Help Li-Ion Battery Charging Discussion

[EarlyMon]

I've noticed that the newest version of Google Play Services has a wakelock problem and that's munching my battery in new ways. Going to have to wait for update to fix that one.

GSam Battery Monitor does a good job displaying wakelocks and is pretty flexible.

 

[SpyGuy10]

I have an HTC EVO V (Virgin Mobile's version of the EVO 3D). I've been using it with the original battery without problems since I bought it new, over a year-and-a-half ago. It has never been rooted. In recent months, the battery life has dropped off significantly, and the battery is slightly swollen in the center.

I couple of months ago, I bought an extended battery off Amazon. But when I installed the battery, the phone would not charge it. With the phone off and the charger connected, the red charging LED would come on for a few seconds, then would continuously alternate flashing between red and green (red, off, green, off, red, off, green, off...). I left it on the charger overnight, but it was still like that in the morning. I turned on the phone, disconnected the charger, and turned on the phone. The battery icon at the top bar was gray with an exclamation point. Going to Settings/Power, the Battery Status was "Unknown" but the Battery Level showed it was about half-charged (I believe this was the charge the new battery had from the factory). I connected the charger with the phone on. Once again, the battery charge LED flashed alternately between red and green; the battery status icon remained gray with an exclamation point.

I tried doing some research and read something about the phone possibly being "confused" by the different capacity and charge level of the extended battery. So I disconnected the charge cable and used the phone to discharge the new battery, hoping that would allow the phone to start with a new charge and "learn" the new capacity of this battery. That did not work: the phone still refused to charge the new battery. I tried two different cables with two different chargers. I also connected to my PC and the USB data link worked fine, but still no charging.

Now here's the interesting part: throughout my trials, I was able to swap back in my original battery at any time and the phone would immediately recognize it and start charging it (with the phone off or on). Everything was normal whenever I put in the old battery. So at this point, I figured the new extended battery was either defective or incompatible. I returned it and tried to find a local source to buy a new battery.

I could not find an HTC OEM battery, so I ordered a Lenmar replacement battery (standard size) from BestBuy. The Lenmar battery model number is CLZ458HT, with a rating of 3.7V 5.4Wh / 1450mAh. I put this battery in and experienced the exact same problems as described above. The phone refuses to charge the Lenmar battery, with the phone either off or on, and the Battery Status is still listed as "Unknown." However, the phone continues to charge and function properly whenever I put the original battery back in.

I desperately need a solution for this problem as the original battery won't even hold a charge for half a day anymore.

 

[marctronixx]

3rd party batteries may show up as "unknown" to the phone and this is normal and to be expected.

you need to simply source an OEM battery for best results. if you can't source an OEM, you will have hit or miss with 3rd party batteries.

please understand this phone has been discontinued for quite sometime so the quality of battery replacements out there is slim.

 

[SpyGuy10]

I normally despise how litigious our society has become. But how can phone manufacturers make a phone that refuses to charge any battery but their own, while at the same time discontinue the sale of batteries for that phone after a short period of time? Seems like the basis of a class-action lawsuit.

This phone is less than two years old. I realize that many people feel compelled to purchase new phones every 6 months, but that is such a huge waste or resources, energy, and money. In any case, I do not like the idea of being forced to upgrade -- simply for lack of an OEM battery -- when my current phone performs perfectly well for all I ask of it.

 

[EarlyMon]

I normally despise how litigious our society has become. But how can phone manufacturers make a phone that refuses to charge any battery but there own...

They didn't and that's not at all what's happening.

If you look over our original posts on this phone, it was the first of a new breed in charging technology - old hat today.

Most aftermarket battery makers are liars. The phone is complaining because it's not being fed something that matches its specs. That happens a lot - see the part where I called most battery makers liars.

As soon as you put in a new battery, reboot the phone, that clears the calibration table. It may take time to get an extended battery agreeing with the shown charge level but not long, usually a few charge cycles.

If you're getting the warnings you indicate, sue the battery manufacturer for saying that they provided a compatible battery - because they didn't.

Your 3D may be less than 2 years old, but mine is going to be 3 on June 1st. As marctronixx said, now it's just harder for us to find decent replacements.

BTW - HTC never made their own batteries. The original ones aren't magic, they simply matched the spec.

That your battery is swollen means that it was overheated at some point. The sooner you replace it, the better. It's not safe.

If you're interested in a large capacity battery please check out http://androidforums.com/htc-evo-3d/391457-3500mah-htc-evo-3d-battery-review.html

HTCpedia is out of stock on the originals but maybe contact them, see if they have any tips - http://shop.htcpedia.com/htc-evo-3d-spare-battery.html

The Lennatron isn't close to the original capacity - makes you wonder what else they got wrong.

 

[SpyGuy10]

Most aftermarket battery makers are liars. The phone is complaining because it's not being fed something that matches its specs. That happens a lot - see the part where I called most battery makers liars.

That's was my first thought when I bought the extended-capacity battery off Amazon. Btw, I didn't search out the cheapest knock-off: I read the reviews to try to find a battery sold by a reputable seller that worked (most battery sellers on Amazon are 3rd party, but I chose one that had a good transaction history and had product fulfilled by Amazon). But when my phone refused to charge that battery, I assumed the battery was at fault.

But this new battery is not a cheap "no-name" battery in a plain white box. It is branded by Lenmar, in retail packaging, and sold by BestBuy for $20. It is NOT an extended battery: it is standard capacity and size. Everything looks professional about this battery and the color-printed label states that this battery is for the EVO 3D, and that it replaces the 35H00164-00M (which matches the part # on my original battery). I can't believe that BestBuy would be selling out-of-spec batteries that phones can not charge. After the first few dozen returns by upset customers, the product would be pulled and Lenmar would lose their sales contract.

As soon as you put in a new battery, reboot the phone, that clears the calibration table. It may take time to get an extended battery agreeing with the shown charge level but not long, usually a few charge cycles.

By "reboot" do you mean press the power button and select "Restart"? I have tried that. (For the record, I did a power menu full shut-down to swap the batteries.) I've also de-selected the "Fast boot" option. But this is not about the capacity level not being accurate; this is about the phone absolutely refusing to charge the battery at all.

I've tried everything I could find on the internet. Most people having charging problems describe their phone not being able to charge ANY battery. Or they talk about the charging LED showing orange. Or they talk about overheating. Or they talk about completely depleting the battery and not being able to charge it. Or they talk about bad USB cables or charging ports. I haven't found any other posts on the internet that exactly match the symptoms I'm seeing.

I've had a number of different cell phones (different manufacturers/different models/different carriers) going back long before smart phones, and this is the first phone where I haven't been able to just slap in a new battery and go.

 

[EarlyMon]

Yeah, I'm not accusing you of trying to buy a cheap battery or anything like that. My son had to try four times to get a proper battery for his phone and he tried to go reputable every time. I understand the frustration, not blaming you.

Ok - maybe the Best Buy battery was just a lemon. See if they'll let you try to charge with a potential replacement in the store.

Meanwhile, I'll try to see if my Best Buy will let me do the same with the same one.

If I get the same symptoms, those batteries are not ok, regardless.

If it's good in mine, then your store has a bad batch or something is up with your phone.

And yes, power menu restart with fastboot off is fair enough to clear the table.

 

[SpyGuy10]

Unfortunately, BestBuy does not carry these on the shelf, at least not in my local store. So the only way I can try another is to order from their website again and wait another week for it to be shipped to the store. The reason I chose to pay $20 for this battery is because I thought Lenmar would be reputable and I wanted the ability to return it locally if it didn't work.

I've called around and the only other local store I've found that stocks batteries for my phone is Radio Shack. Again, it's not HTC OEM; it's their own brand called something like "High Energy" (IIRC). But they package it with a charger and cord and want $50! For that kind of money, I might as well buy a new phone.

Here's another interesting symptom when I have the new battery in the phone: not only will the phone not charge the battery, but the phone will not draw any power from the cord for operation. In other words, the phone will only draw power from the battery, even with the charging cord plugged in.

And normally (with the original battery), when I plug in or unplug the charging cord while the phone is on, the phone's display wakes up. But with the new battery in and the phone on, plugging in or unplugging the charger cord does nothing: the phone's display stays off.

Everything returns to normal when I remove the new battery and replace it with the phone's original battery.