What the hell is up with my Kindle 3 battery?

[AceTracer]

It doesn't last more than a day. All my searching has only turned up issues with indexing, but my Kindle doesn't show anything waiting to be indexed.

I did a log dump, but have no idea what to look for. I've included it in this post.

[Jack's Liver]

does it not show or do you not know how to check if books are being indexed ?
cause i put 3 books from my first k3 i had to return and i just transfered them from pc instead of re downloading them and the kindle cant open them if they are registered to another k3 it will just keep trying to index till it dies ..... at your book list type some random non work and hit search it will give you a list of books it found that word and if you dont see an " items needing to be indexed " and a number . maybe your kindle is fubar

[TheKindleWorm]

Originally Posted by AceTracer

It doesn't last more than a day. All my searching has only turned up issues with indexing, but my Kindle doesn't show anything waiting to be indexed.

I did a log dump, but have no idea what to look for. I've included it in this post.

How long have you had the kindle and how many books have you placed on it so far?

I've learned that it's best not to load much more than 200 books at a time and then keep it plugged in for several hours to give the device time to index all the new files.

Once you've got all your books loaded etc then you'll get a truer picture of battery life.

[Doug Huffman]

Elimination of the common causes of apparent low battery capacity might be in order, like eliminating an unlighted Amazon cover, keeping experimental services and the radio receiver/transmitter off.

The remaining capacity gauge requires periodic recalibration even as the battery ages normally.

[desertblues]

Originally Posted by AceTracer

It doesn't last more than a day. All my searching has only turned up issues with indexing, but my Kindle doesn't show anything waiting to be indexed.

I did a log dump, but have no idea what to look for. I've included it in this post.

Though I don't have knowledge about the file you attached; I've experience with emptying batteries through bad indexing. For the search-function of your Kindle, all books have to be indexed.

Let's suppose that battery-problem is caused by bad indexing:
Check if the Kindle is indexing by a random search on home screen = type for example aidfhkala-------or other.........that gives you the option to ' search my items'.
It may take a while if you've a lot of books; you can see it working by the ' spinning wheel' left upper corner.
The result should be ' No items' . (that is if you've not loaded any books just minutes before).

If there are 1 of more items; chance is a book/books is/are stuck:
delete the books you've loaded previously and check if there's no indexing going on. If so, you have to remove even more books till the Kindle indicates ' No items' when randomly searching.

You then load your books a few at a time and monitor, to see which books is causing your problem.
If it's a book from Amazon----call and they reimburse you
If it's your own book------convert from mobi to mobi in Calibre or such and try that book again.

I've loaded a few thousand books and found that indexing takes a lot out of the Kindle and its battery. Also the battery-indicator doesn't tell the truth then.

My suggestion: load only 100 or so books in one go, keep the Kindle charged while doing it and check if indexing is done. Let the Kindle be.
And then on to the next 100. It should take less than an hour to index.
Or you load 2/300 in the evening, let it charge and the next morning you check about the indexing. It can take a couple of hours to index.

It is a pain, but it's the only way to get a lot of books on the Kindle.
I wouldn't advise to fill it up to the max. =3500 books. Capacity is 4 GB- ca. 1GB for its own workings=3 GB for books and audio.

Or call Amazon if this doesn't work.

Good luck.

[phil75070]

My battery issue was not as serious as you indicate, but in a matter of two days my battery was showing about 1/3 charge left. Granted, I was using it for several hours each day, used the WiFi to download all the books I wanted from our archive (less than 40, though), used the light a fair amount (I have the LIGHTED Amazon cover), and experimented with it showing it off to friends, but I still expected better battery performance given the claim that the battery could "possibly", depending on circumstance, last as long as a month. The first time I charged it overnight, the battery charge indicator was still yellow when it should have been green and the the battery icon was still showing it was not fully charged with the bottom right corner of the icon still showing white.

What I did was check for any indexing problems, there were none, so then I went to the home screen and hit menu...settings...menu...restart (NOT RESET) but reSTART, and have not had a problem since. It now fully charges and though I have not used it extensively since but it does seem to be draining the battery at a much lower rate. Maybe try a restart?

[Blossom]

My first charge lasted me less then 7 days. I then came here did some reading up and found out with the 3G model you need to leave WiFi off or it will drain the battery really quickly.

I then restarted and charged my Kindle.
I leave WiFi off unless I need it and I still haven't needed to charge my Kindle and it's been over a month!

[AceTracer]

Like I said, it's definitely not indexing. I have no books to index, and I don't have many books on there (about 40).

[desertblues]

Originally Posted by AceTracer

Like I said, it's definitely not indexing. I have no books to index, and I don't have many books on there (about 40).

I would call Amazon; they've a good customerservice. Or you can have them call you, even from overseas.
That battery should not go empty in one day, even with wifi or what not on.
Good luck.

[phil75070]

Did you try the reboot (restart)? I couldn't tell you how many times little glitches disappear just by rebooting a computer.

[dmalovic]

You can do a search on the word volt in the Kindle or on your comp, and you will see a number of lines with the Kindle charging and discharging.

I cannot tell why, but your kindle charges, and then discharges from 100% to 25% capacity in only a few hours, as if something is really drawing a lot of power, hard to say what.

The nice thing about it is that they will send you a new one. I do wander what kills the battery so fast though?

Hope you tried to check there are no books indexing, the wireless if off and you did a restart?

[desertblues]

I had a book stuck indexing last week and it drained my battery in one day.

[mypolar]

Originally Posted by AceTracer

Like I said, it's definitely not indexing. I have no books to index, and I don't have many books on there (about 40).

I had same sort of problem with a newly replaced Kindle. I was hoping a reset would fix it but Amazon CS told me it was not normal and they said it was a crtical battery problem. The promptly sent me a replacement (hoping this will be the last replacement for my Kindle 3- UGH). I would give CS a call.