Charge Kits Not Holding Charge

senordingdong

As of late I'm finding that the play and charge kits I have are not holding their charge at all and I am having to leave them plugged in whenever I play.

One is official Microsoft and the other is Gamestop brand.

Is this a common occurrence? Do these things have a life span like a regular battery?

TheMooseInNam

senordingdong wrote: »

As of late I'm finding that the play and charge kits I have are not holding their charge at all and I am having to leave them plugged in whenever I play.

One is official Microsoft and the other is Gamestop brand.

Is this a common occurrence? Do these things have a life span like a regular battery?

Yes, all rechargable batteries have a lifespan. I would imagine that 12-18 months would be a realistic lifespan, depending on use and how they were treated. Although I've two official rechargable battery packs with the upright charging stand and they've lasted me since nearly the launch of the black 360 elite.

I charge them up, let them virtually run completely flat and then recharge them fully again. I don't recharge them unless the controller has been switched off due to lack of power or I can't hear anyone on XBL anymore.

senordingdong

I was wondering would the charging dock be the way to go...the play and charge set up takes too long anyway.

cython

senordingdong wrote: »

I was wondering would the charging dock be the way to go...the play and charge set up takes too long anyway.

This is probably unnecessary, but have you ruled out the possibility of them not charging properly due to being "too empty"?

senordingdong

cython wrote: »

This is probably unnecessary, but have you ruled out the possibility of them not charging properly due to being "too empty"?

Wow that's a weird one.

I did consider that they might be 'too' dead, so I plugged them both in and left them to charge for two hours while I watched tv. Afterwards, they both shut down when I unplugged them.

That said though, when I plug them in, all I get is a green light straight away. There's no sign of a red light.

ShiverinEskimo

Yep. After a while the polarity weakens and so it can't start the charge cycle properly. Repeatedly unplugging/replugging the charge cable will eventually get enough into it that it will draw a charge again.

This will only work for so long however. Eventually you'll have a dead battery. I've my xbox 3 years now and am on the original batteries but it's getting harder and harder to get them to charge.

punk77

senordingdong wrote: »

I was wondering would the charging dock be the way to go...the play and charge set up takes too long anyway.

I get a much better charge from the charging dock.It takes longer to charge fully but lasts much longer.I charge them off the PC as it's on all the time anyway.

allanb49

had my two controllers since launch only now are the packs failing, i shall give them a viking funeral when i get 2 new packs

senordingdong

Right so.
Charge dock ordered!

GTR63

I eventually bought a wired controller,i'm sick of recharging & there is plenty length on the wire of the wired controller.

senordingdong

Typical.

Now that they charge dock is en route to me, I 've figured out the red light vs. green light snag and got them charging again.

Ah well, atleast it'll tidy up the place with less wires about.

CptMackey

senordingdong wrote: »

Typical.

Now that they charge dock is en route to me, I 've figured out the red light vs. green light snag and got them charging again.

Ah well, atleast it'll tidy up the place with less wires about.

What did you figure out? I'm having the same problem that you were having? I'm totally confused tbh. My packs are only 6months old.

cython

CptMackey wrote: »

What did you figure out? I'm having the same problem that you were having? I'm totally confused tbh. My packs are only 6months old.

He's probably talking about what I linked to above, whereby if the battery packs are sufficiently depleted they will only appear to charge for a few seconds, before the play and charge LED switches from red (charging) to green (done). If you unplug and replug a bunch of times (upon the light going green) with packs like this, they will usually proceed to charge properly eventually. Basically the controller charging circuit seems to have issues with realising there is a pack attached if the charge is too low, and so stops charging, so you have to incrementally increase the level of charge with "top ups" like that.

hous

im having same issue, wasnt sure if it was betteries on way out or the controllers...had since launch so i guess i cant complain

new play and charge batteries next on the list! kids need to wait till next week for the new trainers!