Registered: Jul 2000
Location: Vancouver, BC, Canada
Posts: 415

those cradle screws are horribel. they are in there SOOOO tight.

i had to drill a couple of mine out. then i meleted the plastic back into shape with the soldering iron and put in new screws.

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-thorin

I have a webcomic. You should read it, or I may do something rash. <b><a href=http://driveby.keenspace.com/>Drive-by Loitering</a></b> is updated every monday, wednesday and friday.

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Registered: Apr 2002
Location:
Posts: 24

yeah, I second that motion. I'm amazed I didn't ruin my screws. I just kept yanking and turning, and eventually they budged I found that I did have to shave off a bit of plastic on the inside of the Visor to make the wires fit, contrary to what Stephanie's instructions said.

Good to hear your Visor is working well! Hope all goes well with your other stuff there

Registered: Nov 2000
Location: sOuThErN kaLi
Posts: 462

Wow, I finally finished the mod...

HAHA, I had to melt the plastic off the bottom to get the screws off. So I ended up melting everything off the bottom, and taping it back onto the actual cradle hehe...

But I got it done! Now...how do I reallie check if it reallie works? Is there a program that can tell me the batteries are being charged? Or something like that? Because I didn't do the LED mod, I couldn't find the parts, and it seemed too advanced for me. Just doing this was hard enough...took me about 2 hours

Anyway, thanks for all the help guys, really appreciate it

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nelson.hsieh
good artists copy, great artists steal. . .

Registered: Oct 2000
Location: Las Vegas
Posts: 11

You'll know it works by you having charged batteries . Actually, with your visor in the cradle, at the main icon screen, you'll see the battery icon at the top. It will be full in the charger, showing you the visor is running on full power. If you put in two completely dead batteries, you can see it go from empty to full.

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You can't sleep here

Registered: Nov 2000
Location: sOuThErN kaLi
Posts: 462

quote:

---

Originally posted by jlkrumm
You'll know it works by you having charged batteries . Actually, with your visor in the cradle, at the main icon screen, you'll see the battery icon at the top. It will be full in the charger, showing you the visor is running on full power. If you put in two completely dead batteries, you can see it go from empty to full.

---

Hmm...I know it works, but that doesn't seem to happen with mine. I use SilverScreen, but even in the default launcher. After taking it out of the cradle, it takes a few seconds for the gauge to go up in the readings. Though the readings seem to be really capricious...

I put the new set in after the mod, and I synced a lot, but even so, it dropped way down to 50%, and after about an hour of charging, its back up to 100%. In between, the gauge jumped up and down before settling. Kinda weird...but I'm just happy the mod works and everything is ok

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nelson.hsieh
good artists copy, great artists steal. . .

Registered: Apr 2002
Location:
Posts: 24

Hmmmmm... mebbe I put mine together wrong, but I don't get the same results as jlkrumm. When my Visor is at, say, 2.76v, it still says 2.76v when I put it into the cradle. After a while I can see the voltage starting to rise, and after about a day the batteries are charged up to the maximum the charger will give them (3.27v in my experience). I assume this is proper behaviour, because this is a "trickle" charger. (But of course I only followed the directions; I don't know heaps about the underlying theory.)

I think that's very weird that your voltage dropped down to 50%. Are you sure you have the battery type set to rechargeable alkaline (or whatever type of batteries you decided to go with)? A good battery monitor utility (e.g., http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Cable/5206/ -- my fave) will allow you to change the battery profile, but of course you can use the .7 command in something like Memo Pad.

And yes, the battery monitor is capricious.

Registered: Nov 2000
Location: sOuThErN kaLi
Posts: 462

Hmm, I haven't gotten up to 3.27 V yet, but I'll leave it in overnight and see how it goes. It's possible to overcharge with this setup right? So I better take it out in the morning...

Trickle charging is tricky...it gets you up to about 85% quickly, but from there...it takes about the same amount of time it took you to get from 0% to 85%, haha.

I chose rechargable alkaline, and I'm using the monitor you referred me now. Though when I put the visor in the cradle, it doesnt say that its "plugged in" I set it to rech alk., but I can see the percentage rising as well as the voltage, so, I think everything should be ok.

Thanks for everything. I didn't quite get the last thing you said.... but yea...it's all good

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nelson.hsieh
good artists copy, great artists steal. . .

Last edited by AzNCoMpUtAnErD on 10-03-2002 at 06:27 AM

Registered: Apr 2002
Location:
Posts: 24

I don't think it's possible to over-charge the Visor; I certainly haven't seen any evidence of that. It seems that its peak voltage is 3.27v and it won't budge past that even if it is in the charger.

(about the battery monitor being capricious, I was just repeating and agreeing with what you'd said in your earlier post )

Registered: Nov 2000
Location: sOuThErN kaLi
Posts: 462

quote:

---

Originally posted by pdaoust
I don't think it's possible to over-charge the Visor; I certainly haven't seen any evidence of that. It seems that its peak voltage is 3.27v and it won't budge past that even if it is in the charger.

(about the battery monitor being capricious, I was just repeating and agreeing with what you'd said in your earlier post )

---

Thanks for the info, about the being confused, I meant the part about " 0.7" or something like that.

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nelson.hsieh
good artists copy, great artists steal. . .

Registered: Apr 2002
Location:
Posts: 24

.7, when graffitied into a text-entry area (like in Memo Pad), allows you to change the "low battery" and "emergency shutoff" voltages (e.g., the settings for a ni-cad are a lot more conservative than those for an alkaline, because the voltage drops off so abruptly). Thems is called the battery profiles, I think. It's much easier to use the battery prefs panel, of course.

Registered: Nov 2000
Location: sOuThErN kaLi
Posts: 462

quote:

---

Originally posted by pdaoust
.7, when graffitied into a text-entry area (like in Memo Pad), allows you to change the "low battery" and "emergency shutoff" voltages (e.g., the settings for a ni-cad are a lot more conservative than those for an alkaline, because the voltage drops off so abruptly). Thems is called the battery profiles, I think. It's much easier to use the battery prefs panel, of course.

---

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nelson.hsieh
good artists copy, great artists steal. . .

Registered: Nov 2000
Location: sOuThErN kaLi
Posts: 462

The batteries have been acting weird...

It'll be 100% charged out of the cradle, and I'll come back to it later, and it'll drop down to 50% instantly. Though I think I've figured out that when my computer is not on, and the Visor in the cradle, that maybe it's drawing power from my batteries. So I only leave the Visor in the cradle when my computer is on...

Even so...any idea why the battery meter is so capricious in its readings?

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nelson.hsieh
good artists copy, great artists steal. . .

Registered: Jul 2000
Location: Vancouver, BC, Canada
Posts: 415

nimh batteries can reach 1.55 v per cell when charging despite the fact that the cells themselves are only 1.2v normally.

I found mine charged very slowly(though I didnt use the exact diodes the instructions said to use). I was having trouble untill I left it chargin in the cradle for about 3 days straight(my comp is on about 6 hours a day)

so charge it for liek 18 hours or so before playing with it.

__________________
-thorin

I have a webcomic. You should read it, or I may do something rash. <b><a href=http://driveby.keenspace.com/>Drive-by Loitering</a></b> is updated every monday, wednesday and friday.

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Registered: Nov 2000
Location: sOuThErN kaLi
Posts: 462

I'm using rechargable alkalines. I've got a new battery monitor, the one pdaoust told me about seem to be a little...weird. I've gotten them up to 3.23 volts. So I think it'll be good....I'll see when I take it out and start using it. Maybe the battery monitor software was just bad...

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nelson.hsieh
good artists copy, great artists steal. . .

Registered: Jul 2000
Location: Vancouver, BC, Canada
Posts: 415

well, maybe you shouldnt use rehcargable alkalines. no consumer electronics come with them because they have very finnicky charging requirements and dont last very long.

__________________
-thorin

I have a webcomic. You should read it, or I may do something rash. <b><a href=http://driveby.keenspace.com/>Drive-by Loitering</a></b> is updated every monday, wednesday and friday.

<!img src=http://www.frontfly.com/myrouter/vcsig2.gif alt="Soundsgood is too elite for the punks."><img src=http://www.frontfly.com/vcsig.gif ><!img src=http://www.frontfly.com/myrouter/vcsig2.gif alt="Soundsgood is too elite for the punks.">

Registered: Nov 2000
Location: sOuThErN kaLi
Posts: 462

According to pdaoust they are the best type for the mod. They are the closest to the batteries that are supposed to be in there. Their drop off rates are much slower than NiMHs or NiCADs. They can last a lot longer if they're consistently topped off. Also, you don't have to wait until they're fully discharged to have to charge them. I don't like doing that...because what if you run into a situation where you need the Visor for a long time, and with the short drop off, lose use of your Visor...NiMHs are also more expensive...I don't have much cash here...

It seems to be working fine now, no huge drops in battery percents...so it's all good

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nelson.hsieh
good artists copy, great artists steal. . .

Registered: Jul 2000
Location: Vancouver, BC, Canada
Posts: 415

you don't HAVE to fully discharge NiMh batteries. although they do like it if you do fully cycle them once and a while.

__________________
-thorin

I have a webcomic. You should read it, or I may do something rash. <b><a href=http://driveby.keenspace.com/>Drive-by Loitering</a></b> is updated every monday, wednesday and friday.

<!img src=http://www.frontfly.com/myrouter/vcsig2.gif alt="Soundsgood is too elite for the punks."><img src=http://www.frontfly.com/vcsig.gif ><!img src=http://www.frontfly.com/myrouter/vcsig2.gif alt="Soundsgood is too elite for the punks.">

Registered: Nov 2000
Location: sOuThErN kaLi
Posts: 462

Hmmm...I'm having some problems with this mod...

I leave the visor overnight to charge with my computer sleeping, so its 100% charged in the morning. I use my visor sparingly during the daym yet by the time I get home, the battery gets down to 70% or less. Any ideas on what's going on? I've charged them for about 18 hours initially already...

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nelson.hsieh
good artists copy, great artists steal. . .

Registered: Apr 2002
Location:
Posts: 24

hmmmmmmmmmmmmm... you checked to make sure there are no solder bridges and nothing's soldered onto the wrong contacts? From your description, it seems you did solder the proper things to each other, but I'm concerned that you may have accidentally soldered something else that's shorting out the battery. Check for melted points in the circuit board's black plastic coating... ummmm... check the back of the board for leaks through the holes...

Here's another idea: maybe you drained the batteries a lot before they had time to recharge? I remember you mentioning doing a lot of hotsyncing on the first day you tried out the mod -- if you did a lot maybe they're not up to snuff anymore. The reason I thought of that is that I'm having similar problems to yours right now -- and I think it's because I let my batteries get down to 2.25v or so, and now they're not charging up nearly as quickly as I think they should be. At times it looks like they're actually discharging.

I find the trick with rechargeable alkalines is to always leave your Visor in the cradle when the computer's on.

hope this helps!
Paul

Registered: Nov 2000
Location: sOuThErN kaLi
Posts: 462

Hmm, is there any way to check it without having it hard reset? I don't wanna have to resync it! I'm pretty sure I did the mod cleanly inside the visor...the cradle was kinda cramped, so I didn't do as good a job. But for the Visor, I took a LONG time, haha, and used about 20 diodes

As for draining the battery, I bought 4, and after I noticed this, I put in the 2 extra ones in. So the batteries that were used during the initial syncing are not in use. The ones in there were supposively "full charged" when I put them in, but the same problems still arises...

I think, I'm gonna just let it go, and stick with the batteries I got until they go out, and get another set of batteries. They last me through the day, so as long as I get home at the end of the day, they'll survive.

Also, do you think that leaving the Visor in the cradle when the computer is off has any effect?

Thanks for all your help pdaoust!

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nelson.hsieh
good artists copy, great artists steal. . .