Strange charging dock problem. (until it's renamed)

I posted a while ago that my charging dock had stopped working. Last night out of boredom I took it apart and realised not surprisingly that apart from a small circuit board that jumps connections from the input plug to the output plug, it was a direct connection so why had it stopped working? The answer I found was a loose connection on the output side so after correcting that and putting the dock back together I tried my pb on the dock. Big smiles as the screen brightness increase and the little charging symbol appeared on the battery icon.

Spurred on by my major achievement a made a visit to the cellar and sat listening to Elgar whilst watching my pb happily sat in the dock charging away. At this point both I and the pb were feeling very happy and quite enjoying the evening. When I placed my beloved pb in the dock the battery icon was displaying an almost non existent battery charge level in red and I had already received the low battery warning. As the evening progressed my little pb responded to the music (now changed to Rachmaninoff) by increasing the display on the battery icon from red, to yellow and then green. Feeling even more pride in my success I made another trip to the cellar. After approximately two and a half hours of elation my pb decided to end the party abruptly by displaying a message stating that it was unable to charge with the connection and stopped charging. I took the pb out of the dock and connected it directly to the charging cable connected to the dock. It started charging perfectly. Reassemble the pb in the dock and reconnect the charging cable to get the same error message about not being able to charge.

Now I know the pb is intelligent but is it that intelligent that it can decide all on its own after two and a half hours of charging, that it is suddenly bored with sitting in the charging dock and wants to be held?

Any suggestions?

did you ever consider that the battery might be dying? Nothing lasts forever.

. I took the pb out of the dock and connected it directly to the charging cable connected to the dock. It started charging perfectly. Reassemble the pb in the dock and reconnect the charging cable to get the same error message about not being able to charge.

Don't know what you're saying there.
Maybe the connection you repaired needs another looksee.

I have never trusted my dock or, to a lesser extent, the corded rapid charger. They changed the pins on the 4G PB I think because of the poor manufacturing of the rapid chargers.

Did you burp it and change its diaper - in terms of functions, it really is a new born.

It actually gave a message? I've had issues with the TRAVEL rapid chargers, if the pins do not make full contact (that is one pin may not spring enough to complete its contact), I can get what I've affectionately called a FALSE Lightning Bolt. The Bolt shows but the unit will not charge. Ah, I have not checked on that issue since the last upgrade when the OS introduced that "insufficient to charge" type message. Maybe I would get that message now. So if two pins make contact but the 3rd fails, it will think it is charging (or did) and the Bolt shows but it is not charging and can lose charge if used. While you have the DOCK, with the travel charger, if the wire lead heads off to the RIGHT, is when I get the False Bolt.

Also, try pressing the Spring pins in and out a few times, clean with an electrical contact spray. Some folks have noticed "erosion" or corrosion of the surfaces on the pb or the pins.

Nice taste in Music. What Elgar?

(as an aside, there's a long story related to my First travel charger that resulted in rim sending me another of the Standard ac adapter (miscommunication), and then another travel charger (to apologize for the way I was misinformed) - so I wound up with two of each!)

edited to add, well, remove an errant apostrophe!

Originally Posted by Chaddface

Don't know what you're saying there.
Maybe the connection you repaired needs another looksee.

I have never trusted my dock or, to a lesser extent, the corded rapid charger. They changed the pins on the 4G PB I think because of the poor manufacturing of the rapid chargers.

Really, what did they alter?

Originally Posted by F2

Really, what did they alter?

The changed the pins from concave to flat at the ends.

You'll also notice when looking at the charging plugs on the bottom, they've changed those. Rather then being concave like they are on the BlackBerry PlayBook Wi-Fi, they now stick straight out. I'm not aware of any issues when using the BlackBerry Charging Pod for the BlackBerry PlayBook but I can see how the changes might help when using that. Seems it may allow for better contact with the plugs on the charging pod ensuring maximum charging.

http://t.crackberry.com/4g-lte-black...laybook-review

And then there are the REALLY subtle differences that many will never even notice. The shape of the rapid charging contacts has been changed. No joke! The three pins on the original PlayBook are cylindrical with slightly concave indents on the tips. In the 4G PlayBook, the contacts are now run-of-the-mill cylindrical pins with flat tops!This. Changes. Everything. I know, I know, I must be kidding, right? Not exactly, this is a big deal for me. Charging the original PlayBook with a rapid charging stand has been a frustrating experience for me. My Wi-Fi PlayBook doesn’t charge unless I use a secret kung-fu magic finger hold so the pins make contact. With the new PlayBook, I can just place it on the stand and know that when I pick it up, it will be charged. I don’t know how RIM managed to mess up magnetic charging contacts in the first place, but they sure made my day with the new 4G PlayBook by fixing it.

http://n4bb.com/review-4g-lte-blackberry-playbook/

Originally Posted by Chaddface

The changed the pins from concave to flat at the ends.

Sorry F2 I did want to answer your post but it will be quite a while before I stop laughing at these comments, if I ever do?

While I'm still laughing I will go and check the ends of my pasties to see if they are flat or concave???

Originally Posted by F2

Did you burp it and change it's diaper - in terms of functions, it really is a new born.

It actually gave a message? I've had issues with the TRAVEL rapid chargers, if the pins do not make full contact (that is one pin may not spring enough to complete its contact), I can get what I've affectionately called a FALSE Lightning Bolt. The Bolt shows but the unit will not charge. Ah, I have not checked on that issue since the last upgrade when the OS introduced that "insufficient to charge" type message. Maybe I would get that message now. So if two pins make contact but the 3rd fails, it will think it is charging (or did) and the Bolt shows but it is not charging and can lose charge if used. While you have the DOCK, with the travel charger, if the wire lead heads off to the RIGHT, is when I get the False Bolt.

Also, try pressing the Spring pins in and out a few times, clean with an electrical contact spray. Some folks have noticed "erosion" or corrosion of the surfaces on the pb or the pins.

Nice taste in Music. What Elgar?

(as an aside, there's a long story related to my First travel charger that resulted in rim sending me another of the Standard ac adapter (miscommunication), and then another travel charger (to apologize for the way I was misinformed) - so I wound up with two of each!)

Sorry F2 I've still not stopped laughing at a reply to one of your posts but I will reply to your intelligent post now. Yes I understand all that you are saying and in fact after several strange charging events with my Z10 I now trust nothing. The battery icon on my pb did increase from red to yellow to green and reached about 50% battery charge before it stopped and I got the error message. I used it for the rest of the evening so I know that it did actually charge the battery up to the 50% point. After that I tried again and again but the dock would not charge the pb again. The error message stopped displaying but it just sat there doing nothing. The Playbook is fine and after being fully charged the standard way so unless there is something on board the pb that is acting up I'm at a loss.

Ah, I have not checked on that issue since the last upgrade when the OS introduced that "insufficient to charge" type message. Maybe I would get that message now.

Nothing has changed since the last update. You're only going to see that message if the the charge is less then the power the PB is consuming or when using a port a that doesn't charge. You won't see it along with the "false lightning bolt".

I still want to know how the Sad Old Man unplugged the cord from the dock and pluugged it directly into the PB.

Originally Posted by sad_old_man

Sorry F2 I did want to answer your post but it will be quite a while before I stop laughing at these comments, if I ever do?

While I'm still laughing I will go and check the ends of my pasties to see if they are flat or concave???

Ah...the good 'ol days
http://forums.crackberry.com/rehab-o...s-said-730903/

Originally Posted by Chaddface

Nothing has changed since the last update. You're only going to see that message if the the charge is less then the power the PB is consuming or when using a port a that doesn't charge. You won't see it along with the "false lightning bolt".

I still want to know how the Sad Old Man unplugged the cord from the dock and pluugged it directly into the PB.

Yet again jumping in with both feet before reading the words properly. My original comment regarding the error message stated that "it was unable to charge with the connection", and nothing about "insufficient to charge". It's the same message you get if you use a data cable to try and charge your pb. As for the "I still want to know how the Sad Old Man unplugged the cord from the dock and pluugged it directly into the PB." comment, well I can't speak for you and I know that assumptions are dangerous but I would think it's a safe assumption to make that if a person holds a Masters degree gained at UMIST that they would be capable of using a soldering iron. What do you think?

I took the pb out of the dock and connected it directly to the charging cable connected to the dock. It started charging perfectly

I have been inside the dock more then once and still don't know how you managed that. Unless you soldered wire from the output side of the board and connected them to the PB. I would have just used my meter. The three pin connector is soldered right to the board. I guess I'll just chalk it up to stupidity or my lack of a Masters from UMIST. I suspect I will never know what you did because you won't answer the question but instead just make snide remarks.

This whole post was an imaginary event. A scotch induced dream, if you will.
The charging cable connected to the dock will not connect directly to the Playbook, we all know that.

You can not trust a person that does not have a dog living in their home.

Originally Posted by Chaddface

I have been inside the dock more then once and still don't know how you managed that. Unless you soldered wire from the output side of the board and connected them to the PB. I would have just used my meter. The three pin connector is soldered right to the board. I guess I'll just chalk it up to stupidity or my lack of a Masters from UMIST. I suspect I will never know what you did because you won't answer the question but instead just make snide remarks.

You do that then. By the way do you like custard?

If you happen to have a soldering iron and a diploma in your toolbox, you may also happen to have a good magnifying glass or perhaps even a 10x microscope somewhere in your attic. I saw that the contacts at the PB side tend to cumulate dirt, or oxyde. On my PB a careful scratching of the pin surfaces brought back the full functionality of the charger.

Cleaning the contacts has helped me too. It still doesn't connect every time but it's a less frustrating experience.

Originally Posted by Angus_CB

This whole post was an imaginary event. A scotch induced dream, if you will.
The charging cable connected to the dock will not connect directly to the Playbook, we all know that.

You can not trust a person that does not have a dog living in their home.

Wrong and wrong again. Bourbon is the closest I get to scotch. I do have a dog?

Posted via CB10

Originally Posted by sad_old_man

Wrong and wrong again. Bourbon is the closest I get to scotch. I do have a dog?

Then who the hell am I thinking of?

Originally Posted by Angus_CB

Then who the hell am I thinking of?

Thor maybe?