Camp Speaker issue: Shuts down quickly (FIXED/SOLVED!) USB-C charging specifics

[NauticalSpiR1T]

I've had my truck for less than a week and haven't used the speaker yet. You mean to tell me the speaker doesn't charge when it's docked?! Does the flashlight charge when docked?!

Sponsored

 

[gramound]

If it's dead-dead, there's probably a specific power/communication need for the charging circuit to work.

Yes! Somebody please correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe the circuit automatically starts slow charging at 5V while the device boots-up. Unfortunately, when it's dead, the boot-up process consumes too much power just by playing the power-on jingle and trying to engage the faster charging. It doesn't quite make it and ends-up in a bad state (not charging at all).

Perhaps a 5V-only charger has more chances of keeping the charging session alive across that sequence (no extra effort spent in trying to engage faster charging).

With the better chargers, you will have to try again a few times util it accumulates enough charge to make it to a stable fast-charging state. I have more success when I tell my phone to "forget this device" so it doesn't waste power on trying to reconnect.

In any case, I got mine to charge with an iPhone charger after a few tries.

 

[NSRoamer]

TLDR: Speaker doesn’t come charged from factory. Charge the first time via USB-C but your charger needs to be the right type. (See below).

There are a few threads on camp speaker issues, but what I discovered seems specific enough to start a new thread.

My camp speaker would connect and play for about a minute and then shut down and restart. It was driving me nuts, but I think I figured it out - The reason the speaker is connecting and shutting down after a little bit is because the battery is dying.

1. This is very important and is listed in the User Manual: The camp speaker does NOT come from the factory charged and won't charge in the dock when you first get your Rivian. You need to charge it the first time using the USB-C port on the back of the speaker. Note, when you plug in the speaker via USB-C, the light above the USB-C port has to pulsate or it's NOT charging. If it's a solid white or off it's NOT charging. I also found that you have to turn the speaker on to start charging.

2. Now this is where it got super-finicky. At first I used my MacBook 60W USB-C to USB-C charger at first (5V-30V), left it for two days on the charger and still had the shutdown issue (aka low battery). Then I tried a multi-port USB-A/C charger (5V-12V) and tried charging it that way. Same issue, it'd connect for a bit then it'd shut down. Finally, I used a USB-A 5w wall plug (5V 1amp) and then a USB-A to USB-C cable and it started to charge for real! This is when I realized the light has to pulse to indicate it's charging. I'm no engineer, but in my experience some electronics will NOT charge on 12V USB-C and will ONLY charge on 5V USB-C and it looks like the camp speaker is one of those super finicky devices.

3. Seems crazy that it won't charge off of a 12V USB-C, right? Well I went back and looked at the specifications on the user manual and 12V USB-C charging is specifically NOT an option according to the manual. It can only charge at 12V through the dock! Crazy!!!

4. I also did a hardware reset: holding the “connect” button for 30 seconds after it fully charged and reconnected Bluetooth, just to clear out any gremlins.

So far it’s fixed it for me… let hope it stays this way and helps others.

UPDATE: As @VSG pointed out later in the thread 12V USB-C is not a thing. Either way, I couldn’t get my speaker to charge without the right combination of charger and cable, so if you’re having problems my advice is to try a few different combinations of cables and chargers.


EDITED: 2024-02-11 for clarity.

 

[NSRoamer]

Thanks for all the info everyone. I thought maybe the batteries were toast - but maybe not. Apparently some (or a lot) of these speakers had a defective BMS.

Trying an iPad charger - might be able to get this thing going again.

I see Rivian says the batteries aren’t replaceable. So much for Rivian’s “North Star”. “With sustainability as a North Star, our materials are made to last while leaving less impact behind.” Rivian

Not much sustainable about a bunch of plastic parts that are one time use, is there? Rivian?

Ed’s video indicates the batteries and BMS can be replaced.

Sponsored