Instant power loss as soon as unplugged

No recent drops or bumps that I can recall

SteamOS reports 100% battery and healthy

Opened it up and reseated battery connections, everything looks ok but no dice

Claude guesses it's still a failed battery but don't want to drop $130 on a guess, any other suggestions before I buy a new battery?

all 21 comments

sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] 31 points 1 month ago (13 children)

My regular steamdeck died on me a while back, did not charge anymore and did not power on. Was well out of warranty, messaged Valve, RMA'd it and got the repaired unit back. Zero cost. I'd just contact support and see what they say if you haven't already.

  • source
  • hideshow 13 child comments
  • [–] [S] 23 points 1 month ago (2 children)

    No way, they just gave me a free prepaid shipping label and will do an RMA despite being well out of warranty!

    Based on the information you have provided, we believe it is unlikely that the current issue reflects a problem with this device as it was delivered to you. It may instead be related to your particular use of the product. Also, your device is already beyond the warranty period. Regardless, we would like to offer complimentary service as a gesture of goodwill.

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 2 child comments
  • [–] 13 points 1 month ago

    Valve is legit. I was in early adopter of the steam link and steam controller... When I had issues out of warranty and unable to get good service due to being in canada, they just gave me no-questions-asked replacements!

  • source
  • parent
  • [–] 4 points 1 month ago* (8 children)

    Dang I spent over 200 on my RMA

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 8 child comments
  • [–] [S] 3 points 1 month ago (7 children)
  • [–] 3 points 1 month ago (4 children)

    14 years now. Got the og deck pre-ordered in first couple months. Used a ton when my kid was born and then stopped for a while and at some point the motherboard died, probably 18 months in.

    Used it enough the case had the classic heat fracture on vents too. Repair center called while I was busy at work and stupidly okayed replacing the case lol. Bulk of the cost was mobo I'm sure.

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 4 child comments
  • [–] [S] 2 points 1 month ago (3 children)

    Hmm I was thinking they might look at account age given these cases. Maybe not. My account is 18 years old

    Have you spent a lot of money on steam?

    I am just curious how they determine one RMA free vs not the other.

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 3 child comments
  • [–] 5 points 4 weeks ago

    Tinfoil hat in me says they are taking a potential media issue off their hands while they are in a very delicate spot launching a new hardware line. Imagine you kept playing with that deck plugged into the wall but there was a battery issue that caused it to start a fire. There is a ton of bad media coverage lately about battery issues causing house fires. This is a calculated cost/risk.

  • source
  • parent
  • [–] 15 points 1 month ago

    Try sticking it into battery storage mode for about 30mins then restarting it using the mains lead

    https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/How+to+Enable+Steam+Deck+Battery+Storage+Mode/149962

    That process won't harm the steam deck and resets a lot of things if they start acting weird, like the touch screen as well.

  • source
  • [–] 10 points 1 month ago (2 children)

    Have you measured voltage across the terminals?

  • source
  • hideshow 2 child comments
  • [–] 4 points 1 month ago (1 child)

    Try recalibrating the battery

  • source
  • hideshow 1 child comment
  • [–] 2 points 4 weeks ago

    Multimeter, as another poster said. Be careful not to short the terminals. I do recommend you ask someone for guidance who have some electronics experience, lithium batteries can be a little dangerous if you are very inexperienced... And even if you have some experience.

  • source