MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - Diagnostic ideas

marf · 06-24-2012, 05:13 PM

Today I "fixed" my PB360+ battery. It isn't much of a fix, but it might help someone else with power issues. For those of you without a PB360+ or similar device, it charges using your computer's USB port.

The device had been complaining of low battery for some time, and eventually it wouldn't start without being plugged in. Recently it stopped running even when plugged into my USB port. It appeared just plain dead.

The diagnostic tests below are arranged in order of cheap and easy to somewhat harder.

First, I pulled the SDHC card. I've had other devices that refused to power up when the SDHC card had gone bad. In this case, it didn't help.

For USB charging, it's time to swap USB cables if you still haven't fixed the problem. Sometimes cables go bad. In my case, that was not the problem.

For USB charging, pick a different USB port. That was my problem. My USB port had died. Problem solved. I guess you could pick another computer for an additional level of testing if you wanted to.

In the case of the PB360+, the only power input is from USB, but for other devices this would be a good time to check that your wall wart (charger) is putting out something near the voltage your device needs. A simple VOM (Volt Ohm Meter) will perform this check. You might have to ask around among your electronic geek friends if you don't own such a meter. Cheap ones can usually be purchased for $10-20 (USD) or so, sometimes just a dollar or two on sale.

If you have another charger that produces the same voltage with similar current capabilities, you could swap chargers. This requires a very minor bit of electronics knowledge to determine but don't just pick a different wall wart at random. You don't want to let the magic smoke out.

There are a few other things you can try such as popping open the device case to check for obvious problems like loose connections, but since I haven't done that I'm not going to attempt to describe how it's done. Perhaps someone that has done it will join in. That information will tend to be model-specific.

Any other diagnostic ideas are welcome as well.

06-24-2012, 05:13 PM	#1
marf Enthusiast Posts: 30 Karma: 10 Join Date: May 2011 Device: PB701, PB360+	Diagnostic ideas - power issues Today I "fixed" my PB360+ battery. It isn't much of a fix, but it might help someone else with power issues. For those of you without a PB360+ or similar device, it charges using your computer's USB port. The device had been complaining of low battery for some time, and eventually it wouldn't start without being plugged in. Recently it stopped running even when plugged into my USB port. It appeared just plain dead. The diagnostic tests below are arranged in order of cheap and easy to somewhat harder. First, I pulled the SDHC card. I've had other devices that refused to power up when the SDHC card had gone bad. In this case, it didn't help. For USB charging, it's time to swap USB cables if you still haven't fixed the problem. Sometimes cables go bad. In my case, that was not the problem. For USB charging, pick a different USB port. That was my problem. My USB port had died. Problem solved. I guess you could pick another computer for an additional level of testing if you wanted to. In the case of the PB360+, the only power input is from USB, but for other devices this would be a good time to check that your wall wart (charger) is putting out something near the voltage your device needs. A simple VOM (Volt Ohm Meter) will perform this check. You might have to ask around among your electronic geek friends if you don't own such a meter. Cheap ones can usually be purchased for $10-20 (USD) or so, sometimes just a dollar or two on sale. If you have another charger that produces the same voltage with similar current capabilities, you could swap chargers. This requires a very minor bit of electronics knowledge to determine but don't just pick a different wall wart at random. You don't want to let the magic smoke out. There are a few other things you can try such as popping open the device case to check for obvious problems like loose connections, but since I haven't done that I'm not going to attempt to describe how it's done. Perhaps someone that has done it will join in. That information will tend to be model-specific. Any other diagnostic ideas are welcome as well.