Help Phone thinks it's plugged in when it's not

[hanseric]

Accidentally posted this in the Epic 4G forum and not this one. So reposting it here....

My phone has been initializing MTP when not plugged in. Sometimes it even thinks it is charging when it is not (it shows the little charging animation in upper right screen).

At about the same time, it will go into Car Mode.

This was happening all last week, eating up battery pretty heavily. Shutting it down didn't help. It would start itself.

So i reset to factory settings Sunday. This seemed to help for a day or two but I just now see it is doing it again.

Any clues to what might be happening here?

 

[please help]

I had a similar problem and it was in the charging port. I took it in a few times and eventually ended up having to get a replacement phone
Good Luck

 

[Rush]

Take the phone into a Sprint Repair Center for a replacement. It's obvious that the phone is defective. Make sure to let them know that you already did a 'reset' to the device and the problem still persists.

 

[SprintTechJosh]

Try cleaning out the charging port with a tooth brush or something similar. I've seen this fix issues like yours before. Also spraying it with some compressed air won't hurt. If it's still acting up then yeah it's a bad charging port most likely. A Sprint store with a service center will be able to order you a replacement device (we don't normally repair charging port issues).

 

[adiazm1989]

Had the same problem with MINE sprint repair center told me it had water damaged but the water stickers were perfectly fine so I paid $100 for a new one and its been three Weeks and today my new phone didn't it again forabout a minute and has been freezing since then so i'm worried about this problem again.

 

[hecsz28]

I had the same issue a few days ago. It would show that it was charging when not plugged in. I looked into the charging port and saw that it had some corrosion/green stuff.

I used a toothbrush soaked with alcohol and it completely removed all corrosion and left the charging port looking new. It has been working perfect since. Make sure you remove battery before doing this and allow to air dry completely before powering back up.

 

[pokerjv]

I had the same issue a few days ago. It would show that it was charging when not plugged in. I looked into the charging port and saw that it had some corrosion/green stuff.

I used a toothbrush soaked with alcohol and it completely removed all corrosion and left the charging port looking new. It has been working perfect since. Make sure you remove battery before doing this and allow to air dry completely before powering back up.

I am having the same issue and the Sprint Repair Center will not give me a replacement, saying its because of water damage. This phone has never been in contact with water. What am I to do?

 

[KoG]

My first ET4G did a lot of the same things. It got really bad, constantly reverting to "Car Mode" along with the MTP initializing. I also had the all calls (incoming and outgoing) go straight to speakerphone. And sometimes it would not take a charge. I read up on the charger issues, and Best Buy just gave me a 3rd party charger. That helped for a little, but eventually all of the old charging problems started to persist. My phone would also not stay off. I would turn it off and it would just turn right back on. I'd pull the battery and would wait a long while before putting back in, as soon as the battery hit the terminals the phone would try to turn back on. I eventually took it back to Best Buy. They replaced it with another ET4G that seems fine. I do have some charging problems, but not too consistently. But, yeah, frustrating...

 

[adiazm1989]

My first ET4G did a lot of the same things. It got really bad, constantly reverting to "Car Mode" along with the MTP initializing. I also had the all calls (incoming and outgoing) go straight to speakerphone. And sometimes it would not take a charge. I read up on the charger issues, and Best Buy just gave me a 3rd party charger. That helped for a little, but eventually all of the old charging problems started to persist. My phone would also not stay off. I would turn it off and it would just turn right back on. I'd pull the battery and would wait a long while before putting back in, as soon as the battery hit the terminals the phone would try to turn back on. I eventually took it back to Best Buy. They replaced it with another ET4G that seems fine. I do have some charging problems, but not too consistently. But, yeah, frustrating...

Im having the exact thing happen to mine right know, going to the sprint repair center see what they can do.

 

[hecsz28]

I am having the same issue and the Sprint Repair Center will not give me a replacement, saying its because of water damage. This phone has never been in contact with water. What am I to do?

Well, if my phone somehow gets corrosion again in the port, I will probably first clean it again with rubbing alcohol and then take it to a sprint store. It looks new right now after cleaning it, so I don't think they will be able to say it has water damage if there are no signs of corrosion.

 

[wizholt7]

Well, if my phone somehow gets corrosion again in the port, I will probably first clean it again with rubbing alcohol and then take it to a sprint store. It looks new right now after cleaning it, so I don't think they will be able to say it has water damage if there are no signs of corrosion.

Do NOT use rubbing alcohol. Most rubbing alcohol has anywhere from 10-50% water with the alcohol, which can be counterproductive and actually damage your phone worse. Use Denatured Alcohol. This should have little to no water in it, this is the best stuff for cleaning phones.

On a side note, I work for a Sprint Authorized Service Center and work on phones, and though liquid damage may cause problems mimicing this issue with your phone, the phantom charging issue with the Epic 4G Touch is not caused by liquid damage. Liquid damage may cause issues that are similiar, but it is not the same.

So far from my experience, resetting the phone, replaceing the charging port, and resecuring the charging port have been unsuccessful at fixing the issue. If Sprint says your phone is liquid damaged, demand to see it for yourself to make sure they aren't giving you a load of BS, because that isn't what causes this issue. And it isn't specific to the Epic 4g Touch, it happens on other Samsung devices as well such as the Conquer and the Replenish.