Phone Not Charging Thread

beartrap · Aug 8, 2011

This is now happening on my replacement phone! I got the first phone replaced because it wasn't charging but now it's happening again on the replacement. It seems to only happen when the battery gets to 20% or lower. When it does this, it doesn't matter if it is USB or wall charging. I have been able to get the new phone to charge now twice by rebooting - one time it took three reboots. The first time it happened on my first phone the battery widget stuck on 50% and I didn't get the low battery warning and the battery went to 0 before I knew it and it took forever to begin charging again. I've been on different battery modes when it happens, so that isn't causing it.

I've mentioned this on a couple other threads and there's been others that responded it happened to them, so I thought I'd start a thread on this in case Motorola is monitoring this forum (they better be). Anyone else chime in here so we can get a feel for how widespread this may be.

criptix · Aug 8, 2011

Just let mine go down to 20 plugged up and its charging but im only on day one

Sent from my MB855 using XDA Premium App

jfdebo779 · Aug 8, 2011

beartrap said:
This is now happening on my replacement phone! I got the first phone replaced because it wasn't charging but now it's happening again on the replacement. It seems to only happen when the battery gets to 20% or lower. When it does this, it doesn't matter if it is USB or wall charging. I have been able to get the new phone to charge now twice by rebooting - one time it took three reboots. The first time it happened on my first phone the battery widget stuck on 50% and I didn't get the low battery warning and the battery went to 0 before I knew it and it took forever to begin charging again. I've been on different battery modes when it happens, so that isn't causing it.

I've mentioned this on a couple other threads and there's been others that responded it happened to them, so I thought I'd start a thread on this in case Motorola is monitoring this forum (they better be). Anyone else chime in here so we can get a feel for how widespread this may be.

Have you tried doing a hard reset and letting the phone sit for 20 minutes. It could be some kind of bug. I know mine had some force closes on the first day. I did a hard reset from recovery and let the phone sit at first boot. Then did a reboot and have had no problems since.

jfdebo779 · Aug 8, 2011

Master reset for photon 4g.

http://https://motorola-global-portal.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/69069/~/photon-4g---master-reset-%2F-factory-data-reset

beartrap · Aug 8, 2011

jfdebo779 said:
Have you tried doing a hard reset and letting the phone sit for 20 minutes. It could be some kind of bug. I know mine had some force closes on the first day. I did a hard reset from recovery and let the phone sit at first boot. Then did a reboot and have had no problems since.

jfdebo779 said:
http://https://motorola-global-portal.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/69069/~/photon-4g---master-reset-%2F-factory-data-reset

I did a factory reset on the first phone and that didn't change this problem.

ericdabbs · Aug 8, 2011

I haven't seen this problem on my phone. Best thing to do is report it to the Motorola forums and have them look at it especially if many others are experiencing the same issue.

In the mean time, you possibly could have another bad unit. Not sure why it would not charge when the battery hits 20% or lower. Also what battery widget are you using?

beartrap · Aug 8, 2011

ericdabbs said:
I haven't seen this problem on my phone. Best thing to do is report it to the Motorola forums and have them look at it especially if many others are experiencing the same issue.

In the mean time, you possibly could have another bad unit. Not sure why it would not charge when the battery hits 20% or lower. Also what battery widget are you using?

Good idea on the Moto forums. I have tried Battery Monitor widget, Circle Battery widget and Battery Notifier (big text) widget. No one widget was in use or installed for every instance I had a battery charge problem, but I guess it may be more than one widget with potential interferences. Has anyone else been using any of these widgets and not experienced this problem?

tx_dbs_tx · Aug 8, 2011

@Beartrap

What battery widgets etc have you installed? Sounds like a compatability issue with something that was installed. Try using the phone completely stock with no custom widgets installed. If you can get the phone back to stock out of box condition that would be the best way to troubleshoot this problem. I doubt it's another bad phone.

beartrap · Aug 8, 2011

tx_dbs_tx said:
@Beartrap

What battery widgets etc have you installed? Sounds like a compatability issue with something that was installed. Try using the phone completely stock with no custom widgets installed. If you can get the phone back to stock out of box condition that would be the best way to troubleshoot this problem. I doubt it's another bad phone.

I agree it's not a bad phone, but some bug either in the phone or installed app/widget. I'd like to know what battery widgets people are using that haven't had this issue so I know what's safe.

tx_dbs_tx · Aug 8, 2011

Not exactly related to battery widgets but i have noticed that Estrong's, Astro and File Expert file managers do not work correctly on my Photon. They don't show the full capacity of my 16gb sd card and they also don't show all the files in my download folder. So I'm thinking theirs going to be more incompatability issues with this phone until app developers get some updates rolled out for this phone.

As for battery widgets, i don't use them. I use the stock battery ifo that is included with the Photon. Sorry I can't give any help with that. but I'm pretty sure the widgets in the Android Market will not be fully compatible with the Photon. Uninstall everything you installed from the market and use your phone for a day or so and see how it acts.

cobrahicks · Aug 8, 2011

I'm having the same issue, i'm not using any sorta battery widget/app, just stock(non-rooted).

Its been charging for about 4 hours today and went from 20% to 30% and its hot, really hot.

I've had it since day one and seems to match what the OP is saying about once it goes below 20-30% it has a hard time charging but like i mentioned before, mine gets toasty when its failing at charging.

Also had an issue while streaming from google music beta, went from 100 to 20% in <2 hours and once again it was hot as the devil's **** then it wouldn't charge.

beartrap · Aug 8, 2011

cobrahicks said:
I'm having the same issue, i'm not using any sorta battery widget/app, just stock(non-rooted).

Its been charging for about 4 hours today and went from 20% to 30% and its hot, really hot.

I've had it since day one and seems to match what the OP is saying about once it goes below 20-30% it has a hard time charging but like i mentioned before, mine gets toasty when its failing at charging.

Also had an issue while using streaming from google music beta, when from 100 to 20% in <2 hours and once again it was hot as the devil's ****.

I did fail to mention that each time I did notice the back of the phone was pretty warm but not what I'd consider real hot. The third time this happened (on second phone), I cooled it down to room temperature and it still wouldn't charge.

cobrahicks · Aug 8, 2011

beartrap said:
I did fail to mention that each time I did notice the back of the phone was pretty warm but not what I'd consider real hot. The third time this happened (on second phone), I cooled it down to room temperature and it still wouldn't charge.

Well it got hotter the my evo 4g ever did after flashing many roms and kernels and what not and even hotter the my pre minus when simultaneously charging and tethering. Havent had a phone get that hot before, i'll try to get a temp reading when it happens again.

Just pulled the battery little while ago and it started charging again. Seems to be hit or miss with the restarts and battery pulls the get the thing going.
I havent tried just turning it off and letting it charge past 30% yet, to see if it only does it when it on vs. when it off.

beartrap · Aug 12, 2011

It's happened again. I was running speedtest.net repeatedly to test my radios and my battery temp climbed up to 118F. I checked if the phone would charge periodically and it did until the battery got less than 30%. It seems to be this combination that causes the malfunction. I rebooted and it charged fine, but the temp also fell to 115F, so I don't know if it was the reboot or lower temp, but at least now I know how to get it to recharge and not run th and it always charged, battery down to 0.

I tried to make this happen the other night by running quadrant repeatedly, but temps never went above 115. It always charged that night, so 115-118 is the magic number together with <30% battery.

BTW - our radios may kickass, but they also generate a lot of heat, so be on the alert to high battery temps when hitting the radios hard.

fusQer · Aug 12, 2011

My first Photon had the problem where the battery went from 50% to DEAD immediately. I remember one time the phone was red hot to the touch right before it died, it was just idling. It wouldn't accept charge until I removed and replaced the battery.

My replacement Photon doesn't have the problem (yet) or any of the first Photon's problems. I am convinced there is a bad batch of Photons out there.

beartrap · Aug 12, 2011

Unfortunately I'm on my second photon. I exchanged the first for this reason.

money226 · Aug 12, 2011

Do any of you happen to use a case with a magnet in it? I've only had this happen twice and both times it was in a case. Now it doesn't happen.

Sent from my MB855 using Tapatalk

beartrap · Aug 12, 2011

money226 said:
Do any of you happen to use a case with a magnet in it? I've only had this happen twice and both times it was in a case. Now it doesn't happen.

Sent from my MB855 using Tapatalk

I am using the black Sprint case, but there's no magnet in it. I do think the case may aggrevate the heat buildup so if I hit it hard again and feel it getting warm, I'll be sure to remove the case.

beartrap · Aug 13, 2011

beartrap said:
I checked if the phone would charge periodically and it did until the battery got less than 30%. It seems to be this combination that causes the malfunction. I rebooted and it charged fine, but the temp also fell to 115F, so I don't know if it was the reboot or lower temp, but at least now I know how to get it to recharge and not run th and it always charged, battery down to 0.

This theory just got shot down. I hooked up the USB charging cable at 62% and 84F and it wouldn't charge. The phone recognized the connection and displayed the message it was in charge mode, but the battery in the notification bar didn't show it was charging nor did battery monitor widget. I then connected it to the OEM wall charger and cable and nothing. I rebooted and no change. I shutdown the phone and hooked it up to AC and it went into charge mode. I then booted and it's going into charge mode as it should. I'm back to square one again.

Djspinister · Aug 13, 2011

beartrap said:
Unfortunately I'm on my second photon. I exchanged the first for this reason.

That doesn't matter, you have every right to exchange it 283892 times until you get one that works. within the 30 days, It is in our contract. Not sure why people don't understand this. It doesn't matter where you get it, what store you get it from, Sprint, Best Buy, Radio ****, bob's electronics supply..you can get it exchanged. Personally, I wouldn't have even hesitated nor made this post, I would have just exchanged it.

Then made this post to say what happened to a photon I used to have. lol

EDIT: People need to speak up and let companies understand that you just won't settle. I come across customers everyday that just settle. I work for Comcast, talk to customers daily about things. I get, oh yea and then our internet sucks, and this doesn't work and oh yea this broke and we don't get this channel but we pay for it. My first question is, "Did you call?"....their answer, "Call who?"..or just "No". LOL I'm like, how the hell do you think stuff will get fixed if no one knows you have any problems? haha

You are the consumer, you have a lot of rights to the product you paid money for.

This is a great phone, but like all electronics some stores might get a bad shipment, it happens.

Good Luck with whatever you choose to do.

I have exchanged mine 2 times, 1 had a messed up screen, the other 1 had some problem that I couldn't make calls. So far this one is good to go! The Charm

-DJ

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