beackup battery or main battery?

limitlessgfx · 03-22-04, 03:34 PM

for some reason my aximX5 has started using the backup battery whilst the main battery is full... and even runs down when on the mains?!

I emailed dell twice, but have had no reply!

my dad bought the dell under his name for me, and as far as I know its under a year old.

could someone direct me as to how to talk to someone directly? (without phoning them as I know their phone support aint too helpful)

regards,
Matt

ikehiker · 03-22-04, 06:03 PM

It's probably not that the X5 is using the backup. More than likely, the battery is just nearing the end of its usable life. The X5 does have some reporting problems with the backup battery (see my post from a few minutes ago on this thread.

If your Axim is approaching a year of age, just replace the backup (CR2032 from most department and electronic stores).

Gigi · 03-22-04, 06:08 PM

Same thing happened to me. My X5 is one year old and I had to replace the backup battery a few weeks ago.

limitlessgfx · 03-23-04, 04:41 AM

ok... I missed that part of the info out.... I have replaced it... 4 times infact, and it still proceeds to chew them up.
i am wondering if it is a faulty connection or something?
has dell got an irc channel or anything like that where I can put the problem forward?

cheers for the replies btw

Nancy Stanphill · 03-23-04, 07:44 AM

If it is indeed "chewing them up," something is wrong with the machine. However, it may be that it is reporting the charge incorrectly. What OS are you running?

limitlessgfx · 03-23-04, 02:36 PM

MAIN battery at time of thread creation: 60%
BACKUP battery at time of thread creation: 40%

MAIN battery NOW: 11%
BACKUP battery NOW: 0%

OS pocketPC version 3.0.11171

I dont think it is the indicators being wrong cause it loses its data when both batteries run out... and I can't get it going again unless I put a new backup battery in.

could someone please tell me how to get hold of dell so they will RESPOND to me?

Regards,
Matt

limitlessgfx · 03-23-04, 02:37 PM

oh yeah... one more thing... its been off all day... and the battery is going down on its own.

its OFF, not on standby, so dont even think about suggesting that one :P

Nancy Stanphill · 03-23-04, 02:52 PM

Indeed sounds like something is wrong. If it is under a year old, you need to contact Customer Care at Dell and see if they will send you a "new" one. The only way I know to do that is by phone. Go to Dell website and get the number under Customer Care.

SUNARISE · 03-24-04, 01:39 PM

Backup battery problem A5(may solved)!!!
Hi Aximguys,

I have had also the backup battery problem my friend and I solved it. At first we connected a DC-Source instead a new backup battery on the pins and we found out that the Axim needs 3,09 to 3,25V to show 90 to 100% on display!!! Then we bought some batterys 2032 from different manufacturers and we found also out that they have small but different voltages (about 200mV) e.g.:

Panasonic 3,3V
Varta 3,25V
Newsun (trash!) 3,01V
...all 2032!

This difference in voltages is very important because if you have installed a "new" one with 3,01V this won´t solve your backup battery problem and you would never think the new battery caused the problem again!!!

!!!!Buy a Panasonic or Varta with 3.3V and then your b.battery problem will be solved till the end of time!!!!

yours steveaxt & Don Padre(Germany)

ps.: I also informed the Dell-Support-Serviceteam in Germany!

Note.: Dear reader please inform every friend or collegue about this solution according the "BackupBatteryProblem" a lot of Axims would be pleased!!!

__________________
...snowboarding is cool!

limitlessgfx · 03-25-04, 03:54 AM

ta for that... I will be buying a new set of backup batteries some time soon...the one I have at the moment is a 3v (and was bought on holiday... rushjob).

I will let you know if it fixes the problem

regards,
Matt

MrKlaatu · 03-25-04, 04:14 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by limitlessgfx
the one I have at the moment is a 3v

As are ALL CR2032 Batteries, it is the Design Specification for this Battery type.

3V is the nominal voltage supplied, and is what is stamped onto the battery and/or printed on it's packaging. However, depending on quality of manufacture and how long it may have been sitting on the shelf waiting to be bought, you could conceivably get one a tad below that 3V mark.

And, as shown by SUNARISE's testing, below 3V just ain't gonna cut it. A little below 3V will still keep your Data safe when switching Main Batteries, it just won't show 100% in the BuB Meter, and will probably start showing the Low BuB Warning soon after.

SUNARISE · 03-25-04, 09:57 AM

Hey guys this is from another post and not from me. I just copied and pasted the information. The smarts behind this one is not me, even though I am pretty bright:)

THe thanks go out to the other user as he did the work. I was just frustrated with all the problems I was having along with so many others.

THANKS TO HIM

SUNARISE

klawler · 04-16-04, 02:39 PM

I can't believe the internet sometimes. My Axim 5 was great for a while and then it died and lost all of my info. Bought a new backup battery and the same thing happened again. I decided today that I would try one more time but that I would search the web for any info on this problem first.

Thank you for solving my problem - had I not looked here first it would have gone straight into the trash.

computerkidt · 04-22-04, 02:26 PM

Get a dell axim x3 it's better and smaller
but i do like that the x5 has CF and SD slots

Cepeu · 01-22-05, 09:21 AM

Ok as I had the same Problem with battery meter - it was allways showing a warning message I seem to have found a solution which worked for me at least (ok it's only 5 minutes old but worth a try).

All messages I read about the problem seem to indicate that it is a OS/software problem rather than a hardware/battery problem. For me it was my third battery which after changing showed the problem of battery warning shortly after inserting it.

This time I took it out and figured out it had 2,95 volt which should obviously be more than enough.
As this was/is a software problem I thought maybe it is curable by a hardware reset. This was not the case - or better said it seems a bit more complicated.

The way which worked for me was the following:
1) Take out the battery
2) Bend the battery contacts up to make sure there is no contact problem
2) Do a hardware reset (you loose ALL Data and need to setup your PDA again).
3) BEFORE setting up the Axim (you get the screen to tap on the Axim screen) I put in the battery AND
4) Did another software reset

Now I set up my PDA and the battery warning message was gone. I do not know if this will remain like this as this is a 5 minute old solution (and I write before I forget the procedure) but as it was exactly the same battery I used I am hopefull.

It would be interesting to hear from others where it also works (or does not work !) as this is one of the most annoying problems I encountered with my axim.