Ployer Momo20 Strange Charger/Battery Issue

[KingOfComputing]

I have a Ployer Momo20 Quad Core 10.1 inch tablet I have owned for nearly a year. It has had quite a lot of use (gets used daily) but I would not say excessive either.

However recently it seems to be taking longer and longer to charge up. Where as before it could be fully charged in around 3-4 hours now it only gets around 40-50% in the same time. This makes it hard to use it for a decent length of time and we keep having to put it back on charge to top it up.

At first I blamed the charger but I've never known a charger to charge more slowly, usually they either work or don't work. The connection to the tablet is a bit loose but it was always this way and it shows the charging icon so I think it is making contact.

Could the battery be failing on this tablet already?

The tablet is made by Ployer in China but I actually bought it from the sole UK distributor (I'm in the UK): GTR Electronics, though I think they might have gone out of business since as their website is down and attempts to message them through eBay and Amazon (they trade on there too) have failed.

Would it be worth trying to contact Ployer directly since the tablet is technically (just) in it's warranty period?

 

[DJLolly]

I have a Ployer Momo 7 and my issue was the battery draining far too fast. It might be cheap batteries that Ployer use. Although contacting Ployer directly might not work as you bought the product through a distributor, not them directly, though there is no harm in sending an e-mail.

 

[jerseygeoff]

It's nice (?) to find someone else having the same problem... I've had mine about 6 months & it's suddenly started charging slowly as well. It reports charging by both USB & via the AC transformer. Like you, I've had no joy in contacting GTR, pretty shabby, if you ask me.
Did you have any joy at all with them ? - I'd really appreciate a post if you did manage to uncover any solution
Thanks
Jerseygeoff

 

[KingOfComputing]

Sorry for the rather late response, but in my case I was lucky enough to solve the problem by buying a USB charger which completely solved the problem, indicating that in my case it was only the original mains charger that was failing and not the ployer tablet itself.

Terrible customer service from both GTR (both their eBay and Amazon stores) and Ployer themselves as neither made any attempt to reply to my messages.

 

[sandvika]

Sorry for the rather late response, but in my case I was lucky enough to solve the problem by buying a USB charger which completely solved the problem, indicating that in my case it was only the original mains charger that was failing and not the ployer tablet itself.

Terrible customer service from both GTR (both their eBay and Amazon stores) and Ployer themselves as neither made any attempt to reply to my messages.

My son's 18 month old Momo20 just wouldn't charge full stop. The screen displayed an empty red battery symbol briefly when the charger was plugged in, but would neither charge nor power on, even when connected to a charger continuously. I know these LiPo batteries have limited charge cycles compared to NiMH batteries so thought it might be dead. I removed it from the Momo20 (with difficulty as it was well stuck to the inside of the screen) and charged it using the computerised charger I have for other LiPo batteries. Whilst the battery was removed, the Momo20 gave the same red symbol display if the charger was plugged in, which pretty much confirmed my suspicions. The battery took about 4200mAh and was then full. I soldered it back into the Momo20 and it burst back into life and is now charging again from its own charger. My hunch is that the Momo power management does not protect the battery properly and allows it to be discharged too far. This shortens the life of LiPo batteries considerably. I'm fully expecting problems to emerge again so have ordered a replacement battery whilst I can find one. The size is important. Don't be seduced by the capacity of these batteries - they are approximations at best and wild claims are common. The 3mm thickness is critical, the replacement can be very slightly longer than the original but not wider.