ESP32 WROOM (USB-C) WRL-20168 no longer connects to WiFi AP after battery depletion test

Recently purchased a “ESP32 WROOM (USB-C) WRL-20168” from you all and it was a great little board. I did notice that “out of the box” the reset button was completely frozen; does not move at all and therefore does not reset. Ok, fine, I can proceed. Got my code working and did a battery life test (using Lithium Ion Battery - 2Ah PRT-13855 from same order) and it ran for a good long time. However it now refuses to connect to my access point using the same code that previously worked. Previously running via USB or a charged battery (or both) it connected to my AP just fine - after letting it run as long as it could while depleting the battery it now will no longer connect to the AP whether connected to USB, fully charged battery or both. Weird.

I did run a post mortem test while charging the battery looking at the values from the SFE_MAX1704X lipo library (getVoltage(), getSOC(), getChangeRate()) and the values provided by getSOC() and getChangeRate() seemed way out of bounds until the battery had recharged. Does running this board until the battery is depleted somehow damage it? I have seen random references online to not-specifically SparkFun ESP32 dev boards stating an incorrectly placed diode on the charge circuit can cause bad behavior.

Hoping you have some hints/tips/tricks that do not involve using the reset button. It was a great little board… Hoping you can help as this project is now TIA and I was relying on it to get my paid work completed.

Thank you!

Greg

For giggles I reset my AP and now the ESP32 can connect. Go figure…