Likebook mars battery does not charging after dying

[Chris1992]

Hi, hope everyone is great. I had bought likebook mars back in july 2020 on AliExpress.I did not use it regularly but I made sure to charge its battery. Twice or thrice, it ram out completely and i recharged it without any problem.
it was working great till last night when the battery ran out completely and the likebook went off. IN the morning now, when I am trying to charge it, it gives me this picture.

[Jinz]

New batteries are still available, look for "Boyue CLP307499".

[xmn280]

My llikeboo mars
Replace with new battery, but it is Useless
because Charge system is fault

[noboyue]

Originally Posted by xmn280

My llikeboo mars
Replace with new battery, but it is Useless
because Charge system is fault

Same problem here.
Does anybody have a cure for this obviously not rare problem?
If I don't find a decent solution, I think about adding a small connector which allows me to charge the battery directly without the internal circuitry.

[micha123]

Hello @noboyue !

I can provide a working but unfinished solution. However, maybe it is a starting point for a better solution.

About one and a half year ago my second Likebook Mars died. I plugged in the charger cable and with a bright white backlight flash, the USB/charger unit died.

Because the accu was already on its last legs, I bought a replacement. No charging, no USB connection, but the device started and I could collect data/wipe the device.

Back then, I thought about adding a tiny charger unit as well. As you can see from the picture attached, I bought a dirt-cheap TP4056 charger. Attention! There are version to buy without accu protection. My 1.5 years old USB-C version cannot charge with modern USB-C PD chargers due to the missing communication channel. Maybe today there are better TP4056 versions around.

This said it looks like the TP4056 is considered as a ‘bad charger unit’ within electric engineering forums which damages the accu over time even with the advertised accu protection.

I got the 5V/1A charging version. It does its job: But there is no way you could safely place the tiny board within the Likebook unit. Charging at 1A (My Samsung mobile power supply sucks up around 7W at first.) it way overheats. You cannot touch the charger board. The accu itself keeps cool during the charging process.

If you plan to charge with 1A then you should consider to buy additional cable, plugs and a heat sink. You need the heat sink for cooling the TP4056 charger board. Of course, with a heat sink you cannot playe the charger unit within the Likebook Mars housing. Which is why to buy additional cables/plugs/sockets for a external detachable charging solution.

Or, if you still plan to house the TP4056 within the Likebook Mars unit, you need to reduce its charging output to 0,3A to reduce overheating. I think this was the Likebook Mars charging current? It is possible by replacing the very tiny SMD capacitor of the TP4056 according it's data sheet with a less powerful SMD capacitor.

In the end, I did not like both solutions. Tinkering hassle with external cables and maybe safety reasons with a build in unit (Long charging sessions unsupervised.). In addition, for me holding a 8' device was too heavy.

Instead I decided to buy smaller 6' device again, the Reinkstone R1 Reader (I think it is the same as the Meebook M6?!). Bye the way. Maybe I should replace it's accu sooner than later. Because after 1.5 years it is losing capacity. Coincidence or not, both my two Likebook Mars became faulty when their accus have shown age.