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[nachorevolution]

My cradle thinks my battery is charged after about 10-20 minutes of charging. To get a full charge I need to babysit the battery and re-seat it for what feels like a hundred times before I get a full charge.

I read that my cradle model (ends in a B) is bad, is this true? On eBay I can only find other cradles that end in B. What can I do?

[InmemoryofRomeo]

Hi there Actually like many of us your problem may actually be the battery, a couple of members here have had the same problem. If however you manage to purchase another battery and then have the same problem then worry about the charger For now try charging until it goes green (even if its only ten minutes) put it in your Pleo for ten minutes, remove it from Pleo and try recharging. It can help trick the battery into charging correctly however there has been mixed success using this technique among users here. Definitely start looking out for a new battery if you can.

(PS. sorry if this is rather confusing for you.)

[mweed]

Also, make sure the battery is properly seated.  This also confuses a lot of people.  If the battery is not fully locked into position it may also appear to charge for only 10-15 minutes.  And you may sometimes get a flashing red light instead of the green.

A good test I have used is to put the cradle up against a wall or in a corner so that once you put the battery in you can stack some heavy books on top of the battery.  I'm talking a good ten pounds or more.  As stupid as this sounds, this forces the battery contacts against the terminals on the charger and holds them there.  If the light turns green after 10-15 minutes, it's probably the battery.  If it takes a lot longer (the normal 3-4 hours) to turn green, then the problem is you are not correctly locking the battery in the cradle.

[nachorevolution]

Thanks for the quick replies. I think it's the battery because if I keep re-seating it I will eventually get a charge that will run Pleo for about 2 hours. I've also noticed that the battery can get quite hot. If it gets too hot it seems the cradle will flash red. At this point I throw the battery in ziplock back then toss it in the freezer, after it's cooled down I plug it back in and it will charge for 15-30 minutes and the dance starts again.  I'm absolutely sure I'm putting it in it's cradle properly. It's easy to see why people can make this mistake, but once you get it in right, you know it.

I did order another battery from ebay, hopefully it will come soon, but I am worried it won't solve my problem. I know the cradle has a chip in it to tell it when the battery is done charging, to keep it from overheating and exploding, which is what makes me think it's the cradle.

Is it possible that it stops charging if the battery reaches a certain temperature? Maybe my battery is running too hot to charge fully? Does anyone know if the homemade batteries run any cooler?

[mweed]

Yes, the battery will stop charging if it gets too hot.  It has a built-in themister that is part of the circuitry.  But you're also right about it being the battery.  If it's getting hot a lot, it's going bad.

[nachorevolution]

I wonder if Amazon will just replace the battery. I don't want to send my Pleo back.

[InmemoryofRomeo]

I couldn't get a replacement battery for Stitch without sending him back (needless to say that was out of the question) but the store where I got him from let me purchase another at a discounted rate So it is worth checking into.

[Pleoguy]

 It may be that the battery isn't secured in the cradle properly. Make sure you hear two clicks when seating the battery. I place mine in the cradle at an angle making sure that the front clicks in place first, then lower battery backwards until it clicks at the rear of the cradle.
 When I first got Pleo I thought I had a faulty battery, once I discovered the above the battery worked fine.