Thread: Playbook does not charge when charger plugged in

Battery down to 4%. When I plug in the charger I get the red led to go on and then nothing. No pulsing green light. Have powered it up with the three finger salute but with the charger plugged in it does not acknowledge that it is charging just shows the battery symbol in red and beeps two times to tell me that the battery is low. At a loss as to what to try next.

You might want to just leave it charging for an hour or so, as, letting the PlayBook get below 20 percent can make it slow to respond to the charging. If waiting doesn't work, then you could try the debricking methods that have been explained here on the site.

Tried the three finger debrick with the volume controls and the power button. Did not work. Was able to connect to the computer and performed a successful backyop backup. Battery symbol is red and device shows 0% on the battery. Has been plugged in with the charger overnight and nothing happened. Just went down to 0%. Not sure what the symbol of the plug, the arrow and the lightining bolt actually means. Is it connected and charging or should I charge the Playbook? At a loss as to what to try next.

Are you able to view the screen.

Originally Posted by ice2921

Are you able to view the screen.

Yes I am able to see the screen. I decided to try unplugging the power supply after the led was red and then immediately pulgged it back in when the "plug + arrow + lightening bolt" was displayed and that kick started the software. The pulsating charging green led came on and I left it till it was fully charged when the solid green led was shining. All is good. Playbook is back to normal. Will make sure that battery does not get below 20% again. Thanks for all the help and the different posts on this topic.

I am finding that when I connect to my laptop and use the desktop software my PB does not charge. Only charges when connected to a proper charger. Could be a USB issue but other accessories work in that port. Any ideas?

Hi mehrlyn, the playbook requires a higher voltage charge than what the usb port can provide. The playbook charger is, I believe, 2.1 amps and a regular phone charger is less than one amp. A usb port is not able to provide a charge to the playbook and that is why the playbook needs at least 20% battery charge to perform an update or a backup to the computer. So always use the playbook charger to charge the battery, as any others are not powerful enough. cheers

Hey guys n gals, here is my experience;

A desktop PC will charge the PlayBook, but some smaller/compact PCs won't. This is because they are not designed to supply power over USB. A regular 500mA USB will charge a PlayBook from 0% but it takes a lifetime.

The 'no charge' problem occurs when the battery is depleted below a safe value, somewhere below 10%. When this happens only a powerful/rapid charger will start a charge cycle. Let me add that this is something that <may> happen, it usually does not. When it does the de-bricking stuff may or may not work. What does work is this;

Dismantle the PlayBook. Disconnect the battery. Connect a charger. Disconnect said charger. Reconnect battery. Reconnect charger. Re-assemble PlayBook.

Voila. Battery all good. ;-)

(Taking the PlayBook apart is detailed on Youtube. Just Google it. It is quite simple, and a fairly safe way to keep the Berry humming after the battery 'dies'. Consider it cpr...)