[hecanjog]

I really liked my remarkable2, but I eventually got the issue where it just stops charging and now it's effectively a brick. Tried all the known workarounds I could find with trickle-charging etc. Someone had tracked the issue down to a malfunctioning temperature sensor preventing charging but I have no idea if that's the problem with mine.

Remarkable support would like me to create videos showing every workaround I tried and I'm not totally convinced anything will happen if I do that... (seems like others jumped through those hoops without any success.)

It's a bummer because besides the annoying push to the cloud recently I really liked the device.

[dmitrygr]

The issue is actually that your usb-c receptacle broke free from the PCB inside. Open and you'll see. I emailed them about it a while ago. They majorly fucked up the design. The connector is on the very edge of a very thin finger of a thin PCB. There is nothing holding it to the case, only the few solder points to a thin PCB. They did not care. I sent photos, explanation, and a rather long essay as to why this should never be done on a product that expects contact with the real world, and how it should be done.

I'll try to dig up my photos and post them here. It is a pathologically bad design.

I fixed mine by replacing the usb C socket, adding a few blobs of epoxy to hold it, and wiring the USB data and power lines across the cracks in the PCB

EDIT https://photos.app.goo.gl/eu4P8fnaNtV9vhMo7

the video in there, via microscope, you can see how the contacts peeled off. Larger photos show the PCB and how the connector is "affixed". Final photo is after it was fixed, but before the epoxy

[tinix]

If you use a case or folio, i recommend a wireless charger receiver that you just permanently leave in the port, no plug fatigue to worry about then.

something like this: https://pakshwe.com/product/type-c-bottom-left-top-right-sid...

Otherwise there are magnetic usb adapters that let you charge or transfer data with a cable still... while avoiding plug fatigue.

[dmitrygr]

mine is now bulletproof. epoxied into place forever. it'll survive doomsday

[hecanjog]

Thanks for sharing that. It's disappointing to hear, but that makes sense. (Edit: your analysis makes sense, not remarkable's response to it...) I'm hopeful it can be repaired. (But not by me!)

[KennyBlanken]

> They majorly fucked up the design.

> There is nothing holding it to the case, only the few solder points to a thin PCB. They did not care.

Which is more plausible: that a company infamous for its shitty warranty/return policies accidentally/incompetently designed the USB connector to have weak physical support, or purposefully designed it to be weak so that people would be forced to keep buying replacements?

[dmitrygr]

I am unprepared to claim malice here since I do not have enough information, and I would not levy an accusation like than without more evidence than I have. But it definitely is obvious to anyone who has ever made anything that real humans really use in the real world that this is a poor way to affix a USB-C connector if you intend for it to last

[vsnf]

I’ve worked at companies that ostensibly sell a hardware thing, and that thing was very poorly designed. It had everything to do with a combination of inexperience, hubris, and sloppiness, and absolutely nothing to do with malice. Some places are likely evil, but others are just dumb.

[mrmanner]

> Remarkable support would like me to create videos showing every workaround I tried

I had the same issue, they asked me to try 3-4 things that each took some time,, like “charge on a slow charger for 12 hours”. When I didn’t respond on my support ticket within something like 48 hours, they silently closed it and never responded again.

When I opened a new case they invariably asked me to try and video the same things again.

Which reminds me, I was lucky enough to buy the stupid thing in a physical store, and have a couple months left to give it back to them. I should do that…