Will the battery last a week out of the Pandora?

[Tam Toucan]

My Pandora has only ever charged from USB (sent emails but never got a reply) which means I mustn't let the battery run down to 0 (you can't charge a completely flat battery from USB). I'm going on holiday and so I'm wondering how long the battery will hold it's charge outside of a Pandora.


Also, why does the battery run down so quick if the Pandoria is off (i.e. shutdown)? It only lasts 2days.

 

[Sigurd]

Also, why does the battery run down so quick if the Pandoria is off (i.e. shutdown)? It only lasts 2days.

How do you shut it off? i find that when i put mine into sleep mode it will run dry fairly fast, but if you shut it down via:


Pandora -> Log out -> Shutdown it ill last a very long time

 

[craigix]

It will hold the charge outside the Pandora for about 1-2 years.

 

[ensoniq2k]

It will hold the charge outside the Pandora for about 1-2 years.

Are you sure? AFAIK the discharge-rate of a Li-Ion Battery is about 1% in three days

 

[Emnasut]

(...) (you can't charge a completely flat battery from USB). (...)

Are you sure? I once had a flat battery (moving the switch didn't do anything at all) and I plugged the Pandora into usb and after waiting for about half an hour or something it turned on and booted up (showed 0% battery). During that half hour it didn't do anything at all (no LEDs lighting up or anything) and then suddenly it sprung to life...

 

[craigix]

It will hold the charge outside the Pandora for about 1-2 years.

Are you sure? AFAIK the discharge-rate of a Li-Ion Battery is about 1% in three days

I know this to be true as the original batteries from 2 years ago are still at 40%.

 

[Sugar_Kane]

Did I read that some people put their batteries in the fridge/freezer for storage?

 

[Tam Toucan]

Also, why does the battery run down so quick if the Pandoria is off (i.e. shutdown)? It only lasts 2days.

How do you shut it off? i find that when i put mine into sleep mode it will run dry fairly fast, but if you shut it down via:


Pandora -> Log out -> Shutdown it ill last a very long time

By using Logout->Shutdown (that's what I meant by "i.e. shutdown").

Anyway I'm fine for a week with the battery out. Thanks guys.

 

[Michael Eriksson]

(...) (you can't charge a completely flat battery from USB). (...)

Are you sure? I once had a flat battery (moving the switch didn't do anything at all) and I plugged the Pandora into usb and after waiting for about half an hour or something it turned on and booted up (showed 0% battery). During that half hour it didn't do anything at all (no LEDs lighting up or anything) and then suddenly it sprung to life...

Which firmware version did you use?


Because I had the same issue with the latest HF6- Version when my original Power Supply broke thwo months ago.


I tried to cahrge the pandora over USB as well as over a Power Supply from my Digicam (which 'at least' gave 1.7A)


In both cases the Pandora directly started to boot until the GUI (XFCE) was loaded, then rebootet and did the same again.


Very frustrating because I could not interrupt the shutdown, but could see that the charge did not rise.


So, I saw myself force to buy a new Power Supp from an overpriced retail store because I was worrying there may be more broken than just the Supply.

 

[Emnasut]

^ I had HF5 when that happened. I never had any issues like that (shutting down and rebooting over and over again).

 

[craigix]

Did I read that some people put their batteries in the fridge/freezer for storage?

I don't know why they would need to, I know I can open up one of the original Pandora batteries and it will still be 40% after 2+ years.


They are top quality.

 

[Sugar_Kane]

I guess if you want to be ultra, super-special careful? Maybe if you put them in the fridge they'll last until the sun explodes!

 

[Tam Toucan]

(...) (you can't charge a completely flat battery from USB). (...)

Are you sure? I once had a flat battery (moving the switch didn't do anything at all) and I plugged the Pandora into usb and after waiting for about half an hour or something it turned on and booted up (showed 0% battery). During that half hour it didn't do anything at all (no LEDs lighting up or anything) and then suddenly it sprung to life...

Well I tried 16 hours and I got nothing. See http://boards.openpa...dpost__p__79252. This was on HF5. It's has to be completely flat. I had the same as you with my original battery (I bought 2, one was flat when it arrived).

 

[TrashyMG]

I was using my Pandora last night and realized I haven't charged it in 3 weeks.. And I have been using for short periods of time pretty much daily. It's a very impressive battery.

 

[Tor]

I was away from my Pandora for months. It was switched off, with the battery in. When I finally got back to my Pandora and switched it on to check on the battery it was still 3/4 full. No problems there, in other words. In fact I have only charged it twice since I received it.. once when I got it (end of January), and once recently.

 

[laserbeams]

Did I read that some people put their batteries in the fridge/freezer for storage?

I don't know why they would need to, I know I can open up one of the original Pandora batteries and it will still be 40% after 2+ years.


They are top quality.

They would need to because lithium ion batteries lose maximum capacity with time, heat, and charge level. For best storage life, they should be kept cold and at 40-50% charge level. Even new old stock lithium ion batteries will have a reduced capacity if they were never used but sat around for a few years. This is also why laptops are one of the worst places for Li-ion batteries - they're kept fully charged and warm all the time, which quickly decreases their usable lifespan.

 

[Prometheus]

Also, why does the battery run down so quick if the Pandoria is off (i.e. shutdown)? It only lasts 2days.

That's not normal. Due to things like lethal-nub-death, I'm on my fourth (and by the looks of it, final! ) unit, and not one of them has done that - a full or near-full battery should last at least a month if not a little bit more when shut down and not in use. I know that because I've tested it.

 

[ManlyStump]

There is seriously something wrong with your battery if it drains out in two days of SHUTDOWN! After seeing this thread earlier I dug out one of my spare batteries which I haven't touched in literally months, stuck it in and found myself with 94% left! You won't hear any complaints from me.

 

[diligentcircle]

Lithium-Ion Polymer batteries (the kind the pandora uses) are really good at holding a charge. There is no way it should drain that fast on its own.


I do wonder something, though: I know Lithium-Ion batteries will be left impossible to charge normally if they are allowed to discharge too much, but if some people here are claiming "flat" batteries (Jesus, why are you abusing your batteries so much?!), are they really "flat" (i.e. is this not an issue with Lithium-Ion Polymer batteries), or are they just at a really low charge that's still enough? I don't intend to abuse my battery that much, but I am curious.

 

[MarioPandio]

There is seriously something wrong with your battery if it drains out in two days of SHUTDOWN! After seeing this thread earlier I dug out one of my spare batteries which I haven't touched in literally months, stuck it in and found myself with 94% left! You won't hear any complaints from me.

Same result here, spare still at 95% after months in its box.