Strange battery behavior

[Cobalt]

When my Pandora arrived, the battery was completely drained. After it was fully charged, the OS reported that the battery was at -110%. I reseated the battery and it charged to 100% properly. But it discharges at a pretty high rate when the Pandora is totally off. After a day and a half while shut down, the battery drained to 15%.


Is this normal behavior? Just wondering.

 

[Nintendo]

Please have a read of what's in the link below.

 

[Cobalt]

Please have a read of what's in the link below.

Thanks, that was very informative. I'll try removing and replacing the battery a few times to see how the readings work out.

 

[Nintendo]

You're welcome brah~

 

[Cobalt]

I've determined that the unit won't power on when plugged in, and when the battery is not installed. With the battery installed, the unit will turn on and charge the battery. However, the battery continues to drain at a fast rate when the unit is powered off/shut down.


That doesn't sound like it's normal, especially that it won't turn on when plugged in and the battery is left out. Any confirmation?

 

[WizardStan]

That doesn't sound like it's normal, especially that it won't turn on when plugged in and the battery is left out. Any confirmation?

That was an experimental feature of the chip. MWeston didn't want to advertise it because they don't have any confirmation on how well it is supposed to work. There are probably some people that are not going to be able to do it, unfortunately.

 

[Cobalt]

That doesn't sound like it's normal, especially that it won't turn on when plugged in and the battery is left out. Any confirmation?

That was an experimental feature of the chip. MWeston didn't want to advertise it because they don't have any confirmation on how well it is supposed to work. There are probably some people that are not going to be able to do it, unfortunately.

Thanks WizardStan.


The unit can't be turned on at all when the battery is left out and the unit is plugged in, even manually. I suspect that it's related to why the battery drains so quickly when the unit is off, although I'm just speculating. Is there some way I can confirm that this is an alternate powering set-up and give feedback to the OP team?


In the meantime, I've left out the battery when the unit is not in use until I can get some confirmation that either the unit is broken or that it is fixable by a firmware update.

 

[WizardStan]

The unit can't be turned on at all when the battery is left out and the unit is plugged in, even manually. I suspect that it's related to why the battery drains so quickly when the unit is off, although I'm just speculating. Is there some way I can confirm that this is an alternate powering set-up and give feedback to the OP team?

I don't think so. There's nothing give feedback on. It's an experimental feature of the charge chip. Either it works or it doesn't. MWeston wasn't sure it would work when he designed the circuit because of the features experimental nature, but he added it anyway just in case it did. For some people it does, for others it won't. It shouldn't have any effect on the battery if it doesn't work.

 

[Cobalt]

I don't think so. There's nothing give feedback on. It's an experimental feature of the charge chip. Either it works or it doesn't. MWeston wasn't sure it would work when he designed the circuit because of the features experimental nature, but he added it anyway just in case it did. For some people it does, for others it won't. It shouldn't have any effect on the battery if it doesn't work.

I see, so it's really just an alternate circuitry which doesn't allow the user to turn on the Pandora without the battery, and doesn't force the unit to power up just from being plugged in, although the unit still needs to turn on in order to charge a battery if it's there. I'm not quite sure how that adds anything, but I don't really know how these things work.


Maybe I just have an old battery then. I might just buy a replacement battery to see how it goes.

 

[WizardStan]

No, there's no circuitry that prevents the Pandora from being turned on without a battery. The only thing that prevents the Pandora from being turned on is a lack of power, which not having a battery would do.


The experimental part of the charge circuit is being able to supply power without a battery. Most people can, but some people can not.

 

[Cobalt]

No, there's no circuitry that prevents the Pandora from being turned on without a battery. The only thing that prevents the Pandora from being turned on is a lack of power, which not having a battery would do.


The experimental part of the charge circuit is being able to supply power without a battery. Most people can, but some people can not.

Oh, that makes a lot more sense. Thanks for clarifying that.

 

[Nintendo]

I'm lucky that mine works fine without the battery inside.