Overuse of smartphone while charging?

[Bognerman]

All,

I just experienced for the first time my phone not working well while charging. Is this common? I thought my phone battery was going bad. I used it a ton yesterday and plugged it in while using it and rather than charge, the percentage was going down. I even let it sit for a few minutes and kept checking it and it wasn't charging. I then got worried and continued to use the phone while plugged in and the percentage stayed at 25% and even dropped a few. Finally I got frustrated and put the phone down and left it alone and it slowly started charging again. Sometimes it charges faster than other times. Overuse issue???

Thanks!

 

[Hadron]

Most likely one of two things:

1) bad cable (including damage to a previously good cable).

2) charging being disabled due to heat - not impossible if the phone was used heavily before you plugged in (so already warm) and then you continue to use it. Since heat is bad for batteries, and charging generates heat as well, all phones will disable charging if the battery gets too hot.

I've assumed you are using a wall charger rather than a USB port. For the latter it's really easy to use more power than they supply.

 

[Bognerman]

Thanks! What do you mean that the USB type will cause it to use more power?

Anyway, I think it was too hot. I used it all day and I know it was hot. I think that was it. I first used a few USB chargers and then switched to the wall charger. It finally started charging after I put it down.

 

[Hadron]

I didn't mean that it would use more power if you charged from a USB port. I meant that they deliver less power than a wall charger and hence the phone can use more power than they can supply if it is being used actively.