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Old April 29th 21, 03:33 AM posted to rec.aviation.soaring
Matthew Scutter
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Posts: 42
Default Nano-3 will not charge

On Thursday, April 29, 2021 at 10:05:23 AM UTC+10, Martin Gregorie wrote:
On Wed, 28 Apr 2021 15:41:52 -0700, Tony wrote:

On Wednesday, April 28, 2021 at 6:21:35 PM UTC-4, Tony wrote:
Hey all, my Nano-3 is up to date and worked fine a few weeks ago.

Trying to charge it for tomorrow, it continues to DISCHARGE when
plugged in to factory wall charger, brand x wall charger, and through
PC/USB, both with unit shut down and while up and running.

Started at over 20% battery but it only goes down. 2 LEDs.

I am going to let it crash and try charging from that state, any other
udeas?

So finally the discharge is reversing. I did not let it crash, decided
that would be risky. Just kept unplugging/replugging and shutting down.
Room temperature for three weeks and around 40% charge, apparently that
falls under the cautions? Had this thing for about 7 years and new
battery last year, looks like I have to treat it with suspicion and kid
gloves from now on!?

What sort of batteries does it use? If its on AA or AAA cells, they're
probably NiMH, which are pretty much junk. Replace then with Sanyo EneLoop
and you'll see a big difference.

The other point, particularly a problem with NiMH chemistry, is that they
self-discharge quite rapidly - and this process is speeded up if the
device using them has any type of soft-touch switch rather than a
mechanical power switch. The former makes the device permanently 'on'
because soft-touch switches burn battery power while they are watching
for somebody to press the on switch.

As a result, when you aren't using the PNA/PDA/logger which has a soft-
touch power switch they are still using battery power.

Example: I have a fairly old EW Micro logger, which uses a set of four
NiMH AA cells to power it when it isn't connected to the glider's 12v
supply. It also has a soft-touch power switch. Consequently, if it isn't
recharged at least once a month during winter, when we aren't flying, the
NiMH cells will be destroyed, and must be replaced and the logger will
have also loose its configuration settings.

My Medion S.3747 PNA, which runs LK8000, has the same issue, a touch-
sensitive power switch, and also needs to be recharged each month over
winter, while by contrast the even older Binatone PNA that the Medion
replaced has a mechanical power switch and only needs charging every six
months or so.

I've never used a Nano, but I have a strong suspicion that it has a soft-
touch power switch and so will flatten its batteries relatively fast.
Keep an eye on its charge state during the winter and recharge as needed
and its batteries will last a lot longer. Fortunately modern hybrid
battery chemistry (or Li-ion) has a much lower self-discharge rate than
NiMH batteries.


--
Martin | martin at
Gregorie | gregorie dot org


I believe it uses an 1800mAh LiPo that is not user replaceable. I have seen one swell up like an old laptop before so they are not immune to failure. I would guess yours has failed and needs replacing.