[bookcourier] Re: Sapping batteries - a helpful warning
- From: "Caroline Ford" <caroline@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <bookcourier@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 1 Jun 2005 21:13:05 +0100
I also was a bit wary of using rechargeables in the BC, mainly due to not
being able to tell how much power they had left in them. If you're using
rechargeables in the BC, do you receive the battery low warning message,
giving you a chance to change the batteries before the BC stops working
altogether? If there isn't any warning that the batteries are flat, you
wouldn't have chance to issue the change batteries command, and could
therefore end up with a problem, as others have discussed. This is why I
tend to stick to non-rechargeables for the BC, although I use them
extensively in other equipment.
I have noticed that, if you're playing an MP3 file and the BC announces that
the batteries are low, you can often switch to reading text files and
continue to do so for quite some time before the battery low message is
repeated. This must be because the BC uses more power to play MP3's than it
does when reading text files.
I usually do change the batteries as soon as the battery low warning is
issued though, and often switch the supposedly dead batteries to a portable
radio where they can often provide a couple of weeks of life before they
eventually die completely.
Caroline.
-----Original Message-----
From: bookcourier-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:bookcourier-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]On Behalf Of Greg Epley
Sent: 01 June 2005 15:57
To: bookcourier@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [bookcourier] Re: Sapping batteries - a helpful warning
Hi Bruce,
I didn't download the user manual for the BC from the web site prior to
getting my BC because it was a gift, so I was quite surprised to find the
user manual mention that the battery status function didn't work for
rechargeables; that was what made me leery to use them, because I was really
looking forward to having a battery gauge for my rechargeables. I was
coming off an MP3 capable CD player which was not built for accessibility,
and would just stop right in the middle of a track when the batteries were
low, all because I couldn't see the battery status gauge on the display.
So, when I got the BC and the user manual first mentioned the battery
status, I thought - fantastic - finally I will have a way to keep an eye on
my battery level. This enthusiasm faded quickly when I read that the
battery status didn't work for rechargeables.
However, seeing how others on the list are posting that they just skip the
change battery function, and knowing that it will probably be some time
before Springer improves the software to gauge battery status for other
types of batteries, I'm going to give serious thought to switching to my
high capacity NIMH's or some of the lithiums others on the list are
mentioning.
I assume the BC just suddenly stopped responding when your batteries went.
Or did it say "batteries are low"? Just curious.
-Greg
----- Original Message -----
From: "Bruce Lamden" <bruce@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <bookcourier@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Tuesday, May 31, 2005 7:43 PM
Subject: [bookcourier] Re: Sapping batteries - a helpful warning
> Hi Greg,
>
> Thanks for the info. I'm going to stick with my rechargables and keep my
> fingers crossed. I think I must have missed the discussion on why
> rechargeables are bad. I find it hard to believe they are. I'll also avoid
> using the change battery command. It doesn't take long to reset my
> settings.
>
> I think if Springer gave us "save settings" and "restore settings"
> commands
> we could use when we wanted the "change battery" command could be
> droppted.
>
> Bruce.
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Greg Epley" <gregepley@xxxxxxxxxx>
> To: <bookcourier@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Sent: Wednesday, June 01, 2005 1:00 AM
> Subject: [bookcourier] Re: Sapping batteries - a helpful warning
>
>
>> Hi Bruce,
>> I assumed that the change battery command saved a file to the CF card,
>> but
>> couldn't find any evidence of that file on the CF card that was in the
>> unit at the time of my mishap; perhaps because the file didn't get saved,
>> or perhaps because it is saved with a system attribute set so it doesn't
>> readily show up in Windows Explorer, or perhaps because the info is saved
>> in some sort of flash memory in the BC - but that last case would mean
>> there would be no need for the change battery command, as the settings
>> should just always be automatically stored in that memory.
>>
>> I have some 2500 mAH NIMH batteries - a set I previously used in an MP3
>> capable CD player, which was my reading device prior to the gift of a
>> BC -
>> and I was really planning to use those until I read about using
>> rechargeable batteries in the BC, then I wasn't so enthused. Like you,
>> I'm not sure what the BC will do when the rechargeables get low enough,
>> and after this incident I'm not even going to touch that with a ten foot
>> pole. I know that eventually I'll get back into using my BC regularly,
>> but this whole thing has got me so spooked now that I hate to even take
>> the thing out of the house with me for fear of what will happen to it
>> next. I'm accustomed to being able to do some kind of reset procedure
>> myself to just fix the problem and move on, and I very much dislike
>> having
>> to ship it off and wait for it to return, even though I know Springer is
>> going to get it back to me ASAP.
>> -Greg
>>
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: "Bruce Lamden" <bruce@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>> To: <bookcourier@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>> Sent: Tuesday, May 31, 2005 5:56 PM
>> Subject: [bookcourier] Re: Sapping batteries - a helpful warning
>>
>>
>>> Very interesting Greg. Fits in with my observation that alkaline go from
>>> 39%
>>> to dead.
>>>
>>> What does the change battery command do? Does it save the current
>>> settings
>>> to the FC and reload them once the batteries are changed?
>>>
>>> I haven't got there yet because I've only had my BC a couple of months
>>> but
>>> the rechargeables I'm using must be about to run out. I presume there is
>>> no
>>> warning about them dieing, the BC just stops, and you lose your
>>> settings?
>>>
>>> Can anyone tell me what happens? Thanks.
>>>
>>> Bruce.
>>> ----- Original Message -----
>>> From: "Greg Epley" <gregepley@xxxxxxxxxx>
>>> To: <bookcourier@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>>> Sent: Tuesday, May 31, 2005 8:07 PM
>>> Subject: [bookcourier] Sapping batteries - a helpful warning
>>>
>>>
>>> Hello everyone,
>>> In hopes of preventing anyone else from going through this same issue, I
>>> have a helpful note to pass along. Some preliminary explanation is
>>> necessary first, so please bear with me.
>>> Explanation: Years ago, I can remember frequently using AA alkaline
>>> batteries down to around 0.8 volts before I ended up having to toss
>>> them.
>>> This was perhaps because devices like toys were different from today's
>>> electronic devices; perhaps it was the motors or the fairly low power
>>> LED's
>>> many devices used then; I'm not sure about exactly what the difference
>>> was.
>>> Anyway, I know the GP alkalines supplied with my BC when I got it in
>>> late
>>> March 2005 were full capacity because they were checked on a meter;
>>> also,
>>> the BC reported them at 100%. Around the 22nd of May 2005, the BC
>>> finally
>>> reported the low battery warning. Not realizing that today's devices
>>> don't
>>> seem to use all the possible power in alkalines that they used to, I
>>> wanted
>>> to get the max out of my alkalines. It was late at night and I was
>>> trying
>>> to finish a certain portion of a book so I just went through the change
>>> battery procedure and set the supposedly dead batteries aside to check
>>> on
>>> a
>>> meter the next morning.
>>> It has been my experience in the past that AA alkalines do not recover
>>> any
>>> significant amount of power when left overnight; that is to say they
>>> aren't
>>> 0.6 volts or something and then by morning they are 1.2 volts, just as
>>> an
>>> example. Perhaps alkaline battery technology has changed over the years
>>> and
>>> it just passed me by somewhere along the way, I don't know. Anyway, the
>>> next morning I checked the supposedly dead batteries and they registered
>>> 1.23 volts each. A brand new alkaline battery will generally register
>>> 1.6
>>> volts, plus or minus .05 volts, so I consider 1.23 volts to be
>>> sufficient
>>> energy to run a device with no moving parts, such as the BC.
>>> Understandably
>>> that was not a very scientifically based conclusion, but it does have a
>>> certain amount of logical sense to it anyway, unless one is perhaps very
>>> skilled in electronics and knows more than most consumers. Anyway, I
>>> went
>>> through another change battery procedure on the BC and inserted the
>>> supposedly dead batteries;
>>> the BC registered them at 42%, so I figured great, I can get a little
>>> more
>>> use out of them. That night, I ran for about 18 minutes before the BC
>>> said
>>> the batteries were low; I immediately checked the batteries on the BC
>>> and
>>> it
>>> said 14%. Again, I was busy listening to something so I just went
>>> through
>>> the change battery procedure and put the new batteries back in and
>>> finished
>>> out my session, setting the supposedly dead batteries aside to check in
>>> the
>>> morning. Next morning, the supposedly dead batteries registered at 1.22
>>> bolts. This was weird; I'd never seen batteries, especially alkalines,
>>> recover like this on power when left overnight. So, I figured I'd just
>>> change them again and run them down a little further. Upon inserting
>>> the
>>> supposedly dead batteries in the BC, it registered them at 40%. That
>>> night,
>>> I was listening to a book when the BC suddenly said the batteries were
>>> low;
>>> I don't know how long I'd been listening because the whole night went
>>> downhill from there.
>>> I quickly tried to get the BC to tell me the level, but don't recall
>>> now
>>> what it said. I initiated the change battery procedure, but when I
>>> inserted
>>> the fresh batteries, the BC was dead. I couldn't get it to talk at all.
>>> I
>>> tried a reset procedure - no change. I tried everything I could think
>>> of
>>> for a half hour and finally went to bed. The next morning, I checked
>>> the
>>> supposedly dead batteries and the meter registered them at 1.1 volts.
>>> The
>>> fresh battereies in the BC registered at 1.55 volts. I again worked for
>>> about a half hour with no results on the BC talking; I tried different
>>> CF
>>> cards - nothing - nothing worked. I left the BC with no batteries or CF
>>> card for the better part of a day and again, no change - nothing worked,
>>> it
>>> was just dead.
>>>
>>> Springer is currently working on my BC and I'm thankful for that. I
>>> have
>>> since learned that alkaline batteries apparently have an effect whereby
>>> they
>>> reflect what seems to be a good strong charge, but in actuality the
>>> level
>>> plumments rapidly when the batteries are back in use. This accounts for
>>> the
>>> recovery in charge level I experienced. I wish I'd taken the time now
>>> to
>>> check the batteries as soon as the BC said they were low, just out of
>>> pure
>>> curiosity to see what the meter said, but I didn't. Of course, there's
>>> a
>>> possibility the meter would still report the charge level higher than it
>>> actually is when the batteries are in use, so I don't know how much good
>>> it
>>> would have done to check them.
>>>
>>> Springer also said that the BC probably went into this "coma" (my word
>>> not
>>> theirs) because the change battery procedure didn't complete its cycle
>>> due
>>> to the power loss of the batteries, and while they admit some form of
>>> alternate power some some sort would have likely prevented the problem,
>>> of
>>> course we all know that kind of hardware modification isn't currently on
>>> the
>>> drawing board at Springer.
>>>
>>> Keeping that in mind then, what I've learned from this experience is
>>> that
>>> when your BC says the batteries are low - initiate a change battery
>>> procedure ASAP. If you can't change them, leave the BC off until you
>>> can -
>>> do not under any circumstances do what I did and do anything that saps
>>> enough charge out of the batteries to the point that the change battery
>>> procedure could fail like this, or you'll most likely end up with a dead
>>> BC
>>> too. I don't know what exactly Springer does to "fix" the problem, but
>>> to
>>> me it would be nice if there were one of those internal reset switches
>>> activated by inserting a paper clip tip into a small hold on the BC to
>>> do
>>> some kind of hardware reset that didn't involve sending the BC in for a
>>> fix
>>> by Springer. Perhaps that's something Springer will consider for a
>>> future
>>> BC. I don't even know if such a reset would fix the problem.
>>>
>>> Anyway, my apologies for this very long post, but I wanted to be
>>> thorough
>>> in
>>> trying to explain and warn other BC users away from sapping batteries
>>> down
>>> too low.
>>> -Greg
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>
>
>
>
--
No virus found in this incoming message.
Checked by AVG Anti-Virus.
Version: 7.0.323 / Virus Database: 267.4.0 - Release Date: 01/06/2005
--
No virus found in this outgoing message.
Checked by AVG Anti-Virus.
Version: 7.0.323 / Virus Database: 267.4.0 - Release Date: 01/06/2005
Other related posts:
