Help Inc Overheats from Internet Use

[gidget]

i've searched for previous answers on this topic and didn't find my specific issue. my incredible has been overheating when i use the internet. this is something i've noticed only since the 2.2 update. today it got as high as 125. at times, i am in a bad signal area, but it still shouldn't overheat the phone. just now, i was in a good signal area, did the same thing, got to 118 before draining the battery and dying (went through 20% in about 15 minutes). this only happens when i use the internet, so i don't think it's a battery issue. i am using the 1500 bidallies battery, which has not given me any problems at all in the months i have used it.

i went ahead and had verizon send me a replacement today (verizon rep: "oh, wow, you have a way to see what the actual temperature is on the battery? that's cool!" ...sigh). the phone is otherwise just fine, with just one previous episode where it freaked out and overheated just sitting there on my desk one day. it hasn't done that since (that i know of), but the internet overheating thing is a problem. it makes it next to impossible to use the internet, because even if i can ignore the burning on my hand, the battery gets eaten alive.

i'm really not pleased about having to take my chances with another refurb. but i'm not sure what my choice is. anyhow, has anyone else had this problem? i wish there was an app that would somehow cool the thing down. i also wish i knew why the phone was overheating when going on the internet. so weird.

 

[Mischka7]

My Inc overheats during internet usage, Pandora, and navigation. I've had it shut down on me inexplicably, but probably due to overheating. This only happened after 2.2 as well. I performed a factory reset and used the phone for a couple hours with only the preinstalled apps. Phone heated up and sucked battery like a baby on a bottle. Would like to know if this is a battery thing or a software thing.

 

[gidget]

well, if the new(ish) one i get tomorrow no longer overheats, i would imagine it's a phone specific thing. if it's a software issue, it would seem that we'd all be having this problem. if it's app/function specific, which it seems to be, it wouldn't seem to be a battery thing. i'm really not a very good diagnostician, but we'll see. perhaps i should try another browser and see if i get the same result. have you tried different browsers? i just use the stock browser.

i had done a factory reset after i installed the update, so yeah, that does not appear to have any effect on this. for me, it's just when i'm using the internet, although i have never really checked it with gps on. i only ever have my phone on my dash mount when i use gps, so i wouldn't notice it easily. when holding the phone when it overheats, there's no mistaking it. that thing gets HOT.

 

[JohnKuczek]

I have the same issue with internet and navigation. When navigating, I have a vent mount that blows a/c directly on it in summer months. Winter could be interesting...

 

[tbeas]

See this thread: http://androidforums.com/incredible...ng/70203-droid-incredible-random-restart.html

And there was another thread I had made if I can find it... this one: http://androidforums.com/incredible...g/174400-endless-reboot-loop-overheating.html

 

[Vaseline Smith]

I can attest to this to anytime I use my internet I experience over heating as well, Along with pandora and any app that uses GPS like my tracks and maps and C:geo.

 

[Vaseline Smith]

That trade in value is looking real high for the dinc.

 

[gidget]

See this thread: http://androidforums.com/incredible...ng/70203-droid-incredible-random-restart.html

And there was another thread I had made if I can find it... this one: http://androidforums.com/incredible...g/174400-endless-reboot-loop-overheating.html

so it looks like it must be a hardware problem. hopefully the new phone will not have this issue. i think it's weird that i wasn't noticing this before if it was a hardware issue with the phone, but whatever. i have been using the internet more since froyo, i guess, perhaps that is why i'm noticing it more? i actually don't think that's it, though...i used the internet fairly often before, too.

uch, i hate this. i feel like i finally had a phone that was working really well (i went through 5 moto droids before they upgraded me to this phone), and now this. i'm really not a picky person. i guess i'm not a very lucky person, either.

 

[tbeas]

The thing is, many people had this problem before 2.2. Trust me, I troubleshooted this thing to the death.

 

[Outlaw71]

Don't worry, it's not just a Dinc problem, my DX gets really hot when I play games like RoboDefense and Angry Birds for a long period of time. As far as when I tether, I've noticed if I turn the screen off while I'm tethering (have it set to 'never sleep' when plugged into USB, but I hit the sleep button on top and turn the screen off that way) it stays relatively cool, and will actually charge slowly. Before I started turning the screen off it would get too hot to charge, and eventually die. Which really sucked before I got my extended battery and was able to switch to a new battery after the one in it drained completely.

So I wouldn't think it would be a hardware problem. These phones just really use a lot of power while doing some of their normal functions. Gobbling that power up heats up the battery... that's just plain physics, that's what happens to a battery when it's being heavily taxed. Before I figured out to turn the screen off on my phone while tethering, but after I got my extended battery, once the battery that was in my phone drained and I took it out and put the new battery in the phone was fine. It was just the battery that was hot, not the phone itself.

But yes with todays smartphones sucking power the way they do they are going to have to start ventilating them better or even (although this will require battery power just to perform) putting tiny fans on them to cool them off. Before I got my extended battery, when my phone would die while tethering I would unplug it and stick the whole phone in the refrigerator for 15 minutes in order to cool it down enough to accept a charge again.

Thank God turning the screen off took care of all that!

 

[gidget]

The thing is, many people had this problem before 2.2. Trust me, I troubleshooted this thing to the death.

but then would you agree that it is a hardware issue and would likely be fixed with a new unit? i have never had my inc reboot or shut off because of the overheating (however, it shut off because the battery drained so quickly to 0). my phone just gets super hot every time i use the internet (and probably the gps, but it's sitting in front of an a/c vent whenever the gps is on).

i'm just wondering if i am wasting my time with a new unit. do all the incs do this? i guess i will try activating the new phone and playing with it for a day before i send the old one back. i don't want to just invite other problems if they all overheat, since this unit doesn't seem to have any other issues.

 

[JohnBoyToo]

The wife came to me with her Inc trying to send a LARGE video that failed and the phone was hot to the touch....

found 3 large emails in the outbox and after I deleted them, it started to cool down...

but still can't get the video off the phone.... so off to Vz store we go for that and failed usb connections and overheating.... sigh...

guess I'm like the Vz Rep - it's her phone, so I don't use it enough to know how to test temps but she loves the phone and is off my back about embarassed about having an old flip phone "that was delivered in a covered wagon"- so it's good !

 

[tbeas]

but then would you agree that it is a hardware issue and would likely be fixed with a new unit? i have never had my inc reboot or shut off because of the overheating (however, it shut off because the battery drained so quickly to 0). my phone just gets super hot every time i use the internet (and probably the gps, but it's sitting in front of an a/c vent whenever the gps is on).

i'm just wondering if i am wasting my time with a new unit. do all the incs do this? i guess i will try activating the new phone and playing with it for a day before i send the old one back. i don't want to just invite other problems if they all overheat, since this unit doesn't seem to have any other issues.

Not all INCs do this, no. A new unit will fix the issue if it is similar to what I said. But it doesn't sound like yours actually had the problem that mine did.

Every phone is going to get hot under heavy use like that. They have a certain operating range though (up to like 54C I believe). Meaning that the phone should work fine under that temperature. Of course, heat shortens battery life, so yes the battery will die quicker and ultimately hold shorter and shorter charges if it keeps working at the temp. It should still technically run though. (My phone would restart at like 34-36C...big difference)

 

[Mahalo]

Right after reading this thread I found and installed a battery wiggy to watch temps. Then I went to a bar to have a few beers. I proceeded to teach some bar flies how awesome the internet is and cruised home. My phone has been feeding a laptop for 5 hours on wired tether and the battery temp is only 98 according to batteryleft.

I've spent days... entire days...watching streaming netflix movies on my laptop via my tethered Incredible. I have never, ever, even with my old stock battery, seen overheating. I've been to 106 but the ambient temp was 101 and there was no problemo.

I have my machine rooted and over clocked but CPU on demand.

What is your set up?

 

[gidget]

Right after reading this thread I found and installed a battery wiggy to watch temps. Then I went to a bar to have a few beers. I proceeded to teach some bar flies how awesome the internet is and cruised home. My phone has been feeding a laptop for 5 hours on wired tether and the battery temp is only 98 according to batteryleft.

I've spent days... entire days...watching streaming netflix movies on my laptop via my tethered Incredible. I have never, ever, even with my old stock battery, seen overheating. I've been to 106 but the ambient temp was 101 and there was no problemo.

I have my machine rooted and over clocked but CPU on demand.

What is your set up?

i am not rooted, just running normally. i have a good deal of widgets (htc weather/clock, news, calendar, bookmarks, friendstream). i am using the 1500 bidallies battery. i have my weather update hourly, everything else a little less frequently. i get good battery life and everything else on the phone works great, but when i try to use the internet, it heats up quick.

i have been on the internet checking two websites for about 5 minutes, and it's now at 109 and hot to the touch (even through the verizon silicone case). this is typical lately. now it's at 116 after visiting a couple other sites. i'm using the stock browser.

granted, i don't get great reception here at work, but this happens no matter where i am. my phone is making for a great hand warmer, but i'm afraid too much of this heat will fry it. my new phone should arrive today.

 

[inKRbl]

I'd be curious to know if you get the same overheating on Wifi as with 3G. And perhaps if you're using flash heavy sites + flash app?

I needed to replace an Inc for heat issues. My refurb would crash/restart around 30C -35C which was easy to do. Browsing text based websites on wifi with a 1bar 3g signal raises the temp to ~33C (from ambient ~21C).

I'm impressed yours can take those temps without crashing!

 

[kaiwahine]

My Droid does the same thing before and after the Froyo update. Pretty much gets warm to the touch after about 30 min of use and reboots. Internet causes it mostly but more bc that's what I do usually for longer periods of time. I did a factory reset today after a frustrating visit to my local Verizon store (no tech support, put me on phone with 800 number and got disconnected...). Added ONLY Angry Birds, and played for a while, it shut down again within about 30 min....
Really not acceptable. I have a new phone en route and I really hope it's a phone defect bc this is truly not agreeable. I love this phone but am discouraged by the complete lack of tech support from Verizon. The tech on the phone was telling me they can't/won't solve phone specific problems.
My phone also began FC/deleting all my apps, losing contacts, bringing up blank screens... it went downhill fast. So I factory reset it and am wiating for the new phone. Hoping it will at least work as a phone until Friday. My fingers are crossed the next one is better.

 

[ORRY?]

Any update on this? I can't even browse the internet or play games on my 15 minute breaks at work without it restarting once or twice. Non-rooted Froyo with HTC extended 2150 battery. Would really like to avoid a factory reset...