Pandora Won't Boot or Charge, Battery is Good


M

mikesheley

Member
Joined
Oct 5, 2011
Messages
114
Hey guys,

I took my Pandora out after a few weeks of not using it (which is not that unusual for me) and I couldn't turn it on. When I got home I dropped it on the charger but no lights came on. I got out my voltmeter and the battery is pushing out 3.8V so looks good. Just to be safe I swapped it out for my other battery which is also pushing 3.8V but also failed to start up my Pandora when I tried to turn it on.

Any ideas? I've tried both my AC charger and a mini-USB and neither will produce a charge, but from my voltmeter readings it looks like both batteries are good.

Super disappointed since Pyra is still several months away. :(
 
So just to be clear, I cannot power it on, and no lights come on when I try to charge it.
 
It's been so long since I had a pandora. But I think it's an easy fix. Have you tried charging via the usb port connected to a computer etc?
Also, leave the battery out for ten minutes then reinsert it and power on. Also check if the power switch is working properly, it might need a little more application of force, on some old pandoras the button does not travel fully. Thats all i can remember right now.
 
If the battery is fully discharged it can take a while before it has enough of a charge to boot, so you won't see LEDs or anything until the battery is capable of powering on. I would try what Wrath of Kahn says.
 
I did try the USB port for charging... Left it in for an hour or so, with both of my batteries--no dice. I also tried leaving the battery out for a bit before putting it back in and still cannot power on. I don't get any LEDs at all on battery, AC/power, or when connected via USB with either of my 2 batteries. :(
 
Hmm, when my Pandora wouldn't turn on or charge its battery, I eventually figured out what the problem was with the help of my bench power supply, which helped me to discover I'd shorted the power rails while attempting to fit a new LCD cable. If you've not taken your Pandora apart to try to repair it in any way, it can't be anything like that, but still it might be a blown component in the power supply circuitry.

If you feel confident enough to take the bottom of the unit off (those screws can be a bugger), then you could inspect the board, particularly around the 'do not touch while live' label and see if anything looks obviously broken (although it may be hard to spot in a low voltage device - mains power supplies are much easier to debug this way).

But I'd really recommend that you send it back to ED via an RMA, without the battery in it. I expect you to foul up those screws getting in (I did) and I don't expect you'll see very much on the board without specialised equipment.
 
Ah, take out the battery. Charge the pandora with the charging plug. Some pandoras can run without the battery when plugged in to a socket. This may tell you if its a battery problem or not. Also check that the battery is correctly connecting with the connectors in the battery compartment. Sometimes the battery can move around in the compartment. a piece of paper wedged in there might seat the battery properly.
 
It's a first batch Pandora and I wasn't lucky enough to get one that runs on AC/power... I guess it may be RMA time but with how cheap Pandoras are would it be cheaper to just get a new one instead of ship it back and forth both ways and pay for repairs? I'm in Colorado.
 
mikesheley said:
It's a first batch Pandora and I wasn't lucky enough to get one that runs on AC/power... I guess it may be RMA time but with how cheap Pandoras are would it be cheaper to just get a new one instead of ship it back and forth both ways and pay for repairs? I'm in Colorado.
Click to expand...
Yeah, might be cheaper to get a secondhand one. Could be just a dead battery but how can you tell? Test the battery perhaps.
 
I have 2 batteries and tested both with my volt meter and the voltage looks good (3.8V). I really don't think it's the battery.
 
have you tried a different charger would try a psp charger if you can get your hands on one and let it charge awail
 
Sounds like a dead duck. I think we have exhausted all avenues.

Where the Dragon doth toil.​

Though the Pandora waning, shuffles off it's mortal coil
Have heart for Pyra looms large across the face of this mortal soil...
Where Evildragon doth toil... in mystery...
In sweat, In blood, tears,
He will conquer all the Linux users fears.
 
When this happens to me, as it frequently does after weeks of no usage, I have to leave mine plugged in with a psp charger for an hour or so with no lights before I get anything. However, this is on my 1ghz model. I recall having to do this with my Rebirth model but that's been in a friends possession for some time now.
 
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