To let people know, fuze + cold = bad

Today I was cross country skiing and it was pretty cold and the audio on my fuze stopped working. My headphones were fine and i could play songs but there was no audio coming out of the fuze. I turned off the fuze, turned it on and it was frozen on the screen with music, videos, etc. I restarted it and a couple hours later at home it was working. I remember a few threads a while ago about the same problem and people said the fuze was malfunctioning but I dont think so, people should just try to keep it in a warm area.

Message Edited by akc123cheese on 01-11-2009 07:21 PM

Interesting… I was in northern Alaska over the Holidays. I run several miles every morning, No Exceptions (Including Christmas). Christmas morning I ran 4 miles, in -20 degree weather (Not Cold for this area in December) . I had my fuze under 2 layers of clothes, but it still got pretty cold, I would say below 20 degrees. I had it on, and it worked the whole time. I was worried because I lost a Connect last year doing the same thing.

yea i guess its just happens some times. of course, i also was doing some jumps and stuff so i may have fallen on it a couple times which couldn’t have helped. but the freezing on the home screen was weird

Did it look funny? My Connect Did. I was wishin I took pics.

nope it was just the generic home screen, just the scroll wheel wasnt working, nor was the enter button. and to turn it off i had to hold the off button for 15 seconds

It takes very low temperature to do permanent damage to the player. The danger is that if the temperature is low enough for a long enough period, the battery could freeze and be permanently damaged. The display could also free and be damaged if it is cold enough. The battery can’t put out much power at low temperateres. when it is cold, keep the player under your coat close to your body.

Message Edited by JK98 on 02-09-2010 12:47 AM

Just how vulnerable is the Fuze battery to low temperatures?

After upgrading to FW 01.02.31 (just over 13months since bought), I just had to take a stroll in the cold Nordic winter night, the temperature was aiming blow -20 Celsius (-4F). When I got a phone call, and exposed my cell phone/fuze bundle to the outside…

When I put my headphones back on, there was no sound and the screen was black and it did not turn on again. Back home I tried to connect it to the computer to recharge, still black, so I pulled the plug and reconnected a few times, without any result. I left it to rest and went to bed. By a chance I plugged it in when returning after work the nest day, and it started to charge. And now the problem; ever since, the battery only give me about 45 mins of playing time, then it gives me a “Bye, bye” screen; with “the battery is to low”…

I haven’t timed it, but I feel like the recharging time is still the same! Haven’t done any formatting, yet, thought I’d ask before doing that!

If the battery is irrevocably gone, is there a way to have it replaced?

BTW, My ten year old Ericson cell phone works without glitch!

/ptr

How long was the player exposed to the cold? Have you tried charging it with a wall charger? Changing the battery is not easy, as it is is hard to open and close the player case without damaging it, and hard to find an inexpensive decent capacity battery that will fit.  You could get an inexpensive external usb battery pack, like the Duracell Instant power.

You seem to have luck like I do, with a possible failure just beyond the warranty period.  In the US, the warranty is one year, with the EU being two years.  I have seen a replacement battery module for the Fuze from Radio Shack.  Check out this post.

Disassembling the Fuze takes a careful hand.  With current labor rates, it’s wonderful that a brand new Fuze costs less than an hour’s repair labor, but a replacement is possible for the determined hobbyist.  I grew up making electronic repairs, and reading schematics.  For my 10th birthday, I hoped for a Simpson VTVM and a soldering station.

Having a engineer father kind of had its influences, you see.  Long live the pocket protector and slide rule!!

Here’s a favorite photo.  In the center, Mike Collins, Command Module Pilot, Apollo 11 Crew.  Do you see the Pickett slide rule in his chest pocket?  Slide rules got us to the moon.  Nerds of the world unite!

Bob  :smileyvery-happy:

@jk98 wrote:
How long was the player exposed to the cold? Have you tried charging it with a wall charger? Changing the battery is not easy, as it is is hard to open and close the player case without damaging it, and hard to find an inexpensive decent capacity battery that will fit.  You could get an inexpensive external usb battery pack, like the Duracell Instant power.

I dont think is was more than 1-2 mins at the most… (at first I did not think of it, as I kind of thought that it was the new FW revision acting up… but searching the fora, put me on to this thread)

What would a wall charger do that a regular computer USB utlet cant?

Pitty,  and even if I fully understand the trade-ofs one has to do in construction like the Fuze, perhaps changable batteries would be something for the future! … would make the unit greener in a more and more enviromentaly aware world!

To me, using a external battery-pack kind of fails the purpous of the Fuze!  (ie.size and pportability) … But I guess it’s a way around my problem…

I read something about re-formatting in another thread yesterday, so I did that and ran a full re-install of the FW. I have my unit running now to see if something has changed…

Thanks for the DIY battery change tip Bob! dunno if I’m up to the task, haven’t soldered anything outside of audio cables in years…

BTW, newly recharged, the battery capacity read 100% in the info-section!

 /ptr

islayman wrote: 

What would a wall charger do that a regular computer USB utlet cant?

 

 

 

  1. Usually faster
  2. The player can play on a wall charger.  On a computer’s USB outlet it changes to USB mode.

 

Ok, interesting!

I mostly use my Fuze for mobile listening…

The electronics outlet @ the local mall has a charger for $15,

I’ll get one on my way home from work today to test!

Thanks for the info!

Message Edited by islayman on 02-09-2010 06:59 AM

If you get a USB charger, get one that puts out 1,000 ma. There are many that put out only 500 ma, and they may not be able charge the battery as well, and are certainly slower at charging it than 1,000 ma chargers.

…like You read my thoughts!

I’ll get one of those even if its two bucks dearer… :wink:

islayman wrote:

…like You read my thoughts!

 

I’ll get one of those even if its two bucks dearer… :wink:

 

 

Mine cost less than $4 US…88 cents, plus shipping, on Amazon.com.

http://www.amazon.com/Universal-Charger-Shuffle-Classic-Microsoft/dp/B002HQUIVQ/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1265728794&sr=8-7

A quick follow up;

the complete re-format/re-instal of the firmware I dis seems to have brought my fuze back to life.

I’ve done a half a dussin or so run-throughs by emtying the battery completely and recharging with the wall-unit.

and seems to be as it was when new!

Thanks for all suggestions! This forum is invaluble for users like me!