How is your Sansa Clip battery life?

I was just wondering what kind of mp3 playback time people were getting with their Sansa Clip batteries. The spec says 15 hours max but I am getting no where hear that. I just fully charged my unit and have been playing mp3’s for a few hours straight and the battery is half power already. Very disappointing to say the least.

One other concern I have is just how long the battery will continue to hold a charge since it is non replaceable. At that point the Clip is basically a paper weight.    :smiley:

Typically, the battery would hold out for at least 2 years by standard but it’s all depending on the usage and the number of times of charging.  By the time it gets to 2 years, I think the clip would be very very cheap and you can just get a new one instead of getting a new battery :slight_smile:

I am suspecting my battery might be faulty.  I bought two of them (2 weeks ago).  Both were fully charged a few days ago.  After working out today, my wife’s Clip was still almost fully charged.  Mine died in the middle of my workout.

I’ve fully charged both again.  I will let it sit for two days to see if there is some type of battery drain with mine.

I’m having exactly the same problem with my 2GB Clip that Peacedog relates.  As this discussion progresses, I think it’s important to identify which model of Clip (1 GB or 2GB) the writer is talking about in his/her post.

I purchased a black 1GB model at my local Wal-Mart.  I liked it so much that I gave it to my wife and purchased a black 2GB model at Best Buy (Wal-Mart didn’t carry the 2GB model) because I wanted a little more storage.  The 1GB model has worked flawlessly.  It readily takes a charge and holds it for long periods of time.  She loves it!

On the other hand, my 2GB model would not take a charge from the time I first took it out of the box.  It did have partial charge remaining from the factory and when I connected it to my computer or wall charger the screen icon indicated that it was charging.  After an overnight session on the wall charger (the one I regularly use to charge my 1GB unit) it still indicated charging but had not taken any charge at all.  When I turned it on, it quickly used the little remaining charge and was then completely dead.  I verified that I had the latest firmware version, tried charging it on my computer and even on my 12V car charger - all to no avail.  I returned it to BB for exchange.  The Customer Service person re-checked it and verified everything I said seemed correct.

The replacement 2GB unit charges okay and works well - except - it will not hold a charge for more than 3-4 days.  I’ve had the problem since early December and tried different things in an attempt to fix the problem.  To compare my 1GB and 2GB units I first “reset” and “formated” both of them.  I then reinstalled the latest version 01.01.18A firmware and fully charged both units overnight.  I charged and checked both units over a two-week period.  Both units have been sitting side-by-side and unused on the kitchen counter for the last nine days.  I checked charge status every couple days.  The 2GB started discharging the first day until it was dead (screen won’t even light up) after only 4 days.  The 1GB unit still indicates a full charge!

I see absolutely no reason that these two units shouldn’t hold charge for approximately the same period of time when compared under identical conditions.  Although the factory will probably not acknowledge there is a problem, I think there are bunch of units out there with defective batteries.  I will take my 2GB unit back to a different BB and hope that I can find one from a different manufacturing batch.

Is anyone else having problems with their 2GB Clip not holding a charge?

I’m having exactly the same problem with my 2GB Clip that Peacedog relates.  As this discussion progresses, I think it’s important to identify which model of Clip (1 GB or 2GB) the writer is talking about in his/her post.

I purchased a black 1GB model at my local Wal-Mart.  I liked it so much that I gave it to my wife and purchased a black 2GB model at Best Buy (Wal-Mart didn’t carry the 2GB model) because I wanted a little more storage.  The 1GB model has worked flawlessly.  It readily takes a charge and holds it for long periods of time.  She loves it! :smileyvery-happy:

On the other hand, my 2GB model would not take a charge from the time I first took it out of the box.  It did have partial charge remaining from the factory and when I connected it to my computer or wall charger the screen icon indicated that it was charging.  After an overnight session on the wall charger (the one I regularly use to charge my 1GB unit) it still indicated charging but had not taken any charge at all.  When I turned it on, it quickly used the little remaining charge and was then completely dead.  I verified that I had the latest firmware version, tried charging it on my computer and even on my 12V car charger - all to no avail.  I returned it to BB for exchange.  The Customer Service person re-checked it and verified everything I said seemed correct.

The replacement 2GB unit charges okay and works well - except - it will not hold a charge for more than 3-4 days.  I’ve had the problem since early December and tried different things in an attempt to fix the problem.  To compare my 1GB and 2GB units I first “reset” and “formated” both of them.  I then reinstalled the latest version 01.01.18A firmware and fully charged both units overnight.  I charged and checked both units over a two-week period.  Both units have been sitting side-by-side and unused on the kitchen counter for the last nine days.  I checked charge status every couple days.  The 2GB started discharging the first day until it was dead (screen won’t even light up) after only 4 days.  The 1GB unit still indicates a full charge!

I see absolutely no reason that these two units shouldn’t hold charge for approximately the same period of time when compared under identical conditions.  Although the factory will probably not acknowledge there might be a problem, I think perhaps there are bunch of 2GB units out there with defective batteries.  I will take my 2GB unit back to a different BB and hope that I can find one from a different manufacturing batch.

Is anyone else having problems with their 2GB Clip not holding a charge?

I’m having exactly the same problem with my 2GB Clip that Peacedog relates.  As this discussion progresses, I think it’s important to identify which model of Clip (1 GB or 2GB) the writer is talking about in his/her post.

I purchased a black 1GB model at my local Wal-Mart.  I liked it so much that I gave it to my wife and purchased a black 2GB model at Best Buy (Wal-Mart didn’t carry the 2GB model) because I wanted a little more storage.  The 1GB model has worked flawlessly.  It readily takes a charge and holds it for long periods of time.  She loves it! 

On the other hand, my 2GB model would not take a charge from the time I first took it out of the box.  It did have partial charge remaining from the factory and when I connected it to my computer or wall charger the screen icon indicated that it was charging.  After an overnight session on the wall charger (the one I regularly use to charge my 1GB unit) it still indicated charging but had not taken any charge at all.  When I turned it on, it quickly used the little remaining charge and was then completely dead.  I verified that I had the latest firmware version, tried charging it on my computer and even on my 12V car charger - all to no avail.  I returned it to BB for exchange.  The Customer Service person re-checked it and verified everything I said seemed correct.

The replacement 2GB unit charges okay and works well - except - it will not hold a charge for more than 3-4 days.  I’ve had the problem since early December and tried different things in an attempt to fix the problem.  To compare my 1GB and 2GB units I first “reset” and “formated” both of them.  I then reinstalled the latest version 01.01.18A firmware and fully charged both units overnight.  I charged and checked both units over a two-week period.  Both units have been sitting side-by-side and unused on the kitchen counter for the last nine days.  I checked charge status every couple days.  The 2GB started discharging the first day until it was dead (screen won’t even light up) after only 4 days.  The 1GB unit still indicates a full charge!

I see absolutely no reason that these two units shouldn’t hold charge for approximately the same period of time when compared under identical conditions.  Although the factory will probably not acknowledge there might be a problem, I think perhaps there are bunch of 2GB units out there with defective batteries.  I will take my 2GB unit back to a different BB and hope that I can find one from a different manufacturing batch.

Is anyone else having problems with their 2GB Clip not holding a charge?

bgunner01 wrote:

I’m having exactly the same problem with my 2GB Clip that Peacedog relates.  As this discussion progresses, I think it’s important to identify which model of Clip (1 GB or 2GB) the writer is talking about in his/her post.

Is anyone else having problems with their 2GB Clip not holding a charge?

Yes, I am.   I bought two 2GB Clips.  Both will completely discharge within ~3 days even if sitting idle (and OFF).  Several folks are reporting the same problem on this forum as well as the ABI forum.  It would be nice if Sansa would weigh in with some advice on any potential fixes.   With the self-discharge problem it’s pretty useless to me.  If the self-discharge problem was fixed, I’d quickly buy several more for me and my family… 

http://forums.sandisk.com/sansa/board/message?board.id=clip&thread.id=905

Message Edited by dusky on 12-30-2007 01:43 PM

To answer your question I am using the 2GB Clip. I haven’t used it in a few days and the charge is till 100%.
Sounds like you guys got a bum battery. I simply love this unit. Like I said in my original post under heavy use you will get no where near 15 hours of playback time in my experience. Others may have different results.

Well, then, Dusky, if you have a store near you, simply go back and exchange them.  Your units are defective and you’ll be much happier, understandably, once you’ve done so.

Miikerman wrote:

Well, then, Dusky, if you have a store near you, simply go back and exchange them.  Your units are defective and you’ll be much happier, understandably, once you’ve done so.

Thanks for the input.  That’s the way I handled it.  I purchased the first one and (after trying all of the work arounds suggested by the good folks here) was advised that it was probably defective.  I returned it and got another (ref link above)…same result…discharged in 3 days.  At the 2 bought, 2 defective rate, I’ll wait awhile and hope Sansa gets the issue worked out.

I get about 17 hours on a charge.

Dusky,

Make sure when you return the defective one, mention about the discharged issue and request that they give you a new one without the discharge issue or call tech support and ask them if you can get an exchange because of this issue.  If you don’t mention about it, they probably don’t know and might have given you just another defective unit.

So you are getting more hours than the makers actually claim you can get on a charge…interesting…

There are a number of conditions that will affect the total run time.  Here are some I can think of:

Initial charge
Volume
Headphone Impedance
Temperature
How much you use the display.
Duty Cycle (I’m not sure how Li Ion bats are affected by this)

I don’t use ear buds - can’t stand them in my ear. I got 17 hrs under the following conditions:

Initial charge: 100%
Volume: usually 1/3 to 1/2.  ( a few songs needed to be cranked though)
Headphones: Sony MDR-V6 (106dB/mW, 63 Ohms)  <- these are “THE BEST”!
Temp: 68 degF
Display usage: Very little.  Pretty much when it came on when I turned the unit on and off.
Duty Cycle: I didn’t keep notes on this, but I would guess 70-80% - I let it play most of the time.

Robert

I bought the 2GB clip for my wife, and she is having the same issue:  after charging the battery up to full and leaving it alone for a day, the unit is only at half charge when turned back on.

Will try to exchange it at Best Buy, but I’m concerned about how many of these have a faulty battery.

Please be sure that the unit is turned off using the switch on the left side (the screen will say, Goodbye).  Otherwise, the player is in pause, and still on.

I was thinking the same thing. Are people shutting off the unit or just unknowingly let it play thinking it is off?
I know NiMh batteries have a certain discharge rate figured in. This is to eliminate the battery “memory” problem that NiCd rechargeables had. Maybe Li Ion batteries have a similar trait. The battery in this unit must be really tiny so I’m thinking any discharge at all will be noticeable. In a large battery you probably wouldn’t even see it. But that is just a theory I have no evidence of this. My Clip discharges a little if left alone for a few days. I think this is somewhat normal for the the battery type.

I have a 2GB Clip and have the same symptoms as everyone else.  I’ll hook it to my machine for 2-3 hours, unconnect it and find that it is showing the “low battery” status.  Charging it overnight leads to 1-2 hours of playtime.  It’s getting returned this weekend.

Graybark wrote:
I bought the 2GB clip for my wife, and she is having the same issue:  after charging the battery up to full and leaving it alone for a day, the unit is only at half charge when turned back on.

Will try to exchange it at Best Buy, but I’m concerned about how many of these have a faulty battery.

In my case, the batteries were fine and would play 15+/- hours continuously.  When OFF something was slowly draining the battery causing it to fully discharge in ~3 days.

Just noticed that i have the same problem. I charged it full three days ago and shut it off(goodbye) and now and i turn it on it says low batt . wtf is going on. I only get about 5-6hrs max continuously. i bought this on thanksgivingday sale at bestbuy. should rma thru sandisk? i don’t have BB receipt anymore. ANY HELP WILL BE GREATLY APPRECIATED. i also hope that something like firmware update fix the problem. i have the 2gb version aswell.