I've had my Lunar about 3 years. I got the low battery warning OLO_BAt 1. When I plug in the USB, the charging symbol appears, but the battery does not seem to be taking a charge. I have already tried using two different cables and the charge light comes on for both.

I've been e-mailing Acaia support, which is fast and friendly, but they keep asking whether the battery is swelling. The answer is no. I am careful when cleaning this and I haven't done anything stupid with this like submerge in water (because I know it's not sealed). Seems like the troubleshooting process is converging on sending it back to Acaia and paying for shipping and repair costs.

Before I send it back, does anyone have an idea what is causing this?

Yes you can search my posts, but two things come to mind.

Swelling can be from steam as well. It's hard to really tell but looks like there is some swelling.

Since you are out of warranty, they will ship you a battery I believe but you have to pay for that. They shipped me one in warranty.

The other thing they claim is that some of the chargers don't play nice with the batteries. The manual states -

Please note: Using a "fast-charging" charging block or charging hub (a charging block/hub delivering over 5v at 1A) could damage your Acaia scale's circuit board.

So I think you should just bite the bullet and purchase one. If you are uncertain that its just the battery it might be worth sending to them.

Michael

Thanks Michael. That's helpful. I also got a reply from Acaia that it will be 17 bucks for a battery or 30 for a board (depending on the diagnosis), plus shipping costs. That's not too bad, but it may also provide the impetus to finally purchase a second, more practical and affordable scale. For me the Lunar is a bit too small and yet too heavy for my preference, and I never ever use the Bluetooth software features.

Have you seen the images in the thread of putting the wrist band around it? Make it weigh easier to hold. Weight doesn't matter then and it protects the USB port. Those prices are fair.

"Fast charging" (over 5V), shouldn't happen unless both the charger and the device are:
1) made to do it
2) "talk" to each other and agree to do it
3) and both use the same fast charge standard (there is more than one FC standard).

So in theory there should be nothing wrong with using a "fast charger" with a non-fast charge device because the authentications for fast charging will not occur. And the charging will just default to standard 5V USB.

At least that's how it _should_ work.

-Peter

pcrussell50 wrote:
At least that's how it _should_ work.

-Peter

Well that's what I thought about our democracy too But anyway it's easy enough to just use what's recommended, and honestly I don't think that was the issue for me. For me I think it was steam. For the OP, who knows, but it did last 3 years vs my 2. Also based on the costs quoted to him, that was way less than I thought it would be, and makes me less concerned.

Michael