[Q] Phone Gets Hot & Not Charging Or Powering On

Hi folks,

I bought a used SG2 for a friend recently but it’s having some issues…

As soon as the phone arrived I plugged into the PC and rooted it, along with flashing latest stock firmware.

That all went smoothly but as I was setting up Google etc I noticed it gets really hot both when charging and also when in use. It also discharges really quickly, even with all sync and data connections turned off. I’d read about stock JB not being the best so decided to install Resurrection Remix, however was still running hot and discharging far too quickly (also tried with no SD card, just to make sure it wasn’t a Media Scanner issue).

It also drains whilst charging too. For example, last night it got to 92% whilst powered off, then when I checked later it was at 88%... so I unplugged it before bed when I woke up it was completely dead. Now it doesn’t seem to charge at all. This is on original battery and a brand new one…. both won’t charge. I’ve tried different chargers, different cables, different USB sockets etc etc. Also tried leaving the battery out of a while, but all to no avail.

I have just ordered a new USB port from eBay, to see if there is there is a problem charging… but beyond that I guess I still need to figure out why it’s heating up so much evenw hen doing nothing. When it was still powering on, checking CPU Spy tells me it’s not running at max CPU or anything, and Wakelock Detector isn’t reporting anything abnormal.

The phone is currently plugged into my PC but I know it's not charging as it's cool to touch and pressing the power button doesn't display the battery icon.

We have another S2 in the family (rooted and running an old JB NeatROM) and whilst battery life isn’t the best, it can easily last most of the day on standby. It also doesn’t get hot like this one does.

Any ideas what might be causing the problem and how to fix it?

Cheers,

Lee

andrewwright said:

Take the charged battery from the other s2 in the house and put it in. Does it power up? Go into download mode? Recovery?

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Thanks for the the suggestion.

I don't have the other S2 to hand unfortunately, plus as that one is working fine I wouldn't want to risk damaging it's battery in this faulty unit.

I've ordered an external battery charger too though, which should be here Friday.

andrewwright said:

The ext charger won't go to waste but I'd try the battery first as I don't think it will damage it. Terminal's look OK? Testing should be fine.

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I'll probably get the ext charger before I have access to the other S2

The terminals look ok, nice and clean... and the USB socket looks a little grubby but no more so than my other phones.

Let's say for a moment that I do manage to get the batteries charged and the phone to power on again... do you have any idea what might be causing it to heat up so much? I did try setting governor to Conservative and set the max CPU to 1000MHz rather than 1200MHz, but it was still getting hot and draining quickly. Again, this is with nothing running in the background, no SD card and all 3G/Wifi etc turned off.

Thanks

andrewwright said:

Get it running and install BBS . better battery States. See from there what's running in the background.

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Yeah mate, BBS is one of my "first install" apps along with Wakelock Detector, CPU Spy, Root Explorer and Titanium Backup

Unfortunately I didn't get a chance to install it on this S2 before the problems started to appear.

Will report back once ext charger / new USB port arrives

I'm determined not to waste 60 quid on this thing, even if I have to spend a bit more to get it working!

keithross39 said:

Given that you've tried different firmware and ROMs I think you can rule out software issues. I *think* you're going down the right path by replacing the USB socket/board assembly...... Just make sure you're putting the correct version in......there are 4 non interchangeable versions of this part.....

My wife says I'm a phone geek....She's probably right

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Thanks bud, hopefully I got the right one!

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/400684001792?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649

keithross39 said:

Well.....that *looks* right, but then all the versions of the board *look* the same..... It's the 'rev' number on the board you have to watch for.....
See this guide I created.....
http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=2335961
it'll show how to tell the boards apart......

My wife says I'm a phone geek....She's probably right

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Thanks again Keith, that is an excellent guide! Very informative.

The one pictured on eBay has GT-I9100 REV 2.2 R.B54 B on the board and looking at some other eBay and Amazon items, most appear to be selling Rev2.2 boards.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0098VPOK8/ref=cm_sw_r_udp_awd_8Hjotb1JF0Q2Z
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Generic-Con...400688905&sr=1-3&keywords=i9100+charging+port

Here’s a Rev 1.5 though…
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Connector-C...400688905&sr=1-9&keywords=i9100+charging+port

..and a Rev 0.2
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Vktech-Char...00688905&sr=1-21&keywords=i9100+charging+port

I notice some of the Rev2.2 boards have different alphanumeric numbers below the rev (like R.B54 on the one I bought), does that make a difference too?

Knowing my luck this model will have a Rev that no one sells! I’ll check tonight after work, so fingers crossed for a Rev2.2!

Cheers

keithross39 said:

I'm not entirely sure what the other numbers are.....my guess is they're probably batch numbers or something similar......
The important numbers to match are the "rev version" numbers.....
In my experience (having repaired this issue on 2 S2s) the rev2.3 is the most commonly used version....but hey....you might be lucky....

My wife says I'm a phone geek....She's probably right

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Well Sod's Law strikes, I have a Rev 2.3

I've messaged the seller to see if they have them, but have also ordered another from a different seller just in case.

Replaced the circuit last night, was really easy. The phones are like Lego compared to HTC!

After rebuilding the phone it did initially recognise the charger, and started to charge the battery however after a while I noticed it had depleted again (charging whilst off). Charging was also extremely slow. It also wouldn't charge properly when switched on... would go up then down again.

The ext. charger also arrived so I've just popped in a fully charged battery to see how it lasts (took forever to charge that too!). Hopefully wont get hot and drain rapidly like before but we'll see.

I'll report back later, but at the moment I'm thinking about cutting my losses and selling it for spares or repair :crying:

keithross39 said:

The plug on the end of the charger *might* be worn too....this will also cause poor connection during charging......the whole micro USB plug/socket arrangement is (IMO) pathetically fragile for what these manufacturers want it to do......

My wife says I'm a phone geek....She's probably right

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Between home and work I have HTC, Samsung, LG and Sennheiser micro-USB cables, mostly new too... so probably safe to rule that out.

The phone has now been on battery for 4hrs 20min, and has only lost 8% battery in stand-by (WiFi on for the last hour or so too), so that's a step in the right direction! Temps seem normal as well.

Also, remember the Rev 2.2 I accidentally ordered before realising that variants existed? Well it turned up this afternoon and it's actually a Rev 2.4! Only difference I can see if the rubber thing is missing from the mic. Might give it a try later.

Thanks again for the help Keith!

Cheers Keith, that's impressive stats!

Well the phone seems to have somehow fixed itself! Not only did the battery keep going all night, it allowed me to connect to the PC and transfer files, and also charged from the PC whilst the phone was powered on. Tested with the wallcharger and all seemed normal too. Maybe the batteries just needed the boost from the ext. charger to get them going since they were both completely drained?

I flashed Wanam JB but wasn't really keen on the super stock look and feel so then flashed NeatROM JB which is much better.

My friend actually decided he wants to keep his crappy old brick phone but at least now I can sell the S2 in good faith knowing that it works