Kindle fire HD battery

chippy2u

Kindle fire HD battery will not charge above 60% (have tried different chargers and the usual 20 second switch off thingy)) and now keyboard will not work. Rang Amazon and explained the problem and to ask if they sold replacement batterys. The lady on the phone said that as the kindle has an 'internal' battery (So that's why I had never noticed an external one!) that they cannot be replaced, and as it's out of warranty they will not replace it. Fair enough.
So after seeing Youtube videos on how to change the battery, my question is; before I spend about £25/30 on a battery, has anyone any advice on what I could do to rectify the problems.

gjchester

Lithium Ion batteries typically have a 500 to 1000 charge cycle rating, however if they are abused they can drop dramatically.

Due to the chemistry of the battery if you leave them flat for a long time they will be permanently affected, or if they are left on charge for a long time it can reduce the capacity. The electronics in the device should protect the battery from being used when flat, but if you flatten the battery and leave it for weeks before charging it no electronics can do anything to stop further discharging of the battery. Similarly the electronics that help prevent overcharging can and do go wrong.

Generally speaking once Lithium Ion Battery's exhibit problems they will only get worse, once damaged they will tend to puff up and that can result in the device starting to bulge, and may damage it.

Did you ask if Amazon do any paid for swap? It won't be as cheap as replacing the battery yourself but as iFixit rates it as a moderately hard thing to do may save you a lot of frustration if you've never tried to fix modern electronic gadgets before, especially where screws can be in the 2 or 3 mm size range..

grumbler

chippy2u wrote: »

Kindle fire HD battery will not charge above 60%... and now keyboard will not work. ....

I am no expert, but I don't see how a half-charged battery can cause the keyboard problem.

If I am right, you might waste £25 on the new battery.

BTW, the correct term is 'non-removable'.
Also, when I replaced my smartphone battery, the new one was faulty from the start. It never shows more than ~15%, but works perfectly and lasts for days. The point is, what you see is not necessarily accurate.

gjchester

grumbler wrote: »

I am no expert, but I don't see how a half-charged battery can cause the keyboard problem.

Not directly but a Li-Ion cell generally is wrapped in a plastic wrapper that's tight to the cells. If they are damaged or start to fail then the battery the can "puff up" due to gas accumulating within the wrapper, this can move connectors or damage casings. I had my phone display lift and so give distorted/ funny colours when touched, due to an expanded cell, once replaced it was fine.

Once a cell starts to go it needs replacing, nothing will make it better, and as the gas is Hydrogen its even possible the device can become a fire risk.

As an extreme example look at Battery university - http://batteryuniversity.com/learn/article/non_correctable_battery_problems or This via Reddit
http://i.imgur.com/U3oiKTb.jpg

chippy2u

Thanks for the replies. On the You tube video, it shows a battery that looks like a normal, though slightly larger, phone battery with a small plug on a short lead which plugs into the unit. Most batteries are supplied with a little plastic gizmo that slides in between the top and bottom case to release it. so no screws.
Anyway I have decided to invest in a new tablet of some sort and leave the repair of the Kindle to some other time. Thanks for your interest.

[Deleted User]

chippy2u wrote: »

The lady on the phone said that as the kindle has an 'internal' battery.

Memo to myself: never buy a device with a non-removable battery. Sorry for the interruption. Over to you.

gjchester

chippy2u wrote: »

Most batteries are supplied with a little plastic gizmo that slides in between the top and bottom case to release it. so no screws.

Having replaced batteries in iPods and iPhones trust me there will be some tiny screws somewhere.

IFix is say there are 16 3mm screws... See https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Kindle+Fire+HD+8.9-Inch+Battery+Replacement/12922

Its probably not as simple as on a video, but most of the time if you are careful, refer to decent instructions often and take your time its easily do-able

ciaccino wrote: »

Memo to myself: never buy a device with a non-removable battery. Sorry for the interruption. Over to you.

Good Luck, to make a battery removable you need to have connectors and a battery compartment. As people want thinner devices these things are being phased out.