Aura H2O Should I replace this battery?

[karthikrr]

I just got my hands on an Aura H2O this morning. The seller said it was stuck on the sleep screen and reset did not work, nothing worked, and that he believed it was a battery problem. I read up on the manual factory reset method and was all set to try 10 different things to get it to work, but about an hour after I connected the charger, simply pressing the power button started up the device!

It seems the battery had gone dead in the middle of a firmware update. It was updating when I got it to power on, and since I had the charger connected the whole time, it completed successfully this time. I did the factory reset (from the settings menu) and loaded up my books on it, everything SEEMS okay, but as the seller said, it seems there is indeed a battery problem.

After an hour of charging from zero, it was showing 70%. After a factory reset and sideloading 50 epubs using Calibre, it was down to 43%. After about an hour or so of reading with the light at 10%, it was down to 23%. I connected the charger, and in about 5 minutes, it was showing 50%. After two hours, it seems to now be happy at 96% and is not budging. Wifi is on and connected, the device is not in its sleep cover, but the sleep cover automation was enabled in the settings.

I found one discussion that suggested letting the battery charge for 24 hours and then "calibrating" it by letting it die and charging it to 100% a few times. BUT my concern is that the crazy jumps in battery status COULD be a short circuit in the battery, and if thats the case, it might explode and kill the screen if I leave it charging for 24 hours!

What do the experts here think?

1) Charge 24 hours and try to calibrate it.
2) Leave it alone and enjoy the device as long as the battery was able to power it long enough to read for a few hours.
3) REPLACE it immediately.

I don't care about the waterproofing, and its an old device way out of warranty, so I have no qualms about opening it up. If the consensus is to go ahead and open it, then two more questions :

1) Does this use the same battery as the first generation Aura (N514)? If yes, I have two spare Auras, one of them exclusively serving as a spare parts device! My research seems to indicate they use the same battery, but I was unable to find conclusive information on this.

2) The teardown looked pretty simple, just get the bezel off CAREFULLY and the rest is straightforward. Any surprises that I should be ready for?

Thanks,
Karthik

[JSWolf]

I suggest you keep the WiFi off and do not load any new firmware on it in case the battery was to die before it was updated. Then try to calibrate the battery. If that fails, it would be best to replace it unless you are confident you can open it, replace the battery and then close it. Once you open it, you lose the waterproofing.

[karthikrr]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

I suggest you keep the WiFi off and do not load any new firmware on it in case the battery was to die before it was updated. Then try to calibrate the battery. If that fails, it would be best to replace it unless you are confident you can open it, replace the battery and then close it. Once you open it, you lose the waterproofing.

Unplugged it at 96%, turned off wifi and sleepcover detection, and didn't even read on it, just put it back to sleep. When I turned it back on some 15 minutes later, the battery had dropped to 64%, and while I was staring at it, it continued to drain and is now at 60% as I type.

This does NOT seem normal to me. Even if the battery was dead, I would have to be USING the device for it to drain. Its just sleeping and seems to be collapsing. Either the battery is THAT bad right now, OR something else is going on.

I am comfortable enough to open it, BUT would rather not if I could avoid it. Do you think doing some sort of manual firmware flash, or going back to an old firmware might help? Draining while sleeping feels like a "wake-lock" issue or something similar?

[Dr. Drib]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

I suggest you keep the WiFi off and do not load any new firmware on it in case the battery was to die before it was updated. Then try to calibrate the battery. If that fails, it would be best to replace it unless you are confident you can open it, replace the battery and then close it. Once you open it, you lose the waterproofing.

I would also add, don't put any more books on it so that you can see how fast it's draining. Also, keep the light level at what you would normally read at. Go through your normal reading pattern over the next few day(s) and check on the drain.

[rashkae]

Charge it for 24 hours and just use it... "Calibrating" will not make the battery last any longer, the only possible benefit is to make the battery meter more accurate. But swinging the battery through full cycles is itself stressful to the battery and will push an iffy one closer to death.

[karthikrr]

Originally Posted by Dr. Drib

I would also add, don't put any more books on it so that you can see how fast it's draining. Also, keep the light level at what you would normally read at. Go through your normal reading pattern over the next few day(s) and check on the drain.

Yup, I am actually contemplating deleting all books on it and keeping just one single kepub while I figure this out.

Originally Posted by rashkae

Charge it for 24 hours and just use it... "Calibrating" will not make the battery last any longer, the only possible benefit is to make the battery meter more accurate. But swinging the battery through full cycles is itself stressful to the battery and will push an iffy one closer to death.

Hmm, so at 60%, I powered it off. 30 minutes later, I turn it back on, and the battery is at 50%. This does not seem right at all to me.

My concern with the 24h charge was that the battery should not explode and kill the screen. But the good news is its not heating up at all, so MAYBE its not shorting out. I will power off and let it charge for 24h now and then report back after a few days of usage with a single kepub.

[karthikrr]

To add, I just connected the charger to it. The device was at 50%. In literally 5 seconds, I watched the battery meter change to 62%, and now it appears to be charging at the rate of 2% per minute.

I am curious, how does the "meter calibration" thing work? I mean, what are the odds that somehow the software is reading the battery status so incredibly wrong that it just jumps around?

My theory at the moment - when it says 70%, for example, its not really at 70%, but much lower. When it sits at 96% for more than an hour, that is because the meter went to 96% while the battery wasn't really at 96%, and so now the meter is waiting for the battery to catch up. If this is right (and I still don't know how the readings work), then when it hits 100%, that is when the battery is actually truly at 100%, and "calibrating" it will retrain the meter to read the status correctly.

This seems a necessary exercise, IF the software is designed to shut down when the meter reads below a certain threshold. Might also explain why the previous owner might have believed he had enough juice and started the update and the device turned off suddenly.

[JSWolf]

The battery meter going up when you plug it in does sound like a bad battery. Do you think you can replace the battery? The H2O is not the easiest to open.

[karthikrr]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

The battery meter going up when you plug it in does sound like a bad battery. Do you think you can replace the battery? The H2O is not the easiest to open.

I don't WANT to, but yes, I feel confident enough to open it up.

Does it use the same battery as the Aura (first edition, N514)? If yes, I have two spare batteries already!

I want to be absolutely sure that this is a bad battery and not a software issue. So I will probably do the 24h charge and use it with a single kepub for a few days, if for no other reason than my own mental satisfaction. Any other suggestions?

[frostschutz]

original H2O is glued all around. battery itself is glued as well.

there is a risk of breaking the replace when doing either (open the device, and again when removing battery)

if the device is working then I would not do it unnecessarily. keep it on the charger overnights and read and see if it lasts you or not. if it does there's not much reason to do anything, and even then you could consider using a powerbank instead of risking it

IMHO the video shows completely wrong method of opening it (the front bezel can be taken off as one piece, without separating it in bezel+IRguide)

[karthikrr]

Originally Posted by frostschutz

original H2O is glued all around. battery itself is glued as well.

there is a risk of breaking the replace when doing either (open the device, and again when removing battery)

Yeah, I watched two videos (there seem to be only two), and they both show different things, so I was a bit concerned.

if the device is working then I would not do it unnecessarily. keep it on the charger overnights and read and see if it lasts you or not. if it does there's not much reason to do anything, and even then you could consider using a powerbank instead of risking it

IMHO the video shows completely wrong method of opening it (the front bezel can be taken off as one piece, without separating it in bezel+IRguide)

Hmm, yeah, I read your posts on another thread ... If it will last me at least one day, I think this is the advice I will follow. I charge my phone every night anyway, so its no big deal. As before, my only real concern is the battery swelling or exploding and destroying the screen.

[DomesticExtremis]

I shouldn't worry too much about the battery exploding, they have protection circuitry on the cell to prevent overcharge/overdischarge and short circuit, as well as a charging chip in the eReader.
It sounds like it has been left in a discharged state for a long time and this has raised the internal resistance of the battery, thus it seems to charge quickly but doesn't hold that charge for too long.
I would back up your library via USB and then proceed to open it up.
It is a tricky procedure, there are effectively two bezels, the one you can see and a "smoked acrylic" one that is the light for the IR touch screen. You should aim to try and separate the two and leave the inner bezel attached to the substrate,
The gloop they use to seal and stick it together is horrible and messy - I found Zippo lighter fluid very helpful for softening it and reducing its stickiness.
Go slowly and carefully is the best advice. The front bezel is very thin and can be easily bent out of shape or even snapped if pulled and pushed too hard.
Once you have the front bezel off, the inner bezel, screen and mother board can be removed as one unit via the four screws in each corner.
The interesting stuff is on the back.
Once you have extracted the battery, you should be able to obtain one of similar capacity and dimensions from the usual sources (Ebay/amazon/alibaba etc). If you aren't scared of using a slodering iron, you can reuse the protection circuitry from the old one and save a few pennies.
HTH

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by karthikrr

To add, I just connected the charger to it. The device was at 50%. In literally 5 seconds, I watched the battery meter change to 62%, and now it appears to be charging at the rate of 2% per minute.

That's what batteries do when their capacity is shot. Fast charging, fast discharging. I suppose it could be something else, but this is my first guess.

[karthikrr]

Originally Posted by DomesticExtremis

I shouldn't worry too much about the battery exploding, they have protection circuitry on the cell to prevent overcharge/overdischarge and short circuit, as well as a charging chip in the eReader.

Good to know! Then I am happy to take the time to try all kinds of tricks with it

It sounds like it has been left in a discharged state for a long time and this has raised the internal resistance of the battery, thus it seems to charge quickly but doesn't hold that charge for too long.

I don't have much information from the previous owner, but he mentioned that he had already got a replacement Clara. I imagine the device froze on him and he replaced it and just put it away until finally deciding to sell it. So yes, you might be right.

I would back up your library via USB and then proceed to open it up.
It is a tricky procedure, there are effectively two bezels, the one you can see and a "smoked acrylic" one that is the light for the IR touch screen. You should aim to try and separate the two and leave the inner bezel attached to the substrate,

Interesting, @frostschutz says the exact opposite, to remove them as one unit and NOT separate them. Would help to know why each of you recommend what you recommend! From what I am reading and seeing online, I imagine one approach makes disassembly easier while the other makes reassembly easier?

The gloop they use to seal and stick it together is horrible and messy - I found Zippo lighter fluid very helpful for softening it and reducing its stickiness.

YES, I recently started cleaning and lubricating vintage film lenses, and lighter fluid is a MIRACULOUS THING!

Once you have extracted the battery, you should be able to obtain one of similar capacity and dimensions from the usual sources (Ebay/amazon/alibaba etc). If you aren't scared of using a slodering iron, you can reuse the protection circuitry from the old one and save a few pennies.
HTH

Can definitely solder, not a problem. But I think I might just wait till the current battery is proven to be so bad the device is unusable.

Originally Posted by rcentros

That's what batteries do when their capacity is shot. Fast charging, fast discharging. I suppose it could be something else, but this is my first guess.

What I found surprising was that it would "jump" - in both directions, meaning increase by 20-30% in a few seconds, as well as drop an equal amount. And this was happening even when the device was powered off. That part didn't make sense to me, though I suppose CPU load to boot-up would explain it ...

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by karthikrr

What I found surprising was that it would "jump" - in both directions, meaning increase by 20-30% in a few seconds, as well as drop an equal amount. And this was happening even when the device was powered off. That part didn't make sense to me, though I suppose CPU load to boot-up would explain it ...

I could be wrong. That's just been my experience with batteries that are almost completely dead – very quick "charge," very quick discharge. But these extremes are pretty... extreme. So maybe there is another issue at work here.

Good luck. Sorry I'm so little help.