Android Battery charging issues?

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Nivicious

17 posts

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#119387 30-May-2013 10:03

If you are having charging issues like I am on the Galaxy S3, here is a solution, with this app to confirm your tests

Found this thread last night and read right through and found some interesting points which I'll let you read through.

Main point from the thread is Samsung cables and Samsung wall chargers suck together. Except in some lucky cases, like my girlfriends S3 which has never had an issue.

Basically I could leave my phone on charge over night (varying from 6-8 hours) and only gain 20%, if I was lucky, and had Wifi off.

Since swapping out cables and checking the current with GCC till I had the highest current, I easily went from 60% to 100% in just over an hour this morning.

That is with Wifi on and no special apps like DS Battery Saver, which I intially downloaded to stop the crazy discharge on this phone so I didn't have to leave it in a corner charging for 2 days to get back to 100%.

Seriously, download this app and have a good read right through the thread. It's only 23 pages.

A lot of good points and helpful tips such as tweaking the current level with STweaks with a kernal that allows that, and what cables to buy to replace your official Sammy one.

I recommend sticking to swapping out cables, especially if you aren't too technical like myself, as people have warned that tweaking the current could harm your battery...

Helped me, will definitely help you!

1eStar

1604 posts

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#828178 30-May-2013 10:24

It's mostly the cable from what I can figure. I tried a 3m charging cable recently and it took all night to raise battery level by 20%

ubergeeknz

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Vocus

#828184 30-May-2013 10:30

Also microusb connectors have very small contact area and prone to dust/grime ingress. Mine wouldn't charge at all a while back, and I got some contact cleaner in the plug and socket, plugged/unplugged a few times, and right as rain. Definitely charges quicker now than before.

Nivicious

17 posts

Geek

#828191 30-May-2013 10:44

Very true. I tried that, but no help.

Not just a case of changing the cable to any old Usb cable as well. With this app you can test which will output the most current to the phone.
I bought a new Sammy cable which didn't help, the app confirmed that. Swapped out with my girlfriends Sammy cable and I'm getting the base 1000. Using it now and it works perfectly.

I use it plugged into an old Apple wall charger too since I didn't get the official wall charger with the phone.

Linuxluver

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#828230 30-May-2013 11:47

My Samsung Galaxy S came with two chargers: Kiwi and North American.

The Kiwi one worked fine....though the phone seemed to do better if I used the charger for the HTC Sensation.

But the North American one charged my phone exactly once in Toronto in 2010....and then was effectively useless after that. It would appear to work for a minute or two and then stop....and you'd come back 2-3 hours later and find your phone flat and dark as it had run out completely and shut down rather than charged up.

But any other charger worked just fine.

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MurrayM

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#828707 31-May-2013 11:41

I just tried using that app and plugged my phone into a cable and then into a USB port on a laptop. The app said the phone was receiving 900mA. The app's info page says that USB ports usually push out 466mA.

Nivicious

17 posts

Geek

#828830 31-May-2013 15:17

Weird. Mine says 466.

eXDee

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#828881 31-May-2013 16:19

That app runs on my nexus4. 550 to 800ma on the stock charger using a slight extension cable. Though it only shows a total value positive when draining, negative when charging. So the screen being on is probably affecting it.

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Athlonite

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#829704 2-Jun-2013 17:11

I found that using my Nexus 7 wall wart and cable charges my phone much faster than the sammy one that came with the phone also doesn't produce as much RF noise either ( I sleep with my radio going) just goes to show that not all wall warts are built well

oxnsox

1923 posts

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#829711 2-Jun-2013 17:37

USB design spec was for 500mA..... but some devices, like tablets, need more than that if you want them to charge in sensible time frames and use them at the same time.

Soo, typical phone wall warts do about 500mA and tablet ones can be up around 2000mA.

Cables well have some effect depending on what gauge site is in them. Thin cables will effectively limit the available charge current (but may get warm). Sombre cables (I think Motorola) have resistors in them which limit/control charging.

richms

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#829715 2-Jun-2013 18:11

I have the same issue on my HTC one X - doesnt charge, but it has the light on, and the icon at the top.

Only after unlocking it there is a message about the phone using more power than the charger can provide. Would have been nice to know that before putting the phone down for a few hours actually going backwards on charge.

I found that was caused by the USB cable in use. Certainly not the power adapter since its a 5V 10A one that I have put some USB sockets on (yes, have connected the 2 data pins together so it gets identified as a charger, not USB)

Richard rich.ms