What is crazy is I have been using sony readers probably well over a decade now and still have no clue how the charging works!
I have just muddled through and somehow gotten a small bit of charge most times.
I started with one of the touchscreen ones which I broke after only a couple of years.
Then got a 2nd hand prs 505 which lasted me the best part of a decade of faithful service. It was falling to pieces by the end after several fixes through it's life, with much of the plastic casing round the edges gone (!) and finally I bricked it by attempting to change the battery with one too fat and forcing it in and breaking the screen in the process.
Wanting to stick to what I know and being very happy with the design of sony readers I managed to find a used prs 300. Great condition and only ten pounds or so. It seems I have inadvertently gone simpler and simpler with each sony reader model I buy
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When I got it and tried to charge it it wouldn't hold charge. Thinking that it just had a duff battery I tried putting the larger 1000ma battery in it since I already had it from my previouls attempt to change the 505 battery. With quite a bit of struggle, but being more careful given I broke the 505, I manage to get it in with a very tight squeeze.
I used the provided usb lead which is a double usb connector to single to the device. It charged for a good while and that first time it seemed to charge almost full - to maybe 3 bars which is much better than usual on my other readers!
After that one time though it will not hold charge and behaves just like my old prs505 battery which would barely hold any charge. Worse even as with the previous one I could at least get a few reads out of it usually. Not so with this one. I would have to charge it after nearly every reading and nearly always in the triangle ! territory. Would get a few days out of it and then the hexagon ! indicating no charge at all.
I don't understand how this can suddenly be happening with what should be a new battery? It is possible the 'new' battery is also dud but don't have any way to test that theory right now as no other ones.
With all of them though, except maybe the first one which I broke before such issues became apparent (!), I have never understood how charging works and found it very hit and miss. I have read various threads regarding the readers and charging on this very forum over the years, which is what prompted me to sign up to ask this question. I recall often people comment that you can only charge via mains to get proper charge.
I never had this issue when my 505 was newer and would charge by computer usb port.
I am living in my van now so mains is not an option. I have a high powered usb port thought which is capable of 5a so I don't see that being a problem?
What the issue is is that it won't seem to charge at all until fully depleted with the hexagon ! sign and I guess shut down. If I plug it in for a 'top up' before fully depleted it refuses to charge (no red charge light) and just shows the usb connected graphic.
This would be fine if it actually charged once depleted but when I plug in after a shutdown it will show charge (red light) and charge for a good while and then turn on again after about an hour or so indicating it is booting up. I unplug the connector then most times it will just show no charge and shut down again!
Thing is though occasionally it will absorb some juice but only a little, like 1 bar's worth, or 2 then straight to 1/0, so that charge state at best will be on one bar and usually goes straight to triangle !. This will give a couple of hour's reading before the whole process must be done again.
More times than not though it will not charge at all and so am just stuck in a cycle of charge and immediate shutdown - try charging again, shutdown, and so on.
Advice please!