[Monsterlad]

Ok so a few days ago I noticed my playbook was being finicky with charging. I would plug it in and the lightning bolt wouldn't show up in the battery icon. I plugged it in again and it decided to work. Then yesterday It did the same thing but now it completely won't charge. I updated it again through desktop software and I got about halfway through the set up process before it said the battery's too low you need to charge it up to 20% before it can continue. I know there's nothing wrong with the charging cable or anything, as it works with my moms Kindle Fire. Can someone help? It's at 5% and I really have no clue as to what to do. Thanks.

[irrebkcalB]

Make sure your connection is clean.

[Tha.Housewife]

what ac adapter are you usinging. does it have a minimum 2amps output?... lots of people get confused and think its the playbook that has the problem...when its your charger. get a rapid charger or rapid charging dock. its worth the money... we all know that the flimsy usb port will eventually give out ...

I've won playbooks on ebay that were selling as "broken" or does not boot up... got one for 30$ just because someone didn't know what kinda charger to use so tyey listed it as broken. all I had to do was put it on my rapid charge dock for about 30 minutes then I was able to boot it up like new.

if you use the usb port to charge do not use ANYTHING else other than the oem charger that comes with the retail package. if your use anything else, even usb with the power plug adapter... you could really fk up your playbook. use only oem chargers if you want it to last.

also, try rebooting your playbook by holding the power button and the volume up button at the same time. this will hard boot your system. do it a few times and things will go back to normal... ( that is, if it the systems error, and not the power source error.)

[jrsegoviano]

The rapid charger that came with the playbook works erratically. I found that it only works on certain outlets (weird) so one day I tried the charger that came with my Samsung Camera and a blackberry USB cable it ouputs 550 mA and it works very well i usually charge it overnight and leave the rapid charger at work (that's one of the places it would work well) I also monitor the. Battery health using Battery Guru No problems so far.

[Monsterlad]

Does anyone know if I could use a standard micro USB cable and the wall charger that came with my iPhone? I don't care how long it takes to charge I just need it to eventually be charged

[dangerousfen]

Does anyone know if I could use a standard micro USB cable and the wall charger that came with my iPhone? I don't care how long it takes to charge I just need it to eventually be charged

You must use either the charger that came with the Playbook (yellow USB plug) or the rapid charger/dock which must be purchased separately. Do not use anything else.

[Chaddface]

Here in the states the USB plug is black. I woud agree if you're troubleshooting then the OEM Chargers would be the only way to go. They sell them(the one that came with the PB) at Walmart for around $15.

[dangerousfen]

Here in the states the USB plug is black..

Interesting. I thought that was the way BB distinguished the correct charger for the Playbook by using the yellow plug. You can buy the rapid charger in the UK for £15

[Cracklen]

Never seen a yellow plug for Pb, blackplug/silvery contacts combo up here in Canada too !

[dangerousfen]

Never seen a yellow plug for Pb, blackplug/silvery contacts combo up here in Canada too !

No wonder people are using the wrong charger at times then. Mine has a yellow moulded boot which is very distinct. I just assumed that they were all like that.

[F2]

You MAY be able to use other micro-usb type chargers. But ***MAY*** is the operative word. And if you are testing or checking on charging, then it is probably NOT a good idea to use any chargers other than those made for the pb, either the included adapter or the rapid charger (dock or travel).

The appearance of the Lightning Bolt does not necessarily mean it is really charging. It can appear and NO charge could be happening. So either check periodically by seeing the charge value increases (the light and bringing it out of Standby will slow charging). Battery Guru (in appworld) provides much better evidence that charging is occurring - not the lightning bolt but the values that it shows.

[jpash549]

OP: Since you say it worked before when assuming you were using the same cable and charger we can go on the theory that something has changed. Possibilities include damage to the micro usb port which can easily happen if the cable is plugged in upside down. The BB cable is plugged in with the BB symbol up (as you look at the screen) and the standard symbol down. The Playbook port is type AB which is shaped such that the plug can be inserted wrong side up. Don't have a Fire but assume it has a type B port which is shaped so that the plug can be inserted one way. Usually the plug is inserted with the standard symbol up. Other threads discuss how to inspect the port. Still another possibility is that even if this setup or the cord in another charger works with the Kindle the PB is having trouble recognizing it. The PB charger cord works with the data lines shorted together while for some other devices a specific resistance is required or the lines are shorted at the charger.

[Monsterlad]

Ok so I bought a new standard charger and also a rapid charger and tried them both. I had to update the OS through Desktop Software and then when it was done I had to go through with setting up the device again. I got about halfway through when it said It needed to be charged up to 20% before I could resume setting it up. I tried both chargers I got today and it STILL won't charge. I now know that it's not a charger problem but a problem with the Playbook itself. Any ideas what to do now?

[irrebkcalB]

Sounds like a hardware problem. Send it in for repair. QNX is almost bulletproof.

[F2]

Which type of rapid charger - Travel or dock? You can fiddle with the way the pb mates with the rapid charger and make sure that it is making good contact.

The PB has a one year warranty to the original purchaser. It also has 90 free Tech support. I do not know how Rim deals with "quasi-tech support v. warranty"

Rim Support
Tel:
Canada Toll Free: 1-877-644-8405
United States Toll Free: 1-877-644-8410
Puerto Rico Toll Free: 1-855-651-4936
Email: playbooksupport@blackberry.com (this route generally does not work and a call is necessary)

(UK Support) 0800 096 2805

Playbook French Support
Smartphones BlackBerry & Tablette Tactile - Modéles de BlackBerry FR - France
Phone : 0800 914 533 (within 90 days from activation)

[Monsterlad]

Guess I'll call the US support later. Ugh hope it's not someone that can barely speak English. Thanks everyone so much!

[oilgeo10]

How long have you owned your PlayBook and how many charge cycles would be on it? The battery may have reached it's useful life and need replacement. PB parts like a battery can only be found used online like ebay.

[Monsterlad]

I've had it since September. Doubt it's been charged through the 400-something charge cycle life of the battery but oh well calling cust. service in a few hours.

[peteygrizz]

My PlayBook has a different problem since upgrading to .1526. It won't charge on the rapid charging dock, but charges just fine on just about any micro usb wall charger whether the PlayBook's original or any phone right down to 500 mA. It just takes longer on lower output chargers.

This happened right after an update of the developer beta too, went away after official 2.1 release, and returned upon upgrade to .1526. The icon shows as charging but will steadily lose power until completely dead. Connections are clean and undamaged.

It is not a big deal sinve it chargers with the cables, but it's annoying to have the dock sitting there completely useless.

[bbvj]

My problem is similar but started with the update to .1526. I posted the following on a new thread last night (I missed this one when I checked), and I'm still hoping for a helpful response:

"We have two 64 gb PBs, and updated both (to .1526). One no longer recognizes rapid charger and battery continues to drain. Tried hard reset several times with no success. Tried plugging/unplugging (stacking?) also no success. Just performed security wipe and it is now updating os but still does not recognize charger (down to 45%.....please help!"

It's now down to 34% charge. Security wipe and os update are complete. It still does not recognize rapid charger or usb, and continues draining battery. We've had these since original rollout, but this has never happened before. Any ideas short of sending it in for repair? (FYI, we did back up both PBs before dating.)

[F2]

If you really believe it was the UPDATE that caused this - contact rim and try getting through without having to pay for assistance.

[newcollector]

last year my Playbook stopped charging through the usb. The port on my PlayBook had become loose.. I contacted RIM (it was a person who spoke clear English). and they were exceedingly helpful. They sent me a packing box, paid the postage for me to send in my unit. I expected my fixed PlayBook back in a couple of weeks. Instead I got a brand new PlayBook. The customer service was excellent and I couldn't be happier.

[wafa510]

Interesting. My rapid charger gave me problems for the first time yesterday. Stopped working and then I plugged it into a different outlet and it worked. Plugged it back in after that to the original outlet and it has been working fine since. I thought it was only me...how strange.

[Chaddface]

Interesting. My rapid charger gave me problems for the first time yesterday. Stopped working and then I plugged it into a different outlet and it worked. Plugged it back in after that to the original outlet and it has been working fine since. I thought it was only me...how strange.

After reading your post I recall a few times where the rapid charger would not do anything. After unplugging and plugging in the same outlet it started working again. Strange indeed.

[Monsterlad]

I finally was able to fix it somewhat. Posting from my playbook now actually-but anyway the way I fixed it was I would press the power button and while still holding it I'd put the usb in and keep putting it in and out a few times. It finally powered on and said it was charging so I let it sit till it got to 21% then I could continue the set up. So it works now and everything. I figure my usb plug is loose because I have to wiggle with usb in alot before it starts charging but either way it works now!