

[mali]

Thanks for the pics, Sarlix
Btw, there is a tweaks thread pinned, now.
If you have useful 'insider-info' please post there to help later first-batchers to not run into the same problems, thanks

 

[Caine]

Haha, you guys need to travel more