I bought the Xbox 360 premium package that came with a wireless controller. That same day, I bought a second wireless controller so Jenn could play. The controllers come with battery packs that take two AA batteries.

The batteries last for several hours, but of course, I was in love with the new gadget and played until the batteries ran out. That’s when I saw the rechargeable battery packs and the quick charge kit, which I also bought.

Something I noticed, though: When the AA battery packs were in, the controllers both behaved as expected. When the rechargeable battery packs were in, the controller that came with the Xbox 360 would turn off fine, but the controller I bought later would stay on - one of the LEDs around the Xbox Guide button would stay on faintly. Sometimes I could remove the battery pack and put it back in and the light would go off, but later it would turn right back on.

That worried me - if the controller won’t turn off, it’s going to just eat my batteries and I’ll be constantly charging just to stay ahead.

I called Microsoft support about it this morning and it turns out this is a known issue. Some controllers just leave one of the LEDs faintly on. They claim it won’t affect your battery life and you should just ignore the light being on - as long as the controller functions properly otherwise, the light being on shouldn’t be a worry.

I don’t see that documented anywhere. I found a forum where other people are having the issue and it sounds like it’s not just me.

Anyway, if it’s happening to you, Microsoft says it’s a known issue and it’s nothing to worry about.