Power

What happens when the Charging Case runs out of battery?

Reading time: 4 minutes

This article explains how the Charging Case behaves when the battery is depleted and how you can ensure the best possible lifespan of the battery.

During normal use, the Charging Case will automatically stop charging the Space Recorder and the Stellar Mics once the battery level becomes very low. In this state, the Charging Case will still have a buffer of power to be able to communicate with the Space Recorder and Stellar Mics to support normal operation.

However, if you continue to use the Charging Case for a long time in this low state of charge, the battery will continue to discharge slowly from very low to critically low because the internal chip uses a little bit of power for the communication between Space Recorder and Stellar Mics, and because Li-Ion batteries naturally discharge slowly over time. When/if the battery is truly fully depleted, the Charging Case turns off. It will appear dead, and the LED indicator will not turn on until it's charged for a while. In this state, the Sound Capsule cannot be used normally. You might experience the following symptoms:

  1. Stellar mics will appear to be undocked even if they are docked, because they cannot communicate with the Charging Case. This means that you cannot simply dock stellar mics that should be excluded from a recording. If you don't have a working Charging Case, and want to record with a limited amount of Stellar Mics, you need to take the excluded Stellar Mics out of radio range. In other words, put them somewhere far away from the Space Recorder.
  2. Space Recorder and Stellar Mics will not be able to go to sleep if they are docked in a "dead" Charging Case, even if you put the lid on. This means the devices will run out of power after some time.
  3. You might be unable to initiate and/or complete a software/firmware update without a working Charging Case.

To charge up the Charging Case from a deeply discharged state, you need to undock all Stellar Mics and the Space Recorder and connect it to a charger (USB-C). It should normally turn on after 1-30 minutes depending on how discharged it is, and then you should ideally keep charging it for at least a few more hours after that. The slow charging process before it turns on is intentional and meant to protect the internal battery from damage.

Note that the Charging Case cannot be charged when its internal battery pack is below 10 degrees celsius.

Tip: If you plan to store your Charging Case for an extended period, it's best to charge it to around 40% before putting it away. This level of charge helps to keep the battery healthy while in storage. Additionally, avoid exposing the Charging Case to extreme temperatures, as this can damage the battery.