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January 18th, 2018 18:00

Venue 8 Pro battery charger seems inadequate

I have owned a Venue 8 Pro for about 2 years and it seems to meet my needs well.

When I first got it I used to leave it on with and plugged in to the charger, and it would typically stay at about 100% charged.   Sometimes I would detach you, use it as a portable for the day, and then return it to the charger.

 

In recent months the charger does not seem adequate to maintain the battery at 100% when it is turned on (at 25% brightness).   It is as if the OS has been patched to use more power, I have loaded more apps, the charger has got weaker, or something like that.

 

I also own a 3rd-party docking station for my Venue-8-Pro - and when I use the dock the tablet goes to 100% and stays there.

 

The Dell charger that came with the tablet is rated at 5V-2A.   Should I be shopping for an alternate charger with a higher amperage rating?

I tried updating the BIOS today, but that did not seem to help.   I could not get the auto-detect patch feature to work, so not sure if there are any other patches I should be applying.

Thank you 

9.4K Posts

January 19th, 2018 08:00

Hi bl1235,

Thanks for posting.  Apologies that your tablet is not performing as expected.

Batteries normally last only about a year or a year and a half.  It is possible that your's may need to be replaced.  Here's an article from Dell's Knowledge Base you may find helpful. 

While it's not very likely that the charger has become a problem, it is a possibility.  You appeared to have tested this by using the dock to charge the tablet, so possibly a new adapter may be in order.  They may still be available from Dell Spare parts, parts-people.com, or Discount Electronics.

For additional troubleshooting you can also contact Tech Support at 1-800-624-9896  or 1-800-288-4410, or you can initiate a chat session http://dell.to/2v4snVm

4 Posts

January 19th, 2018 17:00

hello

 

the article you referred me to seems to be for android tablets.   I have a windows tablet.

Is there any risk if I buy a different charger with a higher power rating?

9.4K Posts

January 25th, 2018 05:00

 

A higher voltage transformer would damage the unit.  A higher wattage may help, and may work, but unless it's Dell certified, it would not be supported.

4 Posts

January 26th, 2018 19:00

I have upgraded the power supply from the Dell 5V/2A to a 3rd party 5V/3A unit that is advertised as being compatible with the Venue 8 Pro 5855. Things are now working better! I am not sure if it is appropriate to mention the 3rd party supplier in a Dell Forum, so i will leave that name out. There also seems to be a difference related to USB cables. I didn't extensively investigate, but some cables seem to work better than others.
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