Charger Just Blew Up... Literally...


GuchaRU

Member
Joined
May 3, 2008
Messages
190
Location
US
I was charging pandora for about an hour and then suddenly charger goes KABOOM and... it's no longer working. Also it's smells like burnt plastic... :(

Also, I cant power up my pandora, actually how do you do it? I tried pressing that thing on the front side (in left corner) both ways, I tried pressing start and pandora buttons... nothing.

What do I do... is my pandora broken along with that damn charger?
 
hmm, well the pandora won't turn on if the battery is dead, a charger going kaboom? all depends on how loud the bang is, have you got any way to tell if the charger still works? (voltmeter would be good)
 
darfgarf said:
hmm, well the pandora won't turn on if the battery is dead, a charger going kaboom? all depends on how loud the bang is, have you got any way to tell if the charger still works? (voltmeter would be good)
It was saying something about 77% charged before it happened. But even before that, I tried unpluggin charger and still couldn't start pandopra. What do I need to press to start it up?
About bang, well... it wasnt very loud. Like a strong hand clap maybe. I will check it with voltmeter.
 
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sounds like the live and neutral on the plug shorted? nothing the pandoras end should do that

try taking out the battery, sitting it for 5 minutes, and putting it back in (carefully, it's actually possible to get the contacts aligned wrong)

turning it on is pushing the switch to the right, the springy direction

also i think some of the chargers can be put in either way round...us style, don't know if it matters or not, but i seem to remember someone said something about it
 
Just checked charger with tester, as far as I can tell it doesn't work. And the led isn't glowing.
Also something inside charger dangle, some little piece.
 
darfgarf said:
sounds like the live and neutral on the plug shorted? nothing the pandoras end should do that
I hope my pandora isn't affected by that thing... also maybe I should disassemble charger and look what the hell happened?

darfgarf said:
try taking out the battery, sitting it for 5 minutes, and putting it back in (carefully, it's actually possible to get the contacts aligned wrong)
turning it on is pushing the switch to the right, the springy direction
also i think some of the chargers can be put in either way round...us style, don't know if it matters or not, but i seem to remember someone said something about it
Doing it now. Hope it will help...

sebt3 said:
Get an official PSP charger and hope for the best for your pandora :(
Hm... psp? Are you sure it's compatible with pandora?
 
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hmm, bad charger than i guess, or terrible mains supply. as sebt3 said, psp charger, as they're the same

the panda will also charge off the mini usb port, just slower than the mains, should probably contact whoever your seller is to discuss the charger
 
darfgarf said:
hmm, bad charger than i guess, or terrible mains supply. as sebt3 said, psp charger, as they're the same

the panda will also charge off the mini usb port, just slower than the mains, should probably contact whoever your seller is to discuss the charger
I just plugger mini usb and connected to my computer. Nothing...
And I can't start it up by pressing that thing in left corner either...
Guess I have to return it :( ((((((((((((((((((((((
After 2,5 years of waiting...
and I have a plane in two days. I dont know what am I gonna do...

darfgarf said:
...or terrible mains supply....
You mean wall socket? I plugged it to UPS where my computer also connected. So I guess it's bad charger afterall.

Also, I dont really care about the charger, I can just buy new one (psp one). But I can't turn on pandora at all...
 
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GuchaRU said:
Just checked charger with tester, as far as I can tell it doesn't work. And the led isn't glowing.
Also something inside charger dangle, some little piece.

Sounds like something shorted out and blew apart inside the transformer there. As sebt3 said, a PSP charger will be just fine. Ive never used the included charger for my Pandora and haven't had an issue. If it still wont turn on.. I'd send it back describing what went on, and send the charger itself back with the Pandora so OPT can see what happened to it.
 
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~Levi~ said:
GuchaRU said:
Just checked charger with tester, as far as I can tell it doesn't work. And the led isn't glowing.
Also something inside charger dangle, some little piece.

Sounds like something shorted out and blew apart inside the transformer there. As sebt3 said, a PSP charger will be just fine. Ive never used the included charger for my Pandora and haven't had an issue. If it still wont turn on.. I'd send it back describing what went on, and send the charger itself back with the Pandora so OPT can see what happened to it.
I contacted openpandorasales, I hope they can answer before I will have to fly of the country in two days.
 
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Ah! I remembered something else! While I was charging pandora for the first time and it was about 70% charged I tried to disconnect charger and immediately after that pandora just turned off.
So I guess maybe there's nothing wrong with the pandora itself, maybe it wont turn on because of battery or battery connector inside pandora? But even so, why then it was still chaging? 70% -> 75% -> 77%...
Is there a way to check battery itself? Like with the voltmeter or something?
Maybe there's something I can do besides returning it...

upd:
checked battery with voltmeter. It shows that is has power. So... I guess it's something wrong with the pandora afterall :(
 
didnt use any random adapter to plug you pandora into russian socket did you?
 
Sounds like a broken charger which didn't properly charge the battery and now it's completely flat. Might also be the battery wasn't properly aligned, then exactly this happens (not blowing the charger, but not charging even though it shows it does).

If that happens, the Pandora will not give any signs of life until the battery is full enough to power it up again.

Try the following:
1. Properly insert the battery.
2. Connect a PSP charger.
3. Nothing will happen. Leave it like this for a while. Usually, after 10 minutes, the Pandora will power on (sometimes it takes an hour).
4. Charge it completely and you're done.
 
EvilDragon said:
Sounds like a broken charger which didn't properly charge the battery and now it's completely flat. Might also be the battery wasn't properly aligned, then exactly this happens (not blowing the charger, but not charging even though it shows it does).

If that happens, the Pandora will not give any signs of life until the battery is full enough to power it up again.

Try the following:
1. Properly insert the battery.
2. Connect a PSP charger.
3. Nothing will happen. Leave it like this for a while. Usually, after 10 minutes, the Pandora will power on (sometimes it takes an hour).
4. Charge it completely and you're done.
1. I tried inserting and reinserting it about 10 times already :( I'm sure I'm doing it right (and yes, I have read that quick start guide what was with pandora). And charger is dead, I can tell it for sure because I checked it with voltmeter.
2. Um, okay, i'm, going to buy one tomorrow (it's 19.23 so electronics stores are closed already).
3. When I plugged standard charger it powered on instantly and showed that it's 77% charged. But sure, I'll do that as you said.
4. Okay, I'll let is sit for a few hours.

Thank you for replying ED!


DaMummy said:
didnt use any random adapter to plug you pandora into russian socket did you?
What russian socket? what adapter? I said it was plugger into UPS where my computer also connected. Also fyi this UPS is not "made in russia" so you can't blame that :) And you think russians live in dugouts or something?!
 
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GuchaRU said:
1. I tried inserting and reinserting it about 10 times already :( I'm sure I'm doing it right (and yes, I have read that quick start guide what was with pandora). And charger is dead, I can tell it for sure because I checked it with voltmeter.

Well, you can do that 10 times, but how do you check it's actually properly in there?

2. Um, okay, i'm, going to buy one tomorrow (it's 19.23 so electronics stores are closed already).

MiniUSB doesn't always work, as most USB adaptors don't have too much power.

3. When I plugged standard charger it powered on instantly and showed that it's 77% charged. But sure, I'll do that as you said.

That doesn't say that the battery is properly aligned. It also happened to me a few times.
If the battery is not in properly, it starts up, charges up until 80%. Then I shutdown the unit, took it with me and after firing it up, battery was actually 7% full.

4. Okay, I'll let is sit for a few hours.

That's what should help. My guess is it takes 10 minutes :)
 
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EvilDragon said:
GuchaRU said:
1. I tried inserting and reinserting it about 10 times already :( I'm sure I'm doing it right (and yes, I have read that quick start guide what was with pandora). And charger is dead, I can tell it for sure because I checked it with voltmeter.
Well, you can do that 10 times, but how do you check it's actually properly in there?

2. MiniUSB doesn't always work, as most USB adaptors don't have too much power.

3. When I plugged standard charger it powered on instantly and showed that it's 77% charged. But sure, I'll do that as you said.
That doesn't say that the battery is properly aligned. It also happened to me a few times.
If the battery is not in properly, it starts up, charges up until 80%. Then I shutdown the unit, took it with me and after firing it up, battery was actually 7% full.

4. Okay, I'll let is sit for a few hours.
That's what should help. My guess is it takes 10 minutes :)

1. Umm... okay. Then, how should I check it?
2. I charged my digital camera that way, I think it provides full power.
3, 4. I see.
 
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GuchaRU said:
1. Umm... okay. Then, how should I check it?

No real way to check until you find out that the battery doesn't work as it should.
But if it's in properly, it will normally stay like that.

2. I charged my digital camera that way, I think it provides full power.

The camera was probably off. The Pandora cannot be charged while it's on. And I guess it needs more power than the camera.
If WiFi and / or backlight were on, it needs even more power :)
 
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Hi, ED, and everyone. I am long-time lurker here. First-day orderer (from GBAX) - ordered about 5 hours after the orders opened - (im)patiently waiting for my Pandora to arrive here in my mid-western USA town - got a shipping notice on 13 Jan, 2011 (yay!!!) - coming via airmail - hope it arrives today! :)

Anyway, I just wanted to jump in here to ask for a clarification. ED, in another post today on the "other" forum (see here), you said,

"The OMAP is handling the charging, so the unit has to be on to charge properly"

In this quote from above:

EvilDragon said:
The camera was probably off. The Pandora cannot be charged while it's on. And I guess it needs more power than the camera.

Did you mean to say, "The Pandora cannot be charged while it's off."?

I just want to be sure I understand whether the Pandora needs to be on or off to be charged.

Thanks to everyone at OPT and all of the devs, for making the Pandora "happen". Also thanks to the community members, especially Gruso and Foxblock for the PandoraPress site, and to Alec for the "stalker" - I have followed every twist and turn during our journey together. I am very much looking forward to getting my "Pandy", after all this time!

Pete
 
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Yesfan said:
Did you mean to say, "The Pandora cannot be charged while it's off."?
If you plug the charger in while the pandora is off, it will automagically turn on.
So yes, the pandora need to be on while charging. You can use low-power mode to make that a little bit faster.
 
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