Touch Battery recharge problem

[mXb]

I appear to be having a problem with my Touch telling me that the battery needs recharging when it doesn't !

I have noticed for a few weeks that it tells me to recharge when the battery icon still shows about a half charge.

A couple of days ago it suddenly switched to the recharge needed page and this was only about 2 days after I gave it a full charge.

When I recharged it yet again until the tick appeared, it took only 10 mins !

Does this sound like a hardware fault rather than a problem with the up to date firmware ?

[TechniSol]

Have you tried running it all the way down and charging it fully a few times? I believe that's the recommended procedure to reset the battery gauge. If that doesn't do it, maybe a reset would be in order? I suppose the worst case is that the battery could be going south?

[Mrs_Often]

Originally Posted by TechniSol

Have you tried running it all the way down and charging it fully a few times? I believe that's the recommended procedure to reset the battery gauge. If that doesn't do it, maybe a reset would be in order? I suppose the worst case is that the battery could be going south?

If that worked, it would be the battery gauge indeed... but, what mXb describes seems, to me, like the battery gauge is fine, it's just something else that causes the Touch to think that the battery is dead (and it's clearly not, since a full charge took 10 mins and it was charged two days ago)... no previous battery life problems I'm assuming as you don't mention it?

Could it be that the (physical) battery connection is wonky? I'd open it up and have a look.

[mXb]

Originally Posted by TechniSol

Have you tried running it all the way down and charging it fully a few times? I believe that's the recommended procedure to reset the battery gauge. If that doesn't do it, maybe a reset would be in order? I suppose the worst case is that the battery could be going south?

How can I run it all the way down as when it switches to the "recharge needed" page all you can do is plug it in for recharge.....unless there is a way of bypassing that page and, as you say running the battery down further ?

As Mrs_Often says it looks like whatever monitors the charge of the battery is incorrectly thinking the battery is flat when it isn't, rather than the battery being worn out and not holding a charge....and as the Touch is only 14 months old I assume the battery should last longer than that !

Do the batteries in a Touch suffer with "memory" problems ?

and how do you open up it up....safely ?

[Mrs_Often]

Originally Posted by mXb

Do the batteries in a Touch suffer with "memory" problems ?

and how do you open up it up....safely ?

Not that I know of. My Touch is also 14 months old (no, 15 already), and the battery is still going strong. I'm really thinking your battery connection is wonky some how.

To open up: the back pops off. You can open it with a fingernail if it's long enough, or a thin guitar pick or anything else flat that's soft enough to not cause scratches. If you start form near the on/off slider it should work best. You might have to pull harder than you'd like, but there's nothing in the way that can break.

[mXb]

Thanks, I'll keep that in mind...

[jackastor]

Originally Posted by mXb

How can I run it all the way down as when it switches to the "recharge needed" page all you can do is plug it in for recharge.....unless there is a way of bypassing that page and, as you say running the battery down further ?

As Mrs_Often says it looks like whatever monitors the charge of the battery is incorrectly thinking the battery is flat when it isn't, rather than the battery being worn out and not holding a charge....and as the Touch is only 14 months old I assume the battery should last longer than that !

Do the batteries in a Touch suffer with "memory" problems ?

and how do you open up it up....safely ?

If that happens just use the reset button located at the bottom of the device and let it reboot.

Regards,


jack

[nipsy]

I've been getting the same thing on mine, and mines about the same age. I held the power switch for 5 secs and it rebooted and I had 80% battery.

I've been recharging it up till now thinking it was actually flat, but this time it did it 2 days after I charged it.

Not sure if its hardware or software.

[mXb]

Originally Posted by jackastor

If that happens just use the reset button located at the bottom of the device and let it reboot.

Regards,


jack

I'll keep that idea in mind also.

Originally Posted by nipsy

I've been getting the same thing on mine, and mines about the same age. I held the power switch for 5 secs and it rebooted and I had 80% battery.

I've been recharging it up till now thinking it was actually flat, but this time it did it 2 days after I charged it.

Not sure if its hardware or software.

As it seems new firmware is being released we maybe about to find out if it's a software problem.

At the moment my Touch is around the same charge level it was before when it stated it needed a recharge, so if it does it again I'll try jackastor's method.

[Shai-Hulud]

Uggg. Yet another Kobo power problem

[nipsy]

Well since I rebooted it about 2 weeks ago, it hasn't done it again. So here's hoping that the good old "turn it off and back on again" fixed it.

Failing that lets hope the new firmware does.

[mXb]

Just got the recharge screen again, but the battery charge seems to have lasted longer than last time, although the icon still showed about a third full.

Tried jackastor's idea about a pinhole reset, but nothing happened.

My Kobo Desktop finally updated to the new firmware, so presumably when I synch my Touch that will also update to it's new firmware......think I'll leave it for a few days

Elsewhere on this forum someone says Kobo suggest charging for 5 hours to get the battery charged completely and a more accurate indication of charge.

I left it on wall outlet charge yesterday for 9 hours. I will see if that makes any difference......

[Shai-Hulud]

Originally Posted by mXb

Elsewhere on this forum someone says Kobo suggest charging for 5 hours to get the battery charged completely and a more accurate indication of charge.

I left it on wall outlet charge yesterday for 9 hours. I will see if that makes any difference......

Most electronic devices require 3 complete charge/discharge cycles to calibrate the battery. Yet having complied, I found my battery barely lasts a week on full charge and the indicator is very unreliable regardless of care taken when charging. Mine recently went from 62% to 'Please charge your Ereader' in under 12 hours. When I stuck the lead in, I immediately checked the battery level and it claimed it was at 12%. I doubt slinging a dart over your shoulder at a dartboard with percentages on it would be any less accurate.

[Mrs_Often]

Originally Posted by Shai-Hulud

I doubt slinging a dart over your shoulder at a dartboard with percentages on it would be any less accurate.

[TechniSol]

Yeah, they might need a little work on the charge algorithm... My Glo went from 80% downloading new firmware at the local library to 96% as soon as I plugged a USB cable between it and my Android tablet. Not exactly reassuring and makes me wonder if their whole approach to battery level monitoring was just to hang a voltage divider and A/D converter across the battery and show a percentage based on current voltage level vs. selected high and low end points... Oh well, they aren't charging the battery pack of an unmanned satellite in geosynchronous orbit or anything, but maybe they could put just a little more effort in on the battery metering.