Almost ready to return this phone... FREAKIN' BATTERY ISSUES!!!!

[L0stS0ul]

Oh, then we are opposite, Automatic task killer caused problems for me.

 

[NefariousAryq]

I've kept all task killers off of my Eris because of discussions just like this Someone says one works great for them, but another person has terrible problems with it. Person 2 likes xxx, but it works awful for person 1. Heh.

I guess I've been lucky, my battery has been fine without using one.

*knock on wood*

 

[OfTheDamned]

Just curious, when you guys are saying that you "have to put it back on the charger" are we talking about.......

1-The phone has died and will not turn on?

2-The meter is red?

3-It shows below 5%?

4-It is just low and you are worried about it?

 

[Grimster]

You're an idiot. Get out of my thread.

My knowledge shall not be denied.

 

[Needsdecaf]

My knowledge shall not be denied.

 

[nickpapagiorgio]

UPDATE:

I know I'm going to jinx it by posting this, but something seems to have greatly improved my battery life. It's now 8:45 a.m., I took the phone off the charger about an hour ago. I've turned it on several times to check the battery level and I made one 7 minute call and the phone is still at 99%!!!

This is phenomenal considering yesterday in this same amount of time with almost the exact same usage I was down to 87%.

The main things I did differently are:

1.) I reinstalled Automatic Task Killer;

2.) I charged the phone without turning it off first (really though it was just because last night was the first night it hadn't been dead by the time I went to bed).

I think the Automatic Task Killer is what helped though because yesterday, I noticed a difference almost as soon as I reinstalled it. It's strange though because my awake time is consistently around 25%, so it's not like something is running and keeping the phone awake. The phone definitely sleeps but somehow something must remain running and use the crap out of the battery.

Anyway, hopefully the issue is resolved...

 

[nickpapagiorgio]

Just curious, when you guys are saying that you "have to put it back on the charger" are we talking about.......

1-The phone has died and will not turn on?

2-The meter is red?

3-It shows below 5%?

4-It is just low and you are worried about it?

Depends on what you're referring to...

 

[doo567]

UPDATE:

I know I'm going to jinx it by posting this, but something seems to have greatly improved my battery life. It's now 8:45 a.m., I took the phone off the charger about an hour ago. I've turned it on several times to check the battery level and I made one 7 minute call and the phone is still at 99%!!!

This is phenomenal considering yesterday in this same amount of time with almost the exact same usage I was down to 87%.

The main things I did differently are:

1.) I reinstalled Automatic Task Killer;

2.) I charged the phone without turning it off first (really though it was just because last night was the first night it hadn't been dead by the time I went to bed).

I think the Automatic Task Killer is what helped though because yesterday, I noticed a difference almost as soon as I reinstalled it. It's strange though because my awake time is consistently around 25%, so it's not like something is running and keeping the phone awake. The phone definitely sleeps but somehow something must remain running and use the crap out of the battery.

Anyway, hopefully the issue is resolved...

I might be noticing some differences also. I installed advanced task killer yesterday and killed all the crap that was running. Immediately the phone was snappy and the battery stayed at the same level for over an hour with constant google talk chatting. Today I fired up phone at 4:30am after a whole night of charging. I let it sleep until 5:00am (actually never touched it for 30 minutes), but I left it on the charger. So, I go take it off charger at 5:00 and it says awake time in the 20% range. I was like what? So I ran the advanced task killer and I couldn't believe all the apps that were running. I killed them all, took off charger (so we are leaving house with 100% battery and hardly anything running). I checked it at 6:30am and guess what, still at 100% with awake time of 11%. Of course it didn't use it. I checked at 7:00am and it is now at 93%. Most days I would be in the 80's already without use. I think either one the battery meter is messed up or two on initial boot all these apps start running and initially take a huge bite out the battery. We will see if the battery holds better as the day goes or if the meter is just flaky.

 

[nickpapagiorgio]

I'm down to 72% but I've been on it for over an hour and half using the internet, sending emails, etc.

I've never had a problem with the battery while in use... I understand that using the phone will cause the battery to run out. My problem has always been the battery depleting while not using it.

So we'll have to see how it lasts now that I'm done using it for a while.

 

[Caddyman]

Ill say this, those that are saying the meter seems off are right. I had blinky light this morning, asking for a charge at like 7am this morning, it just now died, and i would say it was medium use.....4 hours.

 

[ryanc2]

I think it is just taking a little longer to condition these batteries. I've changed little to nothing and after 3 days of total discharge --> total charge cycles, it is like a different phone.

Today has been pretty heavy use (2 30+ phone calls, emails, market, web) and have only dropped 3 bars on the battery meter in the last 3 hours. Yesterday, it went over 15 hours of good use and never dropped out of green bars. The last two days have been much better than my iphone ever was (not that it was a great benchmark).

Still have push on for Exchange and Gmail
WIFI on (all day at work and all night at home)
No BT
No GPS
No Task Killer of any kind (makes me OCD)
Manual Weather updates
Manual Facebook updates
Screen brightness set to 8% which is still plenty bright

 

[nickpapagiorgio]

I think it is just taking a little longer to condition these batteries. I've changed little to nothing and after 3 days of total discharge --> total charge cycles, it is like a different phone.

Today has been pretty heavy use (2 30+ phone calls, emails, market, web) and have only dropped 3 bars on the battery meter in the last 3 hours. Yesterday, it went over 15 hours of good use and never dropped out of green bars. The last two days have been much better than my iphone ever was (not that it was a great benchmark).

Still have push on for Exchange and Gmail
WIFI on (all day at work and all night at home)
No BT
No GPS
No Task Killer of any kind (makes me OCD)
Manual Weather updates
Manual Facebook updates
Screen brightness set to 8% which is still plenty bright

Although I'm all for doing whatever works, almost all research I've seen seems to indicate that there is no need to condition lithium-ion batteries because they don't have "memory" like old nickle based batteries used to.
In fact, the only thing you're not supposed to do is allow the batteries to discharge too low...

 

[c64]

I think it is just taking a little longer to condition these batteries. I've changed little to nothing and after 3 days of total discharge --> total charge cycles, it is like a different phone.

So when you mean total charge cycles, you wold discharge the phone then let it charge over night?

 

[ryanc2]

Although I'm all for doing whatever works, almost all research I've seen seems to indicate that there is no need to condition lithium-ion batteries because they don't have "memory" like old nickle based batteries used to.
In fact, the only thing you're not supposed to do is allow the batteries to discharge too low...

I agree in terms of long term maintenance. THere isn't much need to do this regularly to protect battery condition, like with older nickle batteries. I do feel that all batteries require a break-in period before reaching optimum performance. However, I'm no electrical engineer, so we might need Grimster's opinion on the subject.

 

[ryanc2]

So when you mean total charge cycles, you wold discharge the phone then let it charge over night?

Yep.

 

[Cornfuzzled]

I've been following this thread since it started, and thought I'd weight in my .02.

From when I got my phone, charged it up, lasted for just short of 5 hours. I let it full drain, power up to 100%, full drain, power up to 100%. Never got more than 5-6 hours. Found out about the Message app, I had the bug, fixed that, turned everything off but the phone service, manual updates, Advanced Task Killer installed and jumped up to an amazing 7-9 hours on a charge.

The last couple days I continued to full deplete battery, full charge, by the end of the work day, dead as a post. Last night, I went back to VZN and asked for a new battery. They gave me one. Got home, plugged it in overnight. Took it off the charger at 7am, and now 5 hours later, I just dropped below 60%.

Activity so far today: 3 phone calls for about 30min total, hand full of text messages, checked facebook for about 10 minutes. I don't know... things might be looking up. Just might keep this phone after all.

-Cornfuzzled

 

[nickpapagiorgio]

. . . We might need grimster's opinion on the subject.

rofl!

 

[Deleted User]

I bought one myself and my son in law got the second one free deal. We both charged our phones at the exact same times and for the same period of time. Then after using my phone for 6:40 it said the battery was dead and I needed to put it on the charger. My son in law's phone still had 75%! So the next day he was on his phone for 6 straight hours adding applications and whatnot, while I used mine for only showing my grandson one application and showing my son how to add a photo to an contact. Other than that my phone was not being used at all. Again at about 6:30 my phone was dead. His had 50% left after 6 hours of solid use. So I took the phone back to Verizon before after just 2 days of use. I showed the tech the list I had made showing him what I had done with the phone in the short time it had a charge. He suggested that perhaps I used my phone for more emails than my son had. I told him I had done basicalyy nothing with the phone while my son was playing with his for the 6 hours. So I got a new battery out of the deal. Today I got up and the phone was just about totally discharged. I charged it for 3 hours, and so far it seems to be ok. I am using Advanced Task Killer and have everything turned off. I also instaled Power Manager, which turns the screen brightness down almost immediately after yo start up anything on the phone.

Just like you and everybody else, I love this damn phone, but I hae the BS battery they put in it to keep it skinny. That may have been a big mistake and if I was able to make a suggestion to HTC, it would be that they suffer a little more thickness on the phone so they could put a battery in it that will make it through an entire day. As much as I love this phone, I will return it in a heartbeat if this second battery has the same issues. I told the tech that he might be seeing me again and again during the 30 days test drive time if this battery can't cut a normal day. He told me I was not the first person that told him that. Bad planning HTC.

 

[Deleted User]

Although I'm all for doing whatever works, almost all research I've seen seems to indicate that there is no need to condition lithium-ion batteries because they don't have "memory" like old nickle based batteries used to.
In fact, the only thing you're not supposed to do is allow the batteries to discharge too low...

I agree that thee batteries do not need a "break in" period. Today's batteries do not have memory issues like older batteries had. It has been many years since this was true. I believe that Verizon is telling us they need to be broken in because it is costing them a fortune to replace crappy batteries. I think they figure we will be less likely to demand a new battery if we fall for the break in bullcrap. Bottom line - HTC screwed up by wanting a skinny phone and using a sub-standard battery to accomplish this. If they are wise, the next incarnation of the Eris will be a bit fatter and will hold a fatter and more capable battery. It's just too bad that we like the toys and gizmos so much that we have to be the first generation and therefore stuck with the weak battery performance.

 

[rubinscube]

I am with you 100% on this. I have tried everything under the sun to keep the battery at a sustainable level. I have did every tip, trick out there. It is no fun being scared to use the phone because of the battery. I really love it, but I really am getting sick of it. Maybe the Droid is a better answer!!

when I got my droid eris I read a post surfing the internet that you should drain the battery and recharge it 10 times, seemed a little overkill. it took me 10 days to do this and as the days went by I did notice that the battery was getting better. today my battery lasts approximately 40 hours before needing a full charge, but that is my experience.