Phone battery drains suddenly

[jefmcg]

good ol' battery bulge of death

Oh, yeah. @robjh can you take the battery out and put it on a flat surface? If it rocks at all, it's started to swell and it's time to replace it.

 

[classic33]

It would. I guess one thing that might sway you one way or t'other would be the age of your current battery. Mine was old enough when I died that I assumed it was just wore out with age. I'd say if yours is, say, 4 years+, it would be worth a punt. Always assuming your laptop's one you plan on having for awhile, and having battery backup has some value for you. (I use mine plugged in 95% of the time too - but the other 5% made the tenner worthwhile.)

Welcome to the club!

 

[classic33]

I'd wondered if it might be the charge monitoring that was at fault, as after a sudden drain, just a few minutes recharging may lead it to apparent levels of 70% or more full. Still, if it's a hardware problem - loss of connection as you've intuited - then a new battery may still be the way to go.

It got down to 53% before the drop this morning, and has recharged to an instant 74%.

Are the battery contacts clean?

 

[swee'pea99]

Welcome to the club!

At the risk of being unoriginal, may I just say that reports of my death (including my own) have been greatly exaggerated.

 

[KnackeredBike]

Have you got a multimeter? I would guess faulty battery but test it nonetheless.

4.2V = just come off charger 100%
4.05V = 100%, hour off charger.
3.5V = dead.

Test it just after it dies, if it is 3.5V then the battery is genuinely dead, if it is higher the phone is misreading it for whatever reason.

 

[robjh]

Have you got a multimeter? I would guess faulty battery but test it nonetheless.

4.2V = just come off charger 100%
4.05V = 100%, hour off charger.
3.5V = dead.

Test it just after it dies, if it is 3.5V then the battery is genuinely dead, if it is higher the phone is misreading it for whatever reason.

No i haven't but it's a bit late for that now anyway, I went out this afternoon and got the battery replaced. I'll see how it goes from now.

 

[robjh]

An update on this thread, in case it is useful to anyone in future.
The problem was indeed a knackered battery, and replacing it (getting it replaced in a shop, more like) fixed it.