PRS650 not holding charge

[8megan8]

I have the reader for around 8 months and it started to lose charge very quickly and it got to the point that I read less than 1 hour a day for 3 days and switched it off completely and the reader will lose all battery on the 4th day, I posted it back to sony repair center and they posted it back saying it is repaired (did not say what they have repaired) and tested.

When I got it back it has 1 bar of battery so I charged it up >3 hours using the USB cable on my Sony VAIO and guessed what ! I read 40mins 1st night, turned off completely and on the 2nd night, it has already lost 1 bar of battery, ready 30mins and turned it off completely and on the 3rd night, it is back to only 1 bar of battery and on the 4th night, it will not even turned on ! I got a feeling that it is using the charge even I have turned it off completely.

I sent the above as an email to sony saying it is not fixed and they replied

"We do apologise about the inconvenience caused, the repair centre will fix the E-Reader and ship it back to you fully working", does that mean I have to send it back AGAIN ?

Am I doing anything wrong on the charging ? The screen says fully charged and the little red light is off....

Thanks

[Dublevay]

Hi,

I have exactly the same problem. It charges fully, but then discharges within 48 hours. If I then recharge it, it seems to hold it for a longer period of time. It's almost like the old memory effect that you used to get with NiCd rechargeable batteries.

Damned annoying - and I am out of warranty.

JW

[8megan8]

After trying to explain to the Sony customer service person that I am competent in charging the ereader and it has just been repaired (did not say what has been repaired on the return note) and the problem is not fixed, I have now re-send it back for re-repair. So much for not having to buy "books" anymore for it looks like I am out of the ereader for another 2 weeks !

[carpetmojo]

I'd suggest using a wall charger when you do get it back, and for a good few hours/overnight - you won't "over-charge" it. Problems charging have usually come via a PC charging regime, and the AC charger (reports say you don't have to buy a new one if you have the same fitting plug) does seem to give more "umph" and is more stable than a USB/PC charge.

In fact there have been cases of the PC actually discharging the battery overnight, not a good idea....

There have been a number of threads/posts on just this subject, or MobileRead has a vast amount of expert contributors on this - and almost every other subject going !

Hope you get sorted soon ................

[8megan8]

Thank you for the reply.

Does it has to be a sony branded ac charger ? or any unbranded wall charger for the 650s ? We have tried a non-sony one when we first starting to have the problem for we also read it somewhere that it will help. We charged it for 3-4 hours and it lost all charges after 3 days as well.

(We tried to buy the sony charger but no one seem to sell it anymore ?!)

[Drumzman]

Hi 8megan8,

I understand that it is better to use the Sony charger - some of the unbranded ones don't work with the Sony Reader.  The reason for this is that the Reader is looking for a 'live' connection such as when it is connected to a computer that's switched on (I guess the fact that the Reader sees data whizzing about on a 'live' connection means that it knows it's connected and accepts the charge from a computer).  That's why the Reader stops charging if the computer goes onto standby.  With some USB chargers, the Reader I think treats them like a computer that's gone to sleep - so even though there's power there, it won't accept the charge.  With the Sony USB charger I gather there's an extra 'pin' connected in the lead or some such which instructs the Reader to take the charge effectively even though it's not connected to a computer.

I'm sure there must be other USB chargers out there that have the 'extra connection' and would work, but how you would tell I don't know - so for that reason probably better to go with the Sony charger.  Of course if you find a charger says that it will specifically work with the PRS650 then I assume that would be fine - just stay away from something a bit more generic I would say.

I can definitely support the comment that AC chargers work well though - from my own experience I too was finding that battery life seemed to be getting shorter, but after using the right charger and leaving it charging over night I found that battery life was restored and the charge held for much longer again.

Hope this helps.

[8megan8]

Thank you for your suggestion.

My USB charger/Lead that use with PC's USB port is a Sony one - the one that came with the ereader. I just cannot manage to get a Sony brand AC adapter, only generic ones are available.Anyway, I have to wait until Sony fixed my reader first.

[Drumzman]

Hi 8megan8,

The 'extra connection' (if that's the right terminology) is something in the charger rather than the USB lead itself - any USB lead would be OK - they're all the same.  For example, I have a Sony USB charger specifically for my Walkman - but even this won't charge my Reader (pretty crazy really!)

It's a real nuisance if you can't find the official Sony charger, but I'm sure I've seen them in the usual places like eBay - sometimes you have more joy finding it if you use the model number - I think it's PRSA-AC1.

Hope you get your Reader back sorted from Sony

[carpetmojo]

Yes, the topic of chargers gets aired quite frequently on MobileRead, and there are certain chargers that will work OK and charge up the x50 range. I can't remember what phones etc.. they come from, but there are a lot of reports of successfully using them.

Sign up to the Forum and find out, it's very easy, and has a lot of other resources for ereading, and advice from experts.

( And I'm not on commission for MobileRead, by the way, simply had my eyes opened to the possibilities there are within our little gadgets! )

This site, and MobileRead, and you're well prepared for most contingencies.