Help Recent Battery Drain Issue

[AcousticMisery]

Recently (the past month or so), I have been experiencing issues with my battery draining when my phone is plugged in and in use. I used to be able to sit and watch videos for hours when the phone was plugged in. If the battery was below 100%, it would charge when in use. Once it reached 100%, it would stay charged.

Now, if I plug the phone in and then do something as simple as browse the internet for a few minutes, the percentage slowly drops.

I did an experiment and charged it to 100% and then used it to watch videos for a few minutes. It said it was still at 100%, but when I unplugged it and then plugged it back in, it said it was charging. So, I restarted it, and the battery was at 95%.

The first time this happened, I took the battery out and then put it back in, and that seemed to work. When it was under 100%, I could plug it in, use it, and see the battery percentage rising. A few days ago, I tried this again, and it worked again. However, I tried it yesterday, and it did not work.

The drain is much slower than if it were not plugged in, but it is still annoying, especially when it did not do this for the first 9 months that I owned the phone.

The phone does not feel hot, and the battery is not hot when I remove it. If it is the battery, I am fine with buying a new one. I just wonder if this has something to do with the latest Kit Kit update. I do not download a lot of apps, and nothing is running in the background, so I don't know what else it could be.

 

[johnny_w]

I'd love to take credit for this but I just can't.

Use this: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.abmantis.galaxychargingcurrent.free&hl=en

It's specifically made for Galaxy phones. Basically shows you 3 lines: The top one or reference is how much current your phone should be getting from an original charger, the second is the maximum current you're getting from your charger, and 3rd is the average current you got over time time you started charging.

Basically, if you're charging via USB connection on PC, it should charge at 460mah, which is really slow and depending on what you're doing with the phone, it may not charge at all. Anything below that and you have a phone that's eating current and not charging.

 

[AcousticMisery]

My reference and average are 460mah, but I am not charging via PC. Does this mean that my charger is bad? I am so not tech savvy.

 

[johnny_w]

Are you using the original charger and cable? If yes you might want to try another cable assuming you have one handy. If that doesn't help my guess would be your charger is toast. When buying a new one be sure to look at the amp output. You want 1.5 amps or better.
Look on the bright side, a charger sure is cheaper than a new phone.
Hope I've helped and good luck.
Oh, and if I'm missing anything I'm sure one of the many helpful folks here will let us know!

 

[AcousticMisery]

Are you using the original charger and cable? If yes you might want to try another cable assuming you have one handy. If that doesn't help my guess would be your charger is toast. When buying a new one be sure to look at the amp output. You want 1.5 amps or better.
Look on the bright side, a charger sure is cheaper than a new phone.
Hope I've helped and good luck.
Oh, and if I'm missing anything I'm sure one of the many helpful folks here will let us know!

I am using the original charger and cable. I will have to buy a new one and see if that works. Thanks for your help

 

[AcousticMisery]

When not in use, my reference and average are at 1900. As soon as I start using the phone, it drops to about 600. Does this still seem to point to the charger as the problem?

 

[johnny_w]

Well, now I've gone from feeling helpful to stumped. My only guess would be a cable or connection that's going bad. Could it be the fact that you're moving the phone? If you have an intermittent connection or a bad wire in the cable moving the phone could cause an issue. Are you sure you don't have another USB cable hiding around somewhere? Let me repeat that this a guess.
If it's the caused by the phone being in use then I am no help what so ever and I can only hope the greater minds of this forum chime in.
Hope I've helped and not just muddied the waters!

 

[AcousticMisery]

Well, now I've gone from feeling helpful to stumped. My only guess would be a cable or connection that's going bad. Could it be the fact that you're moving the phone? If you have an intermittent connection or a bad wire in the cable moving the phone could cause an issue. Are you sure you don't have another USB cable hiding around somewhere? Let me repeat that this a guess.
If it's the caused by the phone being in use then I am no help what so ever and I can only hope the greater minds of this forum chime in.
Hope I've helped and not just muddied the waters!

You were a big help! I just wanted to add another follow up, which I am hoping might also help other people who have this problem. I downloaded Battery Booster Lite from the Play store, which is a fantastic and helpful app that monitors all aspects of battery usage and allows for a variety of personalized settings. I set it to close everything that was running in the background, and just like that, my battery percentage started going up, even while in use. So, it looks like there is an app or something that is causing this issue. I still don't know what it could be (in the past month or two, I have only downloaded one app: the CBS app), but it is definitely something.

 

[sreum]

9 months is getting up there for the estimated 1 yr the batteries usually last. Also the S4's wall chargers don't last very much longer past that point either from my experience.

You should be able to play games, surf the Internet, have GPS on, and make a phone call all at the same time that the phone is slowly gaining percentage for charging.

From my experience with the S4 it has always been the charger and the cord that's gone bad. They have been lasting any where's from 6 months to 18 months for me. So I would try replacing the wall plug and the cord with another stock replacement one.

As for the batteries. They usually continue to charge correctly and discharge correctly. When they start to go bad you'll notice that they won't last as long as they used to when they were brand new.

 

[seancojr]

I'd love to take credit for this but I just can't.

It's great of you for passing on the information. I made sure to give thanks to the original poster.