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Nyko Power Pak triples Wii U gamepad battery life
- Thread starter shinobi602
- Start date
Jinfash
needs 2 extra inches
Same here. On my first play test the pad randomly died on me twice, even though it was at 3 bars. It has to be a cable issue. Also, when it's on and I plug the charger, the battery LED starts blinking orange (meaning it's not charging?). I tried reseating the battery and everything, but it's still persisting.
I'm really not feeling good about this purchase now.
Lupin the Third
Member
I posted this in another thread, but...
I got my battery last night and plugged it in, set it on the charger overnight and the charge light still showed orange in the morning. Turned on the Wii U, GamePad showed 2 bars. Set it back on to charge w/the Wii U off, then it showed three bars later. Set it on for still a couple more hours, showed 2 bars again. At one point, the orange light was literally blinking on and off. Weirdest thing I ever saw. Definitely taking it back, not sure if I'll take home a replacement or send both back to the distributor, because this is not looking so awesome.
I got my battery last night and plugged it in, set it on the charger overnight and the charge light still showed orange in the morning. Turned on the Wii U, GamePad showed 2 bars. Set it back on to charge w/the Wii U off, then it showed three bars later. Set it on for still a couple more hours, showed 2 bars again. At one point, the orange light was literally blinking on and off. Weirdest thing I ever saw. Definitely taking it back, not sure if I'll take home a replacement or send both back to the distributor, because this is not looking so awesome.
big black woman
Member
It may hold more initial power when charged, but i'd wonder how it's self discharge rate is....
superchunk
Member
This is why I'll buy the smaller Nintendo branded battery over Nyko. I've never had a good experience with them.
Jinfash
needs 2 extra inches
I'm having the same issue. I took a video to show the charging problem. An issue that wasn't caught on cam was, as I previously mentioned, when it randomly died on me.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WiBeHSB9iiM
Basically what you're seeing: 3 bars > plugin the charger > blinking battery LED > turn off the Wii U > pad not charging
Yeah, this is definitely going back.
With cradle or cable i get a solid light.
mine charges fine when plugged into the wall
ive never ever has a problem with nyko products
Still blinks, I can't get more than 3 bars, and that will sometimes go down to 1 bar or just shut off at random.
Call Nyko, they're sending me another one ASAP. I just told them the problem and they asked for my address. GameStop would probably replace it faster, especially if you paid for overnight shipping.
Trevelyan9999
Banned
Anyone with anymore impressions? I heard some say that you need to twist the battery cable to get it to line up correctly, I wonder why Nyko made it like that?
-Pyromaniac-
Member
looks like a nexus 4 in the reflection. Am I right?!?!
Jinfash
needs 2 extra inches
What do you mean by "twisting the cables"? There's only one way to insert the pins and it's by twisting the wires in the exact same way the original battery's wires are twisted. Unless I'm missing something here, there's no trick to the twist.
Good eyes!
-Pyromaniac-
Member
in an era where almost all phones are shaped the same I still figured it out. I'm an expert. Carry on with the topic now!
Lupin the Third
Member
An update to my battery saga: just made the switch with a replacement tonight and it is charging as we speak. Should have an update sometime tomorrow.
Waylon Drums
Member
My Power Pak is charging right now for the first time. I had a blinking orange charge light when I first plugged in the GamePad so I took it off the cradle and plugged it into a wall socket and the light was solid. As I took it from the cradle it actually did a weird thing where it showed the startup screen again for a few seconds, which was concerning. Anyway...I tried the cradle one more time after that and got a solid orange light again so I've left it there since.
I'll let you know how everything goes but I'm bummed that I'll forever wonder if this thing will piss out as long as it's in there because of this first impression :-/
I'll let you know how everything goes but I'm bummed that I'll forever wonder if this thing will piss out as long as it's in there because of this first impression :-/
Waylon Drums
Member
Turns out that the battery wasn't charging that whole time. The light started blinking again and it died the second I took the GamePad off of the charger. Probably a bad a idea to charge it while it was on...but is still doesn't look good.
Schnozberry
Member
Try reseating the battery cable. I had that problem the first time I installed it too, and I just don't think I had a good connection with the cable. After I reseated it, it has worked as advertised.
Waylon Drums
Member
I've now tried that twice with the same result. Thanks, though. I knew this was too good to be true...
ultrazilla
Member
Mine is always solid orange when charging via the cable.
I was going to buy one of these battery packs but it seems like there's some pretty big issues with these..... *sigh*
Anyone have one that works and can post impressions?
Saint Gregory
Member
Thanks but I've tried reseating it twice now and it's still acting up. I've never had issues with Nyko accessories before but this one's going back.
Lupin the Third
Member
Update: Got the battery in and charged overnight, seems not to be acting up and shows all 4 bars of charge. I'm not 100% on it being okay yet, but I get the impression it has a high out-of-box defect rate. Out of the three we ordered, one was bad.
ElectricKaibutsu
Member
This doesn't sound good 
. I guess I'll end up going with the Nintendo battery though I kind of don't like the idea of them making a profit over putting a small battery in the gamepad to begin with.
. I guess I'll end up going with the Nintendo battery though I kind of don't like the idea of them making a profit over putting a small battery in the gamepad to begin with.Trevelyan9999
Banned
Got mine today, doesn't seem like anything is wrong with it so far. I put it in and turned on the Wii U, it had 2 bars out of the box. I put it on the charging cradle while the system was on and it had no blinking orange charge light only the solid orange charge. I'll test the battery length tomorrow when it's fully charged.
Mine seems to be fine. I used it without charging, and although it died without showing a red LED, you usually have to fully charge batteries for them to become stable. I get a steady orange light, too.
I'll post more impressions after draining it a few times.
EDIT: Fuck. Literally right as I post, my LED is flashing. The fuck.
I'll post more impressions after draining it a few times.
EDIT: Fuck. Literally right as I post, my LED is flashing. The fuck.
I'm getting the official battery even if I can get the Nyko to work.This doesn't sound good
Day two
I let the battery charge overnight regardless of what the LED was doing. Although it went from four bars to three quickly, it's been on three bars for a few hours. Maybe a few more charging cycles will make the indicator more accurate. I'll edit this post as the GamePad drains.
My advice to potential buyers: hold off for now. Let's see what these batteries do after a few days of use.
EDIT: Two bars at 10:04pm EDT. I turned it on at... maybe 7:20pm or so.
EDIT: Dead at about 2:20am. It didn't display a solid red LEDit went straight to flashing this time. The total battery duration was approximately seven hours on the highest brightness setting.
I let the battery charge overnight regardless of what the LED was doing. Although it went from four bars to three quickly, it's been on three bars for a few hours. Maybe a few more charging cycles will make the indicator more accurate. I'll edit this post as the GamePad drains.
My advice to potential buyers: hold off for now. Let's see what these batteries do after a few days of use.
EDIT: Two bars at 10:04pm EDT. I turned it on at... maybe 7:20pm or so.
EDIT: Dead at about 2:20am. It didn't display a solid red LEDit went straight to flashing this time. The total battery duration was approximately seven hours on the highest brightness setting.
Waylon Drums
Member
Amazon: In stock on June 5, 2013.
Should be added to OP, or was is this a placeholder date since the beginning?
Oh...
Oh.
Should be added to OP, or was is this a placeholder date since the beginning?
Oh...
Oh.
Baller. PhD
Banned
The Nyko battery is noticeably heavier than the stock battery so there's that to consider as well. I'd compare it to the difference in holding an iPad 2 vs. an iPad 3/4. Not a huge deal, but you definitely notice. Especially during off-screen play when the GamePad is being held up higher than normal.
Some pics:
Some pics:
ElectricKaibutsu
Member
Why is that?
Schnozberry
Member
Sorry to hear that. It sounds like I may have gotten lucky. I played some Batman for a few hours today, and my daughter watched a bunch of kids shows on Netflix and I still had half battery life left. I should do a more scientific test on it to let people know how it works out when you don't get a shit battery.
SMT
this show is not Breaking Bad why is it not Breaking Bad? it should be Breaking Bad dammit Breaking Bad
ElectricKaibutsu
Member
SMT
this show is not Breaking Bad why is it not Breaking Bad? it should be Breaking Bad dammit Breaking Bad
Sounds good, I'll look into it when I go shopping, thanks!
ElectricKaibutsu
Member
ElectricKaibutsu
Member
How much time do you get using the stock battery at full brightness?
superpickleman
Member
Judging by what I'm reading, It seems like it was a good idea to wait on this.
Thanks for guinea pigging guys!
Thanks for guinea pigging guys!
A Human Becoming
More than a Member
Sounds like this has the same problem the 3DS Power Pak had for some people. I'll wait for it to drop in price or hope for the new Nintendo battery to come here.
Peace of mind... and/or a dash of OCD.