You should get your player out of storage and test it.  It should work on AC
power, but it might not run on battery anymore.

While the player is unplugged, its NiMH battery self-discharges; a process
that goes faster if the player is stored in a warmer place.  In addition,
the gas gauge chip is permanently connected to the battery pack, and it,
too, draws a small amount of current, a few microamperes.  These factors add
up.  Early instructions to libraries said that if a player was going to be
stored for more than a few months, the battery should be disconnected.  For
this nominal 7.5-volt pack, if the total voltage falls below a value like 3
volts (I don't remember the exact number right now), the gas gauge chip will
inhibit charge until the voltage goes higher than that value.  The early
players will thus get into a state where they cannot recharge their own
battery packs.  You will find similar advice about disconnecting the battery
for modern BrailleNotes and many other devices, for various reasons.  In the
case of the notetakers, they don't fully shut down when you flip the power
switch to Off, and run their batteries down that way.

I saw these instructions and knew that library people were unlikely to
follow them, and that consumers might not get their players plugged in as
soon as they received them.  I realized that if we could put a diode and
resistor between the 5-volt regulated bus and the positive terminal of the
battery, we could over a period of several minutes bypass the charging
circuit and trickle-charge the battery up to a high enough voltage that the
gas gauge chip would signal for a recharge, at any time that AC power was
connected.  

After several months of testing at NLS and at the factory, this circuit
board modification was made.  I don't remember the exact serial numbers,
either, but after about 24,000 advanced players and 70 or 80 thousand
standard players, the revised circuit board is used in all production.
Since this is surface-mount technology, partially assembled by robotic
devices, it's not practical to add these components to an existing circuit
board.  We advise librarians to pull the battery from the old player, put it
in a newer one which has the trickle-charge modification, allow it to charge
the battery, then put it back in the old player with a setting that tells
the processor that a full battery has been inserted.  

Very few battery packs have gone bad so far, but this behavior is part of
the reason why library technicians may tell you that there have been some
battery problems with the NLS player.

If anyone needs a replacement NLS player of either type, it should be easy
to get one from your network library.
73,
Lloyd Rasmussen, W3IUU, Wheaton, Maryland
Home:  http://lras.home.sprynet.com
Work:  http://www.loc.gov/nls
 

> -----Original Message-----
> From: For blind ham radio operators [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
> On Behalf Of John Miller
> Sent: Thursday, February 16, 2012 8:41 AM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: OT question about NLS digital player
> 
> I've had my advanced one for since they first came out, whenever that is,
> I
> was one of the first to get it in this area and my battery was good last I
> knew, I haven't used it since I moved where I am now opting for the victor
> streme but last I checked it it was working.
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Ron Canazzi" <[log in to unmask]>
> To: <[log in to unmask]>
> Sent: Thursday, February 16, 2012 7:27 AM
> Subject: Re: OT question about NLS digital player
> 
> 
> > Hi Harvey,
> >
> > It might be the lightning, but I doubt it.  I had a standard digital
> > player
> > for less than 2 years and all of a sudden--after seldom using it in
> > battery
> > only mode, when I tried using it for an hour or so, I got the low
> battery
> > indication and the player shut down.  It still worked with the  power
> > cord.
> >
> > I called the NLS regional library in Albany, NY  and they said they had
> > been
> > having "issues with the NLS new digital players and battery life."  The
> > battery--according to the built-in manual--is supposed to last about 5
> > years.
> >
> > I sent the standard player back and requested and received an advanced
> > player.  I like its additional features, but whether the battery will
> last
> > any longer, I can't yet say--since I've only had the machine for a month
> > now.
> >
> >
> >
...