2024 Steam Deck OLED suddenly only powers when plugged in

He said instant power loss when he unplugs it, will be hard to recalibrate the battery like that

That's why I have GabeN and Lombardi's emails saved so I can talk directly to either of them. Tho IIRC, Doug ain't at Valve anymore.

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.

My guess it depends on the support person and the issue during troubleshooting and how much it would likely cost.

My account is in its teens and I have over a thousand games. They would not cover my broken LB, only a few months outside warranty.

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.

Unfortunately a lot of free out-of-warranty repairs just come down to what support tech you ended up talking to.

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.

What is your account age

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!

Good guy valve

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.

They probably looked at how much you spent on games and decided it was worth it to keep you playing. lol

Dang I spent over 200 on my RMA

You need a Multimeter to test that. You use the two test leads and make contact with the battery. If you're interested in testing it we're all here to help.

No, honestly I don't know how to do that

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.

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.

Have you measured voltage across the terminals?

Try recalibrating the battery

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.