H340: 3rd battery, now need a 4th...something else the prob?

[infamis]

What is it with H340s and having to replace the battery every so often...I'm about to do my fourth replacement!

So my question is, do the batteries go bad by themselves or is the H340 doing something to make them go bad?

My latest experience was that the battery would lose it's charge in minutes (sometimes seconds) and randomly shut off. I had not powered the H340 on for about 2 weeks. Battery is about 4 months old. The really odd thing was that keys were acting as if they were remapped, I'm guessing that's due to the low voltage. For example while viewing I/O ports:

Left key -> +0x0E
Up key -> +0x00
Right key -> +0x64/0x65
Down key -> +0x3A/3B/3C
Nav key -> +0x00
Play key -> no response [-0xFF]
Stop key -> +0x90/0x91
A-B key -> -0xFF
Rec key -> -0xFF

What that really means is that left, top all functioned as nav, right functioned as down, down functioned as left, stop functioned as right, play/nav/rec/ab all functioned as they should. As you can see, I have no "up" so volume is at 0 pretty much til I get a new battery.


What told me that it was the battery was because I disconnected it from the PCB for about 2 minutes, plugged it back in, and all of a sudden all the keys worked correctly. Battery indicator was displayed as full and I had the charger connected. HOwever, with every visual update to the charging status, the battery level dropped until it was at the bottom (even though it was charging). I/O ports indicated a 3.5/3.6V voltage (1%). Next thing you know keys are remapped again.

Bottom line: Is there something on the H340 that could potentially be damaged already and putting new batteries in is only a temporary fix? I really wanna get to the bottom of this! With some searching this post which suggests the LX2201 chip may be defective. This leads me to think if a bad USB power supply could be a culprit (as on my PC, one USB port is blown). I may try to get a replacement chip & see if it is in fact the problem.


PS: I use rockbox exclusively but booting into Iriver's firmware (1.29k) and key presses yielded the same result (random remapping).

PSS: My 1st replacement was a no-name battery, and the 2nd & 3rd were 2200mAh CameronSinos.

[dreamlayers]

Since disconnecting the battery for a bit helped, the problem is probably something on the H340 that is drawing a lot of current and discharging the battery.  When the load was disconnected the battery recovered a bit and the H340 worked for a bit after that.  To confirm this theory, you need to measure current between the battery and H340.

[piscator]

How are you charging the batteries?  USB or Wall Charger?  Both?

Is the problem the same, regardless of how you charge it?

There have been reports at Mistic River of USB charger failures.  And other posts discussing problems resulting from using improper chargers.  Is it possible the batteries aren't getting sufficient charge in the first place?

I suppose you could test this by charging the battery and then testing it out of the player.

piscator

[ej0rge]

if you have an ohm meter, could you disconnect the battery and read the resistance across the tantalum capacitors? those are the black boxes with the white stripe on one end and the number 47 on them.

[infamis]

How are you charging the batteries?  USB or Wall Charger?  Both?

Is the problem the same, regardless of how you charge it?

There have been reports at Mistic River of USB charger failures.  And other posts discussing problems resulting from using improper chargers.  Is it possible the batteries aren't getting sufficient charge in the first place?

I suppose you could test this by charging the battery and then testing it out of the player.

piscator

AC adapter about 80% of the time and USB 20% of the time. Most times I charge, it says complete. Ever since this battery problem arose, I hardly use the device anymore and have reverted back to CDs. These batteries should last a lot longer.

How are you charging the batteries?  USB or Wall Charger?  Both?

I'll see what I can do...I've got two bad batteries as of now.


Update:
I just installed a fresh battery. Let it charge via AC for an hour. Unplugged the AC. Started rockbox, said battery level was 4.00V. Less than 30 seconds later, unit cut off. Turned it back on. Battery level was at 3.45V. This can't be the battery this time. I give up...I'm not buying another battery again. What areas can I possibly troubleshoot to see what's wrong with the player?

[ej0rge]

Unfortunately, problems with the H300 charging circuit are distressingly common. And there's no known method of repair - unless you have your own hot-air rework station and know how to use it. And have a source for the chips.

[infamis]

Yeah I think it's about time I retire from the dap market; been in it since 2001. Definitely not about to buy a new and I guess I don't have the means to repair it.

Hopefully some of you smart people can figure it out, good luck to all.