More K1 Battery Problems

Paul in Saudi · 11-20-2009, 09:30 AM

This is strange. The best thing about the Kindle is the long battery life.

But it is a K1 and so when the battery indicator started to show drainage with normal use, I bought a new battery. I plugged it in overnight and it works fine.

Except the meter still shows drainage. I have not gotten through today's New York Times and the meter shows me at about 80%. How can that be? I have not run the battery flat with normal use, but I have my annual transAtlantic commute coming up and want to be able to read for the whole 12 hours.

Darn odd.

KlondikeGeoff · 11-20-2009, 11:03 AM

Are you sure your Whispernet switch has not accidentally been turned on?

Also, despite what the battery indicator shows, can you go the usual time (7-8 days) without getting the message that it needs recharging? If so, forget the indicator.

One thing to try: take the battery out and put it back in. Then do a hard reset, and no matter what the indicator shows, plug it in and give it at least two hours charging. See if that fixes it.

How long did the original battery last? I bought an extra just in case, but even with heavy reading daily, and my K1 being more than one year old, the first battery is still plugging along perfectly. I did plug in the new bettery and charged it, just to be sure it worked, and then set it aside.

Sydney's Mom · 11-20-2009, 11:39 AM

I just got a new battery, and put it in, and was surprised to see it was charged. But it is going down quickly - I assume once I fully charge it, it will have the same long life as my original battery.

The one thing I did notice is that it seems so much faster. Or it could just be it is warming up. This kindle was sitting out of battery with about 10 books on it for about 10 months. Then I lost my kindle, put 650 books on it, and it was SLOW. So either the new battery is helping, or it is just getting used to it. I remember my original kindle had to be reset quite often when I first got it, then it seemed to adjust to all the books.

Paul in Saudi · 11-20-2009, 11:49 AM

I just got back to my desk and see the indicator is at 50%! How can it lose charge just sitting there?

Hard reset? With a paperclip? Let me give that a try.

Paul in Saudi · 11-20-2009, 12:17 PM

I just got off the phone with Kindle Support. He had me do a hard reset while the K1 was plugged in. (Being plugged in seemed important.) No joy, although oddly my Kindle is now updating software for some reason.

Paul in Saudi · 11-20-2009, 03:16 PM

Now all content is also gone. I have been in contact with Kindle support three times and am awaiting a call back.

Hope your weekend is starting better than mine.

kindlekitten · 11-21-2009, 01:39 AM

oh dear! I've had some battery problems with my first K1 as well, but had chalked it up to user error... now I'm wondering...

Sydney's Mom · 11-21-2009, 11:25 AM

Paul, if you put a lot of books on it all at once (I did 600) it seems to lose power very quickly indexing all of the books. This happened more than once, but it appears to have settled down. I hope you have worked your problem out.

Paul in Saudi · 11-21-2009, 12:17 PM

What is odd is that I had two problems in one day. They must be related. FIrst I called about the odd drainage of the battery. Then I did a hard reset and all the content went bye-bye.

Even odder is that I can see the content on Content Manager by cannot transfer them to the onboard memory.

I want it fixed, but I also hope Amazon Help can explain to me what is happening.

Sydney's Mom · 11-21-2009, 12:29 PM

Did you turn off the kindle while inserting or removing the SD card? I forgot once, and it would not recognize the card. I reinserted while off, and everything is fine.

Paul in Saudi · 11-21-2009, 08:39 PM

I may have it fixed. I got through to a service guy who had me do a factory reset (Up + Alt + R) and then delete the after-market screen savers I had installed. Once that was done, I was able to move content from Content Manager to the Kindle memory.

I began transferring stuff a few hours ago and it ought to be done by now. I will check when I go upstairs.

Sydney's Mom · 11-21-2009, 09:19 PM

Glad you are working - what a relief. Hopefully the battery will be okay for your plane ride.

Paul in Saudi · 11-27-2009, 10:03 AM

Time for an update; it is important that we share our experiences here, especially the strange ones with each other.

I am now on Gregory's 5th Kindle. You have to admire the replacement policy.

Despite all sorts of resets and a new battery Kindle #4 still showed weird batter drainage. Since it was out of warrantee, they charged me $95 for a reconditioned (I suppose) K1. Fair enough.

All my content, save one or two New York Times editions made it to the new machine just fine.

I have no idea what caused the battery problem. It persisted even with the wireless turned off. That implies a hardware issue. Along the way I did remove the custom screensavers; they seemed to conflict with a recent software upgrade.

So all seems well at the moment, although I would have been happier if we could have identified the problem with more certainty. Off I go to Saudi with a new K1.

Thank you all for the help.

11-20-2009, 09:30 AM	#1
Paul in Saudi Connoisseur Posts: 55 Karma: 61 Join Date: Jan 2008 Device: Amazon Kindle	More K1 Battery Problems This is strange. The best thing about the Kindle is the long battery life. But it is a K1 and so when the battery indicator started to show drainage with normal use, I bought a new battery. I plugged it in overnight and it works fine. Except the meter still shows drainage. I have not gotten through today's New York Times and the meter shows me at about 80%. How can that be? I have not run the battery flat with normal use, but I have my annual transAtlantic commute coming up and want to be able to read for the whole 12 hours. Darn odd.

11-20-2009, 11:39 AM	#3
Sydney's Mom Wizard Posts: 2,895 Karma: 6995721 Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Idaho, on the side of a mountain Device: Kindle Oasis, Fire 3d Gen and 5th Gen and Samsung Tab S	I just got a new battery, and put it in, and was surprised to see it was charged. But it is going down quickly - I assume once I fully charge it, it will have the same long life as my original battery. The one thing I did notice is that it seems so much faster. Or it could just be it is warming up. This kindle was sitting out of battery with about 10 books on it for about 10 months. Then I lost my kindle, put 650 books on it, and it was SLOW. So either the new battery is helping, or it is just getting used to it. I remember my original kindle had to be reset quite often when I first got it, then it seemed to adjust to all the books. Last edited by Sydney's Mom; 11-21-2009 at 11:21 AM.

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11-20-2009, 11:03 AM	#2
KlondikeGeoff Wombat Aficionado Posts: 481 Karma: 733 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Arizona Device: Fire, Kindle1, Sony PRS-500 Reader, Rocket 1100 eBook	Are you sure your Whispernet switch has not accidentally been turned on? Also, despite what the battery indicator shows, can you go the usual time (7-8 days) without getting the message that it needs recharging? If so, forget the indicator. One thing to try: take the battery out and put it back in. Then do a hard reset, and no matter what the indicator shows, plug it in and give it at least two hours charging. See if that fixes it. How long did the original battery last? I bought an extra just in case, but even with heavy reading daily, and my K1 being more than one year old, the first battery is still plugging along perfectly. I did plug in the new bettery and charged it, just to be sure it worked, and then set it aside.

11-20-2009, 11:49 AM	#4
Paul in Saudi Connoisseur Posts: 55 Karma: 61 Join Date: Jan 2008 Device: Amazon Kindle	I just got back to my desk and see the indicator is at 50%! How can it lose charge just sitting there? Hard reset? With a paperclip? Let me give that a try.

11-20-2009, 12:17 PM	#5
Paul in Saudi Connoisseur Posts: 55 Karma: 61 Join Date: Jan 2008 Device: Amazon Kindle	I just got off the phone with Kindle Support. He had me do a hard reset while the K1 was plugged in. (Being plugged in seemed important.) No joy, although oddly my Kindle is now updating software for some reason.

11-20-2009, 03:16 PM	#6
Paul in Saudi Connoisseur Posts: 55 Karma: 61 Join Date: Jan 2008 Device: Amazon Kindle	Now all content is also gone. I have been in contact with Kindle support three times and am awaiting a call back. Hope your weekend is starting better than mine.

11-21-2009, 01:39 AM	#7
kindlekitten Professional Adventuress Posts: 13,368 Karma: 50260224 Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: The Olympic Peninsula on the OTHER Washington! (the big green clean one on the west coast!) Device: Kindle, the original! Times Two! and gifting an International Kindle	oh dear! I've had some battery problems with my first K1 as well, but had chalked it up to user error... now I'm wondering...

11-21-2009, 11:25 AM	#8
Sydney's Mom Wizard Posts: 2,895 Karma: 6995721 Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Idaho, on the side of a mountain Device: Kindle Oasis, Fire 3d Gen and 5th Gen and Samsung Tab S	Paul, if you put a lot of books on it all at once (I did 600) it seems to lose power very quickly indexing all of the books. This happened more than once, but it appears to have settled down. I hope you have worked your problem out.

11-21-2009, 12:17 PM	#9
Paul in Saudi Connoisseur Posts: 55 Karma: 61 Join Date: Jan 2008 Device: Amazon Kindle	What is odd is that I had two problems in one day. They must be related. FIrst I called about the odd drainage of the battery. Then I did a hard reset and all the content went bye-bye. Even odder is that I can see the content on Content Manager by cannot transfer them to the onboard memory. I want it fixed, but I also hope Amazon Help can explain to me what is happening.

11-21-2009, 12:29 PM	#10
Sydney's Mom Wizard Posts: 2,895 Karma: 6995721 Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Idaho, on the side of a mountain Device: Kindle Oasis, Fire 3d Gen and 5th Gen and Samsung Tab S	Did you turn off the kindle while inserting or removing the SD card? I forgot once, and it would not recognize the card. I reinserted while off, and everything is fine.

11-21-2009, 08:39 PM	#11
Paul in Saudi Connoisseur Posts: 55 Karma: 61 Join Date: Jan 2008 Device: Amazon Kindle	I may have it fixed. I got through to a service guy who had me do a factory reset (Up + Alt + R) and then delete the after-market screen savers I had installed. Once that was done, I was able to move content from Content Manager to the Kindle memory. I began transferring stuff a few hours ago and it ought to be done by now. I will check when I go upstairs.

11-21-2009, 09:19 PM	#12
Sydney's Mom Wizard Posts: 2,895 Karma: 6995721 Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Idaho, on the side of a mountain Device: Kindle Oasis, Fire 3d Gen and 5th Gen and Samsung Tab S	Glad you are working - what a relief. Hopefully the battery will be okay for your plane ride.

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11-27-2009, 10:03 AM	#13
Paul in Saudi Connoisseur Posts: 55 Karma: 61 Join Date: Jan 2008 Device: Amazon Kindle	Time for an update; it is important that we share our experiences here, especially the strange ones with each other. I am now on Gregory's 5th Kindle. You have to admire the replacement policy. Despite all sorts of resets and a new battery Kindle #4 still showed weird batter drainage. Since it was out of warrantee, they charged me $95 for a reconditioned (I suppose) K1. Fair enough. All my content, save one or two New York Times editions made it to the new machine just fine. I have no idea what caused the battery problem. It persisted even with the wireless turned off. That implies a hardware issue. Along the way I did remove the custom screensavers; they seemed to conflict with a recent software upgrade. So all seems well at the moment, although I would have been happier if we could have identified the problem with more certainty. Off I go to Saudi with a new K1. Thank you all for the help.