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Help Ugh, charging issues -Or- VM replacement question

L

lanceg

Well-Known Member
Well, it seems my flawless Triumph is flawless no more. It won't charge unless you push the connector in really hard and twist it a few angles until it starts charging. I tried multiple cables (including the Moto one) and made no difference

I got it charging now, I am going to get it fully charged, pull the battery, boot into recovery and wipe the battery stats, and see if that helps, but if not, it's replacement time.

When you request a warranty replacement from VM, do you have to send the phone back first, or so you have time to send it back after you get the replacement? I ask because I cannot use a Triumph with a Truly screen, they cause my eye strain headaches, I need one with a Toshiba screen, and if I send in my device and get a Truly screened one back I'll have no phone to use.
 
My daughter's Triumph stopped charging last week, still within the 1 year warranty period. After a phone call to customer service, they sent her a new phone with an envelope to mail back her old phone after the new one is activated.
 
Forget about resetting the battery stats. Its a bad port. Very common on the Triumph. Do a search!

If you call VM, they will send you a replacement as the other poster said, then you mail your old one in. Don't bother asking for a specific, they have no clue and even if you ask for a new 'class a' phone like many have done, you will get whatever they feel like that day of the week.

The other option if you really must keep your current phone (the LCD), you can send the phone in to Motorola for an in warranty repair. But some people have had horror stories and of course there are good stories. May take a couple of weeks so you will need another phone... but its an option if you want to keep your current phone.



lanceg said:
Well, it seems my flawless Triumph is flawless no more. It won't charge unless you push the connector in really hard and twist it a few angles until it starts charging. I tried multiple cables (including the Moto one) and made no difference

I got it charging now, I am going to get it fully charged, pull the battery, boot into recovery and wipe the battery stats, and see if that helps, but if not, it's replacement time.

When you request a warranty replacement from VM, do you have to send the phone back first, or so you have time to send it back after you get the replacement? I ask because I cannot use a Triumph with a Truly screen, they cause my eye strain headaches, I need one with a Toshiba screen, and if I send in my device and get a Truly screened one back I'll have no phone to use.
Click to expand...
 
This is wierd.. if I turn the phone off, I plug in the charger, the little red light comes right on. It appears to be charging. However, it never turns green.

I turn the phone on, and I have to fiddle with the connector to get it to charge. It finally does, but now the charging LED comes on green, even though the battery says it is only charged to 99%

If it was a USB port thing, wouldn't it be just as hard to get the charging light on regardless of whether or not it was plugged in?

I should mention I let battery completely run dry a few day ago (forgot to plug it in) . I read a few articles about "jump starting" the battery if it goes completely dead. Think the battery could just be going bad? I'll try buying a replacement, if it doesn't work I can always return it.
 
Wierder, it now got to 100%.

So, phone turned off, phone appears to charge as soon as I plug charger in, but never turns green

Phone turned on, have to fiddle with charger to get it to charge, but it will get to 100%
 
agentc13 said:
The light should turn green at 90%
Click to expand...

Not on stock ;). CM roms will turn the light green at 90%, but on stock it is green at 100%.

@lanceg I would recommend getting a replacement and to me it sounds more like the phone than the battery so you shouldn't need a new battery.
 
This is odd.

I tried making a USN connection to the phone, and same deal, no connection, no matter how much I jiggled the wire.

So I turned off the phone and rebooted it in download mode, plugged it in, and the computer saw the phone right away.

So it can't be a physical problem with the port. What could be going on with the phone's software that would knock out the port when the phone is turned on?

FYI I am running TG's CM7 B.08
 
Hmm... That is odd... Well I would install the stock rom or do a full wipe and reflash cm7 and see if it fixes the problem. If the problem persists then it is most likely some kind of hardware issue.
 
Called VM for a replacement, of course, since htese things are contractually obligated to only happen on a Friday, I'm not seeing another phone till middle of next week.

Think it's worth opening the phone up and seeing if I can reflow the solder joint for the USB port?
 
lanceg said:
Called VM for a replacement, of course, since htese things are contractually obligated to only happen on a Friday, I'm not seeing another phone till middle of next week.

Think it's worth opening the phone up and seeing if I can reflow the solder joint for the USB port?
Click to expand...

I wouldn't risk voiding the warranty, but that's me. (I'm having problems with a slightly flaky power switch. It works, just tends to involve a bit of manipulation. DH is an electronics guy, but pointed out that problem as far as why he was leery of doing surgery on my phone.)
 
Alright, now this is getting WIERD.

I went to radio shack to see if they had an external battery charger so I could keep using the phone until the replacement showed up. They did, and they guy showed me how it worked. We popped the batter out, moved the charging terminals to the correct place, plugged it in, and the batter started charging. Cool

So I walk back out to my car, and just for the heck of it I plugged my phone into the car charger.

It started charging.

Confused/excited, I go home, and plug the phone into the wall charger

It started charging

I plugged the phone into the USB cable on my laptop. Recognized, mounts, and started charging.

I have no idea why, but the problem appears to be resolved for now. I'm still going to get the replacement, but it looks like the thing is back on it's own two feet. I don't trust it very much to stay that way, but we'll see.
 
You are getting partial/intermittent connection. That is why it is recognized sometimes and sometimes not. Even when the red light is on, it may only be a partial connection and hence why it never charges.


Forget about opening it up. It is not practical for hand repair. I even have some of the tools required and it is still a tough job. And I am an expert in soldering.



lanceg said:
Alright, now this is getting WIERD.

I went to radio shack to see if they had an external battery charger so I could keep using the phone until the replacement showed up. They did, and they guy showed me how it worked. We popped the batter out, moved the charging terminals to the correct place, plugged it in, and the batter started charging. Cool

So I walk back out to my car, and just for the heck of it I plugged my phone into the car charger.

It started charging.

Confused/excited, I go home, and plug the phone into the wall charger

It started charging

I plugged the phone into the USB cable on my laptop. Recognized, mounts, and started charging.

I have no idea why, but the problem appears to be resolved for now. I'm still going to get the replacement, but it looks like the thing is back on it's own two feet. I don't trust it very much to stay that way, but we'll see.
Click to expand...
 
Wpz2000 said:
You are getting partial/intermittent connection. That is why it is recognized sometimes and sometimes not. Even when the red light is on, it may only be a partial connection and hence why it never charges.


Forget about opening it up. It is not practical for hand repair. I even have some of the tools required and it is still a tough job. And I am an expert in soldering.
Click to expand...

I think you are right about the intermittent connection while turned off, even though the red light was on, I don't think it was charging, since the battery icon was not on the screen.

But reflowing a solder joint isn't all that hard, I've repaired RAM module banks on laptops before by reflowing cracked solder joints. A small clean tip, a steady hand, and a moment of contact is usually all it takes. And those things have a hundred+ contacts, this thing should only have 4 or so.

I've tried plugging it in and unplugging it a few times and it works fine now, so I'm not going to mess with it, but if it breaks again completely before the replacement arrives, I may try reflowing it. I have a #5 torx screwdriver, and I don't need to removed the digitizer or LCD screen to get to the charging port. I mean, I can't break it more, it's not like I'm using a soldering torch or adding solder that could cross a circuit or something. And from the videos I have seen the charging port looks pretty isolated from the rest of the motherboard.
 
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