[fmalloy]

I am on my second Mophie JPA. Both have had this identical issue:

I charge the JPA and the phone fully, I unplug, and everything seems fine for 4 hours or so - the JPA keeps the iPhone (3G) constantly in a charge mode at 100%. FIne. Then, after the 4 hours or so, the JPA no longer is charging the phone, and pressing the button on the back shows no LEDs lit.

Thinking the JPA got discharged fully, I plug it into the wall charger or computer - bingo, I get 3 or 4 LEDs immediately. I unplug it right away, and it goes back to charging the iPhone and retains the lit LEDs when the button is pressed. This lasts for another couple of hours or so, then it seems to shut down again until I plug it in and out again to "wake it up".

It seems like something in the charging circuit of the JPA is hanging up after a while, and I have to plug it in ever so briefly to un-hang it.

I'm going to return it to get a third unit.

Anybody else see this? I talked to Mophie, and all they do is say "something is wrong, send it back".

I really want this to work, and for the identical problem with two units - seems like a real coincidence...

[vmarks]

Sounds like they have an issue in the firmware they're using to manage the charge/discharge on the JPA.

That, or it could be a heat issue that is shutting the battery down - li-ion batteries have thermal sensors in them that shut down everything for safety's sake.

In any case, you can't really fault Mophie - their response is to get yours back and give you another. What's hard is:
You have no way of knowing what the cause is,
and even if you did know, there's nothing you can do to fix it yourself.

You don't have a means of seeing if the thermal sensors are tripped. You don't have a means of connecting to the board, don't have the firmware source to debug. You're pretty much at Mophie's mercy, and they're being pretty good about it.

[fmalloy]

Thanks.

I'm pretty sure it's not a thermal issue, as it's in trickle mode charging the phone. The unit doesn't even get warm in this case. Plugging it in, even for a second, brings it back to life...for a while.

I just got my third unit now, and will test that. If it fails the same way, I'll just return it and give Mophie all the details.

I suspect this is happening to others, but you wouldn't know it without monitoring the charge level. Most people would probably assume the pack is drained when there are no LEDs lit, and just recharge it.

[anthology123]

I have one, but mine unit does get warm when I flip the switch and start using it not just in a sleeping charge mode. If my unit gets very warm, do you recommend returning it?

[jasong]

I’ve had mine for about 9 months now without any issues. Only difference is I rarely use mine in trickle mode, I wait until my iPhone is run down and then use the mophie to recharge it.