Battery Will Not Charge

[ivanjt]

Originally Posted by archiegoodwin

I'm no expert, but I think zuzulous's problem is different than w1ksz. My PE stopped charging over a year ago, and after some fiddling, it became apparent that the problem was in the socket, not the battery. What I discovered was that the charger plug simply wouldn't maintain a connection properly. After playing around with it I discovered that if I propped up the Edge on its side and inserted the plug vertically (this is no joke) straight down, sometimes all the way, sometimes half-way, it charged OK.

This may sound like a dying PE, but I have been using this method to charge the Edge for over one year, and so far all is well.

archie

Yours sounds like a faulty socket - after some use these small sockets can have problems with the crimping together of their components so giving intermittent contact.

There is also the possibility that there may be a broken wire near the plug and by your manipulation you are forcing the wire to make contact. You can test this with a volt meter clipped to the plug. You then hold the plug still and wiggle the cable near it. If the is a break you will only get voltage readings in some positions.

[zuzulous]

Originally Posted by archiegoodwin

I'm no expert, but I think zuzulous's problem is different than w1ksz. My PE stopped charging over a year ago, and after some fiddling, it became apparent that the problem was in the socket, not the battery. What I discovered was that the charger plug simply wouldn't maintain a connection properly. After playing around with it I discovered that if I propped up the Edge on its side and inserted the plug vertically (this is no joke) straight down, sometimes all the way, sometimes half-way, it charged OK.

This may sound like a dying PE, but I have been using this method to charge the Edge for over one year, and so far all is well.

archie

HOLY CATS. I just tried your vertical charging method, and the little green light is blinking... I'll let you know how this goes!

In the meantime, I just bought a used PE on ebay, so I'll have to figure out what to do with that.

[archiegoodwin]

Originally Posted by ivanjt

Yours sounds like a faulty socket - after some use these small sockets can have problems with the crimping together of their components so giving intermittent contact.

There is also the possibility that there may be a broken wire near the plug and by your manipulation you are forcing the wire to make contact. You can test this with a volt meter clipped to the plug. You then hold the plug still and wiggle the cable near it. If the is a break you will only get voltage readings in some positions.

I tested it with a volt meter, and I am pretty sure it is a problem with the wire. Would you know if there is a standardized replacement for the charging unit? Would any charger with the same socket size work?

Failing that, is there another quick fix?

Thanks.

Archie

[exscentric]

It needs to be the same connector, same output voltage, and equal or little higher current rating.

[ivanjt]

As exscentric says as long as it has a 12v @ 2A output and has the same output plug - or a set of replaceable plugs with one that is the same (just make sure the centre 'hole' is positive) - should work.

The other thing you could try is to get a replacement plug and cut the old one off the unit you have - you should loose about 8cm (3") from the plug end - then carefully remove the outer insulation, find out which is the positive of the exposed cables and solder that to the centre connector with the other wire going to the outer connector.

If you don't feel that you can do the necessary soldering, maybe you know someone who can do it for you. This will save trying to find a replacement power brick.