[Q] Battery problems, do I need a new one? - Captivate Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

Hi, so this is a partial port of a thread I started over on the General forum.
I may have possibly water damaged my Captivate a few days ago. It wasn't submerged or anything, but was in my pocket when I got water on my lap, and didn't come out immediately.
I disassembled the phone and let it dry for a few days, and after putting the battery back in and starting it things seemed to be working fine. However, the battery was almost dead to begin, and when I plugged the charger into the USB port, I got an error about battery temp being too high and charging pausing as a result.
When I plug the phone in while it is off to the wall charger, I get a screen that flashes from the usual charging picture (the battery with a little bit of green in it) to a picture of a batter next to a caution sign and a high temperature thermometer.
What should I do? I see no signs of corrosion on the battery itself or the pins that connect with it. So long as the phone was not plugged in, I got no errors and it worked fine (on the 2% battery life that is now extinguished). This leads me to believe the problem is in the micro USB port on the top of the phone, but I can't be sure. I cannot see in it very well and don't want to disassemble it unless I have to.
Should I just buy a new battery? Will I never be able to charge my phone through the USB jack? Does this mean I should get an independent charger for the battery, and just juice it up that way from now on (a big hassle)? Any and all advice or experience appreciated.

Has nobody had any experience with this?

If a phone gets wet when power is applied (ie: sleep mode), usually it doesn't matter if you let it dry. The damage is already done. Moisture in the usb connector can do all kinds of weird things to a phone.
Have you tried cleaning the gold battery contacts on the phone and the battery? You can use rubbing alcohol on the phone contacts, followed by a white eraser.
I'd go ahead and buy a new battery. If it doesn't work, you'll have a spare when you buy a new phone.

kegobeer said:
If a phone gets wet when power is applied (ie: sleep mode), usually it doesn't matter if you let it dry. The damage is already done. Moisture in the usb connector can do all kinds of weird things to a phone.
Have you tried cleaning the gold battery contacts on the phone and the battery? You can use rubbing alcohol on the phone contacts, followed by a white eraser.
I'd go ahead and buy a new battery. If it doesn't work, you'll have a spare when you buy a new phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I haven't tried using isopropyl yet. There doesn't seem to be any corrosion on the contacts whatsoever, so I didn't think it necessary. I'll give it a go.
It may be worth nothing that neither of the water indicators have turned color. Of course, the USB jack is a long way from where those water indicators are... It is completely plausible water got in there and never got down to the battery or contacts. Like I said, the only problems I've encountered are when the phone is plugged in to the charger...
Thanks for the advice though. I'll try it. If not, maybe its time to consider dismantling this thing and attempting a wipe down of the USB jack...

Related

Life /w my Tilt after water damage

I made the mistake of forgetting to put my phone in my backpack while riding splash mountain at Disneyland. Needless to say, my phone got pretty damn wet! When I got the chance, I immediately removed the battery and let the phone dry for almost a week.
I was extremely worried when I plugged in the charger and got the red light o' death. After searching the forums I found that is was just a dead battery. So I quickly ordered a new one on ebay and I was back in business. Or at least I thought I was.
My phone seems to be fine, other than the fact that when it is plugged into a charge source, it does not charge the battery whatsoever. No matter what I use, (Car, AC , Computer) it states that is connected and charging for the status, orange light and everything, but the battery will continue to drain.
I know it is not a connection issue due to the fact that I can still synch it with my computer. For now, I have ordered 3 batteries and 2 external battery chargers for work and home. Does anyone have an idea on what part of my hardware is damaged so I can possibly get it replaced?
B-timw said:
I made the mistake of forgetting to put my phone in my backpack while riding splash mountain at Disneyland. Needless to say, my phone got pretty damn wet! When I got the chance, I immediately removed the battery and let the phone dry for almost a week.
I was extremely worried when I plugged in the charger and got the red light o' death. After searching the forums I found that is was just a dead battery. So I quickly ordered a new one on ebay and I was back in business. Or at least I thought I was.
My phone seems to be fine, other than the fact that when it is plugged into a charge source, it does not charge the battery whatsoever. No matter what I use, (Car, AC , Computer) it states that is connected and charging for the status, orange light and everything, but the battery will continue to drain.
I know it is not a connection issue due to the fact that I can still synch it with my computer. For now, I have ordered 3 batteries and 2 external battery chargers for work and home. Does anyone have an idea on what part of my hardware is damaged so I can possibly get it replaced?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ouch. If its what happened to me, its the USB port.......... part of the mainboard. Luckily mine was under warranty so I took it back to get another one. Mine didnt get wet though, but similar symptom. My usb port got blown by plugging in the wrong USB charger. I could sync, but not charge what so ever.
If its in warranty and your internal water markers arent red ( still white and dry ) Id try sending it back for a warranty exchange.
How spotless are the battery contacts - try some contact cleaner.
B-timw said:
My phone seems to be fine, other than the fact that when it is plugged into a charge source, it does not charge the battery whatsoever. No matter what I use, (Car, AC , Computer) it states that is connected and charging for the status, orange light and everything, but the battery will continue to drain.
I know it is not a connection issue due to the fact that I can still synch it with my computer.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have you checked that the option of not charging the battery while connected to the PC isn't ticked - if it's ticked, that'll explain why it's not charging when connected to the PC (although I don't know about the orange light). I did have a problem with my battery only charging for 1 min and then the orange light extinguished. It turned out it was due to a film of grease/dirt on either the battery contact prongs of the phone or the battery terminals themselves. If you have some contact cleaner and a cotton bud (folks in the US call them qtips), it'd be worth giving both of those a carefull clean. Note: don't be tempted to bend the prongs to touch the battery harder - they'll be fine as is as long as their surface is spotless.
Have you checked the water sensitive sticker under the battery to see if it's registered water in the phone - you may have been lucky and the water didn't get right into it. If there's no sign of that having indicated water ingress then if it still plays up after cleaning the terminals, you could try getting it repaired under warranty. The TyTN II charging system as a whole is a bit of a nightmare. As well as the problem I already mentioned, my HTC original charger only lasted 4 charges (a couple of weeks because I was mostly charging off the PC at the time) before going 'click' very loudly and going to the great charger graveyard. I bought a better repalcement for only £8.99 rather than getting another one the same under warranty which may only last another 4 charges.
The option of the battery not charging while connected to the machine isnt checked. I have a similar thing going on with the orange light. But it will happen at random times. (longer than a minute.) I will try cleaning my connectors to see if this helps. There was a little water under the battery when I removed it, and my sticker is pink.. So im thinking its showing signs of water damage. Another thing, my roomate has the same model, and when the battery is removed and a charger is plugged in, there is no light indication. But when I do the same thing I get the red light.

kaiser is DEAD, att refuses replacement

so pretty much we had a blackout on campus and my phone was low on battery. to salvage my laptop's battery, i used the USB charger on the phone while the laptop was closed and barely even booted up (did not "log in" to windows). so, later in the night my battery went dead, and i'm sure my turning it on and off 15 times with a empty battery just to see the home screen did not help.
next day, I plug in the charger and get the RED LIGHT!!!
i give the phone "CPR" and plug it back in the charger to get an amber light a few minutes later. The phone eventually charged to 30% before i took it out with me to lunch, when I got back I plugged it back in and now it would would not charge at all. the battery % would just gradually decrease.
i tried cleaning the battery connections with alcohol and im pretty sure this made the sticker turn pink (means "water damage"), and att wont give mea new one because of this.
anything i can do?
PS- i never got the red light back since i "fixed" it the first time, now i need to plug it in to turn the phone on and even then it turns off after 2-4 minutes by itself!!! If plugged into wall charger without a battery i just get a red flashing light. with batter, a constant amber.
Take it into a store and try swapping out the battery temporarily with one from the one in the store - if it works then purchase a new battery?
UPDATE
not an option, dont have any stores by me and have no car .
***update - i did use the usb charge trick but splitting the wires and connecting to the battery for 5 or so minutes.. it got up to 17% but is now going back down even though its plugged into the wall charger
Did they ask you if the sticker was pink? Did you yell at a manager or something. Just because the sticker is that color doesn't mean there is damage.
If the sticker is not the default color, they won't warranty the phone. That's just how it is. Someone might get lucky and they do it anyway, but in general that's their policy.
Why else would the plaster the stupid things in 6+ places in/on the phone?
I still don't buy the "I got it wet cleaning the contacts" part myself. But the overall story seems unfortunately common for the Kaiser (other phones too?) with it deciding to die after the battery gets too low. Most people have decided it's not the battery that fails and even if they get the phone to charge, it does not work properly afterwords.
I think HTC should take some responsibility here.
OK, I finally got to try a seperate battery and the charger still would not charge the battery (the charger used was also a new one). What can I do!? Should I buy a parted one from ebay and replace something?
theromanone said:
and replace something?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The whole mainboard...
is that possible, something anyone could do themselves?
kilrah said:
The whole mainboard...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
wow, i hope it is not that!
anyone else have suggestions on how to fix my kaiser?
-better yet, any successful repairs of this? thanks!
this is old and all, but i finally now have another kaiser to fool around and part out.. any suggestions?
well first off if there is truely water damage and not just a freek bricking then i would try the rice trick first, simply place the phone on a box of rice for a week (or silica gel). not u can not reflash the device because u can not get a 50% charge correct? it almost sounds if the battery is dieing that quickly that u have a short somewhere in the phone cuasing the displacment of energy, also i know that i had a phone a while back (not an htc) but it would only take a charge from a car charger, so try possible expermenting with USB/WALL/CAR chargers. if i were u i probably wouldnt take the phone completely apart unless u are sure that neither the original or the parts phone can be used as anything more than a paper weight.
on an un-related subject if ur looking for a replacment i have a tilt i am looking to sell if u want to pm me we could negotiate a price.
thanks for the reply, i ended up leaving it in the wall charger overnight, and if charged up to 17%, so it is working, i'll try other methods as well.
if it bombs, i'm sure you'll be receiving a pm very soon!
theromanone said:
i ended up leaving it in the wall charger overnight, and if charged up to 17%, so it is working
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've cleaned the battery terminals and spring contacts many times on my TyTN II and not had this problem since. The key is to use a cotton bud sprayed with contact cleaner/IPA to rub the contact cleaner on/off and not spray it around the area directly. If a cotton bud isn't used as well as the contact cleaner/IPA then much of the grime wont be cleaned off. This still sounds like a conductivity issue to me.
still not clear what you think happened...
in any case, using a FULLY CHARGED BATTERY (charge it using something else, or just jimmy rig to the battery terminals for a while), does the Tilt function properly ? If so, then the most it can be is the charging circuit of the Tilt. Worse case, get one of those charging cradles and charge your battery on that instead (a pain, but cheaper than replacing a Tilt)...
in other words, I wouldn't give up just yet, given what it sounds like has happened...
does the tilt function when plugged into a powered USB port ?

How to power without battery?

Hi,
I have a kaiser with either a mainboard/usb fault. HTC wanted £250 to fix, so a repair is out of the question.
If I charge the battery on another Kaiser and stick it in my faulty one then my faulty one works fine for a few hours (it discharges more rapidly than it should - I assume due to the fault, but works for probably 4 hours) there is no way of charging via the faulty phone mini usb connector (it lights up amber but doesn't charge, nor does the USB connection hook onto the computer).
Luckily I had hardspl on the phone from new and can easily update via the uSD card if any need.
My questions are these: How can I hard wire my kaiser to a power supply so that I can leave it on in my car at all times? (it doesn't need to be moved)
The battery is 4.2v, can I hook a 5v supply onto the 2 outer pins?
What are the other 2 pins for?
Do I need to connect the 4 copper pads in the battery compartment together?
Thanks for any help that you guys can give!
http://www.mikechannon.net/page1.html
check out the service manual
Hi,
Thanks for that, I scoured through the service manual but I couldn't find anything about the voltages on the battery compartment terminals and therefore how to hotwire power straight into them, I don't know much about this and didn't want to screw it up worse than it already is by sticking 5volts onto them. Looking at the markings on the battery power to the outer 2 terminals would do it but i'm sure there's more to it than that.
Dan.
Many angles to this.
Battery is 3.7 volts. You'd want to supply that. But there is a battery charging circuit inside the phone. How that will effect things? I don't know.
There is a circuit in the battery that gives you battery % I believe. Unless you feel like reverse engineering that, you're in a tight spot.
I'd say save your cash, and buy a new phone. this probably won't end well.
on second thought. If you're already willing to hardwire contacts, why not just hardwire 5V to the USB pins?
Keep your battery in there and you'll have 5V on the usb port keeping everything happy
Hmmmn, you might be on to something with that, the problem with the phone is that it doesn't charge when hooked up. The power light glows amber but it actually makes the phone DISCHARGE faster than when not connected. Once the battery gets completely drained all I get is a RED led.
When I sent it back to HTC they said water damage right away. I know for a fact that it hadn't been wet in more than 2 months (it did get wet but only a few raindrops, just enough I guess to wet a detector strip) from when this fault occurred so perhaps it's not a mainboard fault and is in fact the USB connector failure another thread is referring to....Hmmmm.
Gonna give it a bit of thought and then either get the soldering iron out or just bang it on ebay for spares. Should think the screen assembly would be worth a fair bit!
Perhaps I misunderstood.
If you're getting the magical amber LED while the USB is plugged in, I'll say you have a good connection. I wouldn't screw with any soldering. It does sound like you have a short somewhere.
I only had my phone drain faster than it could charge when I setup a bittorrent client on my phone. Got warm!
Inspecting the board for damage might be the best choice. I've seen a motherboard on a laptop that went out with visible water damage. I scraped off an area with "ick" on it that was shorting out two contacts.
If you can't solve it that way, I'd try to disable 3G/bluetooth/wifi and see how low you can get your power consumption.

Moto G with Water Problem

Hi there. I had moto g 2 non lte this year. Sometime around spring of this year, i was on a vacation. While on vacation, I dropped my moto g and my bag into a river and thought i would never see it again.
A few days ago, the authorities said they had found my bag with all my possesions and my moto g. they shipped them to me.
I would like to know if there is any chance of recovering my device? So far, I've opened the back cover and saw it was covered in water. Some parts were also rusted. The display has weird purple blotches around the edge. I have tried to power on or charge the device. I have put the device in a bag of rice and put it in a warm area of my house.
Will I need to swap out any parts? Where could I find parts? I'm willing to replace parts. Also, where could I find instructions for replacing parts?
Thanks.
After sitting in water that long I'd be surprised it it ever came back from the dead. Also the worst thing you can do is to power on a wet phone. I would guess that you have some rust on the board, plus in the usb and earphone holes. I personally think the parts would exceed the value of the phone.
Hi there. I've opened up the main board, and I have not tried power it on. I've removed the battery, sim card, and buttons. The main bored appears corroded and I dried it off. If I dip it in 91% isoploryl alcohol, would it remove corrosion? I also saw corrosion in the ports. If I remove all the corrosion and water, logically the device would work again, right?
Anything is possible, you can also put a wet device in a bag of uncooked rice if no type of desiccant or silica powder is available. That will absorb moisture from places you can't see. As for alcohol, alcohol is a solvent and can dissolve the internal adhesives. If it was salt water, that's even worse since it dries and leaves crystals behind. I'll be shocked if you get it working completely after soaking in water. I'm surprised the sim card didn't get ruined.
Sent from my SM-T530NU using Tapatalk
At this point in time, I really don't care if the son card works or not. I just want to get to the point where I can power the device on and charge. I be read online in many places people suggested to dip your device in 91% isopropyl alcohol. Where can I get this alcohol and how much would it be? I have placed the device in a paper towel and put on top of a heating vent in my house. I'll see if that does anything.
That's regular alcohol that's sold at any drugstore or store that sells first aid stuff. You can buy it in different percentages of strength.
Sent from my SM-T530NU using Tapatalk
OH MY GOD. I CLEANED OUT THE INTERNALS, REMOVED ALL THE CORROSION I COULD WITH A TOOTHBRUSH, THEN SCREWED THE THING BACK TOGETHER. THEN I PLUGGED IT IN, AND GUESS WHAT, THERE ARE SIGNS OF LIFE!!!! The boot screen blinks for one second and goes away. There is a white led that constantly flashes. The device shows 0% charging. I have tried to boot it into recovery but the device keeps bootlooping. It turns on by itself, blinks white led, shows motorola screen, shuts off then repeats the process. I'll leave it to charge and see what happens.
Okay so maybe I reacted too quickly. I'm trying to get the device working. So far, I can boot it into fast boot mode and no further. My computer recognizes the device and can perform fast boot operations. I have tried to flash the stock firmware but the device reports error low battery remote failure on some operations. The device still does not boot. I plugged in the device for about an hour, but the second I take it off the charger, it cannot function. The device still is boot looping when it's plugged in. What should I do now?
Make absolutely sure there is no corrosion in the USB plug. After that, I don't have any ideas, something in the charge circuit has a problem or something between the battery and board.
Sent from my SM-T530NU using Tapatalk
I can't seem to remove the corrosion in the USB plug. Besides, I can plug my device into the wall or the computer and at least has limited function, however removing the plug will cause the device to loose power. The device shows up on my pc and I tried writing the factory image but the device is still in it's weird bootloop. My computer just keeps playing the USB disconnected and connected sound everytime the device does the bootloop. If I boot into fastvoor I can moto device manager to show and it says fastboot falcon s
That may be part of your problem. The corrosion in the plug could cause most of your problem. That port only costs 50 cents US, but I believe its tightly soldered in and if that's the case it would be very hard to replace without a special soldering gun.
Sent from my SM-T530NU using Tapatalk
Probabily your battery is dead

Repairing water damaged phone

Hi,
i send my phone down the river and probably killed it. backplate was broken and charging lid as well, there is no warranty any more.
i dried it for a week in a box covered with rice and tried to turn it on afterwards. No reactions on buttons, but after i plugged in the charger, the LED got red and Display turned on showing the "Sony" Screen. after a second or two LED and screen went black and the procedure started again. and again. after a few repetitions i put the plug away. so i didn't charge the phone any longer than ~5min and have not plugged it to the PC.
first question is if someone has encountered the same symptomes and can give a statement of chance to revive the phone. Second one is: Where to start? there are lots of guides to disassemble the phone, thats not a problem i think, i have all the tools i need and a little bit technical knowhow. I want to start checking the battery, pretty shure its dead. afterwards i want to check the board for signs of corrosion. but then?
grateful for any tipps, especialy want to know whats the real death sentence for a water damaged phone. after i have seen the screen working i thought main functionality is there and only the battery died.
xant05 said:
Hi,
i send my phone down the river and probably killed it. backplate was broken and charging lid as well, there is no warranty any more.
i dried it for a week in a box covered with rice and tried to turn it on afterwards. No reactions on buttons, but after i plugged in the charger, the LED got red and Display turned on showing the "Sony" Screen. after a second or two LED and screen went black and the procedure started again. and again. after a few repetitions i put the plug away. so i didn't charge the phone any longer than ~5min and have not plugged it to the PC.
first question is if someone has encountered the same symptomes and can give a statement of chance to rivive the phone. Second one is: Where to start? there are lots of guides to disassemble the phone, thats not a problem i think, i have all the tools i need and a little bit technical knowhow. I want to start checking the battery, pretty shure its dead. afterwards i want to check the board for signs of corrosion. but then?
grateful for any tipps, especialy want to know whats the real death sentence for a water damaged phone. after i have seen the screen working i thought main functionality is there and only the battery died.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would leave it plugged in and see if you can build up any sort of charge in the battery. It seems that changing the battery would be an obvious first step, if you can get enough charge in the phone to fire up the mainboard, then you will see what else needs to be changed. leave it plugged into a charger for 24 hours.
Do you want to repair it to salvage what data is on the phone or is it financial reasons? tbh the cost of new mainboard and battery, plus replacement back screen is going to be more than a second hand phone off ebay. If it's a science project then bravo, not enough people try to rescue thier old kit from the bin, but I'm saying there are easier options than pulling it apart.
Having never pulled a phone apart myself I can't really offer any more advice, but you might want to drop @Chamelleon a PM, as he regularly contributes with hardware fixes and knows his stuff.
its more about financial reasons, data is all backed up. Buying a new phone should be the last option. i want to repair it cause i like repairing things and i want to make clear that the phone is absolutely dead or not. i dont think i would buy a new mainboard/display/battery if i am not completely shure that this will fix all problems. in this case id rather buy a new phone.
i am a bit afraid that if i charge the battery for 24h and still have a circuit on the motherboard i will completely destroy it.
xant05 said:
its more about financial reasons, data is all backed up. Buying a new phone should be the last option. i want to repair it cause i like repairing things and i want to make clear that the phone is absolutely dead or not. i dont think i would buy a new mainboard/display/battery if i am not completely shure that this will fix all problems. in this case id rather buy a new phone.
i am a bit afraid that if i charge the battery for 24h and still have a circuit on the motherboard i will completely destroy it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
A week in rice in a warm place means there's no moisture in the phone.
The phone won't be damaged by trying to charge the battery and you need to find out if there's anything working from a full charge.
I recently had a waterdamage too. I took it apart and i saw that there was some corrosion on the board by the display connector. I put the mainboard in isopropyl alcohol (you can get that in the pharmacy). I carefully cleaned the affected part with a soft toothbrush and let it dry for a while. And now my phone is back a life and everything works as it should
Good Luck!
Didgesteve said:
A week in rice in a warm place means there's no moisture in the phone.
The phone won't be damaged by trying to charge the battery and you need to find out if there's anything working from a full charge.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, turns out this guy is right. Phone is working after charging. Vibration is dead and there are some residues of the wather in or behind the display, but nothing else i can find now. i think i will still disassemble the phone, and clean all parts. Maybe i will replace the vibration motor, but i think i can live without one...

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