The battery charge issue

Products & Technology DSO Quad
#1

Hi,

I’m happy to get my DSO Quad beta, finally.

I have a question. It seems that I can’t charge the DSO. I tried as follows:

  1. removed the back cover and connected the battery
  2. connected a USB cable and keep charging for a few hours

I can turn on the DSO with the USB cable, but I can’t do so without. When with the cable, the screen indicates the battery as empty for first 1-2 seconds, then changes to full as attached. The temperature of the battery seems to be quite normal.

I’m sorry for trouble you, but please let me know if I miss anything about setup processes. I really appreciate your suggestions about this issue.

Best,
Shigeru
dso_quad_power_on_2.jpg
dso_quad_power_on_1.jpg
dso_quad_back.jpg

#2

I’m seeing the same issue. It actually behaves the same whether the battery is plugged in or not.

#3

it’s Incorrect polarity. The right wiring does a red(+) wire below.

#4

Turn the plug around…

#5

Its a keyed connector. It only goes in one way.

Mine is the same as the picture. You can’t turn the plug around.

#6

Here is mine… It works.
DSO_QUAD.jpg
It seems yours is wired incorrectly then…

#7

I suppose I can cut the wires, flip them, solder them back together, and put some shrink tubing on the splice. Did the battery having the wrong polarity ruin the DSO or the battery?

#8

The battery has protection circuitry, so it should hopefully be undamaged. I think the same goes for the Quad.

#9

Are you sure the battery is protected? It usually isn’t. The Quad charger should be and it’s good to see it haven’t blow up already :slight_smile: Just switch the wires and try again. Maybe measure the battery voltage before inserting if it’s OK (this should apply for any battery).

I believe the guys at Seeed tested the Quad well but they didn’t check the separately packaged batteries. Looks like some questionable cheap manufacturer who doesn’t care about polarity… This is serious Beta issue and should be good warning for further products and testing before shipping.

#10

Hi,

Thank you very much to all of you for your suggestions. As you pointed, the direction was wrong.

I was too stupid, since I was so excited.

I just fixed the way connecting, and now I can run with the battery. Still the gauge shows zero and the backlight is dark. I’ll try keep charging for a while.

I’m not sure, but a simple protection circuit might be available inside the orange part of a battery.

Thanks,
Shigeru

#11

After some soldering and heat shrinking I reversed the JST connector on my battery, and it works! Of course now the leads are too short, so I had to flip the battery over, and the door doesn’t quite close right.

I don’t know how Shiguru managed to plug the connector in backwards. On mine, I couldn’t have put the plug in the wrong way without destroying the socket.

Here is a picture of my temporary fix. (I believe that Seeed will send me a replacement battery soon)
battery.jpg

#12

Hi,

This is an update to the previous post.

Now I can run the DSO Quad with the battery. I charged a few hours, but the battery gage on the screen still show the battery level as zero.

Does this mean the charger IC on my DSO Quad is broken, or not implemented yet?

Best,
Shigeru

#13

Looks like i’ve got the same issue as you all.
But mine won’t even power on, i tried USB , Battery and USB + Battery with no luck…
Not even a sign of life :frowning:

BTW you do not need to cut/solder the wire to switch them. With a small screwdriver/knife you can remove the wire from the plastic shell by lifting up the plastic part that is holding it.

#14

I also was given a battery with the reverse polarity. I can now run the DSO Quad off of battery but the status light does not come on when connected to usb with the battery in. If I remove the battery and plug in the usb the status light does come on. Also the battery does not seem to be charging now.

#15

To quote the immortal line from Monty Python - Luxury!

I only wish I had a battery with reverse polarity - Indeed any battery at all would be a step up from the empty space waiting for a battery…

Has anyone else received a Quad without the battery?

I do look on the bright side in that I did receive two probes, which some people seem to be missing.

Regards,

PJE

#16

Technically, the battery polarity ok; red=positive, black=negative. I opened my DSO Quad up and the silk-screening on the board appears to be labeled properly, so it looks like it’s the connector socket that’s been soldered in the wrong way around.

#17

If I have time tomorrow evening I’m going to (carefully) remove the LCD and resolder the socket in the correct orientation. Here’s a photo I took illustrating the problem:


DSO QUAD Battery Connector Bug - IMG_5916 by aplumb, on Flickr

#18

I agree with jnd that there is little chance of internal battery protection. Multi-cell packs usually have battery protection, but single cell batteries seldom have such protection.

#19

Just got my DSO Quad. I was excited and plug the battery in. I then smell some burn and feel some heat near the switch.
It didn’t turn on. I searched Seed forum and found this thread. So I swapped the battery wires and the DSO nano can turn on with the battery, but it has no back light. If I use the USB port, the back light comes up. The battery voltage measured is 3.8v. Anyone seeing the back light after fixing this issue? And what’s your battery voltage please?

Thanks

-Thanh

By the way, the battery does have a protection circuit on its output. It didn’t suffer any damage when plugged in in reverse with USB cable connected to the DSO quad.

#20

It might be more reasonable and safer to follow Pulsar’s advice in this same thread and just reverse the pins in the battery connector. Then write an indelible felt tip pen warning in the battery compartment.