Possible fault with Pandora 1GHZ. please help


A

aholmes

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Joined
Jun 17, 2012
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143
Hi guys.
I recently purchased a 1ghz pandora off ebay from a person from spain. Ive just recieved the unit and its not working as it should. The pandora was on when i open the box and flipped up the screen i.e. LED lights were on.
I then quickly tested the nubs and buttons to make sure they were fully working before powering it off.
Now i cant power it back on. No LED lights come on. Ive tried re-seating the battery, tried charging it but get no LED charging lights. It seems like there is no life in the unit.
Ive owned previous pandoras in the past but never had any problems like this before. Does anyone know whether Ed still repairs units. I will be gutted to have to send it back to spain for a refund.

Any ideas???
 
Maybe the battery discharged too much if it was on while traveling. Try to leave it plugged for at least a few hours - if the battery voltage is very low it will not turn on, but the charger will be in a special mode called pre-charge where it's slowly charging without showing any signs of life (all LEDs off and everything). You can also try the unit without a battery and only with charger connected, some units can work this way.
 
Thanks for your replies. I've tried every possible thing but I'm sure it's something to do with battery or the pcb. I've left it on charge and see what happens but I'm not keeping my hopes up. I hope I get my money back
 
One note: Use the DC port to charge! The MiniUSB doesn't work if it's fully discharged.

Sent from my XT1650-03 using Tapatalk
 
well, looks like the seller ain't gonna give me my money back. I feel like i've been scammed. I'm £300 pounds out of pocket and left with a pandora that wont power up. I'm not happy at all.
 
ive just ordered a new battery from the dragonbox shop and see if that resolves the problem. If not, I'm sure you'll see it up for grabs for spare or repairs shortly on the boards.
 
Tried everything and it frustrates me not seeing it power up. I've only charged it for a few hours but not as long as 5 or 6 hours. I'm leaving it to charge all night and will check in the morning. I've checked and doubled checked to ensure the pins are touching the battery when inserted.
 
If you're confident with electronics test equipment (or know someone who is), I think there are direct power-supply pads on the edges of the mainboard you could connect to (carefully!)

You could also try cleaning the battery contacts (perhaps with isopropanol and/or/ a very fine abrasive?).

If you've got a multimeter, it might also be worth checking the battery voltage.
Roughly speaking, 4.2V is full, 3.6V is ok, 3.0V is discharged, and anything below that is a problem.
 
Still no life in the pandora after charging the batteries overnight. I think I have may have a bricked up pcb or something.
Any chance i could send this for repair to ed.
I've found the rma form to download.
 
Do you have a multitester? Assuming no malice:

1. Remove the battery for a long period, like 30 minutes, then insert it back in. Hopefully some bits flip back to factory defaults.
2. Test the battery contacts with the multitester. (like @Binky suggested)
3. Some Pandoras work without the battery. Remove all power. Then plug it only to the charger.
4. Cables break, does the charger have current? (mine broke during transport, and only by bending it slightly, I get power out of it.)
5. Boot with right R1 pressed (the button on the backside, where your index fingers are when holding the Pandora)
6. Hard reboot. Press the Pandora key (lowest key between the nubs), keep it pressed. Flick the power switch. Repeat a few times.
7. Cable to the screen broke (and thus it boots, but no display). Cables will be soon back in the Dragonshop.
8. Somehow, the coil got loose (https://pyra-handheld.com/boards/threads/mainboard-repairs.74327/#post-1303391) during transit, when it was still on.
 
Last edited:
Yeah, the LCD connector on my Pandora I broke due to fiddling inserting replacement LCD cables, so I took it off entirely. The LEDs all work still, so as long as it's on and not precharging, you'll see the power LED, the charge LED as appropriate and the SD card LEDs flicker briefly during boot as it scans them for PNDs (if it's got an SD card in it). The bluetooth and the wifi leds would light to if I still used those.
 
Hello community,

Sorry for reviving a the thread after 10 days, but there are a couple of things that concern me.

1st @Eight Bit when you said:
Eight Bit said:
To add to this, do not insert the battery while the Pandora is on an external DC power supply
Click to expand...
Do you know of anything that may break on the Pandora because of it?
I say it becuause that's the way I managed to revive mine. I connected it directly without the battery, then inserted the battery for recharging.
I have also recharged it using a "Y" USB cable from 2 USB A to the micro B on the Pandora, for more power.

2nd to @FBnil when you said:
FBnil said:
Cables will be soon back in the Dragonshop.
Click to expand...
Do you know this for sure?
Will they be orderable?
I'm having issues again. :(

Regards.
 
IIRC it was someone invovled in the hardware design that speculated that the battery charge controller might get confused if a battery appeared under it after it was already powered on, but I personally have never come across anyone actually reporting such a problem. It would at worst cause something in the charge circuit to go pop, or to blow up the battery I'd have though, so if it's all still working, I'd say you've got away with it. It's possible taken a few charge cycles off the lifespan of your battery instead, but given mine's looking like it might outlast me, that's probably not a major concern.
 
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