This part of the forum is covered in different charging issue threads due to it being such a prominent feature. Things ranging from model numbers, overheating, not working at all and only working intermittently.
I thought I would attempt to build a thread of the issues we Transformer owners are experiencing and seeing if anyone can really get to the bottom of this.
From what I have picked up from the forums many people are getting bad responses from Asus support, either providing no help at all or asking for the entire tablet+dock+charger at the users expense for shipping.
Common problems outline
[1]The brick gets very hot and stops charging
[2] The contacts between the brick and country adapter (e.g. USA/UK/EU) don't contact properly.
[3] The brick refuses to work altogether for no obvious reason.
Solutions attempted
[1] Bending the two contacts between the brick and country adapter slightly away from the brick (1 - 2mm)
[2] Calling (a somewhat unhelpful so far) Asus and asking for replacement
[3] Preserving (Not very Fun)
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The problems I am experiencing myself are basically that the charger works sometimes perfectly and other times not at all.
I can plug my charger in sometimes and it will work fine, others I can plug it in and my TF doesn't indicate charging although it does charge just VERY VERY slowly (about 2% every 25min).
Heat has not been an issue for me as it has been for many, my charging cable doesn't got warm at all and the brick is never alarmingly warm, nowhere near as hot as my laptop charger gets and the Asus charger is only 5V less than my laptops charger.
Model Numbers
Model numbers have been spoken about but so far I cannot find any evidence that they are different from one another, a known fault with 0B-LF so issues reported to Asus with that model should be find, but as far as I can tell problems with these power bricks happen across all the models (0B-LF, 0B-1LF, 0B-2LF)
If your having issues with your power brick post them below so we can try to keep them all in one place and hopefully try and resolve this.
As you are in the UK i'm not sure if this would apply to you but from my personal experience, i've had situations where the charger itself would be quite warm to the point where up close you can smell that aroma of overheating electronics. The charger has also refused to charge even when not hot, but will work once again after i've taken it off the mains and let it sit.
The american outlets differentiate between the hot and neutral leads via the larger and smaller prongs. I read in another thread concerning polarity and surface charges that when the charger is plugged in with the prong on the A side of the ASUS logo towards the larger (neutral) hole, then the charger will work properly. This has been my experience. I've come to a personal conclusion that the design of the charger is such that it is pole-sensitive but asus didn't bother to tell anyone which prong goes where, hope that might be of some use to you.
lacrossev said:
As you are in the UK i'm not sure if this would apply to you but from my personal experience, i've had situations where the charger itself would be quite warm to the point where up close you can smell that aroma of overheating electronics. The charger has also refused to charge even when not hot, but will work once again after i've taken it off the mains and let it sit.
The american outlets differentiate between the hot and neutral leads via the larger and smaller prongs. I read in another thread concerning polarity and surface charges that when the charger is plugged in with the prong on the A side of the ASUS logo towards the larger (neutral) hole, then the charger will work properly. This has been my experience. I've come to a personal conclusion that the design of the charger is such that it is pole-sensitive but asus didn't bother to tell anyone which prong goes where, hope that might be of some use to you.
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Click to collapse
I never have had my charger get hot enough to smell like burning. The only way so far of resolving the issue is leaving my charger unplugged for about 20 min+ and then reconnecting it to my TF.
You forgot the "stick the brick in the freezer" trick.
Not kidding, it worked like a champ for me and a few others.
Put the brick in ziplock bag and stick it in the freezer.
newtybar said:
You forgot the "stick the brick in the freezer" trick.
Not kidding, it worked like a champ for me and a few others.
Put the brick in ziplock bag and stick it in the freezer.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You know you can achieve the same result by just letting it sit without being plugged anywhere between 20 - 30 minutes. Just in case you don't want to put it in the freezer anymore.
Teleported from my Asus Transformer using Tapatalk
AcIdC0R3 said:
You know you can achieve
the same result by just letting it sit without being plugged anywhere between 20 - 30 minutes. Just in case you don't want to put it in the freezer anymore.
Teleported from my Asus Transformer using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah that's what I have been doing, if I plug in my TF and it won't charge I just leave it unplugged for about half an hour and then plug it in again but this is a bit of a pain. Could really do with a better solution.
-_-
Today my TF is refusing to charge at all. It trickle charges from the charger but this takes forever, its gone up 2% in just over 30mins. I'm not sure what to try now.
I have plugged it into charge, didn't work, left it unplugged for 20mins, plugged back in, wouldn't charge, left it unplugged for an hour, plugged back in, wouldn't charge, left it to trickle charge because it only had 1% battery.
I'm not sure what to try now, I might have to call Asus after I go on holiday.
Seems my charger will only trickle charge now, I cant get it to charge properly whatever I try. Maybe I should put it in the freezer for 20mins and see what it does......
If you do the freezer trick, let the adapter sit out UNPLUGGED for a short while.
Introducing heat can result in condensation (water) and we all know water and electronic bits don't get along that well.
Vendors are starting to get stock in spare chargers these days. I just got one in last week. Never had problems with the original yet, tho. The new one is going to the office where it will stay.
FrayAdjacent said:
If you do the freezer trick, let the adapter sit out UNPLUGGED for a short while.
Introducing heat can result in condensation (water) and we all know water and electronic bits don't get along that well.
Vendors are starting to get stock in spare chargers these days. I just got one in last week. Never had problems with the original yet, tho. The new one is going to the office where it will stay.
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Click to collapse
Will do. I might have to order another charger if I get no luck with Asus support.
didge3 said:
Will do. I might have to order another charger if I get no luck with Asus support.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Get a new one, and if it works normally, toss the original one in the box and exchange it at the place you purchased the second one at.
If ASUS won't replace it under warranty, the above will end up with them replacing it when the vendor returns it to them.
I've done some research and as far as I can tell the TF power brick operates in two modes, one is for lower powered 'ordinary' usb devices, such as my phone. This allows this charging brick to charge at 5v @ 2amps outputting a total of 10W.
The second option is primarily for when a TF is connected and runs at 15v @ 1.2amps outputting 18W.
My charging brick seems to charge my phone on the 5v mode fine, but when I connect my TF it isn't charging properly and takes ages, this leads me to believe that somewhere down the line my charging isn't connecting something somewhere and allowing for the 15v charging to take place.
Would I be right in saying this or am I talking all jibberish?
didge3 said:
I've done some research and as far as I can tell the TF power brick operates in two modes, one is for lower powered 'ordinary' usb devices, such as my phone. This allows this charging brick to charge at 5v @ 2amps outputting a total of 10W.
The second option is primarily for when a TF is connected and runs at 15v @ 1.2amps outputting 18W.
My charging brick seems to charge my phone on the 5v mode fine, but when I connect my TF it isn't charging properly and takes ages, this leads me to believe that somewhere down the line my charging isn't connecting something somewhere and allowing for the 15v charging to take place.
Would I be right in saying this or am I talking all jibberish?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'd agree. Something in the solid-state(a mosfet or IC) has crapped out due to heat, breaking the 15V section of the charger. Time for a new one. It's possible there's damage to pin 7 in the usb port, but heat-fry is much more likely.
msticninja said:
I'd agree. Something in the solid-state(a mosfet or IC) has crapped out due to heat, breaking the 15V section of the charger. Time for a new one. It's possible there's damage to pin 7 in the usb port, but heat-fry is much more likely.
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Click to collapse
Yeah definately taking it back to retail store I bought it from, hopefully they will try it and just give me a new charger then and there.
Info I've gleaned, just in case it might assist someone:
1) I took delivery of an 0B-3LF charger today from ASUS UK, haven't seen any mention of the 3LF yet on XDA. It *appears* to generate less heat but that could just be a placebo effect.
2) Coincidentally, my 0B-2LF - which always got hot when charging dock+tablet simultaneously - failed last night. Unplugging it from the mains then replugging it did not fix it, even though it was cold to the touch by this point. Six hours after unplugging it from the mains, I tried again... the 0B-2LF started working, and continues to work. So if your charger fails, unplug it, give it six hours, then try it again - ideally before registering an RMA, otherwise you'll have to spend an extra half hour working out how to cancel the RMA (answer: email [email protected] with your RMA number, serial number and case reference).
My charger works whenever it feels like it wants to. I've been messing with it for the last 30-45 min with no luck. Unplugging the charger from the outlet, trying different outlets, unplugging and plugging back in the usb cable, with and without usb 3.0 extension, rotating the mains to switch the polarity, pushing out the prongs for the country adapter, widening the opening in the prongs, banging the charger, letting it sit and nothing is working. Just now it turned on, but right after the boot screen, it made the low power chime and died.
Seems like the problem is getting worse. Before when it first stopped charging it was really easy to get it charging again.
Also my father got the TF within the same week i got mine. He went overseas and came back to visit again and his charger has no issues. But i did notice he keeps the USB 3.0 extension along with the usb cable all plugged into each other into the mains whereas I unplug mine and wrap them up when taking them along.
Think that might have something to do with it?
my charger is a 0b-1LF
maxh2005 said:
Info I've gleaned, just in case it might assist someone:
1) I took delivery of an 0B-3LF charger today from ASUS UK, haven't seen any mention of the 3LF yet on XDA. It *appears* to generate less heat but that could just be a placebo effect.
2) Coincidentally, my 0B-2LF - which always got hot when charging dock+tablet simultaneously - failed last night. Unplugging it from the mains then replugging it did not fix it, even though it was cold to the touch by this point. Six hours after unplugging it from the mains, I tried again... the 0B-2LF started working, and continues to work. So if your charger fails, unplug it, give it six hours, then try it again - ideally before registering an RMA, otherwise you'll have to spend an extra half hour working out how to cancel the RMA (answer: email [email protected] with your RMA number, serial number and case reference).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's how mine started, but got worse. I only charge my tablet once a day and the charger is unplugged from the outlet between charges. Now I can't get it to charge. Every now and then if i unplug it and plug it back in, it'll boot up the TF but then the second the boot animation is over, makes the battery low chime, 0% remaining and shuts off!
Just got off the phone with asus tech support, they gave me an RMA number and i have to mail the charger to them to see if they can repair it.... whats up with that? why can't they just mail me a new one and i mail them back this broken one or get billed for it like every other tech company i've dealt with?
I've had the exact same issues as both of you. At first if it wouldn't charge I would leave it for a few mins and then it would charge straight away. It slowly got word and I had to fight with it more to get it to charge and now it will only trickle charge.
I will charge it up overnight tonight and leave it for six hours or more. Hopefully this will work until I can send it back.
(I'm not sure if i have mentioned this somewhere but my charger model number is 0B-1LF)
So I got an rma to send my charger to asus but I think I narrowed it down to the cable and not the charger. I tried my dad's charger and it works with that. Then I tried my cable on my dad's charger and no go, only trickle (5v) charge. Then tried my dad's usb cable on my charger and it worked. So I think it has something to do with the cable not telling the charger it needs 15v.
Going to call asus back tomorrow and see if they'll
Send me another cable.
asus rant: how come I have to pay to mail out my defective part and be without it while they repair or replace it? Every other company I've dealt with would send me the replacement and I would have to mail back the defective unit (using a prepaid label included) or be billed for it.
Sent from my Dell Streak XDA premium app - please excuse my miswyping
fone_fanatic said:
So I got an rma to send my charger to asus but I think I narrowed it down to the cable and not the charger. I tried my dad's charger and it works with that. Then I tried my cable on my dad's charger and no go, only trickle (5v) charge. Then tried my dad's usb cable on my charger and it worked. So I think it has something to do with the cable not telling the charger it needs 15v.
Going to call asus back tomorrow and see if they'll
Send me another cable.
asus rant: how come I have to pay to mail out my defective part and be without it while they repair or replace it? Every other company I've dealt with would send me the replacement and I would have to mail back the defective unit (using a prepaid label included) or be billed for it.
Sent from my Dell Streak XDA premium app - please excuse my miswyping
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Click to collapse
Maybe its my cable too, unfortunately I don't have another brick to try it on. Will have to just wait and see.
Hey, been on these forums for a while, I rarely ask for help (been pretty lucky with the phones), but I have a question.
My phone won't charge. Or rather, it requires a time consuming process of fiddling, unplugging, replugging, and sometimes minor surgery on the USB port with a toothbrush or a tool I've crafted out of a Q-tip. However, after a night of charging (or some interrupted equivalent that results in a charged battery) the battery quickly depletes while still plugged in.
This is most clearly illustrated when yesterday, at 8:45 I rolled over and checked my phone to see if it had been charged. Pleased to see that it had been charged up to 100% I fell back asleep. When I woke up again to go to school at 9:10, my phone was entirely dead. I couldn't even get it to turn on to the point where it showed the I9100 screen. After following the time consuming and frustrating process of fiddling with the USB port and Micro USB charger, I coaxed the phone to show the powered-down charging screen, where I left it to charge to full.
I have been experiencing this over the course of a few weeks and I have tried many chargers, but only one of them will work at all (Interestingly a Motorola cord). Upon inspection of the USB port, nothing seems out of the ordinary, though the 2 prongs on the outside of the USB port male receiver look slightly different than the inside 2, though they difference is symmetrical.
Does anybody have any idea of what could be plaguing my phone? USB or battery? This is my second SII, a replacement one after my original one was tragically lost in a hot tub . Any thoughts would be awesome.
Thanks
Braidonh
If you are using Siyah kernel have you altered the charging current through EsTweeks?
If so then it is possible that the battery / charging circuit has been damaged. Try resetting the values to default (I think its 700mV on AC and misc and 600mV on USB but dont quote me).
Failing that then some hardware trouble shooting (trying a new battery / external battery charger) will help you figure out what is going on.
Ccarlpearce said:
If you are using Siyah kernel have you altered the charging current through EsTweeks?
If so then it is possible that the battery / charging circuit has been damaged. Try resetting the values to default (I think its 700mV on AC and misc and 600mV on USB but dont quote me).
Failing that then some hardware trouble shooting (trying a new battery / external battery charger) will help you figure out what is going on.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My signature is quite outdated... Currently just running CM 10.1 with stock everything. Haven't tweaked anything in that capacity... but will try my other battery (if I can find it). Thanks!
I was having this same problem with my HTC vivid. I tried charging with may chargers, the phone claimed it was charging (orange light lit up) but the phones battery was dying while plugged in. Just like you said, the battery depleted rather quickly when plugged in. Since my phone refused to accept any form of charge I bought an external battery charger and some extra batteries.
However, last week I wondered if maybe there was some sort of dust, or small pieces of sand inside the Micro-USB port on my in my phone that were possibly "blocking" the charger from properly charging.
So I bought an air duster and blew air into the USB port of my phone. I guess there must have been something in there because that fixed my issue and now my phone charges!
Now I have 4 batteries for my phone and an external battery charger.
Try it on your phone, see if you have the same luck I had.
Braidonh said:
My phone won't charge. Or rather, it requires a time consuming process of fiddling, unplugging, replugging, and sometimes minor surgery on the USB port with a toothbrush or a tool I've crafted out of a Q-tip.
Does anybody have any idea of what could be plaguing my phone? USB or battery?
Braidonh
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Maybe I'm missing something here because you seem to be experienced on this forum and understand about searching first.
Anyway, this sounds like the common USB problem that S2s have. It can be the jack or more typically, the flex cable. You replace the little board. Search for USB in this forum. I just changed mine with one I got on Ebay. Cheap and easy.
Hello XDA,
I'm not sure how this happened, but for the past couple of months I haven't been able to charge my phone while it is turned on. It shows the charging animation but the battery still drains, even with all radios off and screen off. I can leave it charging all night and end up with a nearly flat battery. Plugging it in to any wall socket seems to only slow the draining, and plugging it in to a fully powered USB socket (many tried) keeps it at the same battery level, or very slowly charges it if I don't use it. If I turn it off however, I can charge it until full in the normal time with the original AC charger.
Here's the really strange part: I've tried several new chargers of different brands including samsung and it makes no difference. Not only that, but they won't charge it when powered off either making them completely ineffective. It doesn't initialize the charge properly - the screen either shows a battery with a progress circle over and over again without getting to the charging animation, or displays the charging animation over and over and never charges at all, but nevertheless gets hot.
The chargers I've tried are:
Cygnet for samsung phones including SGS-II
Belkin for Samsung phones including SGS-II
Premium blackberry travel charger
Premium 10W 2A Samsung travel adaptor
One charger that did seem to work while plugged in was from a new Sony Xperia Windows phone charger I borrowed once.
I've exchanged at the store 3 times now with the same result! It must be something wrong with the hardware or software...
I've calibrated the battery, I've had a new battery for a couple of months and normally still lasts all day and more on a full charge. It is a 3rd party high quality Anker battery. The problem is the battery is getting a lot more taxed now that I'm using 3G over the portable hotspot, so its not quite lasting the day anymore.
I've had countless custom ROMs on there now, current ROM is CyanogenMod 10.1 stable. Would returning to stock then reinstalling help?
Something that shouldn't matter is I've moved from the UK to Australia. I'm still using the English charger as its the only one that works. And the Xperia charger that seemed to work was Australian too.
Before it got this bad I think it was getting slower and slower to charge. I had to replace the old USB cable that eventually got really loose, then broke and i've tried several new ones with no improvement in charging ability. Is it possible that the contacts inside the micro-USB socket might have been bent from the old cable moving around so much so that only minimal contact is achieved with any other cable? The new connectors do seem to fit perfectly.
In the attached screenshot, you will see on the left the AC charger is plugged in while battery level goes down, then on the far right its plugged in to a computer and is kept level.
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!!
sevenlions said:
Hello XDA,
I'm not sure how this happened, but for the past couple of months I haven't been able to charge my phone while it is turned on. It shows the charging animation but the battery still drains, even with all radios off and screen off. I can leave it charging all night and end up with a nearly flat battery. Plugging it in to any wall socket seems to only slow the draining, and plugging it in to a fully powered USB socket (many tried) keeps it at the same battery level, or very slowly charges it if I don't use it. If I turn it off however, I can charge it until full in the normal time with the original AC charger.
Here's the really strange part: I've tried several new chargers of different brands including samsung and it makes no difference. Not only that, but they won't charge it when powered off either making them completely ineffective. It doesn't initialize the charge properly - the screen either shows a battery with a progress circle over and over again without getting to the charging animation, or displays the charging animation over and over and never charges at all, but nevertheless gets hot.
The chargers I've tried are:
Cygnet for samsung phones including SGS-II
Belkin for Samsung phones including SGS-II
Premium blackberry travel charger
Premium 10W 2A Samsung travel adaptor
One charger that did seem to work while plugged in was from a new Sony Xperia Windows phone charger I borrowed once.
I've exchanged at the store 3 times now with the same result! It must be something wrong with the hardware or software...
I've calibrated the battery, I've had a new battery for a couple of months and normally still lasts all day and more on a full charge. It is a 3rd party high quality Anker battery. The problem is the battery is getting a lot more taxed now that I'm using 3G over the portable hotspot, so its not quite lasting the day anymore.
I've had countless custom ROMs on there now, current ROM is CyanogenMod 10.1 stable. Would returning to stock then reinstalling help?
Something that shouldn't matter is I've moved from the UK to Australia. I'm still using the English charger as its the only one that works. And the Xperia charger that seemed to work was Australian too.
Before it got this bad I think it was getting slower and slower to charge. I had to replace the old USB cable that eventually got really loose, then broke and i've tried several new ones with no improvement in charging ability. Is it possible that the contacts inside the micro-USB socket might have been bent from the old cable moving around so much so that only minimal contact is achieved with any other cable? The new connectors do seem to fit perfectly.
In the attached screenshot, you will see on the left the AC charger is plugged in while battery level goes down, then on the far right its plugged in to a computer and is kept level.
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
IMO, u should revert back to a stock samsung Firmware (pertained to ur region) and then see if the issue persists or not to rule out any possible 'Software issue' in the first place
Thank you, I will try that and report back the results.
You can try hawkerpauls nuke if flashing stock doesn't work: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2100558