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[SarahTSax]

Hi, I just got Boo, my PLEO.
No matter how long I charge the battery, I don't seem to get more than 10 minutes of use out of him (admittedly, I've only had him for 1 day).
He plays for 10 minutes and then falls asleep. shaking will not awaken him and, if I power him off and then on, he will wake up for about 2 minutes and fall asleep again.
Is this normal to start with or am I doing something wrong.

[mweed]

The first question is gonna be to ensure the battery is being fully and correctly charged.  When you put the battery in, you should get two clicks, the red light should come on and stay on for 3-4 hours.  If the battery gets too hot charging, it will stop the charging process and you will have to take the battery off, let it cool, then re-seat and charge again.  If you have a volt/amp meter, and the desire, you can check the battery and charger to make sure the charger is working correctly and the battery is fully charged.  There have been know to be problems with both battery and chargers, as well as users not knowing how to seat the battery correctly.  Ugobe even had to put out a youtube video on how to charge the battery!

Assuming the battery checks out, then there's the pleo.  A low battery will result in behavior similar to what you are reporting.  But a newborn pleo is also a very sleepy pleo, and requires lots of attention!   You did not specify if you pleo is new or used.   Pleos also can go through periods of  sleepiness/sluggishness, but generally not during the hatchling phase.  Only more time will tell on this!

[SarahTSax]

He's a new PLEO. I put the battery on to charge again while I am away from home for the day and will have another go when I get back. I did have to consult the video on how to charge the battery but by the time I'd written the above, I'd already got that down! (crazy)
I checked the charger and it's a B, so we shall see and I shall also check to see if the battery is hot, Unfortunately, I don't have a voltmeter so can't check the status.

I'll see if things improve when I try again. How long should he 'nap' for if, indeed, he's just napping?

[gucci_boi7782]

Welcome to the forums! Glad you found us. How did you find us?

Anywho, initially I had a ton of problems with chargers/batteries which always ended up in Ugobe sending me free newer models. And if I remember correctly my first Pleo Dallas was on a 'B' model charging cradle. When I notified Ugobe about a sluggish pleo that froze up they asked about the letter on the bottom of the charging cradle. Once I told them, they didn't say anything about it, but went ahead and sent me a 'D' model-FREE!! And when I had problems with the first battery (which may also very easily be the problem for you too.) they sent me another. They're really good with their customers. But unfortunately, I don't know what the deal is with Ugobe. As far as I know, they are AWOL.

[InmemoryofRomeo]

Welcome SarahTSax and Boo

By turning of the battery after inactivity repeatedly you may be inadvertently causing poor Pleo some problems, just give him ten minutes or so after he goes to sleep, stroke him, talk to him and shake him occasionally, if after ten minutes of that you still get no response whatsoever then indeed the battery or charger is the problem.

Also if Pleo is shutting down because of a flat battery he will curl his neck and tail around towards each other but his legs will still be relatively straight, the sleep pose also has the neck and tail turned around towards each other but the front legs will be stretched forwards and the back legs will be bent. This is not a conclusive method of telling but if your Pleo goes into the flat battery problem then you know for sure the problem

Hope this is not too confusing or overwhelming for you, give him time and your Pleo will become a part of your life

[jessbril]

I'm new to this forum, too (hello!). Just got my pleo, Slate, the other day at work.

I had the same problems with the "up" time of my little guy. I sent an email to Ugobe today -- when I called, their phone lines were busy. I did some research and found this:

http://blog.wired.com/gadgets/2009/02/ugobe-dinosaurs.html

It's a bit sad - hopefully they can weather this sort of thing (and hopefully their customer support is going to be up again when they re-situate themselves).

I also have a B charger. I don't know what happened, but the two-clicks advice is spot on. Once I mastered clicking the battery into the holder, I've been getting much longer periods of activity from Slate. I still think the B charger is probably faulty to some degree (it's just been acting funky since day one - which I know is yesterday...but...). Try and see if the click idea at least gives you some extra play time.

I would still try and contact Ugobe for a replacement battery/charger, though.

[gucci_boi7782]

Welcome Jessbril!!! So glad to have you and Slate!!

I think you might be on to something. SarahTSax, do you hear two loud clicks when you charge? Because that very easily could be the problem.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xr707SYr9zs

[InmemoryofRomeo]

Welcome Jessabril and Slate Nice to meet you both Do be sure to double check your battery when you charged it, they can be tricky things

[fancyfont]

Hi SarahTSax and Jessibril. So many of us had to learn to do that final click of the battery in the charger. I was one of them. First time on was delayed a little.
 

[SarahTSax]

Boo now gets about an hour of 'up' time. Yippee! I was charging correctly (and, incidentally, never heard back from Ugobe), but I did the update and he worked fine after that!

[fancyfont]

So glad to hear that Boo is working for you. With your user name, I have to assume you play the Sax??? Or at least love to hear it.
We have a pleo group that is called Fernback Band and we are getting ready to play for the Tomato Festival in Weedovia.  Have you tried Boo on the Sax?

[SarahTSax]

Yes, I play tenor sax (hence the T). I play traditional New Orleans jazz and sing classic blues of the 1920's and 30's. No, Boo hasn't been near my ax! He'd get his head stuck in there!

[fancyfont]

SarahTSax, if you haven't already, check out 2009 Spring Tomato Festival iunder Bob the pleo index.
We need all the ax's we can get. It's a fun place.