Help Help! Phone won't hold a charge, dies sometimes even when charged

[Deleted User]

Help, my phone is circling the drain!

I got a G1 (new, off ebay) about 3 months ago. It's never had a great battery life. BUT now it's doing two possibly related things:

First, it will die with no notice, even when it's still got a green battery. The screen will just go dark (well, I can see the shadow of what was on the screen for a minute or two, but it's not responsive). If I try booting it back up right away, it will get to the "android" screen, then turn off again. BUT if I leave it for a while, sometimes it will boot back up again (and still show green battery life).

Second, it's either not charging or not holding a charge. I can't get more than about a half hour now of active use out of it (talking on phone, checking Facebook, that kind of thing). It means that it's essentially useless as a mobile phone now.

If anyone has any ideas, I'd be so grateful. Failing that, what's the best way to go about getting it fixed? I'm using it with Simple Mobile and bought it on ebay, so obviously I can't just return it to the mobile carrier.

Thanks, all.

 

[fratermus]

A couple of things - new batts are cheap off eBay; less than $10 shipped.

Also, might want to charge for several hours with the phone off. If it's confused about battery stats that might help. But I bet the batt is dying.

 

[kmacdowe]

Long shot but try a different charger/usb. There are two kinds of USBs, one type may indicate the phone is charging when it is not. I had a similar problem. The battery would seemingly go from fully charged to drained within 20 minutes. The wrong USB was freaking the phone out. Also the free app "Usage Timelines Free" might help you find any battery hogs.