My picocalc charging light just blinks orange for days. Any advice?
Edit: I think I need to use a 2amp charger and not rely on usb connection to charge according to the assembly PDF in the FAQ section: PicoCalc/Clockwork_PicoCalc_Assembly_Guidelines.pdf at master · clockworkpi/PicoCalc
How are you charging your PicoCalc? Do you have USB-C hooked up to your PicoCalc (i.e. the correct way) or USB hooked up to your Pico itself (i.e. the wrong way)? Hooking USB up to your Pico itself for extended periods of time risks overcharging your batteries, and I have heard continually flashing orange can be a sign of overcharging (but don’t call me on that).
I normally charge with USB-C but it is connected to my PC. I will try charging with my Raspi wall-wart instead. 
I have connected it to a beefy charger (for raspi 5) and it still just blinks orange. No idea what it means or how to solve it. I bought expensive batteries from the suggested supplier i saw somewhere so I doubt it is a battery issue. There has to be an issue with the charging circuit.
Just wondering - are the batteries actually charging? How long will it run on batteries alone?
And do you have an independent way of charging them?
Also; FWIW: My PicoCalc has had both USB connectors plugged into my desktop or laptop for months now and when I heard of the battery charge issue I checked them - they’re fine. Voltage what it’s supposed to be. Not overcharging. I have a Pimoroni Pico Plus 2W if that makes any difference.
-Gordon
Thx for the response Gordon. I will respond some time tomorrow. I will use my multimeter to check the voltages of the batteries. I have an official Pico 2W and an official Pico and a Pimoroni Plus 2 and the Luckfox Lyra. I get the same result regardless of MCU and also regardless of uf2, I tried every variant of uf2, blank wipe, BASIC, micropy, and even CPP on Arduino IDE. Same result. Just for reference, do you know what the fully charged voltage should be on these batteries? Thx again for trying to help me G.
Some people have reported overcharging, though, so just because it isn’t happening for you does not mean it isn’t happening. I would not suggest the Pico’s USB port plugged in for extended periods of time for this reason.
Thx for the response tabemann. I only ever have it plugged into said port when I am working on code or uploading a uf2. Worst case scenario I will get a charger for the batteries and charge them manually and simply ignore the orange blinky until something explodes or makes magic smoke
Their normal working voltage is 3.7v. When charging the voltage should not exceed 4.2v. Mine read 4.17 to 4.18 when plugged in and fully charged and slowly drop off when unplugged.
-Gordon
I have two unprotected 16850 that were charged using a deticated external charger. I piut these in the picocalc and powered it up. the green LED lit as the screen came up. With the power running, I plugged in the USB-C charger. The picocalc LED flashed orage for less than a minute, then returned solid green. So if the batteries are charged, it should not blink continuously.
Note that while the batteries are maked as 3.7v, the dedicated charger bring them up to 4.2 volts. My batteries (that are keeping the green LED ON) read 3.8 volts haveing freshly come off the charger.
I have been keeping the two 3500 mAh 18650 batteries in my PicoCalc charged by connecting my PicoCalc’s USB-C to my computer for almost a year now (and only hooking my Pimoroni Pico Plus 2W to USB sparingly) without ill effect.
My guess is that the OP got some bad/counterfeit batteries (which is awfully easy to do, unfortunately) which simply do not charge properly. My recommendation to them is to get new batteries from a reputable source (and Amazon and Alibaba are not reputable sources here) and to not go over 3500 mAh per battery because ‘higher capacity’ batteries have a track record of being counterfeit.
Batteries are measuring 4.3 volts, and same when charging. Guessing they are overcharged.
Somewhere on this forum there was a post about batteries. I used one of the suggested suppliers and bought good batteries, but maybe i got scammed.
I’m guessing it got up to that voltage when you plugged USB directly to the pico. For that use case, I use a switched USB hub and turn off the power for that specific port–data still works.
Anyways, this is very unsafe and you should just leave it on for a while to bring down the voltage. Or ideally, replace the batteries as they may already be damaged.
