The red charging light

artificial · 06-08-2010, 11:56 PM

I know there has been a lot of confusion/discussion/debate about how to tell when your kobo Reader is fully charged, and what exactly it means when the red light comes on during charging.

So here's what it says in the kobo user manual:

Quote:

TIP: Plugging in your eReader to your computer or laptop‘s USB port will charge the eReader. The eReader‘s LED indicator light will turn red when fully charged.

I realise most people probably are aware of this, but a number of people have stated on this forum when the light turns red it indicates that the Kobo Reader is charging, and that the unit is only fully charged once the red light goes off. I've also seen stated elsewhere on the web that the unit is only charged when the red light "flickers".

So there you go.

Unless anyone can find documentation to the contrary, your unit is (suppposed to be) fully charged once the red light comes on. As many of us us know the red light comes on too early, or not at all, but that's another can of worms entirely!

anidel · 06-09-2010, 03:17 AM

Well, not sure about that

Today I was leaving the office and while waiting for my colleagues to join me I tried to turn the Kobo on. It was dead. Came home and connected it to my computer...the red light came on.. weird I thought.
I also knew it was supposed to be off while charging.

Anyway.. I left it (and actually is still connected) charging for the whole evening (from 6:30pm circa to now [11:15pm]) and the red light went off an hour ago or so (the time to watch an episode of 24 we had on the computer).

Weird...

roguefan99 · 06-09-2010, 03:32 AM

I think everyones experience is different with this light. I have access to two kobos, and one of them the red light comes on when its charged, nothing happens when its charging. The other, the red light never comes on (unless when its starting up, and the blue light comes on just after it), even if I charge it over night (tried this twice). I can live with it because I tend to charge things often (and I have to plug it in to update Calibre Publications).

artificial · 06-09-2010, 05:23 AM

My purpose with this post was to dispel any misinformation about what the red light it supposed to mean. The red light is not supposed to mean "charging", it is supposed to mean "charged".

I know the red light is incredibly faulty/quirky. Mine comes on after 10 minutes, well before the unit is charged.

Nevertheless, I thought that people who are experiencing battery problems ought to know how the red light is supposed to function, if it were functioning correctly.

If people want to dispute the documentation then go for it

techie42 · 06-09-2010, 02:17 PM

My red light stayed on after disconnecting from my computer yesterday. It did not go off until I powered it on/off twice.

Wierd.
?!?

urbanite · 06-09-2010, 03:22 PM

I think they forgot to test the charging process when they were producing the unit. It's wonky. When I use an external charger (a BlackBerry one), the red light comes on after 10 minutes, and then turns off after about 3 hours. I assume that it's then charged (even though that's not what the manual says).

If I unplug the Kobo while the red light is still on, then it stays on until I cycle the power.

When I unplug the charger, I get the message that Kobo is "processing new content". Then all of my "unread" items in the "I'm reading" list --- these are subscriptions from Calibre --- get moved to my Books library. I've gotta get rid of those free 100 books, because it's a pain to find 5 different subscriptions sorted into the 120 books I now have!

I like the Kobo, but behaviour like this just leaves me shaking my head.

mwlcarter · 06-09-2010, 05:15 PM

I suspect the software developers had access to the specs and perhaps an emulator, but had very limited access to prototypes of the units to actually try their software on.

artificial · 06-09-2010, 06:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mwlcarter

I suspect the software developers had access to the specs and perhaps an emulator, but had very limited access to prototypes of the units to actually try their software on.

I hadn't thought about that but you're probably right. I was wondering to myself yesterday how it was possible to ship a product with so many bugs, especially when it is built on well established hardware (Netronix).

morpheusdreamin · 01-28-2011, 12:18 AM

I have a new Kobo Wireless. It's been plugged in for two hours so far, and both the blue and red lights are on, giving a purple effect.

WHAT DOES IT MEAN?!!?!

Hehehe.

sabredog · 01-28-2011, 12:52 AM

Still charging. The light goes fully blue once complete and it does take more than two hours if the battery is nearly discharged.

The age of the earlier posts indicates that they were discussing the original kobo with original firmware

SameerH · 01-28-2011, 01:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by morpheusdreamin

I have a new Kobo Wireless. It's been plugged in for two hours so far, and both the blue and red lights are on, giving a purple effect.

WHAT DOES IT MEAN?!!?!

Hehehe.

It should explain on the screen of the eReader when it's plugged in to charge. Red/Violet while charging, blue when charged.

morpheusdreamin · 01-28-2011, 02:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SameerH

It should explain on the screen of the eReader when it's plugged in to charge. Red/Violet while charging, blue when charged.

It does not explain that anywhere I've seen. I tried searching, but nothing was clear. It's very hard to find any solid details.

The light is now blue, so I assume it's done.

Anthem · 01-28-2011, 10:47 AM

Kobo Wi Fi:
Kobo eReader User Guide: "The status light turns blue when your eReader is fully charged."; " The light is red/violet when your eReader is charging. When the light turns blue your eReader is fully charged."

Kobo eReader Quick Start Guide: "Status Indicator Light: Red/violet indicates charging. Blue indicates full charge."

(Aren't you glad we aren't in the draconian original Kobo days anymore?)

Psyke · 01-28-2011, 03:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by morpheusdreamin

It does not explain that anywhere I've seen. I tried searching, but nothing was clear. It's very hard to find any solid details.

The light is now blue, so I assume it's done.

On the screen, it very clearly states:

Connected...
Your ereader is charging.
It can take up to 3 hours
to charge, but you can disconnect at
any time. THE STATUS LIGHT WILL TURN
BLUE WHEN FULLY CHARGED.

It really can't be explained simpler than this; If there is any color other than just blue, then it is not finished charging.

lindaf · 05-05-2011, 08:03 AM

I have charged my Kobo overnight, and this morning a red light was flashing. When I tried turning it on, nothing happens. The red light is now only flashing when I hold the power button, but the screen is completely blank.
Does anybody know what happened? Is my unit dead?

06-09-2010, 05:23 AM	#4
artificial Groupie Posts: 179 Karma: 6328 Join Date: May 2010 Location: Melbourne, Australia Device: Kobo eReader	My purpose with this post was to dispel any misinformation about what the red light it supposed to mean. The red light is not supposed to mean "charging", it is supposed to mean "charged". I know the red light is incredibly faulty/quirky. Mine comes on after 10 minutes, well before the unit is charged. Nevertheless, I thought that people who are experiencing battery problems ought to know how the red light is supposed to function, if it were functioning correctly. If people want to dispute the documentation then go for it Last edited by artificial; 06-09-2010 at 05:25 AM.

01-28-2011, 10:47 AM	#13
Anthem Guru Posts: 704 Karma: 1622328 Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: USA Device: Kindle Oasis, OnePlus Nord	Kobo Wi Fi: Kobo eReader User Guide: "The status light turns blue when your eReader is fully charged."; " The light is red/violet when your eReader is charging. When the light turns blue your eReader is fully charged." Kobo eReader Quick Start Guide: "Status Indicator Light: Red/violet indicates charging. Blue indicates full charge." (Aren't you glad we aren't in the draconian original Kobo days anymore?) Last edited by Anthem; 01-28-2011 at 10:50 AM.

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06-09-2010, 03:17 AM	#2
anidel Zealot Posts: 108 Karma: 188 Join Date: May 2010 Location: Montreal, QC Device: Kobo,Nokia N900	Well, not sure about that Today I was leaving the office and while waiting for my colleagues to join me I tried to turn the Kobo on. It was dead. Came home and connected it to my computer...the red light came on.. weird I thought. I also knew it was supposed to be off while charging. Anyway.. I left it (and actually is still connected) charging for the whole evening (from 6:30pm circa to now [11:15pm]) and the red light went off an hour ago or so (the time to watch an episode of 24 we had on the computer). Weird...

06-09-2010, 03:32 AM	#3
roguefan99 Zealot Posts: 106 Karma: 16 Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Adelaide, Australia Device: Smart Q7, and Kobo	I think everyones experience is different with this light. I have access to two kobos, and one of them the red light comes on when its charged, nothing happens when its charging. The other, the red light never comes on (unless when its starting up, and the blue light comes on just after it), even if I charge it over night (tried this twice). I can live with it because I tend to charge things often (and I have to plug it in to update Calibre Publications).

06-09-2010, 02:17 PM	#5
techie42 Zealot Posts: 138 Karma: 76 Join Date: May 2010 Location: Toronto Device: KOBO and iPad	My red light stayed on after disconnecting from my computer yesterday. It did not go off until I powered it on/off twice. Wierd. ?!?

06-09-2010, 03:22 PM	#6
urbanite Junior Member Posts: 9 Karma: 14 Join Date: May 2010 Location: Toronto Device: Kobo	I think they forgot to test the charging process when they were producing the unit. It's wonky. When I use an external charger (a BlackBerry one), the red light comes on after 10 minutes, and then turns off after about 3 hours. I assume that it's then charged (even though that's not what the manual says). If I unplug the Kobo while the red light is still on, then it stays on until I cycle the power. When I unplug the charger, I get the message that Kobo is "processing new content". Then all of my "unread" items in the "I'm reading" list --- these are subscriptions from Calibre --- get moved to my Books library. I've gotta get rid of those free 100 books, because it's a pain to find 5 different subscriptions sorted into the 120 books I now have! I like the Kobo, but behaviour like this just leaves me shaking my head.

06-09-2010, 05:15 PM	#7
mwlcarter Connoisseur Posts: 52 Karma: 10 Join Date: May 2010 Location: St. Catharines, ON Device: Kobo eReader	I suspect the software developers had access to the specs and perhaps an emulator, but had very limited access to prototypes of the units to actually try their software on.

01-28-2011, 12:18 AM	#9
morpheusdreamin Junior Member Posts: 8 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: Edmonton, Alberta Device: Kobo Wireless	I have a new Kobo Wireless. It's been plugged in for two hours so far, and both the blue and red lights are on, giving a purple effect. WHAT DOES IT MEAN?!!?! Hehehe.

01-28-2011, 12:52 AM	#10
sabredog Geographically Restricted Posts: 2,630 Karma: 14933353 Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Perth, Australia Device: Sony PRS-T3, Kindle Voyage, iPad Air2, Nexus7v2	Still charging. The light goes fully blue once complete and it does take more than two hours if the battery is nearly discharged. The age of the earlier posts indicates that they were discussing the original kobo with original firmware

05-05-2011, 08:03 AM	#15
lindaf Member Posts: 18 Karma: 108 Join Date: Jan 2011 Device: kobo 1 and kobo wifi	I have charged my Kobo overnight, and this morning a red light was flashing. When I tried turning it on, nothing happens. The red light is now only flashing when I hold the power button, but the screen is completely blank. Does anybody know what happened? Is my unit dead?