Nano 6g battery problems, please help

[nin7474]

Is it just me or is everyone having rapid draining on their Nano 6G?
I want to like it but the battery life is a huge failure. Especially when listening to the radio.
I'm debating on either Returning it but i wonder if Apple will release a Software Update to fix this.
13 days and counting for Return Eligibility.

[zap2]

How long did it last?

Did you recharge it when you first got it? The battery in the iPod nano actually need to be charged up a few times before the reach the true potential for how long your party lasts.

[Surely]

^^^Yes, conditioning your battery is important.


You're wasting all of your emoticons. Easy there.

Perhaps you received a faulty one?

Care to describe your battery issue? How long can you use it for, etc.

[nin7474]

^^^Yes, conditioning your battery is important.


You're wasting all of your emoticons. Easy there.

Perhaps you received a faulty one?

Care to describe your battery issue? How long can you use it for, etc.

I charged it overnight the first day i got it. Used it today at work to listen to the Pats game(1:30-4:30), it was down to 1/4 Bar after i was done.:eek:
Charged it around 6:30.
Draining now and try to condition the battery. See how it feels after a week.

[tigress666]

Yeah, you do need to condition it before you make judgements (That being said, I still wonder if my third gen nano had a better battery life than my fifth gen that doesn't seem near as good).

I did read one review (http://www.ilounge.com/index.php/reviews/entry/apple-ipod-nano-sixth-generation/P5) (that was very long and detailed, like 8 pages, one of those on battery life) that said they got 33 hours of playback on it (and that it was better than their fifth gen and fourth gen) on half loudness (and they said it is louder than the fifth gen as well).

And if you read the full review, you can see they weren't trying to make it sound like the best ipod ever (they seemed to like it but think it was too expensive and should be a first gen product and not the continuation of the nano. They feel it will probably fail).

[nin7474]

Yeah, you do need to condition it before you make judgements (That being said, I still wonder if my third gen nano had a better battery life than my fifth gen that doesn't seem near as good).

I did read one review (http://www.ilounge.com/index.php/reviews/entry/apple-ipod-nano-sixth-generation/P5) (that was very long and detailed, like 8 pages, one of those on battery life) that said they got 33 hours of playback on it (and that it was better than their fifth gen and fourth gen) on half loudness (and they said it is louder than the fifth gen as well).

And if you read the full review, you can see they weren't trying to make it sound like the best ipod ever (they seemed to like it but think it was too expensive and should be a first gen product and not the continuation of the nano. They feel it will probably fail).

WOW!! 33 hours?!!
How would you recommend "conditioning" the battery?
Fully drain, then Full Charge, then repeat?

[roland.g]

You just need to wash the battery first. In ammonia. Add three drops with a dropper through the headphone jack and shake it vigorously for 30 seconds. That should flush all your emoticons out.

Next time try a less sensational thread title. Like:

Nano 6g battery problems, please help

Let people know you are not getting expected performance, describe what you have done and your use, and ask for help, or if that should be expected. We might be more prone to give assistance and less prone to mocking you.

or

http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=1013534

[nin7474]

You just need to wash the battery first. In ammonia. Add three drops with a dropper through the headphone jack and shake it vigorously for 30 seconds. That should flush all your emoticons out.

Next time try a less sensational thread title. Like:

Nano 6g battery problems, please help

Let people know you are not getting expected performance, describe what you have done and your use, and ask for help, or if that should be expected. We might be more prone to give assistance and less prone to mocking you.

or

http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=1013534

Fixed, happy now? I don't think anyone was "mocking" me beside you.:eek::rolleyes::p

[tigress666]

WOW!! 33 hours?!!
How would you recommend "conditioning" the battery?
Fully drain, then Full Charge, then repeat?

Uh, I dunno... I used to have something htat said long time ago, but lost it/forgot it and now people just tell you it doesn't really matter, just use and charge it some (I could swear a long time back it was recomended you use a product's battery fully before you charge it and charge it fully at least three or so times, least for your non-smart cellphones. But now I hear that doesn't matter but don't know if there is something new you should do).

[roland.g]

Fixed, happy now? I don't think anyone was "mocking" me beside you.:eek::rolleyes::p

Quite. Thank you. /end mock. What do you want anyway at 12:30 in the morning. :D:mad:;) I just get tired of the over the top titles and OPs that often take several response to pull the necessary information from the OP and get them to take an action that is not only common sense, but also could be found through a simple search. I'm much more for the "I'm having problems and this is what it is. Are other people experiencing this, and if not, how do I fix it..." type threads. But then like I said I've been on here too long and it's late, so I get a bit cranky. Nothing personal.

Any electronic device can most benefit from battery conditioning. They should always be charged full before using and run through several cycles. And you should test their performance in a variety of ways.

With the Nano, mine drained quite quickly on the first charge but has run significantly longer on the 2nd and 3rd charges.

You should charge it completely. Go to the longest playlist, or entire library, and set it playing overnight without headphones. See how long till it dies or hits the 20% red zone. Try the same thing with the radio, obviously with the headphones plugged in, and probably starting in the morning so you can monitor it. Radio play may drain more power since you are using the Nano to receive a signal via the headphones.

Good luck. Let us know.

[nin7474]

Quite. Thank you. /end mock. What do you want anyway at 12:30 in the morning. :D:mad:;) I just get tired of the over the top titles and OPs that often take several response to pull the necessary information from the OP and get them to take an action that is not only common sense, but also could be found through a simple search. I'm much more for the "I'm having problems and this is what it is. Are other people experiencing this, and if not, how do I fix it..." type threads. But then like I said I've been on here too long and it's late, so I get a bit cranky. Nothing personal.

Any electronic device can most benefit from battery conditioning. They should always be charged full before using and run through several cycles. And you should test their performance in a variety of ways.

With the Nano, mine drained quite quickly on the first charge but has run significantly longer on the 2nd and 3rd charges.

You should charge it completely. Go to the longest playlist, or entire library, and set it playing overnight without headphones. See how long till it dies or hits the 20% red zone. Try the same thing with the radio, obviously with the headphones plugged in, and probably starting in the morning so you can monitor it. Radio play may drain more power since you are using the Nano to receive a signal via the headphones.

Good luck. Let us know.

Thank you Sir. Much appreciated and sorry if i "irritated" you

[roland.g]

Thank you Sir. Much appreciated and sorry if i "irritated" you

Don't patronize me, or call me sir. And pretty much everyone irritates me, and those who don't, "irritate" me. So I should prolly go to bed.

[nin7474]

Don't patronize me, or call me sir. And pretty much everyone irritates me, and those who don't, "irritate" me. So I should prolly go to bed.

LOL. Me too, good night:apple:

[alphaod]

I noticed that the battery drains even if I don't use it. I charged it up last night and this morning the battery was dead. Not too happy with this.

[iEvolution]

I noticed that the battery drains even if I don't use it. I charged it up last night and this morning the battery was dead. Not too happy with this.

Interesting, this was a issue with the 4th gen nanos when they first came out too. Hopefully apple will release a firmware update to address it if the issue is across all 6th gen models.

[nin7474]

You should charge it completely. Go to the longest playlist, or entire library, and set it playing overnight without headphones. See how long till it dies or hits the 20% red zone. Try the same thing with the radio, obviously with the headphones plugged in, and probably starting in the morning so you can monitor it. Radio play may drain more power since you are using the Nano to receive a signal via the headphones.

Good luck. Let us know.

I can completely drain the battery around 2 hours by leaving the radio on and turning the Brightness to the highest setting(done PURPOSELY to drain for conditioning).

[nin7474]

Interesting, this was a issue with the 4th gen nanos when they first came out too. Hopefully apple will release a firmware update to address it if the issue is across all 6th gen models.

I agree!! Did apple release a Firmware Update to fix that issue with the 4G Nano?
But the BIG QUESTION is will they release it before the 14 day Return Window from Launch. I got mine on 9/11, so i have a little more time.

[xraytech]

I can't help but think that the OP is comparing battery run times between the 6G Nano with other iDevices with bigger batteries. Sure, uncle Steve claims 24hrs of play time but come on, have you seen the tear down photos of the 6G Nano? That battery is so tiny. The only situation I can see the 6G Nano lasting 24hr is if you played just music and nothing else.

I think what the OP is experiencing is normal for the 6G Nano. Keep it simple, set it to charge before you go to sleep. No need for Battery Voodoo.

[nin7474]

I can't help but think that the OP is comparing battery run times between the 6G Nano with other iDevices with bigger batteries. Sure, uncle Steve claims 24hrs of play time but come on, have you seen the tear down photos of the 6G Nano? That battery is so tiny. The only situation I can see the 6G Nano lasting 24hr is if you played just music and nothing else.

I think what the OP is experiencing is normal for the 6G Nano. Keep it simple, set it to charge before you go to sleep. No need for Battery Voodoo.

I don't mind it if it drained at a "normal" rate. BUT it was full when i started listening to the Pats game and it was on for 3 hours, Brightness at Default.
The battery was down to 1/4 when the game was over!
I just wish they also let you turn it OFF instead of Sleep, but i'll see how it goes after i conditioned the battery.
And i know i can't compare it to the SUPER battery in my iPhone4G.

[BrennerM]

I would guess that the battery estimate for radio listening is not necessarily the same as for regular music listening.

Question: did you have Live Pause enabled while listening? Having it record and compress the radio stream while you listen could be a serious drain on the battery. I would be interested in you doing the same listening session without Live Pause enabled.

[xraytech]

I don't mind it if it drained at a "normal" rate. BUT it was full when i started listening to the Pats game and it was on for 3 hours, Brightness at Default.
The battery was down to 1/4 when the game was over!
I just wish they also let you turn it OFF instead of Sleep, but i'll see how it goes after i conditioned the battery.
And i know i can't compare it to the SUPER battery in my iPhone4G.

All this talk about conditioning batteries. It's Battery VooDoo I tell yah. Just use it and if you need to charge it, charge it. Keep it simple.

[tigress666]

All this talk about conditioning batteries. It's Battery VooDoo I tell yah. Just use it and if you need to charge it, charge it. Keep it simple.

I can see his point. One thing I loved about my 3rd gen Nano was that it lasted forever on a charge. I swear it was like every now and then I'd look at it and go, Yeah, I probably should charge it now. if I forgot, no biggie. Only time it ever came an issue is when I accidentally hit play before I set it down and didn't turn it off so it was playing all night. I remember going on a weekend trip on my motorcycle, using it to listen to music while I rode, and not having to charge it once on the trip.

My fifth gen's battery is not so good and honestly, I miss that. So yeah, while you never really need it to play that long, it's nice not having to constantly charge it and be able to forget about it and just every now and hten go, "yeah, I prolly should charge it". Plus if you go on a weekend trip and it's hard to charge it (or the time you have to charge it you'd rather be charging your iphone since you only have one charger), it's nice to be able to just not charge it.

[msb3079]

No, OP is right... the battery is HORRIBLE on this. Not only that... but the sound quality isn't very good. I love everything else about it and want to like it... it's great for working out, but I don't know...

The battery thing I could be OK with... it's really the sound quality that's bothering me.

[tigress666]

No, OP is right... the battery is HORRIBLE on this. Not only that... but the sound quality isn't very good. I love everything else about it and want to like it... it's great for working out, but I don't know...

The battery thing I could be OK with... it's really the sound quality that's bothering me.

I'll never know, I don't tend to notice that. I do know all the reviews that mention that say it is pretty good (better than the fifth gen I think).

Maybe you got a defective one? Well, I'm hoping mine is good on battery life (but I'll give it a few charge cycles to tell).

[msb3079]

I'll never know, I don't tend to notice that. I do know all the reviews that mention that say it is pretty good (better than the fifth gen I think).

Maybe you got a defective one? Well, I'm hoping mine is good on battery life (but I'll give it a few charge cycles to tell).

Just looking around this site real quick, I see many others mentioning battery issues. I don't understand how the sound can be so much worse than an iPhone... it's a HUGE difference. Actually, it sounds great out of the 30-pin connector (hooked into my car)... but sounds horrible through headphones. I'm pretty into audio and have done several comparisons on same songs w/ this and my iPhone 4.

[Spankey]

Could it be your headphones? I've had excellent SQ.

[BrennerM]

My comment on the sleep mode: last night I fully charged my nano and loaded it with content. I used it a bit until the battery indicator was just barely below full. Then I put it into sleep mode (with no music playing of course). Today I turned it on and the battery meter was still at the same spot, so it didn't eat any significant battery.

So I'm not seeing any issue with sleep mode eating any significant battery.

I do believe that the radio eats battery much faster than regular music playing, and probably even more with Live Pause turned on.

[StingerT125]

My comment on the sleep mode: last night I fully charged my nano and loaded it with content. I used it a bit until the battery indicator was just barely below full. Then I put it into sleep mode (with no music playing of course). Today I turned it on and the battery meter was still at the same spot, so it didn't eat any significant battery.

So I'm not seeing any issue with sleep mode eating any significant battery.

I do believe that the radio eats battery much faster than regular music playing, and probably even more with Live Pause turned on.

This has been my experience so far also. I full charge yesterday morning, and put it in sleep mode. I forgot to take it with me today and when I just checked it a few minutes ago, and it it pretty much still showing full.

[roland.g]

Haven't touched mine in over 24 hours. Just sleeping. No battery drop at all.

[joeblow7777]

That battery is so tiny. The only situation I can see the 6G Nano lasting 24hr is if you played just music and nothing else.


Well, yeah. That is how they rate the battery life you know. When they say it lasts for 24 hours, that means simply playing music at a moderate volume without touching the controls or activating the screen at all.

Also, if it's anything like the 5th gen then using the radio (even with live pause deactivated) uses up the battery at perhaps 3 times the rate of listening to mp3s.

[tigress666]

. Nevermind, I wasn't right.

[nin7474]

Well, after conditioning the battery last night. My Nano 6G has lasted longer today at work but i'm going to condition it again tonight.

[BrennerM]

I tried again last night to check the battery drain while sleeping. This time I put the clock on-screen (no music playing) and let the iPod shut off the screen after 60 seconds. Checked it this morning and the battery still shows as full.

Anyone having significant battery drain while the iPod is in sleep state should call Apple because it is not normal behaviour (unless of course you left music playing!)

[WiiDSmoker]

Make sure that the Pedometer is set to Stop. Having it on (while the screen is off or not in use) kills the battery because the accelerometer is still being utilized.

[BrennerM]

Make sure that the Pedometer is set to Stop. Having it on (while the screen is off or not in use) kills the battery because the accelerometer is still being utilized.

Good point, and the same would probably be true of the stopwatch and countdown timer. If those are running they might use the battery.

[xraytech]

Well, after conditioning the battery last night. My Nano 6G has lasted longer today at work but i'm going to condition it again tonight.

http://forum.i3d.net/attachments/offtopic-english/943182047d1249721477-happy-birthday-frank-facepalm.jpg

[nin7474]

I tried again last night to check the battery drain while sleeping. This time I put the clock on-screen (no music playing) and let the iPod shut off the screen after 60 seconds. Checked it this morning and the battery still shows as full.

Anyone having significant battery drain while the iPod is in sleep state should call Apple because it is not normal behaviour (unless of course you left music playing!)

Is it possible to control how long the screen stays ON?

[nin7474]

http://forum.i3d.net/attachments/offtopic-english/943182047d1249721477-happy-birthday-frank-facepalm.jpg

HEy, i know. But it really did work

[BrennerM]

Is it possible to control how long the screen stays ON?

No, it is currently hard-coded. Hoping :apple: adds it as a setting in a future update, but I'm not holding my breath.

[roland.g]

Thanks for the heads up on radio drain. I want to put on my BSE - bestskinsever.com - and my battery was still almost full from being charged on Friday night. I hadn't used it at all since then, so there is almost no drain in sleep mode. I occasionally checked the clock on it over the last week, but was not wearing it watch style. Though there is only really the dock port and headphone jack, I knew I could do a wet install on it as is, but since you can't actually turn the Nano completely off, I figured I would totally drain it off. Been running the radio for just over 3 hours now at 75% volume, and it should be out of gas in the next hour. Oh yeah, and I do have Live Pause active, so I don't know if it lasts longer with that turned off, but my goal was fastest drain.

Then it is time to skin.

[BrennerM]

Started mine up playing music (192k MP3s) this morning at 8:00am and left it going while I went to work. At 5:00pm the music was still going and the battery showed about 75% full, so it had lots left even after 9 hours of music playing. Volume was at about 40% and the screen was off. I highly suspect that playing the radio would not last that long.

[roland.g]

Started mine up playing music (192k MP3s) this morning at 8:00am and left it going while I went to work. At 5:00pm the music was still going and the battery showed about 75% full, so it had lots left even after 9 hours of music playing. Volume was at about 40% and the screen was off. I highly suspect that playing the radio would not last that long.

Good to know that you were on pace for over 24 hours. Not sure how accurate the battery meter actually is. But if you can get even 20+ hours of playing music, that is great.

I just finished. A hair under 4 hours of radio playing and it shut off dead, with Live Pause enabled, and I messed with that just a little bit, pretty cool. Also volume was 75%. I was going for a quick drain though. Considering it is receiving a signal, I wouldn't expect near the battery life out of radio as for straight music. I was impressed.

[tigress666]

Does playing it on full volume really suck that much energy? I swear it still seems my 3rd gen was better on battery than either my fifth or sixth.

I have to play it full volume when on the motorcycle in order to actually hear it (sucky speakers on my helmet + wind noise on highway).

I have noticed my new nano gets a ridiculous amount of battery sucked away (sadly I think even worse than the fifth gen) when I use it on the bike. And yet I accidentally let it play overnight (7-8 hours at least) plus I had done a 2 hour walk the day before and it had maybe 40% (judging by battery bar) or maybe 30% left (was playing at much less volume). Plus I'd been playing with it some so some time with screen on (of course, nothing close to 24 hours really). Then I rode with it on my motorcycle and it sucked away that last remaining in like less than 2 hours (and not all of that 2 hours was on, that's just how long I was gone) - or at least it put it to the red line).

Even today, after fulling charging and a 1 hour walk's worth of use (which barely had the battery bar moved from full) after riding my bike on a 30 minute commute it had only 60-70% left.

I get the feeling battery on this is going to be my one disappointment with it. I think my 3rd gen spoiled me (it was so good I'd forget I needed to charge it until it got really low and eventually I'd be like, oh yeah, maybe I'll charge it. Maybe once a week and this was between walking my dog and riding my motorcycle). My fifth gen also disappointed me with battery length.

[roland.g]

Does playing it on full volume really suck that much energy? I swear it still seems my 3rd gen was better on battery than either my fifth or sixth.

I have to play it full volume when on the motorcycle in order to actually hear it (sucky speakers on my helmet + wind noise on highway).

I have noticed my new nano gets a ridiculous amount of battery sucked away (sadly I think even worse than the fifth gen) when I use it on the bike. And yet I accidentally let it play overnight (7-8 hours at least) plus I had done a 2 hour walk the day before and it had maybe 40% (judging by battery bar) or maybe 30% left (was playing at much less volume). Plus I'd been playing with it some so some time with screen on (of course, nothing close to 24 hours really). Then I rode with it on my motorcycle and it sucked away that last remaining in like less than 2 hours (and not all of that 2 hours was on, that's just how long I was gone) - or at least it put it to the red line).

Even today, after fulling charging and a 1 hour walk's worth of use (which barely had the battery bar moved from full) after riding my bike on a 30 minute commute it had only 60-70% left.

I get the feeling battery on this is going to be my one disappointment with it. I think my 3rd gen spoiled me (it was so good I'd forget I needed to charge it until it got really low and eventually I'd be like, oh yeah, maybe I'll charge it. Maybe once a week and this was between walking my dog and riding my motorcycle). My fifth gen also disappointed me with battery length.

I have one of these that my brother in law gave me for xmas. Didn't think I'd have any use for it, but it does come in handy. I use it sometimes with my iPhone.

[appletutor]

Yes the battery life is awful. I contribute the problem to not having a dedicated "off" button. You have to press"pause" in order to shut the Nano "off". I find that the Nano is still playing, when I thought it was off? We need an "off" button so when we go to sleep we know the nano isn't draining!!!

[Dekimasu]

Yes the battery life is awful. I contribute the problem to not having a dedicated "off" button. You have to press"pause" in order to shut the Nano "off". I find that the Nano is still playing, when I thought it was off? We need an "off" button so when we go to sleep we know the nano isn't draining!!!

Quit out of your playlist so that the song isn't queued up and ready to go. I find that this helps the battery life--maybe there is an intermediate stage of idleness between just "sleeping" with the screen off and having the iPod actually deactivate itself.

You attribute the problem to not having an off button, but there are all sorts of things that could be causing the problem. Your earphones could be major drainers, or you could be playing things with the volume way up, or you could be playing music burned at a high bit rate.

[clearyjp]

Yes the battery life is awful. I contribute the problem to not having a dedicated "off" button. You have to press"pause" in order to shut the Nano "off". I find that the Nano is still playing, when I thought it was off? We need an "off" button so when we go to sleep we know the nano isn't draining!!!
The unit seems to switch off after a couple of days of being in standby. When you switch it on, the apple logo comes on the screen for a few seconds, and then it goes back to the home screen.

[tigress666]

Quit out of your playlist so that the song isn't queued up and ready to go. I find that this helps the battery life--maybe there is an intermediate stage of idleness between just "sleeping" with the screen off and having the iPod actually deactivate itself.

You attribute the problem to not having an off button, but there are all sorts of things that could be causing the problem. Your earphones could be major drainers, or you could be playing things with the volume way up, or you could be playing music burned at a high bit rate.

I have noticed that when the ipod is on full volume even if it isn't playing anything htere is "static" playing as if it's still on and just not playing anything. You probably wouldn't notice it unless the ipod is on full volume, but it doesn't seem to fully turn off.

[appletutor]

Quit out of your playlist so that the song isn't queued up and ready to go. I find that this helps the battery life--maybe there is an intermediate stage of idleness between just "sleeping" with the screen off and having the iPod actually deactivate itself.

You attribute the problem to not having an off button, but there are all sorts of things that could be causing the problem. Your earphones could be major drainers, or you could be playing things with the volume way up, or you could be playing music burned at a high bit rate.

How do you "quit" out of playlist?

[Surely]

My 6G's battery life is still great.... I've had it for around 2 months. I charge it once a week, and I use it daily.

All these "tricks" that everyone is using...... I think it's all in your minds...... or you have faulty nanos.

I don't do anything special to preserve battery life..... when I'm finished listening, I just make sure it's on pause.

[xXIpodHelpXx]

One way I have found to fix this is through the diagnostics menu. To get here, turn on your ipod. Next press both volume buttons, and the power button at the SAME TIME and hold. You are in the right place if the is a menu with yellow lettering that says N20 Snowfox. from here use the volume keys scroll down to Power. Press the wake button. scroll down to Drain Power. press the wake button. once there isnt even enough power to turn on the device, plug it into itunes. once it is done charging, youre ipod will have the right battery life. here is an artice on getting to the diagnostics screen... http://www.geek.com/articles/apple/how-to-access-diagnostic-mode-of-the-sixth-gen-ipod-nano-code-named-snowfox-20100921/