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[LakeEarth]

I just got a new MP3 player that comes built in with a rechargable battery (Rio Carbon in case you're wondering) and it still had a little bit of a charge left. So I used it till it died, then plugged it in to recharge it until the meter read full (took about 3 hours which I thought was kinda fast).

Now I bring it to work and after 4 songs, it stops and I can't turn it back on. It was reading full when I looked at it earlier, and the thing is advertised to go for 20+ hours on a single charge. Damn thing just won't turn on. When I get home later tonight I am going to try to plug it in to see if that'll get it going again, but that gives me hours to ponder why my $200 Cdn investment is malfunctioning in less than 24 hours owning it.

 

[belgurdo]

This thread title can be taken many ways

and protip: Don't let those lithium battery things die completely. It kills their battery life, like it may be doing here

 

[Wario64]

for li-ion batteries, i don't think it's wise to drain every time you recharge. it's better if you charge it with partial juice in it. i think every 25 or 50 cycles or so, you should drain the battery intentionally and give it a full recharge

 

[ToxicAdam]

My Rio has a similar problem. It will show a full bar while recharging. You need to let it play a song for about 30 seconds before the 'true' reading of the battery pops up.

I have an older model (s50), it take about 5-6 hours for a full recharge.

 

[LakeEarth]

Well it wasn't 100% dead, but it was pretty much on it's last legs. I'm really hoping I don't have to return this, I already threw the plastic packaging out.

 

[Limedust]

If it's a Nickel Cadmium (NiCd) then you want to fully drain the battery charge before recharging to *reset* the battery.

If it's a Lithium Ion (like most cell phones) then it's best to top off the battery charge instead of draining it. Fully draining a Lithium Ion battery kills the battery life. Nickel-Metal Hydride batteries (NiMh) should generally be treated the same as Lithium Ion batteries (and not allowed to be totally discharged which will damage them).

 

[TheOMan]

This page might be helpful:

http://www.batteryuniversity.com/parttwo-34.htm

From the article:

Some lithium-ion batteries fail due to excessive low discharge. If discharged below 2.5 volts per cell, the internal safety circuit opens and the battery appears dead. A charge with the original charger is no longer possible. Some battery analyzers (Cadex) feature a boost function that reactivates the protection circuit of a failed battery and enables a recharge. However, if the cell voltage has fallen below 1.5V/cell and has remained in that state for a few days, a recharge should be avoided because of safety concerns. To prevent failure, never store the battery fully discharged. Apply some charge before storage, and then charge fully before use.

This may be what's going on in your case, but it's kinda weird that it happened so quickly. Perhaps the device (and thus the battery) is older stock?

 

[LakeEarth]

It's a Lithium Ion, so I won't drain it ever again.

I'll give an update whenever I get home, around 5-6.

 

[Cauliflower of Love]

I hear a full charge (5/6 hrs) and a full discharge the first time around is supposed to be done. Then just charge whenever, and that time is supposed to increase as you use it. Did you use the ac adaptor when you loaded all the music on?

 

[LakeEarth]

It just plugs into the computer when you load music on it without the AC on it, you can't do both at the same time. But I did load it on before I charged it.

BTW, strangeness, when you plug it in all you see is the energy bar increase over and over again, but when I plugged it into my computer the words "charging" appeared... ehh just weird.

 

[fart]

it should come with a manual (that will tell you to do an initial charge before you use it).

never deep cycle or fully discharge a li-ion battery. keep it topped off

 

[Aruarian Reflection]

I just got a new MP3 player that comes built in with a rechargable battery (Rio Carbon in case you're wondering) and it still had a little bit of a charge left. So I used it till it died, then plugged it in to recharge it until the meter read full (took about 3 hours which I thought was kinda fast).

Hrm, that can't be good. You always have to fully charge it right out of the box before you use it. This holds true for mp3 players, PSPs, whatever. They always say this very clearly in the instruction manual.

 

[miyuru]

Yeah for lithium batteries, keep them topped off, so just dock them when not in use.

It's a good idea to run them fully through and then recharge fully again every now and then (once/month?). This'll keep your battery indicator working properly.

 

[LakeEarth]

I actually looked around for an instruction booklet before turning on the machine but all it said was it was on the disk it came with. Looks like I should've looked into it.

 

[LakeEarth]

Update - plugging it in got it going again. Strange cause I'm sure 10 minutes before dying, it was reading 90% full. Anyways, I'm gonna charge it for 6 hours and then test it out.

EDIT - in 2 1/2 hours it reads full and stops recharging (well the charging battery animation turns to a plug picture)... I unplug and replug it in and it start charging again.

EDIT 2 - yeah the plug icon means it's fully charged...but that makes no sense. If it was fully charged then when I unplug and plug it back in, it should still be fully charged, yet it just starts charging again... looks like I'll be returning this lil fella tomorrow.