Instant power loss as soon as unplugged
No recent drops or bumps that I can recall
SteamOS reports 100% battery and healthy
Opened it up and reseated battery connections, everything looks ok but no dice
Claude guesses it’s still a failed battery but don’t want to drop $130 on a guess, any other suggestions before I buy a new battery?


Dang I spent over 200 on my RMA
What is your account age
Unfortunately a lot of free out-of-warranty repairs just come down to what support tech you ended up talking to.
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.
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.
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.
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.