Dock not charging, tablet does (also through dock)

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dagrim1

Senior Member
Sep 1, 2008
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This has been going on for a while and hasnt bothered me too much, until now! ;)

The thing is my dock hasn't been charging for quite a while, battery is stuck at 0%. The light is blinking orange when the tablet is docked in and/or the charger is connected. The tablet itself charges just fine, also through the dock.

I have already opened the dock, nothing strange. Battery appears fine (not swolen or anything) and nothing weird with the connection. I have been flipping the SW1001 swithc like crazy as well (even though by now I don;t remember the default anymore, open or closed... or what open or closed actually is. Even though on the backside of the PCB there is some 'open' print).

I have tried charging the dock (both seperately as with tablet docked in) with switch in both connections (for quite a few hours) but without luck. The led is blinking the same way, no matter how I put the switch.

Also tried flashing stock firmware again, no luck.

* Is there a way to test the dock battery? (Apart from switching the dock and tablet battery for example).

* Does anyone know what the default posittion of the SW1001 swithc is? (This is the switch on the right side of the left pcb inside the keyboard dock).

* Any other tricks getting the dock battery to charge again?

I have been thinking of ordering a new battery (or possibly entire dock, might be able to get one second handed) but would really like to have tried everything else first :)
 

da3dsoul

Member
Feb 2, 2014
23
2
To test the dock battery (or any battery), use a multimeter, find out what the voltage should be (I believe but don't hold me to it) that the dock and internal battery should be ~15v. Check on the internet (google, youtube, etc) for correct usage of a multimeter. If the battery is fine, you already have the multimeter in front of you, check the connections to the tablet from the battery.

If you don't know where to get a multimeter, (you probably shouldn't have opened the dock) you can get one at RadioShack, Home Depot, Lowes, Menards, Frys, decent gas stations, the internet. You get the idea: they're everywhere.
 

dagrim1

Senior Member
Sep 1, 2008
1,710
369
To test the dock battery (or any battery), use a multimeter, find out what the voltage should be (I believe but don't hold me to it) that the dock and internal battery should be ~15v. Check on the internet (google, youtube, etc) for correct usage of a multimeter. If the battery is fine, you already have the multimeter in front of you, check the connections to the tablet from the battery.

If you don't know where to get a multimeter, (you probably shouldn't have opened the dock) you can get one at RadioShack, Home Depot, Lowes, Menards, Frys, decent gas stations, the internet. You get the idea: they're everywhere.

Cheers, I do have a multimeter so will indeed give that a try.

Not sure how to actually measure this battery:
$_57.JPG


but I'll see if I can find anything.

Also, perhaps I'll try swapping the battery from the tablet and dock as well anyway. Hard to tell if the battery is at fault or some other part (charging the battery).
 

*Detection*

Senior Member
Dec 5, 2011
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As a last resort, because these batteries often won't charge up again if they drop to 0% would be to (safely) warm it up, might give it that 1% needed to kick start it

Used to put my pencil batteries on the hot radiator for an hour when they had run out, and normally got a little longer out of them until they cooled down

Not sure if that works with Li-Ion but wouldn't hurt

Ive had the 0% dead battery problem with the dock, but swapping between SW1001 switch positions every half hour eventually got it charging again
 

dagrim1

Senior Member
Sep 1, 2008
1,710
369
As a last resort, because these batteries often won't charge up again if they drop to 0% would be to (safely) warm it up, might give it that 1% needed to kick start it

Used to put my pencil batteries on the hot radiator for an hour when they had run out, and normally got a little longer out of them until they cooled down

Not sure if that works with Li-Ion but wouldn't hurt

Ive had the 0% dead battery problem with the dock, but swapping between SW1001 switch positions every half hour eventually got it charging again

Thanks for the tip, nice alternative for the 'putting it in the fridge' one, will certainly give that a try too. I actually closed the dock again, but guess I'll be popping it open again this evening hehe.

Do you happen to remember/recall what the proper position of the SW1001 switch was?
 

da3dsoul

Member
Feb 2, 2014
23
2
Hmmm...thanks Asus, that makes everything easier....Usually red and black are +/-, there appears to be text on the battery cables. Check to see if any have + out, - out, + discharge, etc, etc. You want to see if it will output any current, because if it does, it is not really 0%, just really low. If you find which ones are charging inputs, give it a (small) jolt of like 0.25v - 0.5v higher than what it asks for a couple minutes and then switch back to normal.
 

*Detection*

Senior Member
Dec 5, 2011
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Durham
Thanks for the tip, nice alternative for the 'putting it in the fridge' one, will certainly give that a try too. I actually closed the dock again, but guess I'll be popping it open again this evening hehe.

Do you happen to remember/recall what the proper position of the SW1001 switch was?

I can do one better - just remembered Id seen this a while back

http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Disassemble-the-ASUS-Transformer-TF101-Keyb/?ALLSTEPS


FDNR5HRGYZY6RS6.LARGE.jpg
 

dagrim1

Senior Member
Sep 1, 2008
1,710
369
Great, cheers guys!

Guess I'll have some playing to do. (Hell, it's prolly easier to just shell 30 bucks for a new battery but it's a matter of principle now ;) )
 

*Detection*

Senior Member
Dec 5, 2011
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lol yea, good luck - it's a pain because the actual battery is likely still fine, they just refuse to charge if completely drained, but, Ive managed it before and so have others, so you have some hope :)
 

dagrim1

Senior Member
Sep 1, 2008
1,710
369
Haha, thanks :) Ah well, I do enjoy tinkering around with this stuff (but I'm also clumsy at times, accidently pulling out cables and/or ribbons ;) ).

Multimeter didn't work btw, couldn't manage to get a reading (hard to make contact with any of the wires of the battery, as well as no clue which wires do what... couldn't really read the text). Did manage to connect the tablet battery with the dock connector, immediately got a green light instead of constantly blinking orange/amber one. Attaching the dock battery to the tablet only resulted in a boot if I connected the charger... Resulted in a 0% battery and message "please connect the charger" so yeah, seems the battery is indeed the issue.

Either indeed depleted to 0% or perhaps the wiring is broken. Anyway, the battery is in the freezer now and am going to take it out tomorrow. If that doesn't work, I'll put it on the radiator in order to heat it up a bit (or perhaps a blowdryer on a low setting, will see). If that also doesn't work I guess I'll have to order a new battery afterall (might as well to round things up).

Of course now I also noticed I only get sound from one speaker :D Hell, and to consider we don;t even use this tablet anymore haha.
 

*Detection*

Senior Member
Dec 5, 2011
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Durham
Never heard of putting batteries in the freezer, putting the charger in the freezer works only because it resets the thermal cut out switch, but not heard it about the actual batteries

For storing them when not in use, Ive heard you charge them to 50% and seal them in an airtight zip bag and store in the fridge for maximum lifespan

Make sure you let it thaw out back to room temp before putting it on the radiator though or you'll end up with condensation inside of it

Don't know about the wire colours either unfortunately

Fun project anyway, keeps you out of mischief :)
 

dagrim1

Senior Member
Sep 1, 2008
1,710
369
Ah well, freezing and heating it up didn't seem to work either... So I just ordered a new battery anyway (and speakers, lol... might as well finish it up properly then). Will take a bit before they're in but at least then I can let this rest ;)

Tnx for the assistance and tips though, was a fun project nonetheless.
 

dagrim1

Senior Member
Sep 1, 2008
1,710
369
Just to finish this up, got the new battery and speakers yesterday... Built them into the TF101 and all is working fine now again :) (Of course there is still a volume difference in left/right speakers, haven't been able to figure out the proper settings in the config file from that other thread so I guess I'll just leave it for now).

So all is ok, except the charger of course, of which I think I already had 3 or 4 ones breaking so I gave up on those and just use the DIY charger which works just fine.
 

*Detection*

Senior Member
Dec 5, 2011
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Good to hear it's almost back to 100% - are you running stock firmware?

I remember the speaker volume differences with stock - the latest KatKiss KitKat ROM by Timduru has even speaker volumes and the KatApp volume booster he makes has more options to boost the volumes and makes a big difference

#23c is the latest KK ROM - make sure you have TWRP recovery installed before flashing it though
 

dagrim1

Senior Member
Sep 1, 2008
1,710
369
Good to hear it's almost back to 100% - are you running stock firmware?

I remember the speaker volume differences with stock - the latest KatKiss KitKat ROM by Timduru has even speaker volumes and the KatApp volume booster he makes has more options to boost the volumes and makes a big difference

#23c is the latest KK ROM - make sure you have TWRP recovery installed before flashing it though

Cheers! :)

I am running kitkat btw, but even then there's a difference in volume... I think it's #23 but will have to doublecheck that, as well as the volume apps you mentioned. On the other hand, it's not that big of an issue (would be nice to really fix everything though hehe).
 

*Detection*

Senior Member
Dec 5, 2011
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You could try the fix that used to work for stock - see if it has the same issue
http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=1118010

Also I noticed some of the holes in the bezel that let the audio come out from the speakers are either blocked or tiny, I used a sewing needle to bore out the holes which improved audio levels too

Just watch you don't push right through the speaker, might be an idea to remove the bezel to do it


EkIPnDr.jpg
 
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dagrim1

Senior Member
Sep 1, 2008
1,710
369
You could try the fix that used to work for stock - see if it has the same issue
http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=1118010

Also I noticed some of the holes in the bezel that let the audio come out from the speakers are either blocked or tiny, I used a sewing needle to bore out the holes which improved audio levels too

Just watch you don't push right through the speaker, might be an idea to remove the bezel to do it


EkIPnDr.jpg

Have tried several values from that thread but without any real results (also pretty tedious to test the settings). Might look into drilling/cleaning the speaker holes though. Saw another thread where it was recommended to turn around the speakers and drill some holes in the grill as well, but that;s a bit too much for now.

Cheers for the tips and recommendations though ;)
 

*Detection*

Senior Member
Dec 5, 2011
10,512
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Durham
Yea I was thinking about turning the speakers around too, not sure why they positioned them pointing away from the holes to begin with, or why they put the holes in the side instead of the front - but that's ASUS for you :)

Hopefully you'll find a solution eventually
 

magnus71

Member
Feb 12, 2011
8
0
Taranto
Well, this how I solved the dock battery issue, it worked for me so maybe will work for somebody else.
I unwrapped the black plastic foil of the battery pack and checked the tensions, one of the two units was under 1.0 volt so I charged for some seconds enforcing from a charger.
I reassemble all and dock now is at 1% and charging ok.
Please be careful and be aware that a wrong or too much time can lead to explosion.
 

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    You could try the fix that used to work for stock - see if it has the same issue
    http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=1118010

    Also I noticed some of the holes in the bezel that let the audio come out from the speakers are either blocked or tiny, I used a sewing needle to bore out the holes which improved audio levels too

    Just watch you don't push right through the speaker, might be an idea to remove the bezel to do it


    EkIPnDr.jpg