Battery latch opened... no it wasn't.

[RelativAbsolut]

These instructions are for axim x51v.
Here are some pictures for those wanting to see where the battery latch is. Note that there is a 'male' part of the plastic 'latch mechanism' which sticks *into* the 'female' part of the 'latch mechanism' - The female part is attached to a sensor. This can be verified for yourselves - just press the sensor with a pen, press the on button, and the pda will boot up. The pda does NOT respond to the depression of the plastic female latch sensor whilst in the process of booting (I think), BUT WILL respond to such a sensor depressing AFTER having booted. When the sensor is no longer pressed after booting, the pda switches off.

[RelativAbsolut]

I have read various things on this site. Some seem to think that using paper and pressing it on the upper side of the x51v battery works to keep the *battery cover* latch pressed down so that the pda will not switch off (somewhere along the middle between the battery and the battery cover) . I have tried this and it seems to work.

Another (risky) approach which might work is to use a SMALL amount of blue tack or chewed tissue (though try to keep it DRY!) to wedge the battery latch sensor down.

The first option seems to work as it causes the batter cover to curve in such a way that the battery latch sensor remains pressed down.

BUT this first method may still fail due to there being a relation between how far the battery latch is depressed and the stress/strain/tension which the other parts of the battery cover might be experiencing (due to the way that the curvature of the cover keeps the latch pressed down).

This is why the second option may be best in the long run - using a small amount of flexible material (flexible as you have to operate the battery cover shutter switch, but stiff enough to depress the battery latch switch) won't be sensitive to the stress and strain that the cover is experiencing 5-10 cm away from the latch mechanism.

Hope this is useful.

[picklemeister]

I've been getting this same message ever since buying a couple new batteries on Ebay. a 2200 & a 2400 Mah. They both came with a cover...
Well - it is NOT a sensor in the AXIM that causes this.
It is - in my own case - caused by the replacement covers that came with the batteries. The original battery cover still causes no problem - just doesnt fit over the extended life battery. If you look at the tiny little tabs on the battery covers, you will see two "L" shaped hooks that go into the sliders on the PDA. the latch slides the sliders into these two "L" hooks.
The "L" hooks on both my replacement covers simply do not extend down far enough for the sliders to fully seat into place & the sliders (latch) simply slips back towards the open position. Hold an original (or a GOOD) cover up to a lighted wall & hold a replacement (refurbs & Extended covers) up so you can see the "L" hooks side by side. The original cover's hooks protrude about 5/1000" farther away from the covers' body before the 90 degree turn.
I will try to file the inside edge of the hook in an effort to aleviate the difference, but I do not have much meat on that part of the hook, so wish me luck !
I can also see that -over time- the hooks on the replacements are looking like they have been stressing - ie.- getting ready to break off - which makes sense since the sliders would have been trying to force them downwards when I keep pushing the latch to "closed" - all because they dont quite reach down into position as far as the hooks on the original cover.
I guess I'm just lucky enough to have gotten at least ONE original cover with my Axim. For me - I can plainly see the difference in the hooks' distance if I know what to look for.
I would think that many other people have the same issue but have mistaken the problem as being caused by something else.
I believe the sponge & tape theory is only working because it would force the cover to sit a tiny bit higher -thereby causing even more stress on those 2 hooks - but just enough to give the sliders more friction? against sliding back.
This is likely to eventually result in broken hooks someday. Look at them under a magifier to check for signs of fatigue - they may look like they're gonna break. Better to file down the inside edge of the hooks so the sliders fit into place better with no stress against the hooks at all. Just use a needle file.

Pickle out

[mkss55442]

Sorry I haven't read all 40+ posts...I got a "battery door" warning about 2 weeks ago. Turns out the battery had started to fail and was bulging in the middle. It was enough to periodically cause the warning.

[thafrogggg]

I took a little different approach to this.

Rather than putting anything into the latch hole, I made the latch piece on the battery cover itself a little thicker. I placed a small amount of hot glue on the bottom of the piece then carefully shaved it down a bit with an exacto knife.

This solves the problem perfectly for me.

[saint-francis]

I just put a drop of super glue on all of my battery covers. It has been working for a while now and it's pretty robust. Super glue is both very thin (but it dries thick enough to accomplish the task at hand) and it dries hard a rock. This seems like a much more stable fix than jamming a piece of paper or a tooth pick piece in there.

[bmeprops]

That happened when I purchased the extended battery. I have a hard case but I guess the ext batt was too sensitive; even when I placed it down gently it would go off. I called dell and they sent me a refurbished one but I still have the same problem.
When I put the regular batt in and drop my axim from 3" above the table, it won't go off.
So I think it's the ext batt door.

[Jimb0]

RelativAbsolut is absolutely correct. Thanks for the picture. At least, mine has the switch in the same location. I just cut a tiny square of duct tape and applied it to the latching foot on the cover and no more problems. My high capacity battery cover has a lot more slop, so the problem was much worse with the large battery installed. I suppose any thin tape with good adhesive properties will work. Don't get too thick, though, you don't want to damage the switch. Some folks have mentioned building up the foot using glue, another good idea. Anyway, I think in most cases, it's a poorly fitting cover that causes the problem, so check it out before you go buying new batteries or getting refurbed Axims.

[tiger_splash]

Sorry I haven't read all 40+ posts...I got a "battery door" warning about 2 weeks ago. Turns out the battery had started to fail and was bulging in the middle. It was enough to periodically cause the warning.

My husband and I both had this exacty same issue. We started getting this message periodically and it was becoming more frequent as time passed. When I looked at my Axim, I noticed my battery cover seemed to be bulging slightly. I took out my batteries and noticed they were slightly "fatter" then they used to be.

Ordered some new batteries. When they arrived I could really see just how much the older ones had "grown" in the middle. Granted my cover is still showing a slight bulge, since I didn't catch this early, but I changed to brand new "flat" batteries, I haven't had the problem.

For the record, both my original Dell batteries and the cheap-o generic ones had developed this bulge.

[lforestier]

I'm getting the message about every day whenever I connect the sync cable