I believe something wrong with my rovio.
The battery life is 10-15 minutes maximum even if I leave robot docked overnight. Did somebody have such problems? Or maybe battery needs couple of full charge cycles to reach it's maximum?
I perosnally have already made the decision to return mine. I just don't have $300 to waste waiting for firmware updates and the fact MAYBE it will or won't get fixed. good luck to all of you.
Working on New Rovio software.
Join me if your interested.
Just send a PM.
Given that this thread has been running since October 22 with numerous reports of this particular problem, Wowweee should have been all over it like a rash and fixed it by now. It's a great pity because Rovio is a great product with great potential but without a guaranteed fix this problem renders it unusable except as a toy. I'm afraid my Rovio is going back too.
Hey guys. Looks like I may or maynot have a similar problem. I was wondering exactly what type of functions you guys are doing and how long the battery is lasting. I have been running my motors about 75% of the time and my Rovio lasts approximately 25 minutes. Would you guys consider this a defective Rovio as well? I'm sending a email to wowwee right now as well.
Tadayuki said: Hey guys. Looks like I may or maynot have a similar problem. I was wondering exactly what type of functions you guys are doing and how long the battery is lasting. I have been running my motors about 75% of the time and my Rovio lasts approximately 25 minutes. Would you guys consider this a defective Rovio as well? I'm sending a email to wowwee right now as well.That performance doesn't sound so bad -- I don't have THE problem, and Rovio works for well over an hour. But in my testing, I am not moving him around nearly 75% of that hour. I think most people with THE problem get 5-15 minutes tops.
Rob said:Thanks for the reply Rob. Well I sent an email to wowwee now basically stating what I've stated here. I'm in the process of charging the battery seperatly right now and seeing how long that lasts. Overall though I'm very pleased with my Rovio's performance. I have noticed, like what others have said on this forum, that my Rovio seems to just pop out of the charge station on it's own(At least I think it's on it's own and not one of my friends controlling it and moving it out of the station) after it thinks it's charged.Tadayuki said: Hey guys. Looks like I may or maynot have a similar problem. I was wondering exactly what type of functions you guys are doing and how long the battery is lasting. I have been running my motors about 75% of the time and my Rovio lasts approximately 25 minutes. Would you guys consider this a defective Rovio as well? I'm sending a email to wowwee right now as well.That performance doesn't sound so bad -- I don't have THE problem, and Rovio works for well over an hour. But in my testing, I am not moving him around nearly 75% of that hour. I think most people with THE problem get 5-15 minutes tops.
Tadayuki said: I have noticed, like what others have said on this forum, that my Rovio seems to just pop out of the charge station on it's own(At least I think it's on it's own and not one of my friends controlling it and moving it out of the station) after it thinks it's charged.
I'm one of the people who have that issue! But for me it's pretty concrete. It only happens when I close my Mac Firefox 3 browser window when I'm done using my Rovio. And it happens every time, on two Macs, from LAN or WAN. Needless to say, I no longer use Firefox to access my Rovio.
Any chance that's what's happening with you? It sure can mess with your perceived battery performance, if every time you think Rovio is in the charger, you close your browser window, and send him off his dock.
I had THE problem (battery only lasted 5 minutes). I emailed Wowwie, got an email back after a few days which suggested that I need to let it charge for up to 48 hours. I've never heard of a device that had to be charged 48 hours before. Sounds more like they used an under-powered wall-wart for a charger.
I removed the battery and charged it externally with a power supply until it got warm to the touch. Then it lasted over an hour of constant driving around.
I've never experienced the bug where it pops out of the charger, but then, I don't use a MAC. I normally use IE or Firefox on Windows XP or Vista.
My plan is to return the unit - it doesn't drive over my small area carpets that are only 1/4 to 1/2" tall. It tends to get hung up.
The camera appears to need a LOT of light to work well. I'm guessing the camera has about 10 lux sensitivity. The single LED "light" is a joke. It does almost nothing, unless it is point-blank with the wall.
jearl said: I had THE problem (battery only lasted 5 minutes). I emailed Wowwie, got an email back after a few days which suggested that I need to let it charge for up to 48 hours. I've never heard of a device that had to be charged 48 hours before. Sounds more like they used an under-powered wall-wart for a charger. I removed the battery and charged it externally with a power supply until it got warm to the touch. Then it lasted over an hour of constant driving around. I've never experienced the bug where it pops out of the charger, but then, I don't use a MAC. I normally use IE or Firefox on Windows XP or Vista. My plan is to return the unit - it doesn't drive over my small area carpets that are only 1/4 to 1/2" tall. It tends to get hung up. The camera appears to need a LOT of light to work well. I'm guessing the camera has about 10 lux sensitivity. The single LED "light" is a joke. It does almost nothing, unless it is point-blank with the wall.Thanks for the input Jearl. So I guess once this battery is fully charged it should be running around for about an hour of constant driving. Yes, I also think the single LED is a big joke, and thats going to be one of the first things I'll be modifing (Although that 16 LED mod that I've seen is a little over doing it I think...).
I received some reply's to my battery issue from WowWee. here is what they told me to do about the battery problem.
--------------------------------------------------------
"please try running the rovio until it is completely dead then place it on the docking station for about 12 to 24 hours then try it again. The battery may just need a long deep charge cycle for its initial charge.
Please let me know how it goes!
Sincerely,
WowWee Customer Service "
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Obviously that did not work.. so i let them know and this is what i got back.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
"Would you be able to send me a copy of the receipt? I would like to see about getting this replaced for you!
you can either email me customersupport@wowwee.com or fax it to 514 344 1252.
Sincerely,
WowWee Customer Service"
----------------------------------------------------------------------
So, hopefully they will take my ebay receipt from "Sunset Toys" and get this replaced. hopefully before Christmas.
Aeroworks said:
you can either email me customersupport@wowwee.com or fax it to 514 344 1252.
Sincerely,
WowWee Customer Service"
"And there are those people who are catfish in life; and they keep you on your toes. They keep you guessing. They keep you thinking. They keep you fresh."- from the movie Catfish (2010)
Aeroworks said: I received some reply's to my battery issue from WowWee. here is what they told me to do about the battery problem. -------------------------------------------------------- "please try running the rovio until it is completely dead then place it on the docking station for about 12 to 24 hours then try it again. The battery may just need a long deep charge cycle for its initial charge. Please let me know how it goes! Sincerely, WowWee Customer Service " ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Obviously that did not work.. so i let them know and this is what i got back. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- "Would you be able to send me a copy of the receipt? I would like to see about getting this replaced for you! you can either email me customersupport@wowwee.com or fax it to 514 344 1252. Sincerely, WowWee Customer Service" ---------------------------------------------------------------------- So, hopefully they will take my ebay receipt from "Sunset Toys" and get this replaced. hopefully before Christmas.
I basically did as the wowwee customer service suggested but without using the docking station(Used a power supply and adjusted voltage and current to do a C/10 charge... 10 hour charge at 10% amp). And now it looks like my Rovio is charging properly. I cannot be 100% sure if the battery was the issue or what not, but it looks like my Rovio is fully up and running now. I just ran the Rovio via net for about 1 1/2 hours before I needed to charge.
Quick update: I finally gave up and returned my Rovio. I feel much better. I talked to the manager at Radio Shack and apparently EVERY Rovio they sold had been returned! That's when you know it's time to throw in the towel.
I think... In first time the best way is to charge discharge the battery 5 times with one special charger (imax b8 on ebay)
Hi again, my Rovio battery works fine but i have replace my battery with a new pack of SANYO ENELOOP
AA HR-3UTG ( Max 3000mAh. Min. 1900mAh*)
(http://us.sanyo.com/Eneloop-Rechargable-Batteries/PowerPack-4-Position-Charger)
For everthing there is a solution, just try to find the best solution :)
Make a new pack with these batteries and you will never have problem again.
If you charge the battery and "forget" them for long long time nothing happens they stay charged like the first day.
Best Regards,
JPapavas
______________________________________________
WowWee Thank you :)
______________________________________________
I also had the same problems with the Rovio battery it would not charge. But I have found this problem with other things that use NiMh batteries. So I took out the battery and charged it with my RC peak charger. It took 3500 mah just like it should. Now I will see if the Rovio charger will allow it to fully charge.
So the battery is fine, it must just be cycled with a peak charger to get it going. This is typical.
Rob said: I can't help but wonder why some have the battery problem, and some do not. Makes it seem like (1) some people have defective Rovios, or (2) we don't all have identical hardware in our Rovios. I myself do not have the battery problem. Can someone start a poll, to see what percentage of us have battery/charger problems? I couldn't figure out how to do that.so if you don't have battery issues how much time roving do you get on a full charge?
I will post my results from my first peak charge. So far, I played around for about 15 minutes, and the bars did not go down any.
I also ran into the battery problem. Firmware update did not help. I get maybe 5 minutes run time.
I am returning the unit for a refund.
I am not only unhappy about the battery.
Camera is useless at low lighting levels - read: anytime every light in room(s) are not on. The "headlight" is useless.
Wi-fi sticks to a single access point/channel. Even my oldest wi-fi tech will change channels to stronger access point on same ssid - NOT THE ROVIO.
I need to buy additional "beacons" for the ROVIO to leave the room and make it back alone? Not sold in stores, don't even know how much they are.
All in all, the concept is great. I just don't feel the unit is worth $300 of my money. I'd keep it if it was $100, and I'd gladly pay the three hundred if above issues didn't exist.
lothman said: so if you don't have battery issues how much time roving do you get on a full charge?Depending on how much of the time off charger is active moving, I'd guesstimate 45 minutes (mostly moving) to two hours + (mostly still).
Just re-submitted the following with the details suggested earlier in this discussion to Wowwee.
MAC ##########
Blue Battery Pack: ####-########-#-#
Number in Battery compartment: ########
FCC ID: #######
Rovio stops charging before battery if fully charged.
Backing Rovio up starts charging again.
Turning Rovio off/on starts Rovio charging again.
Unplugging and re-plugging base starts Rovio charging again.
Lifting and replacing Rovio starts Rovio charging again.
Sending Rovio home through UI, starts charging again without moving Rovio.
Moving Rovio out of and back into base starts Rovio charging again.
In all the above cases, Rovio again stops charging before fully charged.
Rovio runs for at most 10 to 15 minutes when left to charge itself. When disturbed as indicated above to re-start charging a few times Rovio will run for about a half hour.
Unfortunately, I was not able to get a Rovio in Canada, where I live and bought one while on Vacation in the US at a RadioShack. Unfortunately when I tried to swap out the Rovio from the RadioShack with another from RadioShack, I was told that all the others in the area were also returned with battery charging issues.
From this thread it would seem that it is not the batteries, but the charging circuit or the software/sensor that indicates when the unit is charged.
I hope that Wowwee resolves and/or publishes the resolution to this problem soon. If not, I think the next step should be Computer World or other publications Consumer Watch columns.
Thanks for all the great information here.
All,
I bought my Rovio today at Radio Shack. After about a 3 hours charge, it ran fo r about 10 minutes and the battery died. Being the tech geek I am, I really want this thing to work. I am able to control it via the web just fine. I'll let it charge overnight and see what happens in the morning.
For those of you who deep charged the battery pack outside the robot with a power supply, did this solve the problem in the long term? Tadayuki, did this work for you?
jpapavas, once you got the Sanyo batteries, were you able to charge them in the charging station? Is this now working ok?
Mark Stephens said: All, I bought my Rovio today at Radio Shack. After about a 3 hours charge, it ran fo r about 10 minutes and the battery died. Being the tech geek I am, I really want this thing to work. I am able to control it via the web just fine. I'll let it charge overnight and see what happens in the morning. For those of you who deep charged the battery pack outside the robot with a power supply, did this solve the problem in the long term? Tadayuki, did this work for you? jpapavas, once you got the Sanyo batteries, were you able to charge them in the charging station? Is this now working ok?
hi, yes but i guess the power supply is working with no problem too allready for me. maybe you need to buy new power supply and change-replace the old one.
The all story about Sanyo Eneloop is that they don't loose power when i don't use them, they stay with full charge until next time i will use them (no memmory power loose too).
best choice for me :)
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WowWee Thank you :)
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I have read a lot of "reports" that the 8V power supply is not working well and some people gets 9v replasement from WowWee... try to get one 9V OEM, maybe that will help you for start.
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WowWee Thank you :)
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@jpapavas,
But I believe Sony Eneloop are still 1.2 V per cell. Juice rechargeable alkaline batteries are 1.5 V per cell and since they are alkaline, also keep their charge over time. If you "shallow charge" them, which is to recharge them well before they go below 30% charge capacity, they last a really long time too. You can find them on eBay.
-- roschler
Robodance 5 - Rovio over Skype with Voice Control
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