Unit DIED !!

sirmaru · 12-14-2011, 10:41 PM

My Kindle Fire was down to 19% battery charge remaining. I placed it in Sleep Mode and went to watch TV.

When I came back, the start button failed to activate it. I plugged in the charger and supplied power. No light came on. The unit had died totally.

I then deregistered the unit. I called customer service. They re-registered the unit and sent me a UPS return label. They said they would send me a new unit for an exchange.

Two years ago my 3rd Generation Kindle also shorted out. CS replaced it and it has been working fine ever since.

weatherman · 12-14-2011, 11:43 PM

These things happen. I remember reading that on average between 3%-5% of most electronic devices fail. Usually if they're going to fail, they fail within the first 90 days. Bummer that it happened to you though.

If we start seeing a lot of failures, then we got to start worrying. And sell our Amazon stock.

Blossom · 12-15-2011, 01:00 AM

Did they have you do a hard reset? Hold the power button for more then 20 seconds or more. At 19% it could be a dead battery and that will take sometime for it get some juice. Android 2.3 is notorious for reporting false battery percentages. It could be hardware failure as well.

obsessed2 · 12-15-2011, 07:43 AM

I'm surprised that Amazon didn't include a low battery automatic shutdown. I own two other Android tablets and one (Edge) warns me to either plug in the charger or it will automatically shutdown. I haven't tested the others (gTab or Fire) to see if it will do this or not.

weatherman · 12-15-2011, 09:03 AM

The Kindle does have an automatic shutdown on low battery. I think sirmaru's was really a hard-fail, at least from the sound of it.

sirmaru · 12-15-2011, 09:37 AM

Some items of note:

I had been using Badass Battery Monitor for 2 weeks before the failure. Could that have affected it?

At 15% the Fire always issued a signal to recharge. This time it died with 19% still left in the battery.

I had gone thourgh 8 full charge cycles before the failure.

Screen Wake Time was at 4 hours before the failure acording to Badass Battery Monitor. That seems low when the projected life was supposed to be 7 hours.

When connecting the power cord for recharging, the Start Light always turned on. This time it did not turn on.

I connected the Fire to my PC and it did not open as usual. I had thought, even if the battery was dead, I'd be able to look at it's hard disk via a USB connection to my PC.

I had gone through the last cycle only using Sleep Mode. In the past I had always used Shut Down Mode every night. Could a whole cycle of only Sleep Mode damage the battery?

janicew · 12-15-2011, 10:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sirmaru

I had gone through the last cycle only using Sleep Mode. In the past I had always used Shut Down Mode every night. Could a whole cycle of only Sleep Mode damage the battery?

Gosh, I hope not since I haven't yet shut down when I recharge. I typically charge every night, although occasionally I do a complete deplete of the battery before charging in order to maximize battery life. So, based on my experience I wouldn't think charging in sleep mode is an issue as that's all I've done since day 1.

bjones6416 · 12-15-2011, 10:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by janicew

Gosh, I hope not since I haven't yet shut down when I recharge. I typically charge every night, although occasionally I do a complete deplete of the battery before charging in order to maximize battery life. So, based on my experience I wouldn't think charging in sleep mode is an issue as that's all I've done since day 1.

I don't shut down to recharge, either. I do occasionally shut it down and restart to "clean it up" a little if it seems slow or something, but otherwise I only use sleep mode.

sparklemotion · 12-15-2011, 01:07 PM

That's a shame. I don't shut down to recharge either. I don't think the fire even charges when it's completely shut down, as if mine is shut down, it goes on when I plug in the charger. Yours failing may just be one of those things. I hope your new fire arrives quickly.

sadievan · 12-15-2011, 02:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bjones6416

I don't shut down to recharge, either. I do occasionally shut it down and restart to "clean it up" a little if it seems slow or something, but otherwise I only use sleep mode.

^This.

Carol

jswinden · 12-15-2011, 02:12 PM

Wow, sorry that happened @sirmaru, and I hope you get your new one soon. There does seem to be battery issues in general with the Android OS which I hope they get fixed. I've got two Android 2.3.x devices and they can be somewhat unpredictable on battery charges, but the Fire is much more stable than my Motorola Atrix phone!

One thing that we should keep in mind is that in general it is a good idea to never let a Lithium Ion or Lithium Polymer battery discharge below 50%. Doing so reportedly lessons the life of the battery. I've read that this is why Toyota and other car manufacturers use twice the battery capacity functionally needed in their hybrids. They don't do this to extend your range of driving but because they want you to recharge no later than at 50% capacity in order to extend the life expectancy of batteries which cost many thousands of dollars.

sirmaru · 12-15-2011, 03:01 PM

The first 8 digits of my dead Kindle Fire serial number was: D01E B0A0.

The first 8 digits of my new Kindle Fire serial number is: D01E C0A0.

It appears there is a major version run difference between the two from those two numbers.

frankz · 12-16-2011, 09:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jswinden

One thing that we should keep in mind is that in general it is a good idea to never let a Lithium Ion or Lithium Polymer battery discharge below 50%. Doing so reportedly lessons the life of the battery.

I'd love to see where you've seen that reported for Lithium Ion batteries, as the recommended storage charge level (where the charge level has the least effect on the life of the battery) for Lithium Ion batteries is 40%.

At a 40% charge at 25 degrees C, your battery will naturally lose 4% of its capacity in a year. At 100% charge at the same temperature, it will lose five times that (20%).

http://batteryuniversity.com/learn/a...ased_batteries

Lithium Ion Polymer battery manufacturers recommend discharging the battery to 50% for storage purposes. That doesn't sound anything like "never letting it get discharge 50%." You're intentionally discharging it to that level with the understanding that it will slowly discharge in storage.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lithium...olymer_battery

Blossom · 12-16-2011, 09:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by frankz

I'd love to see where you've seen that reported for Lithium Ion batteries, as the recommended storage charge level (where the charge level has the least effect on the life of the battery) for Lithium Ion batteries is 40%.

At a 40% charge at 25 degrees C, your battery will naturally lose 4% of its capacity in a year. At 100% charge at the same temperature, it will lose five times that (20%).

http://batteryuniversity.com/learn/a...ased_batteries

Lithium Ion Polymer battery manufacturers recommend discharging the battery to 50% for storage purposes. That doesn't sound anything like "never letting it get discharge 50%." You're intentionally discharging it to that level with the understanding that it will slowly discharge in storage.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lithium...olymer_battery

Android usually tells you charge at 25%. On a normal Android device it says connect your Charger when it reaches that level.

kennyc · 12-18-2011, 10:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bjones6416

I don't shut down to recharge, either. I do occasionally shut it down and restart to "clean it up" a little if it seems slow or something, but otherwise I only use sleep mode.

Yep, me too. This morning though it died and would not come on...

see here: https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...56#post1883956

It's work now, but

12-14-2011, 10:41 PM	#1
sirmaru Wizard Posts: 2,426 Karma: 6561538 Join Date: Nov 2007 Device: Kindle PW 2013, HDX 2013, Galaxy S5 2014	Unit DIED !! My Kindle Fire was down to 19% battery charge remaining. I placed it in Sleep Mode and went to watch TV. When I came back, the start button failed to activate it. I plugged in the charger and supplied power. No light came on. The unit had died totally. I then deregistered the unit. I called customer service. They re-registered the unit and sent me a UPS return label. They said they would send me a new unit for an exchange. Two years ago my 3rd Generation Kindle also shorted out. CS replaced it and it has been working fine ever since.

12-15-2011, 07:43 AM	#4
obsessed2 Wizard Posts: 1,041 Karma: 4694121 Join Date: Apr 2011 Location: Virginia Device: Pocket Edge X 2 , Edge, gTab, Kindle Fire, Nextbook 7S	I'm surprised that Amazon didn't include a low battery automatic shutdown. I own two other Android tablets and one (Edge) warns me to either plug in the charger or it will automatically shutdown. I haven't tested the others (gTab or Fire) to see if it will do this or not. Last edited by obsessed2; 12-15-2011 at 10:24 AM.

12-15-2011, 09:37 AM	#6
sirmaru Wizard Posts: 2,426 Karma: 6561538 Join Date: Nov 2007 Device: Kindle PW 2013, HDX 2013, Galaxy S5 2014	Some items of note: I had been using Badass Battery Monitor for 2 weeks before the failure. Could that have affected it? At 15% the Fire always issued a signal to recharge. This time it died with 19% still left in the battery. I had gone thourgh 8 full charge cycles before the failure. Screen Wake Time was at 4 hours before the failure acording to Badass Battery Monitor. That seems low when the projected life was supposed to be 7 hours. When connecting the power cord for recharging, the Start Light always turned on. This time it did not turn on. I connected the Fire to my PC and it did not open as usual. I had thought, even if the battery was dead, I'd be able to look at it's hard disk via a USB connection to my PC. I had gone through the last cycle only using Sleep Mode. In the past I had always used Shut Down Mode every night. Could a whole cycle of only Sleep Mode damage the battery? Last edited by sirmaru; 12-15-2011 at 09:40 AM.

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12-14-2011, 11:43 PM	#2
weatherman Addict Posts: 385 Karma: 1010052 Join Date: Apr 2008 Device: (previous: Kindle 2, Kindle Fire) Kindle 4 WiFi, K3K, KPW	These things happen. I remember reading that on average between 3%-5% of most electronic devices fail. Usually if they're going to fail, they fail within the first 90 days. Bummer that it happened to you though. If we start seeing a lot of failures, then we got to start worrying. And sell our Amazon stock.

12-15-2011, 01:00 AM	#3
Blossom Treasure Seeker Posts: 18,708 Karma: 26026435 Join Date: Mar 2010 Device: Kobo HD Glo, Kindles, Kindle Fires, Andriod Devices	Did they have you do a hard reset? Hold the power button for more then 20 seconds or more. At 19% it could be a dead battery and that will take sometime for it get some juice. Android 2.3 is notorious for reporting false battery percentages. It could be hardware failure as well.

12-15-2011, 09:03 AM	#5
weatherman Addict Posts: 385 Karma: 1010052 Join Date: Apr 2008 Device: (previous: Kindle 2, Kindle Fire) Kindle 4 WiFi, K3K, KPW	The Kindle does have an automatic shutdown on low battery. I think sirmaru's was really a hard-fail, at least from the sound of it.

12-15-2011, 01:07 PM	#9
sparklemotion dangerous when cornered Posts: 1,855 Karma: 22891237 Join Date: Dec 2011 Location: USA Device: Kobo H2O, Kindle Paperwhite	That's a shame. I don't shut down to recharge either. I don't think the fire even charges when it's completely shut down, as if mine is shut down, it goes on when I plug in the charger. Yours failing may just be one of those things. I hope your new fire arrives quickly.

12-15-2011, 02:12 PM	#11
jswinden Nameless Being	Wow, sorry that happened @sirmaru, and I hope you get your new one soon. There does seem to be battery issues in general with the Android OS which I hope they get fixed. I've got two Android 2.3.x devices and they can be somewhat unpredictable on battery charges, but the Fire is much more stable than my Motorola Atrix phone! One thing that we should keep in mind is that in general it is a good idea to never let a Lithium Ion or Lithium Polymer battery discharge below 50%. Doing so reportedly lessons the life of the battery. I've read that this is why Toyota and other car manufacturers use twice the battery capacity functionally needed in their hybrids. They don't do this to extend your range of driving but because they want you to recharge no later than at 50% capacity in order to extend the life expectancy of batteries which cost many thousands of dollars.

12-15-2011, 03:01 PM	#12
sirmaru Wizard Posts: 2,426 Karma: 6561538 Join Date: Nov 2007 Device: Kindle PW 2013, HDX 2013, Galaxy S5 2014	The first 8 digits of my dead Kindle Fire serial number was: D01E B0A0. The first 8 digits of my new Kindle Fire serial number is: D01E C0A0. It appears there is a major version run difference between the two from those two numbers.

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