Topic: MT charge time and screen display

[balou2]

Just got my MT in the mail.  How long does a full charge take to store?  The info included says nothing, nor does the M-Audio website.  I charged it for several hours, turned it on, and the little battery meter in the upper right corner of the screen is not full.  Anyone?  4gig Sandisc Ultra II...166 shipped!

[svenkid]

I usually let mine roll over nite

[gl0bber]

I usually let mine roll over nite

...meaning plugging it in to the charger and letting it auto-power-off.  At least, that's the only way I seem to be getting a full charge.

[Brian Skalinder]

Some MTs don't have much of a charge when first shipped.  One of mine didn't register as charging on the battery indicator when I first received it and plugged it in.  Left it plugged in for a while (forget how long), unplugged the power, re-plugged back in and from then on it's acted normally.  Normal operation for mine is:

Power off MT.
Plug in charger cable.
Watch charge indicator cycle to indicate it's charging.
Charge is done when charge indicator is solid and no longer cycling.

...meaning plugging it in to the charger and letting it auto-power-off.  At least, that's the only way I seem to be getting a full charge.

Not sure what you mean by "letting it auto-power-off"?  When I plug my MT in as above, it never auto-powers-off.  The charge indicator just stops moving to indicate it's fully charged.

[gl0bber]

Some MTs don't have much of a charge when first shipped.  One of mine didn't register as charging on the battery indicator when I first received it and plugged it in.  Left it plugged in for a while (forget how long), unplugged the power, re-plugged back in and from then on it's acted normally.  Normal operation for mine is:

Power off MT.
Plug in charger cable.
Watch charge indicator cycle to indicate it's charging.
Charge is done when charge indicator is solid and no longer cycling.

...meaning plugging it in to the charger and letting it auto-power-off.  At least, that's the only way I seem to be getting a full charge.

Not sure what you mean by "letting it auto-power-off"?  When I plug my MT in as above, it never auto-powers-off.  The charge indicator just stops moving to indicate it's fully charged.

I'm glad this has come up so maybe we can get to the bottom of this puzzle.  Do you have your MT set to Auto Off?  i.e.

Main Menu -> System -> Auto Off

...where I have mine set to 15 minutes.  Specifically, I turn the MT on, plug it into the charger, and et voila 15 minutes later it powers down and charges for about 12 hrs or so with a huge animated filling battery display.  This has nothing to do with plugging in an already powered down MT - when I do that I keep getting false charge peaking where charging stops prematurely.  Weird, huh?

[balou2]

Wow...that's much longer than I anticipated.  I remember someone posting that it may need to be cycled through a couple of times  (Bean?) before normal use.  Thanks Brian.

[Brian Skalinder]

I'm glad this has come up so maybe we can get to the bottom of this puzzle.  Do you have your MT set to Auto Off?  i.e.

Main Menu -> System -> Auto Off

...where I have mine set to 15 minutes.

Mine is set to NEVER.

This has nothing to do with plugging in an already powered down MT - when I do that I keep getting false charge peaking where charging stops prematurely.  Weird, huh?

How do you know it stops charging prematurely rather?

FWIW, if I swap between powered-off charging and powered-on charging, the MT will sometimes indicate it's charging even though it previously indicated a full charge.  But it only lasts for a few minutes and then it indicates full charge again.  I've never experienced a shorter run-time as a result.  For consistency's sake, I always plug in while powered-off and then start charging.

[kfrinkle]

So I just got my MT 2 days ago.  Very strange charging issues.  I went directly as the manual stated.  Plugged the one end into the MT first, then th eother into the wall.  I get a 'hold is active' message.  I decide, well, maybe it is just charging and leave it alone.  I get up the next morning, still has the same massage, with the same amount of charge on it.  ACK!  So I unplug the cable from the MT, replug it in (making sure that yes, hold is off) and it then proceeds to charge as it is supposed to.

So is there a RIGHT way to do the charging?  Should it be plugged into wall first, then plug the other end into the MT?  Does it have to be powered off first before doing all of this?  The manual is fucking retarded when it comes to actually telling  you what is going on with your MT.

[Brian Skalinder]

I get a 'hold is active' message.  I decide, well, maybe it is just charging and leave it alone.

Try turning off the Hold button.  No idea why they designed it so it won't charge when on Hold, but...that's how it works.  FWIW, I always power mine off, then plug in the charge cable.

[kfrinkle]

I did make sure that the hold was off.  It still said the same thing.  The only thing that worked was me unplugging the cable from the MT and replugging it back in.

[Brian Skalinder]

I did make sure that the hold was off.  It still said the same thing.  The only thing that worked was me unplugging the cable from the MT and replugging it back in.

Yup, that sounds about right - put it on Hold, plug in power, get the message, turn off Hold, still get message.  Gotta unplug power, then turn off Hold, then re-plug in power.

[gl0bber]

I'm glad this has come up so maybe we can get to the bottom of this puzzle.  Do you have your MT set to Auto Off?  i.e.

Main Menu -> System -> Auto Off

...where I have mine set to 15 minutes.

Mine is set to NEVER.

This has nothing to do with plugging in an already powered down MT - when I do that I keep getting false charge peaking where charging stops prematurely.  Weird, huh?

How do you know it stops charging prematurely rather?

FWIW, if I swap between powered-off charging and powered-on charging, the MT will sometimes indicate it's charging even though it previously indicated a full charge.  But it only lasts for a few minutes and then it indicates full charge again.  I've never experienced a shorter run-time as a result.  For consistency's sake, I always plug in while powered-off and then start charging.

Try the "overnight" method for kicks.  This way, I get consistently longer run times than the method described in the manual, which of course necessarily leads me to believe that the fast charging method can occasionally lead to false peaking.  I tried this with different MTs - it's the buggy firmware, not the unit.  Overnight is not as convenient as a two-hour charge, of course.  Oh well, at least we have a choice...

EDIT:  Maybe this should be in the FAQ?

[kfrinkle]

Yeah, I suppose you jsut gotta plan ahead.  Plug it in the night before, leave it plugged in till you hit the show!

[tooldvn]

I'm glad this has come up so maybe we can get to the bottom of this puzzle.  Do you have your MT set to Auto Off?  i.e.

Main Menu -> System -> Auto Off

...where I have mine set to 15 minutes.

Mine is set to NEVER.

This has nothing to do with plugging in an already powered down MT - when I do that I keep getting false charge peaking where charging stops prematurely.  Weird, huh?

How do you know it stops charging prematurely rather?

FWIW, if I swap between powered-off charging and powered-on charging, the MT will sometimes indicate it's charging even though it previously indicated a full charge.  But it only lasts for a few minutes and then it indicates full charge again.  I've never experienced a shorter run-time as a result.  For consistency's sake, I always plug in while powered-off and then start charging.

Try the "overnight" method for kicks.  This way, I get consistently longer run times than the method described in the manual, which of course necessarily leads me to believe that the fast charging method can occasionally lead to false peaking.  I tried this with different MTs - it's the buggy firmware, not the unit.  Overnight is not as convenient as a two-hour charge, of course.  Oh well, at least we have a choice...

EDIT:  Maybe this should be in the FAQ?

Agreed, I have also found this to work better.

-dvn

[beanstalk]

I run into a screen shot of the MT with levels and such on it, did a search but couldn't find it again. Anyone have know where the thread is?