Need help with battery jumping and weird battery issues on my phone
10 replies, posted
Hey, this is a pretty weird issue I have with my phone right now. It's hard to describe, but basically my phone battery will jump from 30% ~ 40% straight down to 0% and then "charge" itself back up.
Here's a picture of what I mean:
[IMG]http://puu.sh/gDO6n/184e0636fc.png[/IMG]
My phone died on public transit during that massive drop, and after I did a battery pull it just charged itself back up slowly.
(as you can see at the bottom - the charging section is totally blank).
I'm not sure if my phone is fucked or if my battery is, could I get some help with this?
Best assumption is that it's just the battery messing up. I've had an android phone for almost 3 years and occasionally my phone turns off, and after turning it on it has similar results (although my battery will "die" at any percentage and build back up).
On the opposite spectrum, it could be the part of the phone that runs the electrical current of the battery that is faulty, which would mean manual fixing or getting it fixed by the phone company or your service provider if you got it with a contract.
It looks like you have a Galaxy. Just replace the battery, if it's been 18 months or longer it might be time to replace. Check if its bulged out, if it has, you should get a new one.
Alternatively, the indicated battery level graph is just a prediction based on usage levels. If you use the phone heavily and then set it aside, you may gain a few percent because the phone detects a less strenuous load.
[QUOTE=spacedooky;47338897]It looks like you have a Galaxy. Just replace the battery, if it's been 18 months or longer it might be time to replace. Check if its bulged out, if it has, you should get a new one.
Alternatively, the indicated battery level graph is just a prediction based on usage levels. If you use the phone heavily and then set it aside, you may gain a few percent because the phone detects a less strenuous load.[/QUOTE]
Actually I have a Samsung SGH-I927, I should've mentioned that:
[t]http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/01/wireless/detail-page/samsung-captivateglide-att-keyboard-tall-lg.jpg[/t]
It's about two years old by now I think. I would like to believe the percentage prediction thing, but it straight off shuts itself off when it has 30%-ish battery, so I dunno about that.
How do I know if the battery is bulged? I tried the table spinning trick and it's not obvious if it's bulged or not. It rocks very slightly on the table, but that might be because the battery is a tiny bit curved.
Battery bulging isn't always so obvious when it starts happening, and from what I can gather it seems like it's just starting to get worse.
To give you an example, I bought a used iPhone 5 and the fuckface who sold it to me failed to mention that the battery was starting to bulge. The backing on the phone started to face outward more and more, and by the time it was extremely noticeable, the phone was practically inoperable.
I'd look for a manual somewhere on how to pop the phone open and inspect the battery if you haven't already. From there, you can actually feel whether or not the battery is bulged or not (but it depends on the type, i think.)
Have you tried discharging the battery completely, too? Sometimes shit can be janky if you don't deplete a phone's battery life completely.
[QUOTE=AlexGT;47340070]Battery bulging isn't always so obvious when it starts happening, and from what I can gather it seems like it's just starting to get worse.
To give you an example, I bought a used iPhone 5 and the fuckface who sold it to me failed to mention that the battery was starting to bulge. The backing on the phone started to face outward more and more, and by the time it was extremely noticeable, the phone was practically inoperable.
I'd look for a manual somewhere on how to pop the phone open and inspect the battery if you haven't already. From there, you can actually feel whether or not the battery is bulged or not (but it depends on the type, i think.)
Have you tried discharging the battery completely, too? Sometimes shit can be janky if you don't deplete a phone's battery life completely.[/QUOTE]
Yeah I've charging from empty and it doesn't seem like it has helped. Where's the least sketchy place I can buy a new battery for it?
A few places, I'm pretty sure NewEgg has good phone batteries, but have you found out whether or not it's the phone or just the battery? There's a possibility you knocked something out of place or etc.
[QUOTE=AlexGT;47343232]A few places, I'm pretty sure NewEgg has good phone batteries, but have you found out whether or not it's the phone or just the battery? There's a possibility you knocked something out of place or etc.[/QUOTE]
I started using the cable the phone came with to charge rather than my similarly jacked wireless headphone cable charger, and it seems like it's stopped doing the battery-drop thing. I'm not sure why, but I guess I'll just buy a new battery if it doesn't work out.
[editline]18th March 2015[/editline]
[QUOTE=~Kiwi~v2;47343241]I've had a few other Samsung Phones do the exact same thing. Fairly sure the battery wasn't calibrated accurately. A new battery may solve this but it may creep up again.[/QUOTE]
Whadaya mean by 'it may creep up' again? Think it could be a problem with my phone?
Smartphones have a power management ic that manages battery charging and a host of other basic power functionality. This ic could be failing, I see it a couple of times a month at work. However, much more often it really is the battery. Lithium ion batteries have a regulator chip on them to manage the battery cells and when they detect an issue will just shut off an affected cell for safety. They're built into the battery so try replacing the battery before anything else. (this is why batteries have 3 or 4 pins rather then the 2 expected live and ground.)
If the Power IC really is failing it is fixable, but you need to find a skilled shop with experience working on BGA IC's on phone PCBs. My workplace charges £50 for this issue (then adjusted for phone value) but every shop is different. Replacing the phone may work out to be the better option - use your best judgement.
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