Classic Pandora Charging Issues...

[mysticmaus]

Good question indeed , how did Craig charge it...


Okay i see a line , but it is grey , not white or yellow.

 

[kaiserpc]

sorry I can't be anymore help - like you I just got mine (but from Ed) and as I say I have problems with the AC pin, but mini usb is charging fine for me.

mmm a grey line - what numbers have you got now %age and the 00:00 number under this?  You might have to get in contact with Craig

 

[mysticmaus]

No problem Kaiser , i appreciate your help very much!

It is now on 10 % and falling > 1:30 and also falling..

I already contacted Craig , still waiting for an answer.

 

[kaiserpc]

I would just take the battery out now - so it doesn't deplete any more) - and wait till you hear back from Craig (hopefully he gets back to you quite quickly ... although ...)

 

[mysticmaus]

Hmm okay , but i cannot use the pandora without my battery because it is faulty , i cannot use the AC adapter -__- , very frustrating

P.S , the pandora suddenly starts blinking red! , i hope this is a good sign!

 

[WizardStan]

Blinking red is a sign that it is below 10%.

At 5% it will do a shutdown to keep the battery from dropping too low.

I don't know what the problem here is. Plugging in the USB turns it on you said, correct? That means that when you plug it in it detects power. But then it just doesn't charge. There is some power but not enough? The charge chip itself is completely broken? I don't know. You've tried different cables, different power points... Turn it on, close the lid, and then plug the USB cable into that charger, that's the last thing I can think of. Maybe the screen is drawing too much power for it to detect right away.

edit: Also try removing the battery and plugging it in with either AC or USB (if you have an AC charger). I know Craig said it wouldn't work, but Craig says a lot of things he doesn't know anything about. You may be able to power it up without a battery even if the battery won't charge.

 

[mcobit]

Nope. Blinks red, when the batttery is below 10%.

 

[mysticmaus]

Ah.... , i was happy when it became red but it is still not a good sign ... -__-

Correct , the pandora turns on when i plug in the mini-USB cable connected to a Mac or PS3 or iPad Wallplug , all works fine , but it just won't charge...

I also put the LCD settings on the lowest brightness setting , has no effect i guess.

@Wizardstan , i will try that!

 

[mysticmaus]

@Wizardstan , it works! , when i use the AC Adapter without the battery it turns on , so i can use it endlessly with the AC Adapter ! , also very strange because Craig told me that the AC Adapter does not work with this unit :/

But about the charging , still nothing , also tried it with the AC Adapter , nothing / nada

 

[WizardStan]

It would seem that Craig was wrong. There's nothing wrong with the AC adapter, there's nothing wrong with the battery, the problem is the charge chip. Craig probably plugged it in, saw that it didn't charge, and just assumed it was an AC adapter problem. That was a mistake, I would bet dollars to doughnuts that he didn't actually test the USB charging. There is something preventing the charge circuit inside the Pandora from supplying power to the battery, regardless of whether it is plugged in by AC or USB. We can continue to try and debug it a little but I think the only thing you can do is send it back to him for repair or refund.

I'll continue thinking about it. If nothing else I can teach you how to build a crude battery charger with a USB cable. It wouldn't be safe to leave overnight like a properly charging Pandora would be, but it would at least prevent your battery from running out completely until we can figure this thing out.

One cautionary warning, do not put the battery back while it is already plugged in, it'll cause a power spike that can be dangerous to the Pandora. It shouldn't cause a problem, there's supposed to be enough tolerance that it shouldn't do any damage, but it's still a risk you shouldn't be taking. Always unplug it before putting the battery in.

 

[TrashyMG]

This may sound odd, but try charging with the AC and USB at the same time.. My rebirth unit sometimes need both. Not entirely sure why, I'd think if it's using the DC jack it would switch away from the USB charging, but I'm known to be wrong before.

 

[ingoreis]

Btw:Have you checked the OPP Level of your Pandora?
I recommend Setting 3 much lesser Energy consuming than OPP 5 .
Maybe your Pandora is set to OPP5?
That can be the important Hint

 

[mysticmaus]

Good idead but already checked it , it is on OPP3

@TrashyMG , did not work either

 

[Mr_Loon]

Have you updated your Pandora to the latest firmware? This probably won't help, but it won't do any harm to try before sending it off for an RMA. Can't really think of anything else that you've not done already.

If you do send it back to Craig for repair or refund then please let us know how you get on with that.

 

[mysticmaus]

Also good question , but yes i updated the pandora to the latest firmware SuperZaxxon 1.55

 

[EvilDragon]

Hm, I'll try to create you a testing card which might be able test the charging chip.

Have you tried Sysinfo yet?

It also shows the charging details.

 

[mysticmaus]

Thank you Evildragon! , and i wil try Sysinfo

 

[MrConfusion]

Try leaving it connected to usb for several hours and it might eventually start to charge.

This has been mentioned earlier too as a solution when the Pandora has a battery which is so empty it won't start at all anymore.

Please explain why this would work, because at the same time several people have already said in several threads that charging does not happen if the Pandora has not booted to the OS, which then controls the charging?

Or is that really: Battery always charges, no problem, but overcharging will happen, if the Pandora does not boot to the OS so that power gets cut off at the right moment?

 

[WizardStan]

Or is that really: Battery always charges, no problem, but overcharging will happen, if the Pandora does not boot to the OS so that power gets cut off at the right moment?

Pretty much this. The TWL can charge the battery without an OS controlling it, it's just very bad at it. It's fine when doing the pre-charge to get it up to a safe level, and even through 99% of the regular charge, but when it gets to the top it doesn't always stop the charging when it should. Smarter charge chips exist now, but even just 3 years ago they simply weren't designed for computing devices like cell phones and the Pandora where the current drain can fluctuate wildly.