[Tatiana]

DS got an 8.9 Fire for Christmas and it didn't charge well at all.  It took 12 hours to charge 10% from 17 to 27 percent using a wall adapter.  He tried various cords/adapters/outlets and nothing worked well.  He spoke to KCS and a new one is arriving today.

Last night DH's new 8.9 Fire was at 17% so he used his original Fire cable and adapter and it didn't charge and dropped to 7% charge overnight.  He used his new cord and adapter this a.m. in a different outlet, the outlet he usually uses, and it's not registering as charging.  On the screen it shows the battery with one bar orange and the lightening bolt.  There are no lights indicating that it's charging. 

DH wants me to ask...Is not charging is a problem with the 8.9 Fires

Edited to Add:  Now less than a half hour after I posted the original message it seems to be totally dead...it will not come on at all.  DH thought when it was charging there was supposed to be an amber light and when it was finished charging it went to green.  No lights...either last night or today.  He thinks he's going to be calling KCS. 

 

[Betsy the Quilter]

Definitely call Kindle CS.  I will say that a couple of times, I've had problems with getting mine to recognize the micro cable and charger being connected; removing it a few times and replacing it finally got the green charging indicator to come on.  It's something I'm going to watch over the next months...

Betsy

 

[Atunah]

Wait, there is a charging light on the 8.9? I have not found that one yet. Am I looking in the wrong place? I know my old fire has a orange to green light, this one doesn't have any.  . It does charge though overnight with my old fire charger.

 

[Betsy the Quilter]

Wait, there is a charging light on the 8.9? I have not found that one yet. Am I looking in the wrong place? I know my old fire has a orange to green light, this one doesn't have any. . It does charge though overnight with my old fire charger.

There's not a physical light, but in the upper right hand corner of the screen, it will show you the current battery status. If it's charged and not plugged in, there will be a white battery with various "fullness." If it's desparately in need of charging, there will be a bit of red showing in the battery; if its charging, the battery will turn green.

Betsy

 

[Atunah]

Ah thanks. I was looking all over on the outside of it. 

So far so good with charging here, but its only been like 3 times.

 

[Tatiana]

OK no light...

When I went to check on it this a.m. after DH had moved it and replugged it in to charge.  I woke it up and it showed the battery and the lightening bolt.  The battery was at one bar. 

Half an hour later it will not even turn on.  DH is assuming that it's totally dead.  I'm NOT fooling around with it...other than to try a different outlet and cable and adapter...so far nothing has worked.  It still won't turn on.

DH will be calling KCS this afternoon or evening.  That's two 8.9 Fire's with charging or not charging issues.  We're batting 0 for 2 in this family. 

 

[maries]

I have an 8.9" and haven't had any charging issues.  I bought the Kindle Power Fast charger and haven't tried any others. 

Sorry you are having all these issues.    I hope KCS can figure this out and make it right for you.

 

[kwajkat]

Just out of curiosity,  is there more than one way that the plug fits into the fire? I ask this because on the ipad mini if you put the plug in upside down it will take three times as long to charge if at all. Although if it is a micro slot it will only fit the one way. I would suspect that you have one that the battery was DOA to begin with and CS will probably swap out your Fire.  Good luck!!

 

[Betsy the Quilter]

There is only one way the micro USB on the Fire will fit in.  And it shouldn't fit in the HDMI out slot.    At least, it doesn't on mine.

Betsy

 

[Atunah]

OK no light...

When I went to check on it this a.m. after DH had moved it and replugged it in to charge. I woke it up and it showed the battery and the lightening bolt. The battery was at one bar.

Half an hour later it will not even turn on. DH is assuming that it's totally dead. I'm NOT fooling around with it...other than to try a different outlet and cable and adapter...so far nothing has worked. It still won't turn on.

DH will be calling KCS this afternoon or evening. That's two 8.9 Fire's with charging or not charging issues. We're batting 0 for 2 in this family.

So sorry for your bad luck. . I hope they'll send replacements out quickly.

 

[Tatiana]

At 1:50 p.m. still nothing...wouldn't wake up, just a black screen.  It had been on my original Fire charger for 2 1/2 hours at that point (after charging all night on it  and loosing 10% battery power) and charging with the Fire 8.9 USB cord and adapter earlier today when nothing happened.

Feeling frustrated I held the power button in for 40 seconds (I had tried this earlier to no avail) and watched it for 10 minutes...nothing...I tried to wake it up...nothing.  I plugged it back in using the USB cord and an adapter that it had been charging with from 8:30 p.m. until 11:00, I had little hope of anything good coming at this point.  DH came home from work, woke it up at 2:30 and...VOILA it woke up and has a 72% charge!

We have no idea what happened.  But it seems to be charging again.  Thank you for all your advice and commiserations.

BTW, this morning DH's first reaction was, "Go ask on the Kindle Boards and see if someone knows what is going on and can help us out."  The KB is the first place we think to go, even before Amazon's KCS.

 

[Ann in Arlington]

My guess is that the cable was no seated properly in the slot.

FWIW, I've never had any charging problems, though I did notice that it doesn't charge nearly as fast on an ordinary charger and/or if I'm actually using it.  For best results, use a 9W charger and leave it alone.

 

[sebat]

Ah thanks. I was looking all over on the outside of it.

So far so good with charging here, but its only been like 3 times.

I was doing the same thing! Freaked me out good!

 

[Atunah]

My guess is that the cable was no seated properly in the slot.

FWIW, I've never had any charging problems, though I did notice that it doesn't charge nearly as fast on an ordinary charger and/or if I'm actually using it. For best results, use a 9W charger and leave it alone.

I really want that 9W charger. I keep waiting for a special offer on accessories or such. . I might just go ahead and get it anyway. What are the time differences in charging with the 9W and with the one that came with the original Fire?
I been charging my 8.9 overnight, so I have no clue how long it took.

I was doing the same thing! Freaked me out good!

Glad I am not the only one. All my kindles have a light, so I was a bit baffled.

 

[Ann in Arlington]

I really want that 9W charger. I keep waiting for a special offer on accessories or such. . I might just go ahead and get it anyway. What are the time differences in charging with the 9W and with the one that came with the original Fire?
I been charging my 8.9 overnight, so I have no clue how long it took.

I haven't timed it carefully, but the other day I plugged in the 8.9 and after an hour it'd only gone up from about 12% to about 20%. I took it up and plugged it into the 9W charger and an hour or so later it was at 62%. An hour after that it was full.

The charger that came with the OFire was the same power -- only difference is that it was a single integrated piece, rather than a block that works with a USB cable.

Either one is going to be faster than an ordinary Kindle (or smartphone) charger.

If you plug it in overnight anyway, it's not a big deal. But if you may want to charge it more quickly during the day -- or while you're actually using it -- it really helps.

 

[Atunah]

I think I want the faster one handy when I need it. I been having to time my Fire usage because I been playing on it so much.  . Timing it so it lasts until bed time to plug in that is. 

Darn games. 

 

[maryjf45]

I had this trouble the other day, it charged for hours on the super fast charger and only went up a few percent.  But in my case I found out that it was still on the whole time it was charging. When I pushed the power button, I saw that it went darker than the dark but slightly glowing screen it had shown before. Now I make sure that I physically turn it off first, just a light press, not a hard restart. Also, I believe it charges faster if the wireless is off.

 

[runtmms]

I had one that charged and discharged strangely. I replaced it, and the new one is an entirely different experience. It isn't worth messing around with a potential bad battery that could cause you problems down the line.

 

[Betsy the Quilter]

I've been having problems with my HD8.9 charging using my powerfast charger and one of my Kindle micro uSB cables.  I switched to my MiFi charger, which also has a micro USB connection, and it charges much better.  I think the connector is a shade larger; it seems to make a better connection.

Betsy

 

[avenger1212]

Seems battery life has been one of those tricky issues with the Fire HD.  Ours seems to be bleeding power overnight.  We just put it to sleep (not completely off), and in about 12-14 hours it's down by close to 10% (to around 91% charged).  Maybe that's normal?  Charging doesn't seem to be a problem though.  Ours goes from 10% to full in about 4-5 hours on the Kindle quick charge wall adapter, which seems pretty good to me.