Pandora (1001, first batch) will not boot or charge, what should I do?

[jornthree]

Hello! I just got a pandora that was sold as parts not working. I mostly got it as a prop, as i've always wanted a pandora since I was a wee lad. That and it was pretty cheap (all things considered). But I at least want to try fixing it, as having a working pandora would be even better!

I have tried the usual, leaving it on charge, holding R bumper and/or Start while powering on. With those not working, I took the board out and inspected it for obvious damage like corrosion of missing/broken parts, and it looked fine. So I lightly brushed it with some isopropyl alcohol just in case there was anteing on the surface of the board I couldn't see, no dice. I checked thew voltage of the battery as well, and it was at a little over 3 volts. Definitely lower than it should be, but shouldn't be low enough for it to not even power the charging circuit...

As a last ditch effort, I tried loading the latest firmware on and sd card, and trying to boot into recovery again, but alas, luck was still not on my side.

So, where should I go from here? I feel the obvious next course of action is probing the board for continuity. Im hoping none of the chips have gone bad, but I have seen other posts where that has happened

Thank you for any replies, and I'm happy to finally be a proud owner of a pandora! (or, at least the lifeless husk of a pandora )

 

[elw3]

little over 3 volts

Charging this up takes days because the charging chip closes booth sides under the treshhold.

 

[jornthree]

Charging this up takes days because the charging chip closes booth sides under the treshhold.

Really? Wow, sure takes its time. Then I’ll go ahead and leave it on charge for the time being, just to see what happens, though I’ll still be open to any pre suggestions in the meantime

 

[TeDaDeS]

Do you see the charging LED power up when you plug-in the barrel-jack power source?

I assume you can measure voltages on the charging pins on the pandora, if there is no action there you can wait for ages for the battery to charge I assume.
You can measure from the power source to the battery, see if you spot any point where the power stops (like a broken resistor/capacitor).

 

[Eight Bit]

try if it boots without the battery inside (only place/replace when the unit is switched off and not plugged in)

If it boots without battery inserted it's the chargin chip like Elw3 said. that can take a while to trickle load back to functionality indeed

 

[jornthree]

Do you see the charging LED power up when you plug-in the barrel-jack power source?

I assume you can measure voltages on the charging pins on the pandora, if there is no action there you can wait for ages for the battery to charge I assume.
You can measure from the power source to the battery, see if you spot any point where the power stops (like a broken resistor/capacitor).

Nope, no lights at all

I haven't yet measured the voltages when charging, i'll go ahead and try that once I confirm it's not just the battery being dreadfully undercharged (I'm starting to wonder if it may be worth plugging the battery into an independent battery charger, but somethings telling me that would be a very bad idea)

Post automatically merged: Mar 11, 2024

try if it boots without the battery inside (only place/replace when the unit is switched off and not plugged in)

If it boots without battery inserted it's the chargin chip like Elw3 said. that can take a while to trickle load back to functionality indeed

It did not boot without the battery in it. Though I'm not going to put much worry into that, as I heard EvilDragon say that isn't really an intended feature, and doesn't work on some units. But worth noting all the same

 

[jornthree]

Do you see the charging LED power up when you plug-in the barrel-jack power source?

I assume you can measure voltages on the charging pins on the pandora, if there is no action there you can wait for ages for the battery to charge I assume.
You can measure from the power source to the battery, see if you spot any point where the power stops (like a broken resistor/capacitor).

Well, I just checked the battery, and it charged it up to 3.8v. I tried powering it it on again, and no dice once again. I checked the voltage on the battery terminals not he pandora itself, and its outputting a solid 4 volts. So at least power is seemingly going through.

 

[TrashyMG]

Not sure days, but yeah I've seen it take a long time to slowly charge to the point it could boot up and then properly dispay a red light to say it's charging.

One thing to try is to unplug the charger, remove the battery. leave the Pandora for 5 minutes, put back in the battery and plug in the charger... wait an hour or so.

Don't get in a situation where you have the Pandora on the charger and insert the battery bad stuff could happen.

Also another thing is to test your charger with a multimeter if it's outputting the right voltage and such.

 

[jornthree]

Not sure days, but yeah I've seen it take a long time to slowly charge to the point it could boot up and then properly dispay a red light to say it's charging.

One thing to try is to unplug the charger, remove the battery. leave the Pandora for 5 minutes, put back in the battery and plug in the charger... wait an hour or so.

Don't get in a situation where you have the Pandora on the charger and insert the battery bad stuff could happen.

Also another thing is to test your charger with a multimeter if it's outputting the right voltage and such.

Tried these, unfortunately no luck still. I did check my PSP power adapter, and it is outputting the full 5v. I put it on charge for 24 hours, with no real change in the situation, so while I had the board out to check continuity, I went ahead and tried cleaning the board again, and I'll see what happens

 

[b_o_b]

Don't get in a situation where you have the Pandora on the charger and insert the battery bad stuff could happen.

For one of my Pandora's this is the only way to get charging started after a battery is 'dry'. Sometimes plugging in USB + charger also helps. I think internally there is something wrong with this one (it also depletes charge faster than other Pandora's, even depletes when it is shut down).

Maybe I am terribly lucky I didn't fry it yet (have been doing it for years now), but after a few days charging without seeing a light.. I gave up the standard method and this at least gets it working *

* so this is not advise and I am not responsible if any Pandora is harmed by trying it. Just sharing my experience

 

[TrashyMG]

Tried these, unfortunately no luck still. I did check my PSP power adapter, and it is outputting the full 5v. I put it on charge for 24 hours, with no real change in the situation, so while I had the board out to check continuity, I went ahead and tried cleaning the board again, and I'll see what happens

I've also had one charger where the barrel didn't make good contact unless it was rotated at a certain position... I had the red light to go by, but this doesn't help your situation. Another possibility I've seen on other electronics is the solder connection of the Barrel connector will break overtime after repetitive use.

 

[jornthree]

I've also had one charger where the barrel didn't make good contact unless it was rotated at a certain position... I had the red light to go by, but this doesn't help your situation. Another possibility I've seen on other electronics is the solder connection of the Barrel connector will break overtime after repetitive use.

I checked that when I was inside the pandora. I took a look at the solder jopinmts, and they were good. I used a multimeter to make sure, and there was uninterrupted continuity. I also did an old fashion jiggling of the connector, and saw no evidence of dry solder.

 

[elw3]

I would probably straight going to put clamps on the battery pins and connect it to a lipo pack though a multimeter to see if any power flows if you hit the power button.

 

[jornthree]

I would probably straight going to put clamps on the battery pins and connect it to a lipo pack though a multimeter to see if any power flows if you hit the power button.

I may end up having to try this. Cause everything seems to be fine otherwise. Technology can be so difficult to diagnose sometimes!

 

[elw3]

Ye i was just poking in a pcb of a handheld with a makeshift stetohscope and found a missaligned part. Pcbs are better to hear than to see.

Sad to say this but my pandora pcb already lost a few parts which does not speak for the bestest quality.

 

[jornthree]

Well, after doing sever tests, I have decided to put this pandora on the back burner for now, at least until I get more time to mess around with it. It seems that there is something unrelated to power delivery, so that leaves the caps/resistors, or the chips. And, being honest, I don’t feel like tackling that right at this moment.

Thank you all so much for your help and suggestions. I’d probably still be poking it with a stick if it weren’t for you all, so thank you!

Until then, au revoir, and may there be many Pyras in your futures