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Help HTC Thunderbolt Gets Very Hot

gordonfox

Lurker
My Thunderbolt get really hot to the touch. I mean, n ot just warm, but hot. Is this typical or is something not right with mine? Thanks for any advice!
 
I've moved your thread to the Thunderbolt forum where other users may be able to assist.

Are you doing anything in particular (in an app/call/browsing etc) or does it just get hot when sitting idle?
 
I only see this when I use my phone heavily with a 4g connection while charging. Tapatalking while charging turns it pretty warm, if Im streaming videos it gets hot, or when Im syncing everything.
 
Careful with it getting hot. If it gets too hot, you could damage some components inside. I've actually resorted to putting my phone on a laptop cooling dock or making sure I don't download files on my phone if I'm going to store it in my pocket. And I definitely take it out of its case if I'm going to use it heavily.
 
Mine heats up when I'm using the car dock and navigation. Charging it adds to it.

FWIW
DLM
 
Yeah, I'm looking forward to this on my upcoming trip this weekend. Normally I don't do too much on it, but this trip will be Streaming radio, Nav, plus hotspot active pretty much the whole trip (plugged in, of course). Needless to say, I will have the AC vent aimed at it, and the case off, just to be safe. Need to find me a good temperature widget somewhere too, just to keep an eye on it.
 
SetCPU has a temperature reading on its widget. it is only 1x1 so it doesn't take up much space...

but i have also noticed charging the phone alone gets it pretty warm (around 100 degrees) but doing other stuff just ads to it. i have seen temps over 110 only once with this phone. i was downloading a ROM with the phone sitting in my pocket, and i was outside in 100 degree weather. not the brightest, but thankfully, my setCPU profile kicked in and went down to around 500mhz on battery saver and the temp came down pretty quickly.
 
I guess we need cases with liquid cooling and case fans. I've noticed mine heating up when using gps.
 
None of these smartphones can overheat from their own hardware. You could have your Thunderbolt at 100% processor use, downloading data from the web, in a case, in your pocket, for an unlimited amount of time and it would never overheat.

Feeling warm or even hot does not mean overheating. I have no idea why so many people think it does. It requires a rather large leap of faith and minimal understanding of technology to see a device crash, feel that it is warm, and say it is overheating without knowing how hot it is nor knowing what temperatures it is engineered to endure.

Any actual overheating that happens can only be caused by an external source such as direct sunlight beating down on it for an extended duration.
 
None of these smartphones can overheat from their own hardware. You could have your Thunderbolt at 100% processor use, downloading data from the web, in a case, in your pocket, for an unlimited amount of time and it would never overheat.

Feeling warm or even hot does not mean overheating. I have no idea why so many people think it does. It requires a rather large leap of faith and minimal understanding of technology to see a device crash, feel that it is warm, and say it is overheating without knowing how hot it is nor knowing what temperatures it is engineered to endure.

Any actual overheating that happens can only be caused by an external source such as direct sunlight beating down on it for an extended duration.

No ones actually talking about anything overheating, but it getting hot, which it does. Thats pretty hard to deny.
 
None of these smartphones can overheat from their own hardware. You could have your Thunderbolt at 100% processor use, downloading data from the web, in a case, in your pocket, for an unlimited amount of time and it would never overheat.

Feeling warm or even hot does not mean overheating. I have no idea why so many people think it does. It requires a rather large leap of faith and minimal understanding of technology to see a device crash, feel that it is warm, and say it is overheating without knowing how hot it is nor knowing what temperatures it is engineered to endure.

Any actual overheating that happens can only be caused by an external source such as direct sunlight beating down on it for an extended duration.



I wish your comment was true, but I've seen first hand what happens when a battery has separated or exploded because of the combination of use, charging, and environment. Yes if a phone is in a cool room then hardware damage can be avoided, but there are too many variables out there that affect the temperature during use and charging. If you want to be anal about it, then yes typically there are safety mechanisms that will shut the phone down if a certain threshold is met. But after time, heat can cause undue wear to ANY smartphone and eventually performance will be affected.
 
I use the sense analog clock with the system data option on. Gives battery %, temperature, and other stuff. Very nice.
A few times I have been up around 106-107 degrees. Usually when using it will be around 100
 
I use the sense analog clock with the system data option on. Gives battery %, temperature, and other stuff. Very nice.
A few times I have been up around 106-107 degrees. Usually when using it will be around 100

Completely forgot about that. I have that one in my phone, and just never used it. Doesn't fit my minimalistic theme going on, but might be handy to toss on for kicks now and then :) Thanks.
 
Anything 110 or lower isn't a big deal. Watch YouTube for 30min straight and take a look at your battery temps.

115+ and I'd let it cool off. No data, just an opinion.

Lithium Ion batteries can get pretty hot without damage, think how hot your laptop battery gets. That being said, we don't have cooling fans and add cases that trap a lot of heat inside the phone, I personally don't like it running higher than 115. I don't think anyone can say for sure what is a safe temp for this phone, but I'd rather stay on the side of caution.
 
Most smartphones (bolt included) will automatically turn themselves off before they do damage to themselves. The battery will get damaged before the processor will and if you had prior damage to the phone causing something to malfunction it may not be able to do this. And the way HTC programs the phones to charge should prevent that from causing damage. Yes using 4G while charging will make the phone hot but shouldn't cause any damage to the phone. If you notice the phone getting so hot it is bothersom to hold then perhaps you should let it cool down some because technology isn't perfect and while it shouldn't do something doesn't mean it will not do something.
 
My Thunderbolt get really hot to the touch. I mean, n ot just warm, but hot. Is this typical or is something not right with mine? Thanks for any advice!

You are talking about the battery (back of the unit, mid-way), correct?
Yes, the battery will get hot, especially with the more cpu-hungry apps such as Navigation. The extended battery runs cooler under the same situations, probably because it simply has more volume. I rarely feel mine get warm, even with Navigation+charging while streaming using Google Music...unless I let it sit in direct sunlight. If you do that, it's kind of a snowball effect. Seems that once the battery gets hot during such activity, it stays hot--and loses some of its efficiency.

Even just playing Angry Birds in Airplane Mode with the standard battery used to make my unit get hot. Not so much with the extended battery.

I sincerely hope that in future phones, HTC will make a phone whose size and shape do not change with the extended versus stock batteries--it really limits our choice in cases. HTH
 
I use the sense analog clock with the system data option on. Gives battery %, temperature, and other stuff. Very nice.
A few times I have been up around 106-107 degrees. Usually when using it will be around 100

Where is this clock located? I cant seem to find a clock with any data option..
 
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