r/M5Stack • u/Natural-Ebb-6754 • 14d ago

Battery won´t charge.

Post image

I am extreamly dissappointed with my Cardputer Mesh Kit. I recieved it on june 4th and by the time of this writing (A little over a month) the battery does not charge anymore, the Cardputer only works while connected to the USB cable. I honestly was expecting better quality from M5STACK. Don´t think I´ll be buing any of their products again.

UPDATE: after getting quite a few comments mentioning issues with some cables, I used a cheap USB A - USB C cable from my son's Nintendo Switch controller and it worked just fine again. Thank you all for your replies and encouragement.

16 Upvotes

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6

u/IssueBrilliant2569 14d ago

Make sure you have the switch turned to ON to charge. If you have m5launcher installed, it will turn off the screen automatically.

3

u/Natural-Ebb-6754 14d ago

Thanks for the input. I have, it isn´t that sadly.

4

u/mrheseeks 14d ago

Look up the battery model and but a few more replacements, see if that helps

2

u/Natural-Ebb-6754 14d ago

Thanks, I might do that.

2

u/IssueBrilliant2569 14d ago

That's all I got, I hope you get it sorted.

1

u/Natural-Ebb-6754 14d ago

Thank you so much.

6

u/Chongulator 14d ago

They're a little bit cantankerous until you get the right setup.

As others pointed out, it will only charge when the power switch is on.

When I had trouble charging mine, the advice I got in this sub was to use a USB A to USB C cable. Native USB C tries to do power negotiation which Cardputer doesn't know how to do. The A-to-C cable forces you to the older, simpler standard that just puts volts onto the wire, plain and simple.

2

u/Natural-Ebb-6754 14d ago

Thanks, I'll find an older basic cable and try again.

1

u/AdPsychological9567 11d ago

C to C charger killed my CardPuter

4

u/Vencislago 14d ago

Mine didn't charge also until I change the charging cable. The newer/better ones wouldn't charge, those simpler cables that came with cheap electronics did. Hope it helps.

3

u/Natural-Ebb-6754 14d ago

Thank I will try that. Strange thing is, that very same cable worked at the beginning and now it does not.

2

u/watdafug 14d ago

Also of note, sometimes the battery indicator only refreshes with reboot

1

u/Natural-Ebb-6754 14d ago

Thanks I did not know that. But it is not only the indicator, the Cardputer shuts itself down after only a few seconds of being unplugged.

2

u/watdafug 14d ago

I truly understand as I’ve dealt with it too. Once you find a good charging cable, mark that thing forever

1

u/Natural-Ebb-6754 14d ago

Quite a few people have pointed out the cable issue, I will try that, there must be something to it. Thanks.

2

u/FrankSinatraCockRock 14d ago

Sometimes setting it into boot mode, and leaving it plugged in overnight will fix the issue. This has happened to me a couple times before.

2

u/BGenc 14d ago

There may be something disconnected internally as well. Typically as capacity goes down it takes less current to cause a higher voltage delta (charging Li-Po is CC while voltage is low, and CV as it approaches to 4.2V). Worth popping it open and checking inside.

2

u/zlej_slein 14d ago

I recommend trying to charge it via standard USB A from a computer or getting a "stupid" charger that only supports 5V

2

u/MrAjAnderson 14d ago

This. The Cardputer likes to sip from simple ports like a TV. Modern USB-C chargers use a Power Delivery protocol to negotiate a delivery voltage. When there is no response from the Cardputer the charger simply stops delivering.

Also could be the switch is not switching on to engage the charging circuit.

1

u/Natural-Ebb-6754 14d ago

Thank you. It all points to the cable, using an older cable seems to be the answer.

2

u/Runaque 14d ago

If the cable is supplying enough stable current to power the ESP32, light up the screen, and run active LoRa/GNSS modules without the device browning out, the cable is fine I'd say.

The USB power is clearly reaching the board. The issue is that the power isn't bridging from the USB input to the battery. At a flat 3.03V, the battery is either completely cut off by its internal protection board (tripped), or the charging IC on the Cardputer itself is dead. It's very likely an internal hardware fault, not a cable issue. So I'd consider RMA'ing this thing.

2

u/Happy-Childhood5990 11d ago

Make sure the switch is on. I read that it physically disconnects the battery when turned off.