Help Bionic may have given up the ghost (charging issue)

[dragma]

Well, looks like my Bionic may be dead. Or at least the charging of it may be.

Seems to have started on Monday when after not having it on the charger (Lapdock) as I normally do I plug it in to charge up, then find I nearly missed an important call. but found that my phone had dropped to 0 while on the charger.

Switched cables and that seemed to help.

Then the last 3 days at work my normally wonderful Dock stops being able to charge the phone. Says it is charging but the phone drains anyway. The funny thing is I have been able to charge it up at night on the Lapdock.

Tried with the Original battery the phone came with, I was using an extended battery, same issue, discharging too fast even when on a powered dock.

Finally tried a factory reset and it still is doing the same thing. I am 2 months away from my upgrade too, it looks like I may have to go for the insurance route.

All the Batteries Cables and Docks I have used are Offical Moto ones. Can anyone think of anything I may have missed?

 

[Frisco]

Can anyone think of anything I may have missed?

Hello dragma.

Aside from some (forgotten?) change you may have made in configuration of an app/widget, or the addition of something new in the system that spends too long at the resource hog trough, all I can think of is testing the charging system on somebody else's charging apparatus that you know works well.

I'm also wondering how old the extended battery is (in addition to its quality). Some stock and extended 3rd party batteries just don't last very long, and become unreliable when charged from different power sources, such as going from USB or dock to ac wall outlet, etc.

The Bionic itself can't be to blame beyond possible damage to the charging port itself (moisture? rough handling when inserting plug/cable-end?), although it's not unheard of for the circuitry just beyond the port to fail from said causes, especially water damage.

 

[dragma]

Heh, just before reading this I desided to test it on my wife's dock and boom the charging icon showed up (at 0%) so it may be the cable for my dock. This makes more sense other then what happened on Monday.

The original Battery is about 1 year and about 5 months old, the extended a few months less then that. the original had maybe 2-3 months wear.

But with the charging graphic coming on my wifes dock this is a good indicator that the cable is dead or just worn out. Oh and I was not blaming the bionic, it has been a great phone, just trying all the trouble shooting steps I could think of before looking into replacement options.

 

[Thom]

Well, looks like my Bionic may be dead. Or at least the charging of it may be.

I assume that you are un-root-ed. I assume that you tried the charger and cable that came with your Bionic. I assume you did not drop it or get it wet.

I also assume you had the problem after you did the Factory Data Reset before re-installing any apps or data. That would seem to rule out software.

Did you inspect the power socket in the Bionic? Perhaps it has some lint that is sometimes preventing a good contact and sometimes allowing it. (You can clean it with a toothpick and/or compressed air.)

I finally wore out the standard battery in my Droid X. It would charge to 100% and then drain quicker and quicker. It finally got to the point where it would go from fully charged to drained in 15 minutes.

... Thom

 

[snowwy66]

cables wear out.

some get years out of them. i only get weeks out of mine.

 

[Thom]

Get the cable and charger that came with your Bionic. Keep them in a safe place if you don;t use them (I use mine every day).

When you run into a charging problem go to the them as your known good source.

... Thom

 

[dragma]

It was the cord. I have brought one of our many cords from home and it is now working like a charm.

Still planning on changing phones when my upgrade comes due, but glad I do not have to before then.

Also planning on making use of the bionic as a cheep laptop with my lapdoc.