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Old 09-26-2012, 05:44 AM   #1
iansoady
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Kindle keyboard battery life?

I've had a wifi Kindle Keyboard for about 18 months now and am absolutely delighted with it. However, the battery seems to be losing its charge much more quickly now than it did originally. I used to get at least a a couple of weeks out of a charge (rarely if ever using wifi as I tend to use Calibre for uploading / downloading). Recently this has dropped to a few days.

Is the battery on its way out? Should I contact Amazon? Is there a 3rd party solution?

Suggestions gratefully received.
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Old 09-26-2012, 05:45 AM   #2
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Old 09-26-2012, 05:59 AM   #3
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Perhaps you have WiFi enabled? The battery will drain in a few days if you leave WiFi turned on. Switch it off, and battery life will dramatically increase.
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Old 09-26-2012, 06:08 AM   #4
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No, although I did use wifi a few times on a recent holiday (and noticed fast battery drain as you say). I'll give it a good soak charge and try it for a few weeks before doing anything further.
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Old 09-26-2012, 08:21 AM   #5
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I leave WiFi on all the time on my KIndle Kbd WiFi 3rd Gen. I get about 30 days of battery life with use of 30 to 60 minutes per day of reading.

However, since I've had mine from 8-Sep-2010, I've only charged it 26 times. I believe Lithium batteries only last for 500 full charges per the instruction manual for my NowBible Lithium battery.

If you download lots of books requiring extensive indexing, then the indexling, itself, draws power excessively. When I've done that, I leave the Kindle connected to the power so it has no resultant drain from the battery while the indexing is in process usually overnight.

Bibles, encyclopedias and dictionaries will require intensive indexing.

I am not sure but its possible usage of Caliber may use more juice than simple downloading from the Amazon Kindle Book Store. If that is true, it may pay to leave the Kindle connected to the power overnight while your Caliber downloading is happening.

Last edited by sirmaru; 09-26-2012 at 08:26 AM.
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Old 09-26-2012, 08:57 AM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by sirmaru View Post
However, since I've had mine from 8-Sep-2010, I've only charged it 26 times. I believe Lithium batteries only last for 500 full charges per the instruction manual for my NowBible Lithium battery.
Lithium batteries also lose capacity due to aging, and the aging effect completely dominates for a device like a Kindle. Your battery will "die of old age" (typically around the 5-7 year mark) long before the number of charge cycles enters into the picture.
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Old 09-26-2012, 08:58 AM   #7
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Have you checked to see if there are any books stuck indexing (do a search of your items from the home page for non-existent term, like 'zzxyq' and it'll tell you if there any books not yet indexed). This is something that could cause the battery to drain a bit quicker than normal, and it's something that happens with me on occasion when I transfer books to my Kindle using Calibre (not sure why as when I delete the offending book and reload it's fine).
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Old 09-26-2012, 09:26 AM   #8
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Some I believe good advise
Is to charge when it showing 20-25% charge level rather than letting it discharge full.
Short charges do not harm as much as total discharge.
The approx 500 charges is for full cycle and 1000 half charges equals the same hence the charge before its empty
Also The Kindle Keyboard you can replace the battery quite easy look on google for more info inc. how to videos
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Old 09-26-2012, 09:31 AM   #9
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Very heavy reading and page turns and charge cycles can do it. My first kindle was replaced by amazon 2 times because I was not getting the battery life claimed by them.

It was not a indexing problem or leaving the radio on. It was me, I was reading with the kindle on for very long stretches. I am a fast reader so I blow thru pages at a good clip.

If nothing has changed in the way you use your kindle and your reading time is the same. But the battery is not lasting as long between charges, I suspect your battery is getting weak and starting to go down hill.

I have replaced my k3-3g's battery once in the two years I have owned mine. They age and can go bad even if new and never used. So use will vary from one battery to another.

Good news is that is very easy to replace your battery yourself once it gives its last gasp, tho I recommend you have one on hand before it goes belly up on you. So you do not have to go through reading withdraw and start reading labels on cereal boxes, to get a fix.
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Old 09-26-2012, 09:31 AM   #10
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As iamfred said, too many charges is bad too. The kindle automatically turns off before the battery discharges too far (unless it is bricked or stuck in diagnostics). The best usage for longest battery life would be to NOT charge the kindle until it shows low battery, or tells you to charge it... But do not let it stay too long at the "needs charging" screen either.

For long term storage, it should be between 40% and 70% charge for maximum lifespan. Both too little and too much charge is bad.
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Old 09-26-2012, 10:54 AM   #11
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Some great stuff - many thanks. I will consider buying a battery and have looked on youtube - the process looks very straightforward although I will be a little disappointed if I've only had 18 months or so out of it.

I take the point about indexing - in fact the kindle had gone really slow as I'd been messing about with collections etc. I've now removed all books (around 700(!)) and collections and reinstalled them.

Watch & wait for the moment I think.
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Old 09-26-2012, 11:50 AM   #12
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Cool Kindle Keyboard Battery Replacement Kit

Quote:
Originally Posted by iansoady View Post
Some great stuff - many thanks. I will consider buying a battery and have looked on youtube - the process looks very straightforward although I will be a little disappointed if I've only had 18 months or so out of it.

I take the point about indexing - in fact the kindle had gone really slow as I'd been messing about with collections etc. I've now removed all books (around 700(!)) and collections and reinstalled them.

Watch & wait for the moment I think.
18 months for me too, here's what I used:

Click on the above image, it's a link.
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Old 09-26-2012, 11:53 AM   #13
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If you're getting a significantly shorter battery life after 18 months, you should contact Kindle CS and report it. That's definitely a fault and, 12 month warranty or not, Amazon should replace it. A Lithium battery should last a LOT longer than 18 months.
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Old 09-26-2012, 12:04 PM   #14
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I haven't noticed any kind of diminished battery life on my Kindle. And I use it a ton. Only when it's stuck indexing do I have the quick thought of "Oh, crap. This thing is dying!"

Then it gets out of the loop...and all is well. If/when the battery starts dying, I imagine it'll be when it's in the care of whomever I hand it down to once I get my mitts on my Paperwhite. And, then I'll probably just get the battery replacement thing that alan posted up above.
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Old 09-26-2012, 12:05 PM   #15
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Quote:
Originally Posted by HarryT View Post
If you're getting a significantly shorter battery life after 18 months, you should contact Kindle CS and report it. That's definitely a fault and, 12 month warranty or not, Amazon should replace it. A Lithium battery should last a LOT longer than 18 months.
I'd rather buy a new battery than send my Kindle in for them to replace it and lose the use of my Kindle for a week while they do for me what should be a user replacement operation and even with the stupid design of the product is simple enough to do even for the relatively non tinkering consumer.
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