Unusual Charging Behavior Including While Docked

[biggbrother2]

I'm experiencing some weird charging issues that hopefully someone here can shed some light on.

When I connect my charger to the Prime, the Prime will not display the "Charging" indicator on the battery in the lower right of the screen. However, I know it is recognizing the charger because if the Prime screen is off, the screen will come on and it will chime. Additionally, and more oddly, the Prime actually charges despite not displaying the "Charging" indicator or even illuminating the LED on the power button.

I know it's charging because I have tested it overnight twice and in the morning it was fully charged. I also used it while plugged-in for a while the battery level increased by several percentage points. This all happened while not displaying that it was charging.

More annoyingly however, is that the dock will not charge. The dock will not charge whether it's docked or not. I am not sure if the Prime is still charging while docked since the indicator doesn't indicate as such and I have not tested to see if the battery level increases.

Normally, I would just assume the dock has crapped out. However, the issue with the Prime not indicating that it is charging leads me to believe it may be software or firmware related.
situation. Anyone have any advice for this seemingly bizarre situation? How can the Prime be charging yet not indicate that it's charging?

 

[Devinator]

Let the battery level on the dock drop, then charge it. Then you at least know whether or not it's charging.

That is really weird though. I have no idea why that would happen, but still be charging. You could factory reset to see if it's hardware or not, but, if it's charging both the Prime and the dock, probably wouldn't be worth the effort if your Prime is setup just the way you want it.

Then again, it might be worth it to try, because, if it is hardware, who knows if it's just the start of a problem, or, what other problems might arise in the future.

 

[biggbrother2]

I've been doing a bit of research and it appears that the charger may be defective or damaged. The common theme is that the middle (or 5th pin.. I have read differing accounts) in the USB cable head or in the charger wart is somehow not making contact to let the Transformer recognize it's an outlet. So by default it only allows a trickle USB charge, and only while the screen is off. It will also not indicate that it is charging, and it will not charge the dock at all, according to people who have experienced this problem. I carefully inspected all the pins and they all appear normal. None are bent.

Alternatively, if the thermal fuse in the charger is tripped, it will default to the trickle charge as well.

Based on the many reviews that I read over at Amazon for the OEM charger, it appears MANY MANY people are experiencing dead chargers after 3 months or so, same as me,

So my choices are:

1. Put the charger in the freezer for 4-5 hours and see if that works again
2. Pay $30 for a replacement charger and see it that works
3. Factory reset the Prime and see if it's a software glitch
4. Contact Asus - but they will likely RMA it and I will lose it for weeks or months

I am most likely going to try Option #1, to eliminate that possibility. Then I will probably try Option #3, as much as it pisses me off to have to load everything on my Prime AGAIN (I had to perform a Factory Reset a month ago due to yet another issue.

Then I will invest the $30 in a replacement charger to see if that works. If all of that fails, I will have to RMA it and the dock.

I love this tablet, but how can I seriously recommend it to anyone when it is having this many issues?

 

[Devinator]

Yea, I've heard of issues with the charger. My Prime just died and should be arriving at Asus today. I know it wasn't the charger, as, the light on my dock came on, but, my Prime wouldn't turn on and the LED on the power button wouldn't either. I understand you not wanting to have to do an RMA. I haven't had my Prime for about a week now and it's killing me. Hopefully they just replace it and send me a new one. I hope I don't have to go more than another week without it. :'(

Too bad you don't know anyone else with a Prime so you could try their charger. It'd be a shame to get a new charger to find out that that wasn't the problem. Maybe you can go to a store where they sell them and ask to use the charger real quick, just to test it. They might let you if you approach it just right. Unless of course you want to have two chargers, than it's not an issue.

I know what you mean. I love my Prime, but, I was disappointed that it wouldn't turn on after a couple of months. Hopefully this will be my last problem for quite some time and I can recommend it without a caveat.

Good luck!!

 

[biggbrother2]

Too bad you don't know anyone else with a Prime so you could try their charger. It'd be a shame to get a new charger to find out that that wasn't the problem.

Hmmm... I just remembered that my best friend bought his girlfriend a Prime a couple months ago! I can use her charger to test it.

Forgot all about that. Thanks! I will post back once I test it out.

 

[Devinator]

Nice!!

No problem man, glad I could help. Hopefully it's just the charger and Asus can send you out a replacement instead of having to ship your Prime to them.

 

[biggbrother2]

OK, I tried her charger and it charges with it. So apparently my charger has crapped the bed.

Unfortunately, I didn't have my charger on me so I could not swap the cables to determine if my cable or wall wart is the problem. I could have bought a cable for around $10. So yesterday I ordered a replacement for $29 at Amazon. I wanted to grab it from Office Depot because apparently their version has a longer cord for the same price, but all the Office Depots around me closed a couple years ago and it is not listed on the web site.

I am really disappointed that this charger died after only 3 months in use. That's crazy. Maybe Asus would have replaced the charger but I'm sure they would have required that I send the Prime and charger to them to determine if that was in fact the issue and that I wasn't simply trying to replace a lost charger or something. I'm not willing to lose my Prime for a month just to save $30.

 

[Devinator]

Tell them that your charger doesn't work and that you tried it on someone else's Prime and it didn't work. I would think they'd send you a new one, even if you have to send it back. The charger is under warranty too. In fact, I just sent my Prime in a couple of weeks ago and they didn't make me send the charger so it should work the other way. Then you'd have two chargers, one for work and one for home!!