New charging problem

I have browsed through some of the other charging related threads but did not see this problem. Forgive me if it has been posted before.
I recently bought one of the rapid chargers that use the 3 pin magnetic contacts, not the charging pod but the little one that snaps right to the playbook.
For the first week things worked beautifully, the charging was smooth and convenient.
These last few days however I noticed that the playbook was not charging though when using this charger. Typically I use the playbook all day and before I go to bed I connect it to the charger so when I grab it in the morning it is fully charged.
Now here is the part I have not seen posted on the forums. When I hook up the charger the little lightening bolt icon shows on the battery image so I know it is connected and appears to be charging. But after hours of charging the playbook has actually gone down a few percent in its charge.
I have tried both a soft and hard restart but that has not changed the situation.
Could it be due to a recent update I just installed? It was just a 3MB update from RIM. Does it matter what direction the charger is connected? It will snap on with the power cord facing the middle of the playbook as well as facing out away from the Centre.
The weird thing is I can charge the unit to my phones car charger and it actually charges pretty fast if I am not using it.

Anybody else experience this with the rapid charger and how did you remedy it?

Recently I've experienced the same with the charging pod for the PlayBook. I actually have 2 pods at different locations, so I keep it in the chargers when not in use. Now I only get a partial charge or a discharge from both pods. I make sure I see the lightning bolt so it is inserted correctly. I haven't had time to examine what is going on, and just using a micro-usb charger.

The 3 pins are not completely connecting. Happened to me a couple of times. I use Battery Guru and it tells me the voltage during charge so I know the lightning bolt on the battery is real. For me, if the cord is to the left, my charging works well. To the right, it's hit and miss.

This is a reported problem and it is NOT app related. Look at your little connector plug - one of the 3 springloaded pins will be LOWER than the others. If ONLY 2 pins make contact, you get what I call the False Lightning Bolt. Sometimes pressing the PIN in/out, using a toothpick or probe will loosen it. Or spray it with one of those electronic circuit cleaners and work it in/out. You can also clean the contacts on the pb.

Or jiggle the plug. One thing that can help determine if it is really charging is getting Battery Guru. Not only will it show "Cradle" as the charging method but if you watch it for about a minute (usually less), you will see the CHARGE rating and it the number goes up toward 9 W(atts). You can also see its graphic take a slight rise.

^^ What he said.

I had the same issue. I had to jiggle one pin and retry several times before it cleared up. No problems since.

Thanks doctorevil and f2, I found the sticking pin and got it to release. Also, thanks for the heads up for battery guru.

I just experienced the same problem as the OP, and this thread was spot on as to the cause & fix. Thanks!

Yes this solution worked. I have read in other threads about playing with the charger pins with a toothpick but did not notice any recessed or bent pins on my charger. However I did not realize that the pins actually moved up and down or the you could get a false lightening bolt due to just 2 pins making contact. When I started poking the pins one was actually stuck and not moving, it began moving properly once I gave it a little push with the toothpick. Now it appear the charger is working normally. Thanks for the great advise and speedy feedback.

Originally Posted by craigs

Yes this solution worked. I have read in other threads about playing with the charger pins with a toothpick but did not notice any recessed or bent pins on my charger. However I did not realize that the pins actually moved up and down or the you could get a false lightening bolt due to just 2 pins making contact. When I started poking the pins one was actually stuck and not moving, it began moving properly once I gave it a little push with the toothpick. Now it appear the charger is working normally. Thanks for the great advise and speedy feedback.

Glad to help. Not sure why the "two pin" contact causes the false lightning signal. I can almost always cause it with my pb in an Otterbox case. The case interferes if I try running the wire off to the right so that the plug does not make full contact and I can almost always get the Lightning Bolt (false) but NO charging.

In some cases, the pin might NOT move enough or the spring does not appear to bounce back. Peter, developer of Battery Guru mentioned above, actually dissected his POD (the stand version of the rapid charger) and pushed the low pin up manually from within the electrical connector.

I have a charging problem but is the usb port that does not wrk. Im thinking of buying the traveling charger because its the only other source that I can charge my playbook with. And if it does not work either, what can I do? I havent use my playbook in a long time its dead and It cant be charged. Any advice? Or comments?