4700 battery NOT charging

I have a Ipaq h4700 it is 10 months old - the problem is the battery level dropped suddenly to 17% yesterday.

2 or 3 weeks ago it developed a charging problem and stuck at 88% then went to 1% - no amount of resets (full or soft) or using USB charging would get it charging despite the light flashing and status saying charging!

So I took the bull by the horns and brought a new OEM battery from Total PDA who supplied machine.

Put in new battery - great fully charged and has work since then till yesterday (charged each night on it's cradle) no problem I thought did a backup which, I do at least twice a day, then reset it - no good - so remove battery, a full reset and restore back up - no good. I have tried another charger direct and on the cradle, I have tried the car charger and now despite being on charge all night it has dropped to 15% charge.

I am just checking out USB charging at moment. On top of this HP's online chat now closes at weekends and I can't seem seem to log on to their pasport service toget on to the forums on their.

Does anone know how to test the battery with a multimeter and what voltages I should see on what contacts? I am an engineer and very familiar with testing elctronics.

Just about to post this and charge has go up to 16% wow USB fast says its working lets see if it does.

Does anyone have any ideas to help - by the way the old battery is completly dead when inserted in the machne.

I have an old h5400 which I am charging up but I cannot restore my backup to it due to it having an older operating system, does anyone know a way round this.

Dave R

UPDATE 1 - On USB fast it quickly dropped to 14% so I've put it back on AC - I think this proves the charging status indicator is reading something and not stuck?

UPDATE 2 - Batery test, I have tested both batteries and they seem the same. there are 7 terminal from left to right as follows:-
1 & 2 linked labeled +ve red
3 & 4 unlabled
5 & 6 linked labled -ve black
7 unlabled
the rating for the battery is 3.7V 1800mAh

The test reveal no voltage across -ve & +ve but just over 3 volts dc from either -ve to terminal 3, this is the same on both batteries.!

Questions :-
Is terminal 3 a reporting connection for the status display?
Has my new battery gone faulty?
Is my hardware faulty?
Is it a software fault?
Is there an OS system update I should download?
What do I try next?

Does anyone think I should try this Bios update http://h18007.www1.hp.com/support/fi...sion/9178.html
I am worried aabout the bit where it says you can't restore a backup from before the update! Does a Bios update leave my data intact ? And therefore I should make a new backup imediately afterwards. What happens if it goes wrong, can I get backto where I was? Or do I have to use backup on PC afterwards? They gve adistinct lack of info on this!

[getsurfers]

Upgrading the ROM wipes everything from the device, so everything needs reloading.

Originally Posted by getsurfers

Upgrading the ROM wipes everything from the device, so everything needs reloading.

Cheers - I am not going to do that then unless I know it is the problem!

It has started charging now but very slowly from about 6pm till now 11pm it has got up to 60% !

I will contact HP on monday as it is still under warranty.

Any more help/ideas gratefully recieved

Dave R

This gets stranger!

Shut down PC & PDA with 61% charge on indicator, charge light still flashing.

During the night I sneaked a look still at 61% so I rebooted PC left PDA switched on.

At 7am just before I left to go kayaking charge had gone up to 70% ! 9% in 3 hrs approx.

NowI am back again 1.30pm charge is at 82% - 12% in 6hrs slower!

If I unplug the power source it indicates "USB Fast" charge with no flashing amber light, with power source plugged in it indicates "AC Charging"

This is very wierd, is it possible for the PDA to wreck a battery? I have only had this one 3 weeks, but it is begining to display the same symptons as the last one just before it died!

Any suggestions out there

Dave R

[getsurfers]

Try changing it to USB slow charge.

Are you using the mains charge or USB? If USB, are you using a powered USB2 hub or straight from the PC?

If the latter, could be your PC PSU is struggling to provide enough power for both the PC and charging the unit.

Thanks will try that, it is not conected by via hub actually it is connected to a laptop I just used PC for short, don't know if this make a difference.

The thing now almost 11pm has reached 98% having been charging almost 24 hrs !!!

Normally it charges from AC in 2-3 hours from fairly low.

I have set backlight to go off on AC as well as battery power.

Should the orange light flash on USB charge?

The real problem is very slow charging from AC, no AC charge unless connect to laptop and no charge on USB fast when AC disconnected, in fact it discharges when on USB Fast only.

Hopefully I can get an answer from HP tomorrow as this is a brand new proper HP battery and machine has 2 yr UK waranty.

Cheers Dave R

[Martin Laverty]

I'd get in touch with HP it looks like a problem with the PDA more than anything else. You can try this phone number 08708422339

Originally Posted by dave-r

Thanks will try that, it is not conected by via hub actually it is connected to a laptop I just used PC for short, don't know if this make a difference.

The thing now almost 11pm has reached 98% having been charging almost 24 hrs !!!

Normally it charges from AC in 2-3 hours from fairly low.

I have set backlight to go off on AC as well as battery power.

Should the orange light flash on USB charge?

The real problem is very slow charging from AC, no AC charge unless connect to laptop and no charge on USB fast when AC disconnected, in fact it discharges when on USB Fast only.

Hopefully I can get an answer from HP tomorrow as this is a brand new proper HP battery and machine has 2 yr UK waranty.

Cheers Dave R

Thanks Martin just finished talking to them on that very number, although it was hard to find right number on web site.

They pick it & battery up tomorrow, they reckon it's a fault with machine but may need new battery as well !

Very helpful on phone but I still can't get instant chat to work, which would have been good at weekend.

It will be back in 5 days - guess I'll just have to lug laptop around with me till then, as old 5450 won't even power up despite it working 3 weeks ago

[Martin Laverty]

I've found that most things only break down when you really need them myself as well.

Originally Posted by dave-r

Thanks Martin just finished talking to them on that very number, although it was hard to find right number on web site.

They pick it & battery up tomorrow, they reckon it's a fault with machine but may need new battery as well !

Very helpful on phone but I still can't get instant chat to work, which would have been good at weekend.

It will be back in 5 days - guess I'll just have to lug laptop around with me till then, as old 5450 won't even power up despite it working 3 weeks ago