[NTLK] Help! Either my battery or I is (or am) ODD

From: Lord Groundhog <LordGroundhog_at_gmail.com>
Date: Wed Aug 29 2007 - 18:55:16 EDT

Iıve been meaning to ask this for months, but I wanted to try to figure it
out for myself first if I could. I couldnıt. Oh yeah, and I was hoping to
avoid asking what I suspect is a stupid question. So Iım finally asking.
Sorry in advance that itıs long, but I want to include necessary
information.

For some reason, if I change the battery of my Newton, replacing a spent one
with a newly recharged one (I have a more than one battery, and I use them
in a strict rota system), instead of the new one reading 100% on the power
bar and in Frankıs NewtTest program, it either behaves as a discharged
battery or as an almost discharged battery. This happens nearly all the
time.

For example, today I swapped batteries. The new battery, instead of reading
100%, read 31% (and just over 5.00 volts, if that helps). When I take the
battery out and put it into the Newton in which it had been recharged, itıs
fine: 100%. Then when I return it to my main Newt, itıs back down to 31%.

There have been other occasions when the battery simply registered as dead
and then the Newton switched straight off again.

Now for the technical details that seem important. First, weıre talking
about MP2100s and MP2000Us. Second, all the batteries were re-celled,
courtesy of Frank, only the beginning of this year, so this isnıt nearly
dead batteries being cranky. Third, I recharge the batteries and then use
them, in a rota to maintain equal use and wear. I recharge using one of my
spare Newtons if Iım having to carry a backup battery. Fourth, batteries
not needed are stored in the frig (not freezer), doubly bagged in ziplocks
(this happens only seldom). Theyıre never stored in the frig in the fully
charged state for more than a day, and in fact it isnıt all that often that
I have to do a swap at all, but on those occasions when I do need to do
one...

All the batteries are ³happy² if I donıt move them between machines after
recharging. What I donıt know is if this problem only happens when I try to
swap batteries into my main Newt, or if it is a ³feature² of the way all
Newtons operate. Although I have more than one Newton, I have only one that
I carry with me like a third arm (ARM?); the others have tasks to do at
different places that limit their usefulness to me away from their
positions, and it would be a hassle to have to change round which one I
carry and which ones do other things and donıt travel just so I can test a
theory. I suppose I should stop being lazy and test it, but ...well, Iım
being lazy.

SO, thatıs the background, hereıs the question: Is this really a standard
Newton problem, or is it the case (as I suspect) that Iım just not following
some procedure necessary to the successfully getting my Newton to recognize
the new power source after swapping over the batteries? Oh yeah, Iıve tried
doing the basic reset thingie; it doesnıt make a difference.

Iıd love to understand this, and if thereıs a proper way of swapping
batteries, Iıd really love to know, so my Newt will smile at me again.

TIA.
 
Shalom.
Christian

~~~ ~~~ ~~~

³Any sufficiently advanced magic is indistinguishable from a Newton.²
            -- What Arthur C. Clarke meant to say

http://youtube.com/watch?v=1ZzpdPJ7Zr4
(With thanks to Chod Lang)
http://tinyurl.com/29y2dl

~~~ ~~~ ~~~
Fight Spam! Join EuroCAUCE: http://www.euro.cauce.org/
Refresh yourself from our MUG: http://www.oxmug.org/
Join today: http://www.newtontalk.net/

-- 
This is the NewtonTalk list - http://www.newtontalk.net/ for all inquiries
Official Newton FAQ: http://www.chuma.org/newton/faq/
WikiWikiNewt for all kinds of articles: http://tools.unna.org/wikiwikinewt/
Received on Wed Aug 29 18:55:49 2007

This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.8 : Wed Aug 29 2007 - 20:30:00 EDT