Charging But Not Charging

[Triciaswan]

Hope someone is able to help.

I have a Sony tablet S which is not charging - the charger indicator light near the power button is on, the icon is showing as charging and if I go into Battery in settings it says it's charging and 21% (going down as expected). I've turned it off then back on then off and moved the charger to another wall socket.

Support here is non-existant (I'm in Northern Thailand) as the authorised dealership shop I bought it from 18 months ago looked at me like I was an idiot when I went to enquire about a cradle for it a few months ago, denied having ever sold such a thing as my tablet then pretended not to be able to speak English when I showed them the reciept. I have since bought a (genuine) cradle and have been using it for about 2 months without issue. This problem occurs via the cable and plugged in directly.

I don't know anyone else who has one, and a new charger will cost me the better part of $200 if it's ordered in, which would pay for a couple of low-end tablets and, more importantly, may not be the cause of this.

I don't know where to turn, just hoping that there is a painful fixup.

 

[Happiness]

Does it have battery back up problem?

 

[puchasr]

Hope someone is able to help.

I have a Sony tablet S which is not charging - the charger indicator light near the power button is on, the icon is showing as charging and if I go into Battery in settings it says it's charging and 21% (going down as expected). I've turned it off then back on then off and moved the charger to another wall socket.

Support here is non-existant (I'm in Northern Thailand) as the authorised dealership shop I bought it from 18 months ago looked at me like I was an idiot when I went to enquire about a cradle for it a few months ago, denied having ever sold such a thing as my tablet then pretended not to be able to speak English when I showed them the reciept. I have since bought a (genuine) cradle and have been using it for about 2 months without issue. This problem occurs via the cable and plugged in directly.

I don't know anyone else who has one, and a new charger will cost me the better part of $200 if it's ordered in, which would pay for a couple of low-end tablets and, more importantly, may not be the cause of this.

I don't know where to turn, just hoping that there is a painful fixup.

Hi, sorry to hear you're having issues with your tablet. I have 2 Sony Tablet S but have not run into this problem before. The only time something like that happened to me it was because I didn't plug in right the power cord into the tablet. Since the tablet charges when docked, I don't think there's a problem with the charger or tablet. I had different kind of issues with the tablets and what always has fixed them is a fresh start. Back up any data you have in your tablet and do a "factory data reset". If that doesn't help then do a complete restore. Hope this solves your problem.

 

[Triciaswan]

Thanks for the suggestion - factory reset was going to be my option, but today the strangest thing - it's charged OK. I had tried it in different sockets yesterday, but today it's working in all sockets. I'm thinking maybe a brown-out and not enough power getting to it (I do live in a developing country so it's possible, although the flat screen TV in the same socket worked fine yesterday. I tried it in the cradle and it wasn't charging whilst docked, need to try different sockets but haven't had time yet. Looks like this may be the problem - either that or letting it get down to 1% power (I was going to wait for it to fully discharge and see if I could run it on the mains rather than battery) kind of reset whatever the problem was. I only bought the cradle because the power socket is so fiddly and vulnerable to damage and VERY expensive to replace. Brown out is my suggestion because when docked and when plugged in directly, the indicator light said charging and the icon had the power sign and when I went into settings/battery it told me the % and said charging but it wasn't. Perhaps it just had a headache

I'm just going to keep on with it until it dies then get a transformer-type laptop.

Thanks again, just one of those oddities of life.

 

[ricktm16]

Thanks for the suggestion - factory reset was going to be my option, but today the strangest thing - it's charged OK. I had tried it in different sockets yesterday, but today it's working in all sockets. I'm thinking maybe a brown-out and not enough power getting to it (I do live in a developing country so it's possible, although the flat screen TV in the same socket worked fine yesterday. I tried it in the cradle and it wasn't charging whilst docked, need to try different sockets but haven't had time yet. Looks like this may be the problem - either that or letting it get down to 1% power (I was going to wait for it to fully discharge and see if I could run it on the mains rather than battery) kind of reset whatever the problem was. I only bought the cradle because the power socket is so fiddly and vulnerable to damage and VERY expensive to replace. Brown out is my suggestion because when docked and when plugged in directly, the indicator light said charging and the icon had the power sign and when I went into settings/battery it told me the % and said charging but it wasn't. Perhaps it just had a headache

I'm just going to keep on with it until it dies then get a transformer-type laptop.

Thanks again, just one of those oddities of life.

I bought one a month or so ago and it was a bundle deal with charger dock and power cord. Like it very much so wanted to bring it to the office as we do have Wi-Fi. So bouht another dock but it didn't come with a power cord. I've been told it's discontinued so I tried other chords with the same end. It won't charge with them. I put the Sony cord into the new dock and guess what, it charges. I think its a Sony thing and nothing but a Sony cord will work. But again that cord has been disconnected. I'm heading to our electronic stores to see if I can find something that will work, maybe they will have a cord.

Sucks to spend $40 and the darn thing not work.

Rick - USA

 

[THESHADOW]

It sounds like Sony has a kind of chip in either the cord or the tab itself which only allows Sonybverifiedvaccessiriesvtonwork.
Apple is notorious for doing this and rumor has it tgat SAMASUNG is considering doing the same thing.


THESHADOW

 

[Triciaswan]

I bought one a month or so ago and it was a bundle deal with charger dock and power cord. Like it very much so wanted to bring it to the office as we do have Wi-Fi. So bouht another dock but it didn't come with a power cord. I've been told it's discontinued so I tried other chords with the same end. It won't charge with them. I put the Sony cord into the new dock and guess what, it charges. I think its a Sony thing and nothing but a Sony cord will work. But again that cord has been disconnected. I'm heading to our electronic stores to see if I can find something that will work, maybe they will have a cord.

Sucks to spend $40 and the darn thing not work.

Rick - USA

What sucks a lot more is the cost of a new power cord - I can get one here in Thailand, but it will cost me no less than $110! I think Amazon UK had one, worked out about the same price so it must be global pricing. No 3rd party adapters seem to have appeared on the market.

The reason for buying the cradle in the first place was because the very fragile connector on the power chord was showing signs of failing - sometimes I would have to fiddle with it for up to 5 minutes, pressing one side then the other, easing it most of the way out then pushing it in hard, taking it out altogether and starting again. It seemed as though the little pieces that connect were wearing or being damaged, so knowing all the time that I fiddled I was probably damaging it more made it worse for me. I found out the price of the new cord and thought didn't want to invest so much in what I have proved is a faulty product, so I figured that if I could put it on a level surface and never move it, just turn the power on and off at the wall, it would last longer. Seems to be working OK(ish), so I suggest that you do this as soon as possible to prevent any damage to the connectors, and leave the cord in the cradle for as long as possible without connecting/disconnecting.

On my little problem, it still isn't perfect - sometimes it will not charge even though the green light indicator says charging and the tablet itself actually says "Charging, x%", if I go back an hour later it still hasn't moved percentage-wise, then I try it in another wall socket, then another, then another until I find one that it's comfortable with. I know it's not a power issue, as one of the power points it didn't like works my very power-hungry camp oven before and after without problem, taking no longer to preheat to a set temperature than it ever has (I checked). It seems to have a mind of its own. It's now (since yesterday) been flashing orange instead of green even when 100% full. If it were a laptop, I'd say that was a sign that the battery was on it's way out.

Very bad business practice of Sony to price a replacement to something so subject to high wear and tear and so easy to damage so outrageously high. To be honest, I really can't wait until it finally gives up altogether and I can get a new tablet (which definitely won't be a Sony or anything else with a proprietary power cord)

 

[Triciaswan]

It sounds like Sony has a kind of chip in either the cord or the tab itself which only allows Sonybverifiedvaccessiriesvtonwork.
Apple is notorious for doing this and rumor has it tgat SAMASUNG is considering doing the same thing.

THESHADOW

What an interesting idea, and also a very, very sneaky way to make money. My next tablet was going to be a Samsung, I'll be sure to check this out thoroughly before buying one.

My husband is actually wanting to go over to the dark side and buy an iPad, this has given me a good argument against it, so thank you for sharing that little snippet. One of my reasons for not buying an iPhone/iPad is that Apple locks you in with non-proprietary fittings, so you have to buy originals if anything goes wrong.

 

[ricktm16]

What sucks a lot more is the cost of a new power cord - I can get one here in Thailand, but it will cost me no less than $110! I think Amazon UK had one, worked out about the same price so it must be global pricing. No 3rd party adapters seem to have appeared on the market.

The reason for buying the cradle in the first place was because the very fragile connector on the power chord was showing signs of failing - sometimes I would have to fiddle with it for up to 5 minutes, pressing one side then the other, easing it most of the way out then pushing it in hard, taking it out altogether and starting again. It seemed as though the little pieces that connect were wearing or being damaged, so knowing all the time that I fiddled I was probably damaging it more made it worse for me. I found out the price of the new cord and thought didn't want to invest so much in what I have proved is a faulty product, so I figured that if I could put it on a level surface and never move it, just turn the power on and off at the wall, it would last longer. Seems to be working OK(ish), so I suggest that you do this as soon as possible to prevent any damage to the connectors, and leave the cord in the cradle for as long as possible without connecting/disconnecting.

On my little problem, it still isn't perfect - sometimes it will not charge even though the green light indicator says charging and the tablet itself actually says "Charging, x%", if I go back an hour later it still hasn't moved percentage-wise, then I try it in another wall socket, then another, then another until I find one that it's comfortable with. I know it's not a power issue, as one of the power points it didn't like works my very power-hungry camp oven before and after without problem, taking no longer to preheat to a set temperature than it ever has (I checked). It seems to have a mind of its own. It's now (since yesterday) been flashing orange instead of green even when 100% full. If it were a laptop, I'd say that was a sign that the battery was on it's way out.

Very bad business practice of Sony to price a replacement to something so subject to high wear and tear and so easy to damage so outrageously high. To be honest, I really can't wait until it finally gives up altogether and I can get a new tablet (which definitely won't be a Sony or anything else with a proprietary power cord)

I bought one off of eBay this morning. $34.99 but free shipping. Heck that was as much as the cradle but, wtf can you do. The guy had 10 left when I bought mine. sgpuc2 | eBay should get you to the ebay search. Should be much cheaper than $110. Crappy thing is you're closer to him than I am in Indiana..........whoa!

 

[Triciaswan]

I bought one off of eBay this morning. $34.99 but free shipping. Heck that was as much as the cradle but, wtf can you do. The guy had 10 left when I bought mine. sgpuc2 | eBay should get you to the ebay search. Should be much cheaper than $110. Crappy thing is you're closer to him than I am in Indiana..........whoa!

These are USB type cables - perhaps Sony listened to the complaints and the newer models have a different kind of charger fitting??? Mine is a SGPT-112 and not USB but a horrible fiddly, fragile little thing And the fiddly thing is hard-wired to the adapter box with the power cord to the electric socket being the loose and cheap to replace bit.

I priced one in UK GBP77 Power supply 30 Watt - original SGPAC10V1 for Sony: Amazon.co.uk: Electronics which was a bit more expensive than getting one from Sony Thailand, GBP77 is $124, but probably closer to correct if I'd calculated the proper Thai Baht exchange rate calculation instead of just rounding it off.

No way am I going to pay that much.

EDIT: I found one cheaper! Definitely a different fitting/model. http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B005G2HSTI/?tag=finyp-20 Sony have discontinued it (the rotten tablet is only 18 months old and they've discontinued such a bound-to-break item!) Still expensive though, 1 at $70 and 1 at $90 plus shipping, but many sellers on Amazon or Ebay won't ship to Thailand (even those in HK or China, even though it's pre-paid - I've never understood why they won't as there is no risk to them). I'm not sure that I want to spend that much though and then find it's the battery. I think I'll stick to plan A and use it until it dies then get a Samsung.

Maybe in the future this post will be of help to someone looking