Ember mug showing solid red, just a low battery thing?

[Thomas Martinez]

A few folks has asked me about the red light on the Ember mugs so here's a quick discussion on that topic. From what I understands, solid red on the LED indicates that the mug has a very low battery and needs to be placed back on the coaster. According to the Ember website, solid red means needs charging, blinking red means currently charging on the coaster, and solid green means fully charged. Thus, if you see the solid red light on your mug it simply means that the mug need to go back on the coaster to charge, it isnt defective or faulty in any way.

 

[Victoriou]

yeah mine did exactly that, sat on the coaster for like 20 min and stayed solid red. Turns out the contact on the bottom of the mug got all gunked up with coffee residue so i cleaned that up with a qtip and iso and voila, started blinking right away

 

[Proud Peccary]

Honestly Ember as a product is overengineered nonsense, just drink your coffee more faster.

 

[Feverish Disco Dynasty]

does the coaster have any indicator at all when something is sitting on it but not charging? like does it know the mug is there but cant make contact?

 

[A Boy and His Jackham]

The distinction here is that if the mug remain solid red on the coaster the cell is almost always toast. When I opened up three Ember mugs I bought the cells had dropped below the battery management system (BMS) cutoff for the cell and would no longer take a charge. The BMS on these Ember mugs is set to a relatively aggressive parameter. It will not allow for deep cell charging which is the safest setting but which essentially means that if you leave your mug sitting on a coaster for a few months it’s essentially scrap. You can replace the cell with one with similar chemistry and voltage but I wouldn't recommend doing so for an average user.

 

[Exquisite Be]

The distinction here is that if the mug remain solid red on the coaster the cell is almost always toast. When I opened up three Ember mugs I bought the cells had dropped below the battery management system (BMS) cutoff for the cell and would no longer take a charge. The BMS on th…

wait you can rebuild these? i thought they were sealed

 

[A Boy and His Jackham]

wait you can rebuild these? i thought they were sealed

they’re sealed with adhesive but you can get the base off with a heat gun on low. Not fun but it’s doable. Replacement cells are findable on aliexpress but getting the same pack is a bit of a pain.

 

[Claustrophobic Animal]

mine been solid red for 3 day on the coaster. Guess it’s dead lol

 

[Proud Peccary]

mine been solid red for 3 day on the coaster. Guess it’s dead lol

see this is what i mean.
$130 mug becomes a paperweight because the battery sulk

 

[Dull Dragonfly]

the coaster contact issue is real. Mine were clean but there was a thin layer of oxidation on them. A scotch brite pad fixed it

 

[Feverish Disco Dynasty]

the coaster contact issue is real. Mine were clean but there was a thin layer of oxidation on them. A scotch brite pad fixed it

how often are people suppose to clean those contacts on the coasters?

 

[Victoriou]

how often are people suppose to clean those contacts on the coasters?

monthly? only when something goes wrong with it.

 

[Nervous Newt]

You're correct about the sequence but worth noting that the gen 1 and gen 2 coasters behave slightly differently. Gen 1 will flash solid red for a good 30-60 seconds before blinking. Gen 2 is instant. So if someone happens to own a gen 1, they shouldnt panic at 10 seconds into charging.

 

[Bewildered Bat]

definately a low battery thing 9 times out of 10. The tenth time its the coaster cable.

 

[Feverish Disco Dynasty]

is it safe to use a third party usb-c cable with the newer coasters?

 

[A Boy and His Jackham]

is it safe to use a third party usb-c cable with the newer coasters?

Any decent quality USB-C cable should work. There's no e-marker thing or anything. It's a low wattage device.

 

[Proud Peccary]

or you could just buy a thermos

 

[Enviou]

or you could just buy a thermos

lmao someone's mad at hot beverage tech