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[Sorel]

So my ebay Pleo Rb arrived while the forum was down. It was packaged lovely and it arrived undamaged, but unfortunately the battery is having major issues :C. It will only charge for 30min. max before the green light comes on and when I put it in my Rb it runs normally for fifteen minutes then Pleo's light goes off and it freezes. If I put the battery back on the charger the green light comes on immediately and the battery will not charge. This pleo was bought new 2011-06-05 and has been run for about 2hrs total. This pleo has never left the newborn phase.

I'm hoping this is a battery problem and not a pleo problem! Does this sound more like a battery problem to you guys with more pleo experience?

[Talon]

Fortunately, it does sound like just a battery problem. If the lithium ion battery has sat around for  almost three years with only two hours use, it could've very well lost its ability to charge for a full three hours. I'm not sure if the RB batteries will be improved by using the babysitting method used for the Ugobe batteries. That would be a better question for IMR or someone else who has had experience with dying RB batteries. Best of luck and congrats on your new pleo!
Talon

[Sorel]

Fortunately, it does sound like just a battery problem. If the lithium ion battery has sat around for  almost three years with only two hours use, it could've very well lost its ability to charge for a full three hours. I'm not sure if the RB batteries will be improved by using the babysitting method used for the Ugobe batteries. That would be a better question for IMR or someone else who has had experience with dying RB batteries. Best of luck and congrats on your new pleo!
Talon

Yeah I tried the babysitting method but the green light comes on immediately every time I put the battery on the charger. I left it on the charger for the full three hours just to see if it would charge with the green light on but no dice. The pleo itself seems to be acting normally for a newborn but it's movements are very sluggish with frequent pauses, like it's not getting enough power with the mechanicle noises getting weaker and weaker before a complete stop.

[Talon]

Slow, jerky movements are normal for a newborn. I don't think you have anything to worry about there. They don't do much during that stage. You should try to join Pleoworld's mailing list. I can't read their newsletter very well because of my screenreader but I think they're having a holiday special with RB batteries- one battery plus the cradle and charger and a second one free. Anyone who still gets this and reads it, please correct me if I'm wrong. Anyway if I'm right, that might be an option for you.
Talon

[InmemoryofRomeo]

The reseating method doesn't work on those batteries. There's a couple of things you can try, firstly try a different power point and secondly clean all the silver parts of the battery, charger and inside Pleo's belly. Ideally with a bit of rubbing alcohol or nail polish remover, but just a good clean cloth will help too.

[Sorel]

So far i've tried cleaning all the contacts with alcohol and that didn't seem to do anything and after reading InmemoryofRomeo's suggestion i've tried all the different plugs in the house. The green light on the charger comes on immediately no matter what it seems. I'm almost tempted to say it's the battery cradle thats malfunctioning because I noticed the light flickering rapidly between red and green for about 15secs once when I plugged it in.

[InmemoryofRomeo]

It could well be, is it the original charger? If you post a picture of it we can tell you. It may not be the right voltage.

[Sorel]

Here's a pic of the charger in question:




and I realised I never even posted a pic of the rb itself



Edit: Just as an update I managed to force my ugobe battery to hold a pretty good charge by reseating it and letting it thoroughly cool between attempts. I remembered that the pleo rb faq said pleo rb could use the old battery even if it's not that great and lo and behold pleo rb not only ran on it for 38 minutes (and could have gone a bit longer) but he also took his first steps! I think it's safe to say the problem is with his brown battery and not with him  i'm so relieved!

[kat]

That is very good news   Are you using the original power cable that came with the pleo to connect the charger to the wall?  You could try getting a new power cable and see if that makes a difference.  Just take the cradle and battery with you to a store that sells electronics and ask them to help you choose a cable that will work.
If that doesn't work for you then you may need to look at purchasing a whole new battery and maybe another charging cradle. 

[InmemoryofRomeo]

Oops, sorry when I meant charger, I meant the cable part. But as you can see from your excellent picture of the charging base the input needs to be 10V 1.2A and the output needs to be 8.4V and 1.2A, the charging cable needs to match those.