• After 15+ years, we've made a big change: Android Forums is now Early Bird Club. Learn more here.

Possible Reason For Poor Battery Consumption

Dankees

Dankees

Android Enthusiast
So, my battery has really been pretty crappy for a few weeks now (much worse than before).
It all happened right after my phone had ghost dialed *22899 and updated my phone’s PRL.

Now, my phone’s battery is pretty decent, so long as I am connected to the Google Servers (my Wi-Fi & bars are blue).

Here’s the thing – they aren’t blue as often as before. And sometimes, the Wi-Fi icon doesn’t even appear, even though I know that I am connected to Wi-Fi (maybe my work connection is bad).

Anyway, the remedy for this is to turn off my screen and turn it right back on a second later. When I do that, the icons appear and they are blue.

Should I manually call *22899 (since I had factory reset a week ago)?

Would a new SIM Card fix this problem or is that not a factor?

And, when the phone is not being used, JuiceDefender makes it so that the battery barely drains at all.
 
Why do you refuse to return the phone? You've started no less than 5 threads about your battery and connectivity problems and posted in at least half a dozen more. You've gotten dozens upon dozens of tips and suggestions, many of which you have seemingly been ignoring (like stop using juice defender, stop reinstalling all your apps until you find the problem, and just return the phone).

You've posted at least 5 different problems from auto-updating the PRL, to battery drain, to wifi drops, to signal problems, to random shut downs..... yet you seemingly won't consider exchanging the phone.

Why?
 
Tim, that’s for all of your help. I try to “thank” you every time.

I’ve already said that I don’t wanna return the phone for a few reasons:

1.) What if the new phone does this?
2.) Will Best Buy give me, and install, a new ZAGG protector without charging me?
3.) I don’t wanna get a phone with vertical banding.

I have disabled JuiceDefender, I am uninstalled JuiceDefender, and I have even factory reset my phone, twice. So, I have listened to that advice and done it. That didn’t help anything. In fact, without JuiceDefender, my phone loses way more power while idle than when I have JuiceDefender turned on. Without JuiceDefender, at work, my phone loses like 8% each hour, versus 2% when on (idle).

The auto-updating of the PRL has ceased, ever since my second factory reset. So, that’s not an issue anymore. However, since those occurrences of the PRL update (and the new PRL), I have noticed that the phone’s Wi-Fi doesn’t appear blue a lot of the time, until I turn off the screen and a second later turn it right back on. So, how come the phone doesn’t stay connected to Wi-Fi? I find that when the screen is on (and I am using the phone), I should be using Wi-Fi, but I am not, and that’s what is killing my battery (a bad cell phone connection).

No one has yet answered my questions about the SIM Card maybe being the culprit. Should I call Verizon and ask for a new one, or is that not even a factor…?

I just don’t want to have to get a new phone because could totally happen with a replacement, and I wanna fix it so I know what the issue(s) is/are.

The phone has stopped ghost dialing, so that’s good. And, the battery is back to only dropping 2% when connected to Wi-Fi and while idle (each hour).

[FONT=&quot]The only thing now is that the battery really drains like crazy while being used – way more than before. I attribute it to the Wi-Fi and cell phone icons not appearing blue at the top of my phone’s screen.[/FONT]
 
1. If the new phone does it again, when run stock, without adding any "apps" that mess with settings, etc.....then either you have gotten another defective phone or there's something wrong with your network/wifi/coverage area.
2. Have you asked them?
3. Turn it on, if the screen looks like crap make them give you another one. I tested my second GN before I walked out the door to make sure the display was good. If it was bad I'd make them give me another one until I got a good one.

I understand you are frustrated and trying to find help, but at some point, with all the time you are spending on this, it becomes counterproductive....even if you have to buy a new screen protector. How many hours have you spent reading, writing, posting screenshots, monitoring battery, resetting, installing/uninstalling apps, etc.

Just return it. Make a stink about the Zagg. Quite frankly, I'd rather be out $20 and have a phone that works than spend hours trying to fix a broken phone just to save my old screen protector.
 
Well, the first time they replaced my phone, they said they couldn't test one out before looking at it and told me I would have to take the one they open and turn on.

So, thankfully, it was OK.

Now, as for the "time" you mention - you're right.

Could it be the SIM Card that is the issue or it can't be that?
 
The return issue is a simple one. If they say you can't "test" it before buying, just make the exchange and then turn the phone on and if the screen is not satisfactory, return it again on the spot and make another exchange. Frankly, unless it is specifically noted on your receipt that you can't keep exchanging, then they have no "legal" means to deny you multiple exchanges.

If you suspect the SIM card, then that is easy, just give VZW a call and tell them. They will make you go through some troubleshooting steps first and then likely call for a SIM card swap.

You can also try removing your SIM card and gently wiping the contacts clean and reinsert it, although I don't think that will really help, it's worth a try.

As for the blue bars, that "theoretically" shouldn't have anything to do with your issues. The bars turn blue when a connection to google services is established. Data still works when the bars are grey as long as you have the 3G, 4G, or WiFi symbols--you just aren't connected to google services. If the drain is coming from this, then I guess it is specifically your phone using data to try and make a connection to google services. In which case, I can only say, maybe try deleting your account and adding it back and also try signing in with another account just to see if it is account related.

Don't dial *22899. You don't need to update your PRL with a 4G phone. When my phone has tried to dial *228 on it's own, it was when the network was down and my phone was trying to call the activation # to activate the phone--not update the PRL. If your phone actually updated the PRL on it's own then methinks you have something odd on your hands.

Last but not least, take all your apps off and run stock. If you are rooted, you could experimenting with flashing some radios too.
 
If I turn my phone screen on and off, the WiFi icon will instantly turn blue.

What does that mean?
 
I don't know why your wifi shows gray. Mine is always blue. Always. Its not like its gray when the screen is off and takes a second to go blue... it stays blue.

Is it like that only at home? at work? always?

Either way, Wifi connectivity / google connectivity shouldn't have anything to do with the SIM card.
 
It happens everywhere. It's weird. The icons are not blue, then, I just turn off the screen and turn it right back on and it's blue.

Why might that happen?
 
I only have certain Google things set-up. I turned off the ones I don't use, like GMail, and a few other things I don't use.
 
Well, it ghost dialed this morning for the first time in 10 days. I had just downloaded Friendcaster and restarted. Upon restarting, it ghost dialed and stopped like 14 seconds in, again. So, I removed the application. Could that be the cause?
 
OK, I put the SIM in. It activated for like 2 minutes. It never said that it was successful, nor did a voice say it was. It just dialed that number and there was music for two minutes. My PRL has a version of 52686, just like earlier.
 
So far, after two days with the new SIM Card, I have not experienced any ghost dialing.

My phone did however randomly turn off last night and restart (and I was not pulling down the notification bar).

Anyway, I also want to mention that my phone has also not been getting warm/hot, so that's good.

I have noticed, however, that when I wake up in the morning, my battery has drained so quickly in my home while having blue icons at the top of the phone, and this morning, with auto-brightness, I have two cell phone bars and three WiFi bars, but my battery dropped to 92% from a full charge in only about 8 minutes of surfing the web. Maybe it was even 10 minutes. And, another drop down to 82% in 30 minutes? For real?

I lost nearly one-fifth of my battery life in 30 minutes? In two and a half hours my phone would be dead?

Yesterday, I had my phone fully charged at work, at 10:00am. I used my phone a little throughout the day, more at lunch, and I was still at like 60% 7 hours later (and my cell phone connection and WiFi connection are dismal there).

Please advise...
 
yes. its normal. Stop watching your battery. Remember that the first 10-15% drop is not indicative of the actual battery usage. You read that article right?

My phone has been on wifi at my house for 2 hours. My screen has been on for 12 minutes.

I made a 7 min phone call and sent 4 texts.

My battery is at 87%.

I'l finish the day with 20+ hours, over an hour of screen time, more voice calls, texts and web surfing.

Try not to look at your battery life until at least halfway through your day.
 
OK, this is odd. I just fully charged my phone, with it off, unplugged the phone, and I restarted the phone. I didn't use the phone at all, and in a half hour, my battery said 94% (with no usage). How can that be?
 
Dankees said:
OK, this is odd. I just fully charged my phone, with it off, unplugged the phone, and I restarted the phone. I didn't use the phone at all, and in a half hour, my battery said 94% (with no usage). How can that be?
Click to expand...

Go into battery stats and see if there is anything unusual
 
Perfectly normal. Its just a battery reporting "thing". Pretend that charging your phone really only fills it to 95% but the meter tells you 100%.... then once you unplug, the meter drops at a faster rate than actual usage in order to catch up. So if you really use 2% in 15 minutes (bringing actual charge to 93%) your battery meter drops from 100% down to 93%... so it LOOKS like a battery drain.
 
It didn't do that before. And, look at my screenshots, it dropped a ton when it was around 50%. Explain that.
 
Can't say for sure, but battery meters are far from exact science. Not to mention that a quick charge and a reboot both throw the meter for a loop and make them even more unreliable.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom