Help Phone restarts whenever loud audio is played

[argos4362]

Hi all.

I'm having an issue with my Huawei Honor 7x. Whenever I have the volume set to higher than 20-30% while watching a video or listening an audio file, the phone instantly restarts. If I use headphones however, I can put the audio to max volume without any issues.

The issue started after I replaced my previous battery which was bloated. The repair place put in a wrong battery twice, while the third battery used was a correct Honor 7x battery. The issue was present on the 2nd battery as well as on the current third battery.

Besides the battery change, nothing else has been altered as far as I'm aware. I have my phone rooted for what it's worth. I did a factory reset but the problem persists. Did the repair shop mess up my phone somehow when changing the battery or could something else be causing the issue?

I'd greatly appreciate any help.

 

[puppykickr]

My guess is that your battery is bunk.

I know that is not what you want to hear, especially after what you have been through to get a battery.

First, why on Earth would you give someone three tries to get the proper battery?

Red flags all over that right there.

Second, I have discovered that it is much more simple and accurate to just enter the model number of your battery into the search bar of your browser- with no other information.

Disregard any info about what device the battery fits, as if you enter the proper model number you will have an exact match.

Now, I bet that the goobers who changed the battery threw away the original one, so good luck on getting that exact model number to enter for a search.

Now on the other hand, whatever battery you get for your device will be just as old as the device.
With a lithium ion battery, they age even without use, so a 'new' one that has been in a warehouse for a year or two has about the same wear and tear as one that has been in use that long.

My suggestion is to plug the device into the charger, get a full charge, and try playing the volume at full blast while the device is still plugged in.

If it works, then it is probably a defective battery.
Even if it fails, it could still be the battery, as these devices run off of rhe battery even while plugged in.
This will all be determined by just how bad the battery may be.

I imagine that there could be some other issue(s), like a faulty speaker or a connection to it.

But this would be pretty rare in my view.

 

[argos4362]

The phone was sent to a local repair place that clearly did not know the correct battery to use for an Honor 7x. I'll probably get my money back tomorrow and take it to an official huawei store.

The first battery did not charge at all, the second battery was for a y9 prime and worked fine but exhibited the audio issue and drained faster than my original battery. Third battery holds a good charge but still has the audio issue.

I was able to get the original battery back, but have thrown it away unfortunately. If I can retrieve it, I'll check the model number. Is there any reliable way to know what it might have been, such as based on my phones serial number or something?

I'll try to test the issue while the phone is plugged in and fully charged, but I'm expecting the same results as I believe I've tried that before.

If it's a battery issue, is my best bet to just keep trying different batteries until it works?

 

[puppykickr]

I hate to tell you, but a quick searchvon Amazon, going through the reviews, you will find countless people complaining that they were sent the wrong battery.

It would have happened to me as well.
I needed a battery for a device that was not popular and was low end.

I mean, this is a $40 device from Wal-Mart, right (mine, not yours)?

So I try looking by the device, the device model number, nick name, possible nick name, you name it.

I got different results each time, and never even found my exact device.
The description on the link would say my device, but click it and nowhere was my device listed.

Out of shear aggrevation I decided to try just entering the model number from the battery itself into the search bar and hitting enter.

Low and behold, results!
Scarily enough, my device was still nowhere to be mentioned, but for $10 I rolled the dice.

I was really worried when I got it, and it came with tools to take the phone apart and remove the adhesive that holds the battery in- because there is none on my phone! The battery is removeable!

But, it WAS the right battery, and now I gave some new screwdrivers for my glasses, and maybe a phone of ny future.

So I tried it again, this time for my first smart device, that had an 'unreplaceable' battery, and was hard to find.

Success again!

So I know that this is the best way to ensure that you get the proper battery.

Now, for you, I can't say if having a battery of too low a capacity could have harmed the device in some way.

Electricity works in multiple ways that are all connected.

Batteries deal mostly with voltage and amperage.

When you have good voltage, the amperage draw remains relatively low.

When the voltage drops, like when discharging (being used), the amperage draw increases.

This is why batteries with higher amperage will hold a charge longer, because they can hold a higher voltage for a longer time.

Now, I hope that I don't need to tell you what an electric chair is, or what it is for.

The point is, that an electric chair uses very high voltage and rather low amperage.

At a high enough voltage, less than ½ an amp can kill you!

So, that is why a battery (and the device) will get hot fast when the battery is weak or going dead.

The voltage has dropped, and now the amperage is higher than ideal and can damage things.

Most modern phones should have protection against this sort of thing, but I am sure you remember Samsung having batteries that caught fire.
And here this repair shop goes and shoves the wrong battery into your device!
That alone could make the safegaurds in place nonfunctional.

So, now you know more about this stuff than the folks at the repair shop.

Anyway, good luck.
I know that it sucks, but at this ooint the best thing would be to get any important data and files off of that device, just in case it is about to die.

It might be hanging on, just trying to give you this chance.

A new device of some sort is probably in your near future.

 

[argos4362]

So I was able to get a picture of my old battery (bloated) that the shop had taken. There's also a picture of the new battery (placed on the box). From what I can see, while the text layout is somewhat different, the model number on the top line looks identical in both images. Is that what I should be looking at?

If the date on the top right of the new battery is anything to go by (2020-05-18), wouldn't that mean the battery is fairly new and thus not aged?

I was typing this reply while I received your new reply. I already backed everything I need up before doing a factory reset. The phone seems to be functioning normally besides this audio issue. I hope it doesn't deteriorate any further.

Based on the attached pictures, would you say this is the correct battery? I noticed the sticker towards the bottom of the box says Honor 7C, which is a different phone than the 7x. However, the battery model number seems to be the same. So I'm not sure what to make of this.

 

[puppykickr]

The battery appears to be the same.

That is a mixed bag.

Of course, if that IS truely the battery from your device, then they found an exact match.

But if the battery was manufactured in May of this year, then either the battery is junk or the device is bad.

After everything that poor phone has been through, I don't think I need to tell you what my suspicions are.

Sure, you could roll the dice again on another repair, with uncertain payoff.

You could be the type to push the shop, saying that this issue did not arise until they installed the wrong battery.

You can also search online to see if others have had the same issue.
It is up to you to decide when you have spent too much time and money on a device.

Personally, I have been driving the same car since 1995.
It was 25 year old when I got it.

Only this year has there been one problem after another, and I am still not done fixing things.

So I know what you are going through, on an even larger scale.

To be honest, I think I would rather be dealing with your phone instead.

lol

 

[argos4362]

Thank you for all the help. If the battery is the correct type, then it would seem the issue is with the phone.

The usage of an improper battery at first is probably what caused the audio issue. Either that, or the phone was physically damaged by the shop during the replacement process.

I have noticed a fair amount of static coming from the speaker when holding the phone close to my ear at low volume. I haven't been able to find much else about this high volume reboot issue online.

I'm going to continue looking for a solution to the audio issues. Do you know if it's possible to just fix/replace the audio or speaker components without replacing the entire motherboard?

I'm sorry to hear about your car though 25 years of plain sailing and then to be hit by issue after issue must suck. I guess some materials or components might just have very fixed lifespans. I can't see myself going for anything but a budget phone in the future, seeing as how these devices tend to begin experiencing some issue or another within 2 years.

For the time being, I can still hear clear audio through ear phones so the phones not totally unusable. I think a bluetooth speaker will also work but I'll need to get one to test that out.

 

[lunatic59]

I haven't been able to find much else about this high volume reboot issue online.

Probably because you're correct in your assessment of the first battery replacement causing the damage. Honestly it sounds someone was a little too rough removing the old battery and either broke a solder joint, or weren't too diligent about cleanliness when reassembling and got some kind of conductive dirt in the circuitry. The louder the volume, the stronger the vibrations, hence the greater likelihood of a short or broken connection.

 

[argos4362]

Thank you for information, I hadn't made the connection that the problem was possibly tied to vibrations. If the issue is being caused by conductive dirt, could it be removed/cleaned? And if a solder joint is broken, would replacing the motherboard be necessary?

In regards to damage being caused by the battery replacement, I had assumed that using a wrong battery could have messed the phone up due to a voltage issue, as another poster suggested.

 

[lunatic59]

I had assumed that using a wrong battery could have messed the phone up due to a voltage issue, as another poster suggested.

Possibly, but I would think that a voltage spike would only affect the audio chip in such a way that changing the volume would make the phone reboot. If it's dirt, it should be possible to clean it. Even a broken solder joint could be resoldered, but it could be other physical damage as well. The only way to know for sure is to peek inside.