PN557W pen loses connectivity often

Wow! I can't believe it was such a simple fix. This worked for me. Thanks for finding the fix and posting.

I have installed the latest driver on my dell 5300 2-in-1 from here but still pen looses connection from time to time (top button won't work):  https://www.dell.com/support/home/uk/en/ukdhs1/product-support/product/dell-active-pen-pn557w/driver...

When I go to the bluetooth driver and I select checking for the latest version of the driver, windows says it's already up-to-date. I have the pn577w.

Any further ideas?

Thanks for the idea to troubleshoot the batteries. I seemed to have fixed mine by wrapping the retainer clip with tape. This ensures that the batteries stay in contact with each other and that the retainer clip is tight within the cylinder. I've tried to shake it loose but this seems to have solved the problem.

This worked for me.  Amazing.  Thanks.

I purchased a used PN557W on eBay for my 7285. It, too, would lose BT connection after some time – minutes, hours, usually within 24 hours. The only way to get the connection back was to “Remove device” and re-pair*. It seemed that the 319 batteries were not making proper contact and, since I got this used, I didn't know exactly how the battery “holder” was supposed to work. I thought there might be some sort of ridge missing from the plastic holder to keep the batteries in contact with each other and in the proper position (since one could put the batteries in from either end). I tried shrink wrapping the batteries together, and not using the plastic holder, which seemed to work better. I had also stretched the spring slightly in hopes of keeping the batteries in place better. New batteries did not help the issue at all.

*The Pen showed Paired always and Connected when button was pushed, immediately returning to paired – when it worked. Holding the pairing button down (to pair) resulted in a flash/quick flashing indicator which implied it was already connected. Clearly it was not. Re-pairing brought it back to life temporarily.

I uninstalled Pen drivers/control panels and reinstalled older drivers/control panels which seemed to work better but pen calibration was off and uncorrectable. I uninstalled and reinstalled a newer version and am currently running (Wacom) Active Pen App version 7.6.48.0, Service version 7.6.1.25, Driver version 7.6.2.20 which, I think, is from the WIN_56DT7_A03 driver.

I got to poking around in the BT section of the pen where there is a looped gold connector attached to a circuit board. I noticed, before, that the large loop was supposed to catch in a groove inside the barrel but it was often out of said groove when disassembled. I tried to put more tension on the smaller loop – where the battery makes contact – and noticed that, when pushed down as the battery would do, the compression on the small loop caused the circuit board to move and the larger loop came out of the groove – losing contact with the barrel – effectively removing the battery and breaking the pairing. With (new) batteries (still) shrink wrapped together I placed a small piece of non-conductive material behind the circuit board inside the BT barrel to stop the movement of the circuit board and keep the larger loop in its groove. I have had no issues with pairing loss since this was done.

Experiencing same issues as all of you, Bluetooth won't stay connected to my PN557W and top button loses functionality after only like a minute. Frustrating because the top button working properly is really useful for what I primarily use the pen for. Wondering if anyone found a solution that works definitively yet? @BizzyBob do you have any updates on your troubleshooting procedure and if you still aren't experiencing pairing loss some months later?

@brendino 

Apologies for not responding sooner.

Still functioning as described.

I believe that static charge causes the problem.

At work, I was sitting in a rolling chair on carpet. I found that I was carrying a charge. I kept zapping myself on my whiteboard tray (I am a teacher) or getting in my car to go home. I believe that my power strip did not ground me correctly.

I traded the rolling chair for a student chair, discharged at a grounded outlet, and the problem disappeared overnight.

Unfortunately, I have been working from home since the pandemic. The problem returned. Note that my home electrical is sub par, and the power outlet that I work from is ungrounded.

But I don't see how this is related to @BizzyBob 's solution!?

@Erik Chantiny 

I live in a low humidity environment and did not notice the connection dropping (prior to my fix) due to static discharge only movement and/or top button use which caused the contact to disengage, even if momentarily, from the barrel of the pen top thus canceling the pairing.

As stated in my long post I am positive the connection loss is/was due to loss of electrical contact as explained.

I have, since that post, reinstalled Windows 10 on my Latitude 7285 and the PN557W still functions correctly and as described. The pen stays paired after days of no use and button works as programmed in the utility without having to redo the pairing.

I have a Dell latitude 2 in one and a Dell stylus. The stylus was constantly losing connection (every few minutes). I installed the bluetooth drivers from the dell page. Everything works very well now. I think the Windows drivers don't work very well with the Dell stylus. To get the driver, I entered the number of my tablet on the dell page. After that, the system recognized me and offered different drivers, support and services.

Hi guys...

Try this, and see if you found what i have.  Take the the small batteries out of the Bluetooth buttons .... and just leave them out. Yes, i know this disables your Bluetooth buttons and I am not suggesting this is a fix.. but i suspect many of us just want to be able to finish a page of notes, and not have to constantly try and wake up our pens whenever we try to use them.. If you need your bluetooth buttons this is not the fix for you, but for the others give it a try.. Having read this thread looking for an answer.. i decided to just loose the bluetooth. I have now gone 20 minutes without a disconnect.. where as before i could reproduce the issue every 30 seconds.. Does this mean it is an issue with the pen.. or bluetooth on the laptop.. i don't know.

My temporary fix to this has been cutting a spring and joining it with the spring that touches the pen in order to increase the amount of force that is pushing on the battery and that helped for like a month until my laptop developed new problems so now I use a mecer active pen.

I have the pen (just received it).  I have made sure the OS is up to date.  I have downloaded the driver and installed it from the Dell Site.  When I try to pair the pen, it pairs, shows how much power is left (89%) and then promptly disconnects.  If I push the button on the top of the pen, it connects, shows the power and then disconnects.  I have taken the batteries out of the pen and put it all back in but nothing is working.  Do I have a defective Pen?

I am running an Inspiron 15 3530 that I have had for 3 months.