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Stratus 2 Won't Charge

Toobuilder

Well Known Member
Just like the title says, my Stratus is extremely tempermental when it comes to wall chargers and ship's power. It will appear to be charging according to the status page on the ipad screen, but the battery life will actually go down over time. Also, I often get the blinking red LED indicating an "incompatable charger". This happens with any charger and cord combinationon I have laying around the house.

Oh, and just for more fun, the mini usb plug has lost the ability to stay connected with the unit sitting on its feet. The weight of the cord apparently cocks the plug just enough to break contact. I can support the cord or flip the unit upside down and it seems happy - except for the aforementioned charger issue.

Anyone experience this, and more importantly, a fix?
 
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I've lived this! Two part answer.

Part one, your nominal case.
The Stratus 2 is very picky about having sufficient current, and the right power format. I've had poor luck with cheap mini-usb cables charging it. There are two different 2amp charging protocols, basically Apples and everybody elses. Although it uses mini-usb, Stratus appears to use the Apple protocol. Therefore you need a quality, Apple format 2 amp charger and a quality cable.

I strongly recommend Anker chargers and cables available from Amazon. They detect the type of device and use the right charging format. Secondly, they expect either a 1 amp or a 2 amp current. If the latter, they will detect a slightly sub 2.0a current flow and increase voltage slightly to account for line loss. Brilliant! This should eliminate the blinking red LED even if you are using a poor quality cable. I still recommend getting a good cable with the charger though.

Part two:
My usb port also failed in the same manner. There's no support on the left side, making it a bit more fragile than most. I'm getting ready to send mine in for repair. If you're ambitious and comfortable soldering surface mount pads you could replace the port yourself.

Best,
Guy
 
I can confirm this. One day I ran into the red blinking light when plugging into the charger that came with the Stratus 2. I tried a number of combinations of new cables, AC adapters, etc to no avail.

Finally a few days ago I grabbed the white AC to USB brick that came with my iPad, coupled with the USB cord that came with the Stratus 2 and that fixed the issue. The unit charges great now.
 
As an update, I found a charger/cord combination that would reliably charge the unit. I say "would" because it has become increasingly finicky with regard to how the cord is plugged in. It used to be I could charge it upside down, then I had to plug it in only halfway and **** it just so... While holding my breath the whole time... Now it just wont power up or charge no matter what. It appears to be linked to the mechanical fit of the plug. Great! A $150.00 repair for a $.50 cent plug...

Anybody have any better ideas, oram I sending it off?
 
Update:

After talking with a rep I sent it off and expected a possible $175 out of warranty repair (worst case) or a $75 battery (best case).

They recieved, fixed and returned the unit before I even knew what happened. Their email to me explained a couple of cracked solder joints on the usb plug and a replacement battery was the fix - returned via 2 day air

All at no charge!

Nicely done!
 
Just found this thread.

When I first got my Stratus 2, it would not charge. I had a BAD charging cable. It was replaced free and have only had issues with CHEAP cables since then. I always use a charger what will work with the iPad.

Had to buy 2 cables before I found one that would work all the time in the airplane. Yes one in the airplane all the time and one that is use outside the airplane. For the most part, I always put it on a charger when using it in my airplane.
 
I've had poor fit from day one of the charging cable mini plug that goes into the Stratus2 unit itself. Position is very finicky to maintain contact. Is that the connection they fixed?
 
The mini usb connector is soldered directly to the main circut board. That connection was bad, but not broken off.
 
Stratus

In our company planes and my RV we run Stratus
At work we have one original Stratus which became the one and we run the new Stratus 2s
In my RV I use the old. Stratus 2

The Stratus One mini plug had completely broken off twice and like the other poster it was turned in less than a week at no charge

Most USB adapters will not run 2 amps which is required as a minimum to allow a charge on a Stratus 2. If you run an USB outlet in your plane as I do you might want to fuse it for 5 amps. I run a dual USB port from West Marine and it will actually slowly charge an I Pad and charge the Stratus 2 completely.

I generally get about 8 to 10 hours out of the Stratus before I need to charge it...
On the other hand running an IPad with fore flight running luckily if I get 4 hours with out a charge... The big apps really useful the power and I have my IPad sitting near the air vent to keep it cool otherwise it will over heat with the sun beating on it.
I use the suction cup mounting for the Stratus 2 and have never overheated it.. If you use the black rubber glare shield pad your stratus will over heat sitting on your glare shield..
Hope this helps
Smilin' Jack
 
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Thanks for the reminder on cooling requirements. Mine uses the snap in mount which is secured to the center tunnel (adjacent to the stick). In this location it is out of direct sunlight and stays plenty cool. Also seems to be able to "see" the GPS constellation without difficulty.
 
Resurrecting this thread to ask if anyone has had success with a DIY repair to the (Stratus 2) mini USB connection. My problem started with finicky positioning of the cable (pushing up seemed to work best), now even that won't work for any length of time.

If not, I guess the next question would be if sending the unit in has permanently fixed the problem.

Thanks in advance-
Jim
 
The repaired unit has been flawless in service. It also seems to have lost its intolerance to chargers. Any cord/charger combo I have around works fine.

No issues, no complaints.
 
Resurrecting this thread to ask if anyone has had success with a DIY repair to the (Stratus 2) mini USB connection. My problem started with finicky positioning of the cable (pushing up seemed to work best), now even that won't work for any length of time.

If not, I guess the next question would be if sending the unit in has permanently fixed the problem.

Thanks in advance-
Jim

I am on the third cable to charge mine. The cable I use in the aircraft needs replaced every 1.5 to 2 years. The micro USB charge jack was a huge mistake in the design of Stratus 2.

The original cable that came with my Stratus 2 did not work to charge but a cable I had at home did. Both Stratus and Sporty's sent me a replacement cable that both worked.
 
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