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Question

RCA Cambio tablet, sometimes can't get power from battery

Sep 8, 2018 1:24PM PDT

Today I was troubleshooting my RCA Cambio Windows 10 tablet. The issue was that the battery stopped providing power. It appeared to charge and the machine could give me a battery-charge status, but if I unplugged the charger, the machine was immediately off. No power from battery at all. It would not start up on battery either. I was going to open it up and check the connections, and thought possibly a new battery (despite the report of a charged battery); but first, since we don't keep a lot of stuff on the machine, I decided to do a full reset. While that was in progress, a few times I unplugged, and guess what? It continued to run, meaning it WAS getting power from the battery. But once the reset was complete and I'd created a user profile, I'm back to where I'd been before: battery does not provide power.

I presume this means it's a software or bios issue, but that's way beyond my pay grade. Any ideas?

Discussion is locked

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Answer
Tried This?
Sep 9, 2018 8:26AM PDT

Uninstalling and reinstalling power management software:

In order to correct problems with the battery's power management software, follow the steps below.
1. Access the “Device Manager” .
2. Expand the Batteries category.
3. Under the Batteries category, right-click the Microsoft ACPI Compliant Control Method Battery listing, and select Uninstall .
WARNING: Do not remove the Microsoft AC Adapter driver or any other ACPI compliant driver.
4. On the Device Manager taskbar, click Scan for hardware changes .
Alternately, select Action > Scan for hardware changes .
Windows will scan your computer for hardware that doesn't have drivers installed, and will install the drivers needed to manage your battery's power. Restarting Windows will have the same effect of letting Windows re-recognize the hardware and installing the correct drivers.

If that doesn’t fix it, then shut down the computer, unplug all power cords, remove the battery, then depress the power button for 30 seconds. Replace the battery making sure all connections are solid, then plug in the power cord. Hopefully things are good

Hope this helps.

Grif

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First method, no go; but interesting.
Sep 9, 2018 9:08AM PDT

Thanks Grif! I tried the first method, dealing with battery power management. Once it had reinstalled the drivers, I went ahead and rebooted as well. Once it was booted up fully, I once again tried pulling the power cord to see if it would run on battery. For a moment, it seemed to be fine. Then it once again went dead. However, if I hold down the power button as if to turn it back on, I get a very subtle screen flicker. Clearly it is making the attempt.

I'm going to try the second method and will report back. I appreciate the suggestions!

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Removing battery also a no-go
Sep 9, 2018 9:33AM PDT

Removed battery, held down power for 30 seconds, reseated connections, double-checked, tried power-on, but same deal: The screen responds as if it is trying to power up, but it's just a flash of dim light, then nothing.

I'm hesitant to get a new battery, since this one clearly shows that it is getting charged up.

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Will be getting a fresh battery
Sep 9, 2018 1:05PM PDT

Ordered a used battery. Seems unlikely to be the issue, but it was a good price so I decided to give it a try. Love taking things apart and putting them back together, but when it doesn't result in a solution I has a sad. Sad

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Cambio battery
Nov 12, 2018 7:06PM PST

Where did you purchase your used battery from?

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New (used) battery solved the problem
Nov 13, 2018 7:22AM PST

Sford75, my apologies, I should have posted the results earlier. The replacement battery did indeed do the trick. I found it on eBay. It didn't turn out to be exactly the right one (it was sized for a cell phone), but it seems to be working just fine anyway! The seller was pixel-2015. I had got some numbers off the old battery and plugged them in to my search. I've scanned an image of the original battery that came in the Cambio tablet and am attaching it here. Hopefully this helps you find a replacement. FYI, it's about 5.5 x 3.5 inches in size. But like I said, the smaller battery I managed to find on eBay seems to be working just fine. For me, the main thing was that it came with the connector, so I didn't have to figure out how to add that myself. Also, a word to the wise, the original battery is glued in and not SUPER easy to pry loose lol. Take your time. I used a small kitchen spatula. Grin

Urgh. I must be an idiot but nowhere that I upload the photo gives me a link that CNET accepts. So here's a description: There's a bar code. Above the bar code is one string of characters, and below is another:
+ 3.7V 4000mAh P&T MH49370
− PT3090135 14.8Wh 73702101659EA3034

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RCA Cambio
Aug 27, 2019 9:46AM PDT

Hello I recently purchased one of these RCA Cambio 10” Windows 10 tablets off of a letgo ad and when I brought it home to charge and use it. The charging LED comes on as a blue light and pulses so I left it on over night and when I unplugged from the charger to turn it on, it doesn’t do anything whatsoever. I assume we’ve got the same type of tablet, and you did a Hard Reset, but how so mine only has a power button no volume up/down.