[sjon888]

Can somebody help me out i got my playbook last october 2011 its all fine until a week ago, it wont charge more than 80-82%, the first time i noticed it i didnt mind coz i said to myself maybe just a glitch or something but i was wrong it stayed that way up until now. i tried draining it then charge, overnight charging, security swipe, nothing works still just charge up to 82% with the battery icon that has the lightning bolt. and also tried turning it off and charge still the same the led just glows green and fades, glows, fades even for more than 6 hours. can some one please help me out been loving my playbook since the 2.0 update

[Chaddface]

It seems you tried everything I would have suggested.
Did you drain it until it shuts off? Have you tried a different charger?

[sjon888]

yes i also tried draining it 'til it died... used also a different charger still the same =(

[Chaddface]

Do you remember the approximate percentage remaining when auto shut down occurred?

Before you call RIM you might want to try the debrick method to reinstall the OS. They will probably have you do this anyway.

Plug in the PB(turned off) to the PC with Desktop manager already running. You will get a popup with the option to update. Be sure to backup before because it will completely wipe the PB. Also be sure you charged up as much as possible.

[PMF76]

I had this same problem. I reset my playbook to factory defaults and it work. A pain in the ars, but it worked.

[sjon888]

bro how did you do the reset to factory defaults? a step by step would be nice, non techie here

[Chaddface]

bro how did you do the reset to factory defaults? a step by step would be nice, non techie here

Plug in the PB(turned off) to the PC with Desktop manager already running. You will get a popup with the option to update. Be sure to backup before because it will completely wipe the PB. Also be sure you charged up as much as possible.

[sjon888]

oh ok i'll try, thanks

[sjon888]

hey guys it didnt work it charge up to 83% though... so this means must be a hardware problem? didnt even last a year <_<

[peter9477]

If you grab my Battery Guru app, you can check the battery voltage when it stops charging. If it reads around 4.2V, then it really is charging fully and the issue is more likely software, specifically the "calibration" of the battery level indicator. The battery should swing between 3.4V when it's considered drained, to 4.2V or just under that when full.

You could also try a "drain test" to measure the actual life of the battery, and that would tell you whether it's basically functioning properly (adequate capacity) and, again, it's merely showing a wrong reading.

[sjon888]

Hi peter9477
I tried your app and it says
Battery voltage 3.77v @ 58% , power @ 2.92w
Battery health 89%
Recharge count 94 times
Charger type none

I'll try your drain test, hope it will calibrate it

[peter9477]

Sjon888 what will matter if the calibration is off is the voltage at empty and at full (as full as you can get it). Please report those here or send me the export file after doing the drain test.

[sjon888]

Ok will do, thanks for helping

[jamaster96]

Basically, was having the same problem, so drained my playbook, only now no charger i use will charge it! Tried all of them and also noticed that my pb charger doesnt even wrok on my phone anymore! Anyone help me?

[FF22]

Are you sure that the electric socket is working?

Here's something I've captured:

Do a stack charge on it. Plug it in to the charger for about 2 minutes. Then unplug it for about 2 minutes. Repeat 6-12 times. I was told over customer support (when I had to do this to my moms PlayBook for the same flashing leds) that the hardware requires a certain amount of battery for it to recognize the power supply is plugged in to charge it. If it dies so low that the hardware can't recognize it, then it doesn't charge it. Doing it this way will slowly charge it a little at a time until it gets enough battery for that hardware to recognize it's charging. From there it will charge like normal.

[sjon888]

i tried everything it didnt work.. guess i have to live with it or send it to a service center... really sucks coz a year hasnt pass yet and its already faulty, i love my pb but i hate the one who manufactured it, distribute it, and the one who sold me! WHY IT HAS TO BE THIS FAULTY UNIT!

[Real Estate Appraiser]

From my experience the charging issues with the playbook tend to stem from the charger itself. I have 3 chargers in my house and a usb-computer cord. 2 of the 3 chargers are for blackberry phones that I have. These cords will not fully charge the playbook and they take forever for the playbook to charge. The one cord that came with the playbook charges it 100% and does this significantly faster than the other two cords. The USB is really slow to charge.