TF700 not charging from dock at all unless plugged in

[Blackadder]

Hi all!

I've read the threads on how the TF700 dock only charges the pad if it's below 70%, and it did exactly that until yesterday. Also, I was careful to charge tab and docking station together overnight before first use and have done so repeatedly since. All well so far - until yesterday.

Yesterday the pad fell below 70%, then below 50%, then below 30%. The keyboard was dockad and recognized, and it was at 99% charge, but it didn't feel like sharing any of that charge with the tab. When the pad's charge fell below 20% I plugged the combo in and both the tab and the keyboard (which had dropped to 85% in the meantime) showed as charging, and the charge rose in both. I left them attached until both were at 100%.

Just to be safe, I did a few cold reboots following the instructions in other threads during yesterday afternoon.

This morning I open up the combo and get the red "empty battery" symbol. When I plug in, after a few minutes the tab shows as charging with 1% (so it had gone completely dry) but the keyboard still has 80% charge.

Any ideas? It's kinda weird... Oh yeah - when I got the tab, I updated it to Build 10.4.4.25, but that was two weeks ago, and the charging worked as it should afterwards, until yesterday.

Thanks for any thoughts on this.

Cheers, Blackadder

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[janner43]

Welcome to the forum

Sorry to hear about this problem you are having.

We have had a few reports of this sort of thing - if you go to the bottom of this page you will see several related threads that cover almost identical situations. As far as I am aware, we do not have a "one size fits all" fix for this.

My advice...
1. Read the related threads
2. Back up & do a Factory Reset (there is a guide thread linked from the Master Help Guide, link in my signature)

If the problem persists (& I suspect it might) then you are left with a warranty return to Asus - not ideal, I know.

Please let us know how you get on.

[Blackadder]

Thanks Janner!

I have been digging through threads and have found the opposite issue (won't load from charger, but only from Keyboard dock)... But not what I'm seeing. :-(

Anyhow - I followed your advice and backed up all my apps and did three factory resets in sequence. I also burned some incense to pacify the spirits of technology (grin), although I know that you didn't suggest that...
Now I've reloaded everything and am still seeing the same behaviour.

I guess I can live with it, but it's a bit of a pity, as I'm not getting any benefit from the keyboard dock battery. Funny thing is that when it's attached to the dock and I plug the dock in, the tab charges quite happily. Also if I detach the pad and plug the charger into it directly, it also loads happily. Strange.

Many thanks for your help - and for the wealth of great tips here! This site was the main reason I bought the TF700 (and the TF300 for my wife)!

:-)

Cheers, Blackadder

[janner43]

Well Edmund

If you are happy to live with it, then who am I to argue - but the Factory Reset not fixing it does mean that you have a hardware fault in and around the dock connection - it isn't likely to get better with time & I would recommend either a return to your retailer for an exchange or even a return to Asus for a repair.

But the decision is yours, of course.

Thanks for the kind comment on the forum - we try our best & it is very nice to be appreciated.

[Blackadder]

"Edmund" made me smile...

:-) Yeah, well... Of course I won't just be happy until it's working as it should.

Probably a silly thought, but I was wondering if there was any way to actually turn off the detached Dock. With a cold reboot, the LED of the tab goes completely off and then turns back on - not so the dock. Its evil little light just keeps staring unblinkingly at me... I'd like to interrupt the power supply in the dock and then re-connect it. I know the brains of the combo is the tab, but I'm guessing the dock has some sort of basic control circuitry to do things like monitor charge levels, etc. Maybe it's even the dock that decides when to send a charge to the tab (when <70%) and when to stop doing that. Would make a strange kind of sense, I guess, as the tab alone wouldn't need that capability as it doesn't behave that way when attached directly to the charger. I'm thinking maybe it's just the dock that's got itself tied into a knot.

But maybe I'm thinking too much and I should get a life...

Can't think of a good way to do "reset" the dock except for leaving it detached until it drains and the LED goes out. I could open it up and detach the battery lead (unless it's soldered on). I'll be using the tab alone until it drains, I think. Then, if it still plays up, I'll get back to the shop for a replacement (or a repair... )

Thanks for your help! :-)

Cheers, Blackadder

[eejit]

...goodonya for going thru those steps, it eliminates so many possibilities. (and takes time, many drag their heels and just 'want it to work') You've done everything--and more--that I would've. I think I'd be returning it for a swap out, but I'm not a tinkerer. You could have a look at Wideload's dock teardown, it'll give you an idea of the 'innards'. Goodluck, hope it works out and keep us posted.

[Blackadder]

Thanks Eejit!

The link to the internal photos helped lot. There obviously is more in the dock than just the battery. Unfortunately, I didn't see any obvious way of unplugging and replugging the battery, so maybe I won't open up the dock quite yet... But I will if nothing else helps.

Made some progress, though: My wife has a TF300 pad & dock combo and I thought I'd try attaching her dock to my pad and see what happens. My pad was at 51% and as soon as I attached her dock, it immediately recognised it, showed it an having 95% charge and the pad started charging from the dock within a second or so. So my pad seems to be okay. Looks like the problem is definitely the dock.

Oh yeah - also I noticed that on the TF300, as soon as I detach the pad (either TF300 or TF700), the dock LED turns off. With my dock, the LED stays on always, with pad attached, detached, whatever. Also, I noticed that as soon as I attach MY dock, the dock shows as "charging", even if the charger is not attached. Just the dock. The pad only shows charging if I attach the charger. Definitely starting to look as if my dock has issues it needs to sort out. But happily it looks as if the pad is fine.

Thought I'd try to attach my wife's TF300 to my dock and see what it says, but it doesn't fit. The TF300 is a thicker than the TF700 (duh...), so the TF700 fits into the TF300 dock (but wobbles around, so I won't be doing that a lot for fear of damaging the contacts).

Update: Left my dock detached with a heavy book on the space bar to try to discharge the battery overnight. This morning dock LED was off. Yay! Attached dock to my pad. Dock recognised - charge shows as 0%, but the dock still shows as "Charging" although the charger isn't attached. Boooo! :-( Will try and have dock replaced without having to send off pad.

Cheers, Blackadder

[eejit]

I'd swap the dock at your pop, sounds from your initial post it's only weeks old?...or weeks new--if you're an optimist.
Place of Purchase should have no issue taking it back if you describe (or even show them) the problem.

Heck I'd take in your dock & the spouse's and give 'em a customer service counter hands-on-2dock-demonstration.

[Blackadder]

Hi there

Did just that this morning at customer service desk (showed them my dock and the wife's dock, what happens, etc.) and a new dock is now ordered. I'll let you know how that turns out.

Thanks for all your advice and keep up the great work!

Cheers, Blackadder

[janner43]

Huzzahh...