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I just got my Rovio from MacMAll. I charged it and was ready to Rovio and with great enthusiasm and many attempts and research lasting hours, I could not get it to work!!!
I seem to have hit the Trifecta. Every issue you read about in the posts I am experiencing with this worthless toy. I am thoroughly disappointed with the support on this device. Hard to find phone number that when you do get it and call all you get is a voice mail telling you to send an email because they are only open 9am to 5pm, Monday - Friday no weekends or Holidays. Thanks for pointing that out on your voice mail team. Way to keep up the customer satisfaction.
I have submitted a request to support via the myrovio.com website in the support section. I do not expect a return call anytime soon as the confirmation page clearly states they should get back to you in two business days and "if you do not hear back from them in 5 business days, you can...." Yes that is a quote.
So today the race begins. If they call me back and fix my issues before I can box this thing up and send it back, I will gladly sing there praises in this and anywhere I can. If they do not, I will gladly sing their demise so that I can spare others the frustration that could come with this purchase.
There are other devices that I am testing out there that do the similar thing. I will post them if I am unable to get this thing working, then we can all go with the one that works.
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?
After checking internal Rovio voltages with slightly more than 8V to check everything wouldn't go into a big smoke, I replaced the adapter by a 9V / 3 Amps adapter.
Things are now a lot better, Rovio has not switched off so far (>1Day) and was able to kick a new charge on dock while battery was very low.
Before that, it tried to charge at max rate but failed to kick voltage up fast enough and shut down itself every time.
I'm still stressing the Rovio to check for any problem, but it looks good so far.
This hack surely voids the warranty so try only if you know enough about these things. If you are not comfortable, send it back and ask for one with good battery/adapter, may be newer model have better ones (not sure).
FYI:
I Used a multi-voltage 36W swithing power supply ( HQ POWER from amplus).
I set Voltage to 9V (up to 3amps allowed for this voltage).
I cut old adapter (dock side) plug and connected to new adapter (not available from the set provided with HQ Power).
Be cautious to not invert polarity (+ is inside plug , ground is outside) check serigraphy / voltage with meter to make sure.
Chris
the same thing is happening to me, my warranty expired and i'm trying to find somewhere to buy one!
More powerfull adapter is not a 100% fix, there are still times the Rovio let battery goes down too much and shut itself off.
Undocking/redocking starts a new charge cycle and things are ok for a bit.
I looked at internal boards, looks like there is a power board with a chip controlling charge/levels. Main Rovio board is just controlling on/off and getting level notification. Looks like the charger/power board has something wrong.
Chris
I got a new Rovio, after my orginal one went. My new Rovio has a battery that only lasts 5 mins and a faulty power supply. I used the battery from my old Rovio and works fine now, and used the other power supply from my broken Rovio as the power supply from my new Rovio was also faulty.
My Battery and power supply is going to be replaced.
This seems to be a common theme for Rovio, battery/power supply issues. So just for the record, I as well have power issues with my new Rovio.
I ordered mine direct from the WooWee Online Store. I charged it for several hours as the supplied information suggested. It wouldn't hold a charge for even 2 minutes. So I charged it for 24 hours. Still wouldn't hold a charge for more than 2 minutes.
I read all the complaints about batteries and power supplies on this forum (numerous) and sent a complaint to customer service. A day later I got a reply asking for my mailing address so they could send me a new power supply. Sounded like great service. After almost 2 weeks the request is still pending authorization with customer service and not shipped to me.
I tested the factory power supply and only a few mA are coming from the power unit. So I went out and purchased my own 9 Vdc 2.5A power supply. After a single charge period that issue seems to be resolved. Obviously the battery is now getting enough power to charge the battery.
However, since day one the setup program will crash at numerous points while using the USB cable. I had to set it up using the WiFi adhoc option. Even then and using the newest firmware, it does not work consistently with WPA2. It only seems to work with no encryption or passwords on an Open wireless network.
My conclusion is the Rovio is of extremely poor electronic design and programming. And considering all the similar complaints on this forum, I'm not the only one with a defective Rovio, or settling for less functionality than was expected. Luckly it's a cheap toy robot, and not a huge waste of cash.
My recommendation to anyone that hasn't purchased one yet is not to bother. It's not worth the time! Other WooWee products are good (I have 3 others) they totally dropped the ball on this one!
This seems to be a common theme for Rovio, battery/power supply issues. So just for the record, I as well have power issues with my new Rovio.
I ordered mine direct from the WooWee Online Store. I charged it for several hours as the supplied information suggested. It wouldn't hold a charge for even 2 minutes. So I charged it for 24 hours. Still wouldn't hold a charge for more than 2 minutes.
I read all the complaints about batteries and power supplies on this forum (numerous) and sent a complaint to customer service. A day later I got a reply asking for my mailing address so they could send me a new power supply. Sounded like great service. After almost 2 weeks the request is still pending authorization with customer service and not shipped to me.
I tested the factory power supply and only a few mA are coming from the power unit. So I went out and purchased my own 9 Vdc 2.5A power supply. After a single charge period that issue seems to be resolved. Obviously the battery is now getting enough power to charge the battery.
However, since day one the setup program will crash at numerous points while using the USB cable. I had to set it up using the WiFi adhoc option. Even then and using the newest firmware, it does not work consistently with WPA2. It only seems to work with no encryption or passwords on an Open wireless network.
My conclusion is the Rovio is of extremely poor electronic design and programming. And considering all the similar complaints on this forum, I'm not the only one with a defective Rovio, or settling for less functionality than was expected. Luckly it's a cheap toy robot, and not a huge waste of cash.
My recommendation to anyone that hasn't purchased one yet is not to bother. It's not worth the time! Other WooWee products are good (I have 3 others) they totally dropped the ball on this one!
I just got mine. After charging for 2 hours it drives for 2 minutes. I can't believe they've let this go on this long. I'm just flabbergasted.
It's been well over a month and I still haven't received my replacement power pack. Customer service won't even reply to the warranty ticket anymore about it. I wish you better luck than I've had with the exact same problem. If you bought it local and can take it back, I would. WowWee is unlikely to look after the issue based on my experience and reading about other people's complaints.
holdendp said: I just got mine. After charging for 2 hours it drives for 2 minutes. I can't believe they've let this go on this long. I'm just flabbergasted.Do you first charge 12 hours +, it seems to work much better than the 2 hours WowWee recommends. Many people have found that to be the case.
If you take apart the docking-station, it actually shows 9volt should be going out to the Rovio.
I just received Rovio as a birthday gift and I'm having the same problems that everyone else is with the battery.
My girlfriend bought it used and I was reliving days as a child while opening it up. After finding out that it won't work with Windows 7 x64, I frowned and used my old laptop to set it up instead. I had used a friends Rovio in the past and had a smooth experience and no battery problems.
I haven't used Rovio much as we've just moved and have been spending most of my time getting Rovio setup with a DNS and whatnot. This morning I had my first remote experience with the Rovio, and after charging for well over 24 hours, I got about 5 minutes of use before the Rovio attempted to return to the dock. It didn't make it.
I am a gadget geek and love tinkering with RC electric and nitro cars, but I am far from an electronics pro. I can't find an "official" battery pack replacement for the Rovio, but a couple of battery packs made by HPI look like they would work. However, the connector will have to be changed and buying a $45 battery pack with the possibility of screwing it up isn't very exciting. This is something I have no experience with.
Do I have any other options here? I doubt any returns/exchanges would be honored since Rovio was bought used. What do you all suggest? I enjoy this gadget and would love to get it working properly.
Here is one possible work-around.
I had the same charging problem with my Rovio where it did not want to stay on the dock and charge. When I wrote Rovio Commander I wrote a sub routine to back the Rovio up every x number of minutes. It has work for my Rovio. This feature is in the Options tab and is called Charge Mode On. Some people think this could cause the battery to over charge, but I have been using it for over 6 months and my Rovio still works the same. The only draw back is the Rovio Commander has to stay running on your computer.
use at you own risk.
Rovio Commander II
Record Video, Motion Detect, Sentry Paths and more. All features built in. <br>
http://www.robocommunity.com/download/15769/_New-Rovio-Commander-II/
I'm not as tech savvy when it comes to batteries and power management, but having the same low battery issues, should a power adapter such as this: http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3875404# work for the Rovio?
WowWee just sent me the following response when inquiring about my (and many others it seems) power issues:
"You can purchase a new adapter for your rovio for $25 USD. Please send an International Money Order or Cashier's Check made out to WowWee Canada Inc. (we aren't set up to take credit cards) to the following address:
Please send to:
ATTN: Maral
WowWee Canada Inc.
3500 De Maisonneuve Blvd., West
2 Place Alexis Nihon, Suite 800
Westmount, Qc
H3Z 3C1
Canada
Please include with your payment a detailed note explaining the part you need with it's color, as well as the production code, your full name, telephone number where you can be reached, and shipping address.
Sincerely,
WowWee Customer Service "
At this point I'd prefer to buy it from Radio Shack v. WowWee. Thanks in advance for any help.
b0ne said: I'm not as tech savvy when it comes to batteries and power management, but having the same low battery issues, should a power adapter such as this: http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3875404# work for the Rovio? WowWee just sent me the following response when inquiring about my (and many others it seems) power issues: "You can purchase a new adapter for your rovio for $25 USD. Please send an International Money Order or Cashier's Check made out to WowWee Canada Inc. (we aren't set up to take credit cards) to the following address: Please send to: ATTN: Maral WowWee Canada Inc. 3500 De Maisonneuve Blvd., West 2 Place Alexis Nihon, Suite 800 Westmount, Qc H3Z 3C1 Canada Please include with your payment a detailed note explaining the part you need with it's color, as well as the production code, your full name, telephone number where you can be reached, and shipping address. Sincerely, WowWee Customer Service " At this point I'd prefer to buy it from Radio Shack v. WowWee. Thanks in advance for any help.Did the radio shack adapter work? I have the same problem
quine9 said:b0ne said: I'm not as tech savvy when it comes to batteries and power management, but having the same low battery issues, should a power adapter such as this: http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3875404# work for the Rovio? WowWee just sent me the following response when inquiring about my (and many others it seems) power issues: "You can purchase a new adapter for your rovio for $25 USD. Please send an International Money Order or Cashier's Check made out to WowWee Canada Inc. (we aren't set up to take credit cards) to the following address: Please send to: ATTN: Maral WowWee Canada Inc. 3500 De Maisonneuve Blvd., West 2 Place Alexis Nihon, Suite 800 Westmount, Qc H3Z 3C1 Canada Please include with your payment a detailed note explaining the part you need with it's color, as well as the production code, your full name, telephone number where you can be reached, and shipping address. Sincerely, WowWee Customer Service " At this point I'd prefer to buy it from Radio Shack v. WowWee. Thanks in advance for any help.Did the radio shack adapter work? I have the same problem
I haven't pulled the trigger yet as I'm waiting to see if someone might be able to confirm that the adapter is OK to purchase / test out on the Rovio. I'll be sure to post my findings.
Don't tell Wowee, I don't want to void my warranty, but the RadioShack 6-12VDC 2500mA power adapter when set to 9V worked like a charm. $40 though, what a gyp. I don't care, now I love the Rovio EXCEPT the camera is ridiculously dim.
Has anyone tried replacing their camera?
LiPo requires different charge mode than current NiMH and needs to be shut down if voltage drops below some level or there is a risk it would be badly damaged , it could even overheat and burn.
So power/charging board needs to be replaced etc... looks quite difficult and risky to do.
Chris
Just as a follow up, I purchased the above Radio Shack charger. It seemed to extend the Robot's life the first few time I charged it but now I'm back to square one. I just let the robot leave the charger and within 1 minute I was warned that the Rovio was low on battery and would I like to return it to the dock. I said yes but within 10 seconds it died. I'm not sure what else to try.
Rovio internal charging board is too weak and if battery is discharged too much it will not be able to charge it fast enough to avoid automatic shutdown on low batt condition.
Sometimes putting rovio on dock and before it shuts down taking it out and back a few times will help go to a level battery can be charged continuously. This is painfull and daesn't always work.
Last is to use an external charger to charge battery pack and put it back when partially/totally charged.
Then Rovio is up for a few cycles but it may still die on battery level.
Michelle C said: Guys and girls -- please contact our customer service department (www.wowweesupport.com) regarding this battery issue... They'll tell you exactly what do to in your situation. Your feedback is really important to us, as it's the first consumer product for us.Michelle I've contacted your service department. They've sent me a new charger and a new battary and I still have the same problem. Basically I've been dealing with this for 4 months and I still have a defective Rovio.
A. A. roberts
- member since: 10/31/2006
- rank: 61 of 10719
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aaroberts said: Michelle I've contacted your service department. They've sent me a new charger and a new battary and I still have the same problem. Basically I've been dealing with this for 4 months and I still have a defective Rovio.aaroborts: When you say charger, do you mean AC power adapter?
Check out my blog: The WowWee Insider.
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