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Old 02-13-2011, 10:01 AM   #1
qkjb
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Battery life with a twist

Hi guys
This is my first post and I found the forum because I had been getting very fed up with the battery life of my reader. I sent it back to Sony who said there was nothing wrong with it. Um! I stuck with it until it was out of warranty and the battery life was down to a few page turns and about three days. Sony wanted £130 to replace the battery saying "we only use third party repairers in the UK and the battery will also be supplied by a third party". That's great Sony. I saw a video about how to replace the battery myself and bought one from Amazon for about £10. It was a bit fiddly to replace but it went smoothly. There was a good charge in the battery when it arrived but I charged it for two hours+ with a wall charger as suggested. The result was amazing. On first use it lasted just over a month and gave me a couple of thousand page turns which was what I hoped for.
When depleted I charged it again for two hours +. This time the battery lasted one week and gave me a few hundred page turns. Down to three sectors after six days and then losing a sector each time it was turned on for a short read.
This is very disappointing. Since the first read with the new battery was so good I am now wondering if it is the charging circuit within the 505 which is at fault and with the rubbish service Sony are now offering "it will cost £50 just to look at it and then there's the courier charge" there doesn't seem much I can do about it. I wondered if any of you had any ideas?
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Old 02-13-2011, 11:28 AM   #2
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By depleted do you mean you run it down to flat? This is not the correct procedure for Lithium Polymer batteries and results in damage to the battery... I'm on my original 505 battery over 3years old and read several hundred pages a day, charge about every 7-10 days (overnight with a PSU for around 5-8 hours) when drops to 2 bars, never switch off as I always use Standby... also check that you don't have mp3 playing in background...
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Old 02-13-2011, 12:02 PM   #3
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That happened to me at first 'til I realized that the wi-fi was always on and always searching for a signal. Once I turned it off, I haven't had a problem. My battery now lasts almost 2 weeks with lots of use every day. I don't charge it until it dies and then I charge it overnight.

If you've already checked the wi-fi and made sure it was off, then it might be the charger like you mentioned.
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Old 02-13-2011, 12:12 PM   #4
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Originally Posted by ILikeBooks View Post
That happened to me at first 'til I realized that the wi-fi was always on and always searching for a signal. Once I turned it off, I haven't had a problem. My battery now lasts almost 2 weeks with lots of use every day. I don't charge it until it dies and then I charge it overnight.

If you've already checked the wi-fi and made sure it was off, then it might be the charger like you mentioned.
Sounds like you may have a 900 or 950; the OP has a 505 which doesn't have wireless connectivity.

qkjb,

You might have purchased a bum battery. Lithium rechargeables have a finite life whether they're being used or not. Given the age of the 505, who knows how long those replacement batteries have been sitting around. Also, quality of the cells/pack can be a large factor, not so much with a single cell such as our readers use, but it could still be a bad unit. As was mentioned, do not purposely run a lithium rechargeable flat.
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Old 02-13-2011, 03:37 PM   #5
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Thanks for the replies folks. It wasn't my intention to run it down to flat but having been on four battery sectors for three weeks, I didn't expect it then to go to zero in a week. It's probably a good idea to charge it again when it is down to two sectors but after the really good start that means about every six days. No wi-fi on the 505 I am afraid and I hope the new battery isn't duff. Sony wanted £65 for a new battery + delivery + tax. I have charged it up again today using the Sony charger and the red light went out before two hours had gone by. Is there any point leaving it charging AFTER the red light has gone out?
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Old 02-13-2011, 06:04 PM   #6
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I really don't see the problem with every six days... I charge mine every 7-10 days with heavy, every day usage and it's working fine after years... and red light goes off at 80% charge... put on charge before going to bed and disconnect when you get up - result near 100% charge...
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Old 02-13-2011, 06:25 PM   #7
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Thanks elcreative,
I don't actually give it heavy daily usuage - maybe an hour max - and I would be satisfied with 7 to 10 days if I did. I had wondered whether leaving it on charge after the red light goes out would be beneficial so thanks for telling me it is 80% when it does. It was the drop from three sectors to one in two days with only a couple of hours reading I found worrying. The performance with the new battery was great but it has slumped after one charge. Perhaps it's another bad battery as chainring suggests and that's got to be bad luck. BTW how do you know it's nearly 100% after the overnight charge? Is that by way of a meter?
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Old 02-13-2011, 07:35 PM   #8
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Manufacturers' specifications on Lithium batteries both ion and polymer... do a Google on Lithium ion batteries technical specification, amazing the detail available but you can find full makers' details on care and feeding...


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BTW how do you know it's nearly 100% after the overnight charge? Is that by way of a meter?
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Old 02-13-2011, 07:56 PM   #9
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Lithium batteries will be measured by their voltage and the 100% mark is fairly easy to pick, though the progress from 80%->20% is a lot harder to split as the voltage of the cell stays fairly constant, more so due to the very low power demand that these new devices impose.
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Old 02-14-2011, 06:24 AM   #10
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Thanks to both of you for the quick response. Very helpful. I am off to plug my reader back in again.
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Old 02-14-2011, 06:55 AM   #11
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I forgot to mention, the other way advanced devices monitor their charge levels is through a gas-gauge/coloumb-meter, though you see this more in laptops and not really smaller portable devices.
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Old 02-14-2011, 09:49 AM   #12
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Thanks MrPLD,

I have read elsewhere that the 505 gauge is notoriously inaccurate so a calendar might be more use.
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Old 02-14-2011, 11:27 AM   #13
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Like everything, it depends on who you listen to and how you treat your reader... my 505 (3+years old) seems perfectly accurate and I get several hours per day (=several hundred page turns) resulting in charging every 7-10 days when it drops to two bars...


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Thanks MrPLD,

I have read elsewhere that the 505 gauge is notoriously inaccurate so a calendar might be more use.
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Old 02-14-2011, 12:04 PM   #14
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I guess a new battery gives me a another chance to treat it better. Mine dropped to three bars after six days and light use but the other bars lasted one day each, again with light use. I will have to see what happens next but thanks for your comments.
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Old 02-16-2011, 10:15 AM   #15
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It seems that the battery of my 505 is completely broken down.
I did not use my reader for about six weeks and as expected it did not start. So I charged it for a night and started it. It started but when showing the menü-screen it says "battery almost empty" (in German "Akku fast leer") and shuts down. I repeated this for 3 or 4 times. Whatever I do and no matter how long I charge it, it says "battery almost empty" and shuts down. I tried a soft reset, didn't help.
Does someone has an idea?
I bought it from a private person on ebay and there is no guarantee left. But it was unused and this was one year ago. So I've read 5 books on it and charged it maybe 10-15 times.
So I can't believe that Sony builds such a crap. I have mobile phones that are 5 years old and after 2 years in the drawer and charging they work fine.

@qkjb: could you please provide us with the link where you found that video (how to replace the battery)
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