Can't Charge My Battery

Lady Fitzgerald · 06-19-2010, 06:44 PM

Before the wags start, I mean the battery on my Mentor. I plugged in the charger, then plugged the charger into the Mentor. I let set for 14 hours then unplugged the charger from the Mentor and tried to turn on the Mentor. I guess I wasn't appealing enough because it just sat there and laughed at me. When I plugged the charger back in, I was able to get it to turn on.

The directions are really vague here. How do I tell from the battery charge indicator what the battery charge level is? How can I tell the charger is charging?

theducks · 06-19-2010, 07:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lady Fitzgerald

Before the wags start, I mean the battery on my Mentor. I plugged in the charger, then plugged the charger into the Mentor. I let set for 14 hours then unplugged the charger from the Mentor and tried to turn on the Mentor. I guess I wasn't appealing enough because it just sat there and laughed at me. When I plugged the charger back in, I was able to get it to turn on.

The directions are really vague here. How do I tell from the battery charge indicator what the battery charge level is? How can I tell the charger is charging?

Did you "Install" the battery as instructed? (I don't have a Mentor, but some devices have the Battery un-plugged or there is a insulating strip to be pulled)

If you fix the problem, 12 more hours with the battery installed.

Davimee · 06-19-2010, 07:37 PM

Ooh, I hope someone who has one has an answer for you! With the Pocket Pro there is a little icon in the lower right hand corner of the screen (on the menu screen) that shows it is charging. When it's powered down, I think it shows some sort of icon, too, while it's plugged in and charging. And there's a light in the upper left hand corner. When it's fully charged, the light turns to green. While it's charging I think it's orange, or yellow, or red... actually I'm not certain what color it is, I think I've only charged it a couple times since I've had it, and right now it's showing 3/4 full. But I'm not at all sure about the mentor... Hopefully someone else here will post soon!

Lady Fitzgerald · 06-19-2010, 08:19 PM

All the directions say is to charge the battery. The battery came already installed in the device. Surely I don't have to unscrew the little screws and mess with it?

There is a little icon in the lower half of the screen but I have know idea what charged or discharged look like.

I see the light in the upper corner but I can't tell what color it is; I'm color blind.

Lady Fitzgerald · 06-19-2010, 08:42 PM

Ok, when I sent the previous note, I had the unit back on the charger for an hour so I turned it off and pulled the plug at the unit. I fiddle with the buttons (it's going to take me a while to remember what is what). I got the unit to turn on. I'm now making a little more sense of the battery indicator. I can see now that when the charger was plugged in, the icon was of a battery plugged into a charger. Without the charger it's clear it's a battery. I'm assuming the little lines inside the battery mean it's fully charged.

Lady Fitzgerald · 06-19-2010, 09:37 PM

Other than the apparent lack of a zoom, I was really liking this thing but when I went to turn on again to fool with it some more, I couldn't get it to start or shut off. It would go from the off screen to the screen with the grayscale bars to the screen saying it's loading, then, after a bit, back to the grayscale screen. I tried turning it off and it just laughed at me and and kept cycling between gray bars and loading. I tried the reset button; no luck. I tried plugging it in to the charger and finally got it to finish loading. What was with that?

Solicitous · 06-19-2010, 11:08 PM

Given your initial issue with charging and your second attempt appeared to resolve the issue, I'd say the battery is low especially with the second charge only being for an hour.

Give it now a full 12 hour charge and see how you go. The battery meter is only a rough gauge and it can take 2-3 charge/discharge cycles for the battery to condition itself. You can still use the reader while charging, it will just take longer.

Lady Fitzgerald · 06-22-2010, 01:42 PM

I found out the problem was me. At first, I was just giving the power button a quick press. I finally figured out you have to do more than a quick press. However, holding the button too long causes the on/off cycling I reported. Having the problem corrected when I plugged in the charger was a coincidence; it would have cycled out whether I plugged in the charger or not. Now I know to push and hold the on/off button until the light comes on, then release it.

Robertb · 06-22-2010, 05:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lady Fitzgerald

I found out the problem was me. At first, I was just giving the power button a quick press. I finally figured out you have to do more than a quick press. However, holding the button too long causes the on/off cycling I reported. Having the problem corrected when I plugged in the charger was a coincidence; it would have cycled out whether I plugged in the charger or not. Now I know to push and hold the on/off button until the light comes on, then release it.

Dear Lady Fitz:

I am glad that you solved your problem already. For anyone else with a Mentor, here is my recommendation:

1. Turn the device fully "off".

2. Connect one end of the cord from your A/C charger to an electrical outlet of the proper voltage.

3. Plug in the other end to the device. Be careful, sometimes the fit is tight. Make certain it seats FULLY!

4. This should automatically start your unit (it turns itself "ON").

5. After going thru a few warm ups it will get you to the Main Menu and in the lower left of the screen you will see a rough battery shape with small rectangles in it. A full charge shows 8-10 small rectangles and fills the battery!

6. To the right of the battery icon you should see a rough shape of an electric plug with a "+" shown in it. If you do not see the "+"... your unit is not charging. Recheck all connections!

7. Charge for 10-12 hours!!

8. Recharge when the battery charge life meter shows 3-4 rectangles left!! Do NOT drain the battery first... just recharge for 10-12 hours!!

I will add this to the FAQ sheet!

06-19-2010, 06:44 PM	#1
Lady Fitzgerald Wizard Posts: 2,013 Karma: 251649 Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Tempe, AZ, USA, Earth Device: JetBook Lite (away from home) + 1 spare, 32" TV (at home)	Can't Charge My Battery Before the wags start, I mean the battery on my Mentor. I plugged in the charger, then plugged the charger into the Mentor. I let set for 14 hours then unplugged the charger from the Mentor and tried to turn on the Mentor. I guess I wasn't appealing enough because it just sat there and laughed at me. When I plugged the charger back in, I was able to get it to turn on. The directions are really vague here. How do I tell from the battery charge indicator what the battery charge level is? How can I tell the charger is charging?

06-19-2010, 07:37 PM	#3
Davimee Happy Wife & Momma Posts: 532 Karma: 1634 Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: USA Device: Purple Astak Pocket Pro! :)	Ooh, I hope someone who has one has an answer for you! With the Pocket Pro there is a little icon in the lower right hand corner of the screen (on the menu screen) that shows it is charging. When it's powered down, I think it shows some sort of icon, too, while it's plugged in and charging. And there's a light in the upper left hand corner. When it's fully charged, the light turns to green. While it's charging I think it's orange, or yellow, or red... actually I'm not certain what color it is, I think I've only charged it a couple times since I've had it, and right now it's showing 3/4 full. But I'm not at all sure about the mentor... Hopefully someone else here will post soon! Last edited by Davimee; 06-19-2010 at 07:38 PM. Reason: apparently I don't know my left from my right

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06-19-2010, 08:19 PM	#4
Lady Fitzgerald Wizard Posts: 2,013 Karma: 251649 Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Tempe, AZ, USA, Earth Device: JetBook Lite (away from home) + 1 spare, 32" TV (at home)	All the directions say is to charge the battery. The battery came already installed in the device. Surely I don't have to unscrew the little screws and mess with it? There is a little icon in the lower half of the screen but I have know idea what charged or discharged look like. I see the light in the upper corner but I can't tell what color it is; I'm color blind.

06-19-2010, 08:42 PM	#5
Lady Fitzgerald Wizard Posts: 2,013 Karma: 251649 Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Tempe, AZ, USA, Earth Device: JetBook Lite (away from home) + 1 spare, 32" TV (at home)	Ok, when I sent the previous note, I had the unit back on the charger for an hour so I turned it off and pulled the plug at the unit. I fiddle with the buttons (it's going to take me a while to remember what is what). I got the unit to turn on. I'm now making a little more sense of the battery indicator. I can see now that when the charger was plugged in, the icon was of a battery plugged into a charger. Without the charger it's clear it's a battery. I'm assuming the little lines inside the battery mean it's fully charged.

06-19-2010, 09:37 PM	#6
Lady Fitzgerald Wizard Posts: 2,013 Karma: 251649 Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Tempe, AZ, USA, Earth Device: JetBook Lite (away from home) + 1 spare, 32" TV (at home)	Other than the apparent lack of a zoom, I was really liking this thing but when I went to turn on again to fool with it some more, I couldn't get it to start or shut off. It would go from the off screen to the screen with the grayscale bars to the screen saying it's loading, then, after a bit, back to the grayscale screen. I tried turning it off and it just laughed at me and and kept cycling between gray bars and loading. I tried the reset button; no luck. I tried plugging it in to the charger and finally got it to finish loading. What was with that?

06-19-2010, 11:08 PM	#7
Solicitous Wizard Posts: 1,434 Karma: 1525776 Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: TAS, Australia Device: Astak Pocket Pro (Black), 2 x Kindle WiFi (Graphite), iPod Touch 4G	Given your initial issue with charging and your second attempt appeared to resolve the issue, I'd say the battery is low especially with the second charge only being for an hour. Give it now a full 12 hour charge and see how you go. The battery meter is only a rough gauge and it can take 2-3 charge/discharge cycles for the battery to condition itself. You can still use the reader while charging, it will just take longer.

06-22-2010, 01:42 PM	#8
Lady Fitzgerald Wizard Posts: 2,013 Karma: 251649 Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Tempe, AZ, USA, Earth Device: JetBook Lite (away from home) + 1 spare, 32" TV (at home)	I found out the problem was me. At first, I was just giving the power button a quick press. I finally figured out you have to do more than a quick press. However, holding the button too long causes the on/off cycling I reported. Having the problem corrected when I plugged in the charger was a coincidence; it would have cycled out whether I plugged in the charger or not. Now I know to push and hold the on/off button until the light comes on, then release it.

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