Samsung Galaxy A3 2017 - possible battery drain

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quickymart

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#255929 6-Sep-2019 22:11

I've had my phone for about 2 1/2 years now and still think it's great. However, today I was using it on about 38% of battery. I made a phone call for about 5 minutes using Skype and after hanging up placed my phone in my pocket. Upon taking it out a few minutes later I found it had switched itself off. Odd, I thought. I turned it back on and found the battery on 1%!

Plugged it in and charged it all afternoon. Usually it only takes about an hour or so to get to 100%, 3 hours of changing only got it to about 70%. I've got it charging right now (this is with the same two chargers I've always used) and it is slow-w-w.

Is there any app or something I can install to tell me if the battery is shot? I really hope not, as I really like my phone and can't seem to find another one with the same size screen :(

Thanks in advance :)

lNomNoml

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#2312004 6-Sep-2019 22:15

So far sounds like a new battery is in order, I use AccuBattery to tell me the health of my mobile's battery, you can also look here at alternatives: https://www.gihosoft.com/mobile-tips/best-battery-saver-apps-for-android.html

quickymart

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#2312059 7-Sep-2019 07:54

I installed Accubattery but couldn't figure it out - I guess I'm looking for an app that I can run that simply says "yes, your battery is fine" or "no, it's not". Accubattery seemed to have a, well, battery of tests but I couldn't find what I was looking for.

If the battery is dying, is it difficult/expensive to replace? I would need to take it somewhere to have it done as well - any idea how long it would (typically) take?

robjg63

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#2312109 7-Sep-2019 09:52

I know you said it was at 1%, but were you charging it switched off or still running?
Does it charge normally switched off?
If so, maybe you have a rogue app. Check under settings, device maintenance,battery - are there any apps showing big power usage?

Nothing is impossible for the man who doesn't have to do it himself - A. H. Weiler

tehgerbil

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#2312113 7-Sep-2019 09:57

Try BetterBatteryStats - BBS- you'll need to run a few ADB commands - https://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1179809

You can get this free from XDA or through the Google Play Store - it's well worth a few bob.

BBS can show you wakelocks much, much better than the built in battery stats can (particularly effective against Google Maps wakelocks as these are not shown in Android Battery stats).

The other option is to attempt to re-calibrate the battery - take it up to 100% and then let discharge to 0%. Do this twice and then see how you go.

quickymart

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#2312595 8-Sep-2019 06:30

robjg63: I know you said it was at 1%, but were you charging it switched off or still running?
Does it charge normally switched off?
If so, maybe you have a rogue app. Check under settings, device maintenance,battery - are there any apps showing big power usage?

It wasn't being charged at the time, it just switched off by itself. Normally when I charge it it's switched on. And cheers, I'll have a look at the power usage.

Edit: nothing I can see larger than 0.01% usage. Maybe Skype was what did it?

quickymart

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#2312596 8-Sep-2019 06:31

Also thanks @tehgerbil - I'm going to try the discharge/fully recharge thing and see what happens.

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quickymart

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#2312624 8-Sep-2019 09:11

First discharge done and I'm charging it back up to 100% now. Do I need to do it twice, as you say or is once usually enough?

robjg63

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#2312681 8-Sep-2019 09:57

Android is generally good, but I often find things will be ticking along fine - battery life just fine and then - wham - seems the phone loses charge much quicker than normal. A couple of days later it hopefully returns to normal.

I think the problem is the never ending app updates.
The modern approach to hacking away at fixes and changes seems to be the issue.
Once upon a time, you would develop/test/repeat and finally release a pretty solid bit of software once in a while.
Now it's not uncommon to see some apps update several times in a week.
I might add I don't have that many 'extra' apps on my phone.
Really hope your phone is ok and it's just a bad app.

Nothing is impossible for the man who doesn't have to do it himself - A. H. Weiler

quickymart

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#2312740 8-Sep-2019 10:46

I hope so too. It seems to be charging a little quicker this morning after running totally flat. Here's hoping.

Just had a thought. In the last few weeks I've been charging it while at work, and it would say something like 87%, next minute it would jump up to 100%. Only just thought of that now, not sure if it's relevant or not?

lNomNoml

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#2315057 11-Sep-2019 14:43

quickymart:
I hope so too. It seems to be charging a little quicker this morning after running totally flat. Here's hoping.

Just had a thought. In the last few weeks I've been charging it while at work, and it would say something like 87%, next minute it would jump up to 100%. Only just thought of that now, not sure if it's relevant or not?

Yeap the battery needs to be replaced, we had Samsung A3's for work and the batteries don't last long. A new battery is roughly $100 to replace and install, might not be worth it as you can pickup a Samsung A10 for around $180 last time I checked.

In the future to help prolong the battery of your mobile only charge to 80% and disconnect it, and don't let the battery fully drain before charging it, not easy to do but if you are able to it's best to.

On my mobile so sorry for spelling or grammar errors.

tehgerbil

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#2315092 11-Sep-2019 15:20

quickymart:

I hope so too. It seems to be charging a little quicker this morning after running totally flat. Here's hoping.

Just had a thought. In the last few weeks I've been charging it while at work, and it would say something like 87%, next minute it would jump up to 100%. Only just thought of that now, not sure if it's relevant or not?

Yeah, your battery's almost certainly munted. I would argue at this point it's dangerous to continue using it as it'll likely be puffing up.

FYI, adding to INomNomI's advice - keep wireless chargers everywhere, constantly topping off battery is extremely beneficial as Li-ion will last 80k-100k cycles at 20-30% charges vs (exaggerating) 10-20k cycles at 1-100%.

And furthermore keep your battery as cool as possible, hot battery equals a quick death.

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quickymart

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#2315268 11-Sep-2019 21:29

No wireless charger for the A3 as far as I know, and I don't like the look of the A10 (that phone looks massive by comparison - and where's the button?). Looks like I might just be replacing the battery then.

Thanks for the help though, I do appreciate it :)

quickymart

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#2318180 15-Sep-2019 18:34

Okay, pretty sure it's shot. I was using it this afternoon as I normally would, and the battery drained away quicker than usual. When it dropped to about 15%, the phone then switched off by itself. I tried to turn it back on, to be greeted with a message that the battery was completely empty.

So. Where to take it, on the North Shore, and any idea how much it would cost someone to take out the old one and replace it with a new one? How long would it take, and would it lose my data? I was considering taking it to the new mobile repair place at Glenfield Mall - or should I ask Vodafone first, as I purchased the phone from them, would it be covered by any warranty?