1. Malachi.2.15's Avatar
    For a little background, I picked up a 64gb playbook way back on release day. I used it constantly for a long time with it bridged to my 9930. The combination could not be beat!!! The problem was that I had to share it with my kids as they loved playing on it as much as I did. I picked up a second playbook from ebay approximately a year or so after release for $50 specifically for the kids. It had a broken USB port...but that was no issue with my rapid charger. Fast forward to today...since getting my Z10 and then Z30, I used my playbook less and less until it finally became just my kids. The problem is I have more than 2 kids...

    I'm invested in the blackberry ecosystem so it made sense to pick up a few more playbooks for the kids to have. I went back to ebay and found an essentially pristine 16gb playbook for only $20 shipped. Of course it was so cheap, because it "wouldn't power on." I'm well aware of the playbook dead battery issue so I thought I would go ahead and pick it up for $20. It showed up just as the seller said it would...great condition with no scratches, but it just wouldn't power on. When it was first plugged into my rapid charger, it would give me the standard steady red light followed by the 5 blinking green/yellow lights. I set out to start stack charging it...

    TIP - If you are stack charging a playbook and feel that you have reached the end....that it will never ever work...that the playbook must truly be dead...don't give up, your only half way there!!!!!!

    I took it to work and throughout the day just continually disconnected and reconnected the charger...over and over...and over...and over...and over again. I FINALLY saw the red light go out but it was not followed by the evil green/yellow lights....the boot screen came up!!! Woohoo!!!

    The playbook completed booting up and started charging normally (it initially showed 0% battery). While it was charging, I was now curious what tale this resurrected playbook would tell. What apps were installed, what OS did it have, any old pictures or videos that were thought lost when the playbook had "died?" In the end, the playbook revealed that in its previous life it had been a floor demo model in a best buy store. There were pictures/videos of the store and customers that were taken by the customers. It had the original OS installed. From what I could tell (based mostly on the browser history), this playbook had died way back in April of 2011. Now with me and my family it had new life and a new purpose!!! Once it had enough of a charge, I did a security wipe, reloaded the latest and greatest software, and downloaded games for the kids. It has truly become a very loved member of the family and shows no residual issues from its long death.

    In truth because of my ability to be able to resurrect one playboook, I bought two more and also resurrected them (remember the tip...don't EVER give up when stack charging...my third one took a loooooonnnnnngggggg time). They came from the same ebay vendor...another 16gb ($20/shipped) and a 32gb ($26/shipped). They also told similar tales of being best buy demo models that hadn't seen life since April/May 2011 and now have also become beloved members of my family.

    Long live the playbook!
    Last edited by Malachi.2.15; 07-02-14 at 12:36 PM. Reason: fixed typo
    Banco, mas_quemex, FF22 and 1 others like this.
    07-02-14 10:03 AM
  2. pkcable's Avatar
    Well good for you! I'm tempted to sell you my coaster PlayBook!
    Carl Estes likes this.
    07-02-14 10:13 AM
  3. jellybeen's Avatar
    Congrats on your success.
    What do you mean by stack charging

    Posted via CB10
    07-02-14 10:18 AM
  4. eddy_berry's Avatar
    My PlayBook is now my alarm clock. An alarm clock that can surf the Web, play games and edit documents. Best Alarm clock ever.

    Posted via CB10
    Carl Estes, mas_quemex and FF22 like this.
    07-02-14 10:26 AM
  5. Old_Mil's Avatar
    Congrats on your success.
    What do you mean by stack charging

    Posted via CB10
    I wonder this as well...
    07-02-14 10:31 AM
  6. kbz1960's Avatar
    Stack charging is plugging it in for 2 minutes, unplug for 2. Rinse and repeat for a long time. It's best to use a power strip and use the button for on and off.
    Carl Estes and Black_Knight like this.
    07-02-14 10:39 AM
  7. helopilot06's Avatar
    I had my playbook packed for a while after moving and had to stack charge it on a 30 on 30 off cycle and it came back in 4 cycles. Had been dead for about 7 months

    Sent from my ALCATEL ONE TOUCH 5020T using CB Forums mobile app
    07-02-14 11:04 AM
  8. Malachi.2.15's Avatar
    Stack charging is plugging it in for 2 minutes, unplug for 2. Rinse and repeat for a long time. It's best to use a power strip and use the button for on and off.
    This was one "recommended" way to stack charge. I had also seen another crackberry poster state that he/she had put a multimeter on the playbook and only seen a minute worth of charge going in. For my first resurrected playbook, I initially went with a minute charging followed by a disconnect/reconnect and another minute charge. When I had hit the frustration point that it would never ever work, I just went with plugging it in, observing the red light, disconnecting it (not even waiting for the evil green/yellow lights), and reconnecting it. After several cycles of that method...bingo, it started to boot. For my second and third resurrected playbooks, I just went with having it plugged in while the red light was on with an immediate disconnect/reconnect....did the trick.

    The rapid charger is the way to go. If you don't have one, they are only like $10 on ebay these days. Also, I did the power strip method for a while, but found that there was a slight delay as the charger spooled up/down when I flipped the power strip switch. Disconnecting/reconnecting the rapid charger was just as quick, if not quicker, and I didn't run worked better for ensuring I got a charge cycle.

    Also FYI...here is the vendor I purchased all of mine from: amazing_laptops on eBay

    He has scratch and dent 16gb playbooks at $15.72 shipped...they go up in price if they are clean or are 32gb. The vendor has good pictures and description so you know what you're getting.
    07-02-14 12:52 PM
  9. Malachi.2.15's Avatar
    Congrats on your success.
    What do you mean by stack charging

    Posted via CB10
    It just hit me that I may need to clarify this one as well...

    A playbook charging is actually controlled by the OS. The problem occurs when the battery gets too low to actually boot the playbook into a state it can accept a charge. This is what the 5 green/yellow flashes mean...that they OS can't boot. So because the system doesn't have enough power to accept a charge, it stops taking a charge. We now have the catch 22 going on...it needs to boot to charge, but it doesn't have enough charge to boot. ie...dead playbook.

    The work around is that actually a little trickle of a charge goes in when a charger is first connected before the BIOS realizes that it can't boot up to control the charge and shuts down the charging. So, if you continue to connect/reconnect the charger it ever so slowly builds up the charge to a level that they playbook can boot and finally charge normally.
    mas_quemex, FF22 and dmlis like this.
    07-02-14 01:12 PM
  10. awindsr's Avatar
    Stack charged with what charger?
    Can you get the same results using the rapid charger using the magnetic contacts?
    07-07-14 09:49 PM
  11. Malachi.2.15's Avatar
    Stack charged with what charger?
    Can you get the same results using the rapid charger using the magnetic contacts?
    That's what I used.

    Posted via CB10
    awindsr likes this.
    07-08-14 04:10 AM
  12. mas_quemex's Avatar
    Great tip OP !

    After handling the amazing 5" Z3 for a while, I am now convinced that Playbook should be resurrected in 10" form ideally. It has a fighting chance. BB 10 gestures are a perfect fit for large displays.
    07-09-14 12:35 AM

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