Electron not charging not connecting

Sometimes it just won’t connect, even in Safe mode. Went outside to where I have 5 bars (by tapping mode button). Inside there is 4. It keeps flashing fast aqua. Occasional red blip. Finally it’s in Safe mode purple breathing after 20 minutes of testing. I tried letting it solve it’s problems inside, no luck.

I know the Lipo must be getting low by now. Last time I measured it’s only 3.80v. Plugged into PC port it only sometimes charges with red LED. Not anymore. Now it needs apple cube to charge. I understand it can’t charge when it’s sending data. Can I make it charge while off or asleep? Any way to do this with PC USB port? I only have one apple cube in the house.

You should have no problem charging while its ON and connected.

Did you switch USB cords yet?

3.80v is around 60% full based on my graphs with the Election ON and running.

You may have Sim Card contact issues that others have reported. They slightly bent the metal cross member that goes over the sim card so it gets better contact with the sim pads. That may or may not be your issue. Search the forum for that info.

Red charging LED comes on immediately with Apple cube. Was working with 2 PC’s, not anymore. Tried 3 different cables. It is keeping the voltage from dropping, like it was dropping without power.

Pushed mode button 3x so it deep sleeps. Charges with Apple cube. Does not charge with any PC.

@BDub, I have a 5.5v 500mA solar panel and 4400 mAh battery pack. I have measured ~50mA while the the system is idle and connected to the Cell network. The test was to see how long I could go without connectivity failure. This is the second test I’ve done and by day 3 I wake up there is no lights on the Electron. The battery voltage measured was 3.0V. Is charging disabled somehow?

Day 1) I see the red charging indicator led
Day 2) Still connected, charging indicator on.
Day 3) no led, 3V on battery, reset and mode button not responsive.

I didn’t measure the voltage each day because I just assumed it was working. What am I missing? Maybe I need to monitor temperature inside the box during mid day? I should also note I have checked the box mid day a couple times and everything seems normal. Comfy 80 degree F, charge indicator on, and connected to network.

Thanks all.

On further inspection, I notice my solar panel drops below 4.2 volts when its cloudy. The voltage on this panel seems to be very sensitive to sun light. Other panels I have used seem to hold a fairly constant voltage. I’m probably seeing an under voltage lockout on the charging IC. I connected a 6.5 V 500 mA panel now and will see what it does for the next few days.

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@jasonp It would be worthwhile to qualify your charging current in full sunlight. You should measure your solar panel to VIN current, and also the current on the battery to ensure it’s charging and not just discharging mostly. I recently connected a 7W Voltaic panel to the VIN pin on an Asset Tracker Kit for a demo at Maker Faire. It was attached to my backpack and tracked me all around MF. It would publish location and battery SoC (%) every minute, and during the day when walking around the % remained full, even in the shade. I had measured a good 300-500mA of charging current in full sunlight, so felt reasonable confident it would remain charged with frequent publishes, and it did. I would increase the size of your panel a bit to give you more efficiency throughout the cloudy moments.

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