Having battery charging issues? Read this... - Thunderbolt General

Just an FYI.............
So for the last several months my Tbolt has not wanted to charge past 50-60% no matter what I do. Even charged in a stand alone charger it would still only read 50-60%. It actually was charging fully but just wouldn't read the voltage correctly.
I decided it was a hardware issue so last week I bought a used Tbolt on ebay that was in pieces. I took that motherboard and put it in my phone and voila FULL CHARGE!! BUT when setting the phone up the wifi refused to work. It kept giving "error" or "unable to scan", that really pissed me off. I tried several radios and roms with no luck.
So tonight I decided to reflow my original motherboard and see if it would fix a faulty solder joint that it might have causing it not to read the voltage right. I put it in the oven at 385 for about 10 minutes then opened the oven door and let it cool down. I'll have you know that the original motherboard is now reading the correct voltage!!! Halleluyer!!! Everything else seems to work fine too, except..........
A few things to do before you decide to stick it in the oven, remove both cameras because it melted the lense on both, and even tho it didn't mess up my earpiece speaker or loudspeaker I would recommend removing those also.
Next I'm gonna reflow the ebay one and see if that fixes the wifi issue. If it does then awesome!!

nxslt1 said:
Just an FYI.............
So for the last several months my Tbolt has not wanted to charge past 50-60% no matter what I do. Even charged in a stand alone charger it would still only read 50-60%. It actually was charging fully but just wouldn't read the voltage correctly.
I decided it was a hardware issue so last week I bought a used Tbolt on ebay that was in pieces. I took that motherboard and put it in my phone and voila FULL CHARGE!! BUT when setting the phone up the wifi refused to work. It kept giving "error" or "unable to scan", that really pissed me off. I tried several radios and roms with no luck.
So tonight I decided to reflow my original motherboard and see if it would fix a faulty solder joint that it might have causing it not to read the voltage right. I put it in the oven at 385 for about 10 minutes then opened the oven door and let it cool down. I'll have you know that the original motherboard is now reading the correct voltage!!! Halleluyer!!! Everything else seems to work fine too, except..........
A few things to do before you decide to stick it in the oven, remove both cameras because it melted the lense on both, and even tho it didn't mess up my earpiece speaker or loudspeaker I would recommend removing those also.
Next I'm gonna reflow the ebay one and see if that fixes the wifi issue. If it does then awesome!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Creative home remedy to fix the solder joints. Nicely done.

but, most people arent willing to put their mobo in the oven

Related

Possibly water damaged Captivate half-working

I may have possibly water damaged my Captivate last night. It was in my pocket when water spilled on my lap, and I didn't immediately take it out. Very stupid of me. The USB port was open so I'm thinking liquid may have gotten into there... Also, there were water beads on the inside of the camera lens.
My recourse was to take it apart and try to let it dry out. Initially it wouldn't do anything upon being plugged in to the charger, so naturally I thought it was bricked. I've let it sit all day on a dry window sill next to the radiator. After putting the battery back in and plugging it in a little bit ago, the phone surprisingly booted up. Here's where I'm at now:
The phone boots normally, however if I plug it in to the charger I get an error stating Battery Temperature too high or something, so charging is paused. Does anybody know what this indicates?
Secondly, after being on for a minute or so, the screen gets screwy. Dark transparent overlays start flashing over everything and it gets unresponsive... I haven't left it on like this long b/c I was afraid something worse would happen - I usually rip the battery out of the back to shut it off.
My phones currently pulled apart and drying in the window sill. Whatever water got on/in it is not visibly there, however I understand some parts might still be wet.
Any advice? Also, I believe the water indicator on the battery and near the pins where the battery dock in the phone are both fine. They're white squares and haven't changed color. Any chance there are other indicators?
The phone isn't insured and I bought it back in August. Would warranty possibly cover this or will they know about the water damage?
jmusso said:
I may have possibly water damaged my Captivate last night. It was in my pocket when water spilled on my lap, and I didn't immediately take it out. Very stupid of me. The USB port was open so I'm thinking liquid may have gotten into there... Also, there were water beads on the inside of the camera lens.
My recourse was to take it apart and try to let it dry out. Initially it wouldn't do anything upon being plugged in to the charger, so naturally I thought it was bricked. I've let it sit all day on a dry window sill next to the radiator. After putting the battery back in and plugging it in a little bit ago, the phone surprisingly booted up. Here's where I'm at now:
The phone boots normally, however if I plug it in to the charger I get an error stating Battery Temperature too high or something, so charging is paused. Does anybody know what this indicates?
Secondly, after being on for a minute or so, the screen gets screwy. Dark transparent overlays start flashing over everything and it gets unresponsive... I haven't left it on like this long b/c I was afraid something worse would happen - I usually rip the battery out of the back to shut it off.
My phones currently pulled apart and drying in the window sill. Whatever water got on/in it is not visibly there, however I understand some parts might still be wet.
Any advice? Also, I believe the water indicator on the battery and near the pins where the battery dock in the phone are both fine. They're white squares and haven't changed color. Any chance there are other indicators?
The phone isn't insured and I bought it back in August. Would warranty possibly cover this or will they know about the water damage?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
well you want to put in rice, so that the moisture is gone
rice it for sure. but warranty WILL not cover it UNLESS the tabs on the battery and phone are white (It might not have gotten wet if it was in your pocket)
if they are still white, or if your phone is white and battery red (then buy another battery) and get to the store and tell them you don't know what is wrong with it. The only indication that it is water damaged is if it is red and those tags are notoriously faulty so you could always argue your way through it if you have an account in good standing.
best of luck.
I know someone who "claimed' that insurance was supposed to be added to the phone when he got it and noticed that the person didn't do it properly (the guy was new so it helped his cause) and the manager of the cor store told him that they'd do a courtesy replacement and charged him the 125$ for a new device.
you could go that route should you need too...
I don't have access to rice at the moment... Would it do any good even if I absolutely can see no water anywhere in/on the phone?
Am I doing my phone any harm/potential harm by trying to turn it on every once in a while, or should I just let it be for a few days?
Take the phone apart and focus the strongest fan you have on it over night. It's probably best to not turn it on for awhile. Maybe if you focus a blow drier on it for perhaps several hours, air will find flow through the small openings within the case.
You may not be able to dry some parts of it unless you do a complete dismantle, but that may require special tools
Consider shipping it to get repaired only as a last resort, as I've read some bad reports about that.
Rice or some other dessicant is the way to go - it will pull moisture out. Also, turning it on (even putting the battery in) is bad - you are powering circuits and possibly creating shorts where water is present. You may have already done permanent damage.
If you get electronics wet, the best course of action is to remove the battery and put it in a bag of rice for a few days.
Now that You have the phone apart get an alcohol pad and gentley scrub the main board. Sometimes when liquid touches the main board you will get a white looking residue. If you see anything like that simply wipe it off. I dropped my phone into a trash can at a very popular teriyaki restaurant here in Las Vegas my phone was submerged into a deep bath of teriyaki sauce. I quickly pulled the phone from the can and wiped it down vigorously. I was excited to see that it was initially working unfortunately this was not the case by the time I got home. The phone would not turn on for a whole week, until I decided that I was going to open her up. I found a tutorial on line describing a complete break down of the captivate. Upon opening it I found I was able to see exactly where the teriyaki had interacted with the electronics due to the remnants of an oxidized white film that was present on various parts of the main board. I grabbed a alcohol pad out of my first aid kit and began wiping it down to remove all of the white stuff,put the phone back together and to my surprise it turned on. Hope this helps!
Thanks for the info guys.
How would I go about getting to the "main board"? Taking out the battery and looking inside it only reveals where the battery connects, where the SD card and sim cards can go... I'm assuming if I remove the little screws around that fixture I can get to the "main board"?
I think I can see some minor corrosion around where the sim card connects, but I think I *should* be able to clean that with some alcohol.
The phone seems to be working fine (I've yet to put my SIM back in it, though, so no idea if the corrosion around there is affecting it at all). I just booted it up and was able to get on the web (wifi), run apps, everything just fine. Didn't get the flashy screens I mentioned earlier. However, if I plug in the USB charger, it still gives me the temperature error. I didn't keep it plugged in, however it did make me realize something:
The errors I was getting before, where the screen went all wacky, only happened if the phone was plugged in to the wall. Is it possible my battery is busted, or do you think the USB charger is busted? Remember that port was open when it happened.
Any thoughts? New battery? Or do you think I won't be able to charge the phone via USB charger any more?
jmusso said:
I don't have access to rice at the moment... Would it do any good even if I absolutely can see no water anywhere in/on the phone?
Am I doing my phone any harm/potential harm by trying to turn it on every once in a while, or should I just let it be for a few days?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yes you are, because if there is water or moisture internal, it can short circuit, also rice will help dry up the phone completely
jmusso said:
Thanks for the info guys.
How would I go about getting to the "main board"? Taking out the battery and looking inside it only reveals where the battery connects, where the SD card and sim cards can go... I'm assuming if I remove the little screws around that fixture I can get to the "main board"?
I think I can see some minor corrosion around where the sim card connects, but I think I *should* be able to clean that with some alcohol.
The phone seems to be working fine (I've yet to put my SIM back in it, though, so no idea if the corrosion around there is affecting it at all). I just booted it up and was able to get on the web (wifi), run apps, everything just fine. Didn't get the flashy screens I mentioned earlier. However, if I plug in the USB charger, it still gives me the temperature error. I didn't keep it plugged in, however it did make me realize something:
The errors I was getting before, where the screen went all wacky, only happened if the phone was plugged in to the wall. Is it possible my battery is busted, or do you think the USB charger is busted? Remember that port was open when it happened.
Any thoughts? New battery? Or do you think I won't be able to charge the phone via USB charger any more?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you've never taken apart a smart phone before, and reading your first question, I'm going to assume that's the case, then I strongly advise you not attempt it unless you are willing to either A) buy a replacement after you break it or B) invest time/money into repairing mistakes you've made. This phone is not as difficult to disassemble as some, but I wouldn't want to break that $150 amoled screen.
No, removing the screws will not simply get you to the mainboard. It's more complicated and nuanced than that.
I'm a new user so I can't post the link but if you google Tech Republic Captivate tear down [/B]there is a website that will show you step by step how take the phone apart. There are two screws under the clip you pull down to take the back cover off. Be careful when pulling it back to expose the screws. I tugged on it pretty hard with no problems, but I imagine it could be broken if you pull too hard. Good Luck! It's actually really easy to take apart and the various ribbon connectors on the main board are really easy to unplug and plug back in after cleaning it.
So what do you guys think I should do if I'm still getting the battery error with the thermometer and yellow caution sign? Buy a new battery? Or do you think its the USB jack? Has anybody seen this before - the battery was working fine as long as it was not charging.
I'm trying to decide between a) buying a new battery, or b) buying a wall-mounted battery charger since the USB won't charge the phone.
Anybody have any experience?
Meguro2006 said:
I'm a new user so I can't post the link but if you google Tech Republic Captivate tear down [/B]there is a website that will show you step by step how take the phone apart. There are two screws under the clip you pull down to take the back cover off. Be careful when pulling it back to expose the screws. I tugged on it pretty hard with no problems, but I imagine it could be broken if you pull too hard. Good Luck! It's actually really easy to take apart and the various ribbon connectors on the main board are really easy to unplug and plug back in after cleaning it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think you need to be careful about who you encourage to dissect their device. This guy asked how to get to the mainboard. Clearly, he hasn't opened a smart phone before. Telling him it's "actually really easy" is disingenuous at best. Performing smart phone repairs properly requires experience. I'm certainly not suggesting that noobs not try to fix their phones, only that they are made fully aware of the risks.
My Captivate was fully submerged in dirty water. I followed some instructions online and it's been working fine for over a month now. If your water-detection stickers are already red anyway, and rice isn't working, I recommend it:
1) Remove battery, SIM card, SD card
2) Submerge in a bowl of distilled water and gently agitate. This helps clean the insides. Distilled water (not spring water) does not conduct electricity.
3) Next, submerge in a bowl of high-quality rubbing alcohol (~95% pure) and gently agitate. Rubbing alcohol displaces water, removes corrosion, and evaporates quickly. (It's also flammable, so have good ventilation and no open flames nearby)
4) Leave it out to dry for two days or until it no longer smells of alcohol.
BTW I wouldn't dry it too close to a radiator, the heat may damage it.
jatkins09 said:
If you've never taken apart a smart phone before, and reading your first question, I'm going to assume that's the case, then I strongly advise you not attempt it unless you are willing to either A) buy a replacement after you break it or B) invest time/money into repairing mistakes you've made. This phone is not as difficult to disassemble as some, but I wouldn't want to break that $150 amoled screen.
No, removing the screws will not simply get you to the mainboard. It's more complicated and nuanced than that.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not really. Once the screws are removed..including the two hidden by the battery cover lock slider...you can carefully pry the cover apart using your fingernail to get to the the internals. I have done it several times and am no expert by any means. Just don't yank like you are opening a present on Christmas morning.
Although I am mystified by the op stating they have no access to rice?! That should always be the second thing one does after a moisture incident...right after pulling the battery and sim. I guess in this case a trip to the store with a couple bucks may have pushed that to step three though..
sent from my captivate disguised as an i9000 running cyanogen

[Q] Water Damage: Microphone and battery drain problems

Ok, I was stupid. I jumped in the pool with my HTC One S. After 24 hours of letting it dry everything works perfectly EXCEPT Two items. (It has been over a week since the incident)
1. The microphone NO LONGER works. I can use the speaker phone to talk, but now I can't use the phone as regular phone. Is there anyway to fix this? Replace it? For now I am just going to use a bluetooth headset.
2. The battery drains CRAZY fast compared to before. Could the water have damaged the battery, or did it damage something else that is causing the battery to drain. Is there a replacement battery yet available?
Otherwise, the phone works as new.
Thanks!
Are you sure the microphone itself is damaged? I once had a few drops of water go into my HTC Legend, and the earpiece/mic stopped working, BUT it was because the phone thought there was a headset plugged in, not because the earpiece/mic themselves were damaged. The problem resolved itself eventually.
Try powering off the device and sealing it in a ziplock bag with some uncooked rice for a while, that should hopefully soak out any moisture.
Dunno about the battery drain though, but would be useful to get an app like BetterBatteryStats to see if there is anything that is obviously draining the battery software wise.
Its possible to replace the microphone, I just seen a site that will do it, Maybe you could repair it yourself if you feel upto the job..
However i cannot see any sites for replacement battery, Its not like a normal battery, Well it kinda is only it doesnt have the gold connectors, It has wires that are soldered directly to the motherboard.. I saw this on a youtube video..
If you are good with this sorta stuff, try to fix it yourself on the cheap..
I would say the battery drain is due to water damage, Maybe damaged connections between battery and phone... But you cannot guarantee this
Check this video at 3:40 the battery actually has a connector, http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?deskto...=&feature=player_embedded&v=b0jGY2N2h1U&gl=SE
Batteries should pop up on ebay soon I'd guess, didn't find any now though. Use Ville and Z520e for search terms if One S returns to much crap
So it does, !!
I saw a similar video but it wasnt that clear, It looked like them 3 wires where soldered to the motherboard. Its reassuring knowing that it isnt.
Still, Replacing it looks tricky, But i guess your warranty is void cause of the water damage so looks like you could replace the battery
However, finding one is hard, i searched everywhere and all i can find it the external batteries...... perhaps you could invest in one of these for the time being ?
Dont you have any mobile insurance or contents insurance ? you could claim for repairs / replacement on that !

Post Water Damage Recovery, Now Bricked

excuse me for the very long title. I being the brilliant human being that i am went into a pool on the day of our independence with my beautiful HOX in my pocket. i sat there for about 5 min, totally sober mind you, then realized what an ass i was. i immediately went inside, shut it off and placed in rice. the next day i turn it on to see if it works and indeed it does. The only visible problem was water under the screen though the screen worked fine. i turned it back off and put it back in rice so as to give the rice ample time to perform its magic. 3 days later i check again and it still works. i decided to switch back to the HOX and things were great. 2 days later however it would randomly shut off and take AT LEAST 30 min before it would turn back on. at the end of the day i took out the sim and threw it back in rice. the next day it wouldnt turn on and thats the way its been ever since. no light when charging ether. ive left it in rice for the past 3 weeks checking every once in awhile but to no avail.
so i know that water damage is the culprit as is my stupidity however im asking to see if there is anything that anyone can think of that might revive my phone? perhaps a batter replacement? or screen replacement? or find out what i shorted? ive taken it apart a little but have held back out of fear of being unable to put back together my already broken phone lol
any help is appreciated. Thank You
No resolution likely
sdonn said:
excuse me for the very long title. I being the brilliant human being that i am went into a pool on the day of our independence with my beautiful HOX in my pocket. i sat there for about 5 min, totally sober mind you, then realized what an ass i was. i immediately went inside, shut it off and placed in rice. the next day i turn it on to see if it works and indeed it does. The only visible problem was water under the screen though the screen worked fine. i turned it back off and put it back in rice so as to give the rice ample time to perform its magic. 3 days later i check again and it still works. i decided to switch back to the HOX and things were great. 2 days later however it would randomly shut off and take AT LEAST 30 min before it would turn back on. at the end of the day i took out the sim and threw it back in rice. the next day it wouldnt turn on and thats the way its been ever since. no light when charging ether. ive left it in rice for the past 3 weeks checking every once in awhile but to no avail.
so i know that water damage is the culprit as is my stupidity however im asking to see if there is anything that anyone can think of that might revive my phone? perhaps a batter replacement? or screen replacement? or find out what i shorted? ive taken it apart a little but have held back out of fear of being unable to put back together my already broken phone lol
any help is appreciated. Thank You
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry about you phone. Being an electronic technician, I would say you unfortunately made a fatal mistake by turning the phone on before it was totally dry inside. Almost anything on the circuit boards inside could have shorted or partially shorted while wet. I don't think anyone could guess as to what component is bad now without swapping in known good parts. It might have been damaged considerably before you got the chance to turn it off after the soaking, and there's nothing you could have done after that point, although it seemed to OK for a short time. I'm sorry that I can't recommend any further remedies.
dmech1 said:
Sorry about you phone. Being an electronic technician, I would say you unfortunately made a fatal mistake by turning the phone on before it was totally dry inside. Almost anything on the circuit boards inside could have shorted or partially shorted while wet. I don't think anyone could guess as to what component is bad now without swapping in known good parts. It might have been damaged considerably before you got the chance to turn it off after the soaking, and there's nothing you could have done after that point, although it seemed to OK for a short time. I'm sorry that I can't recommend any further remedies.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
alright i assumed as much but thank you for the help. i feel like i can finally let go off my HOX
Take it apart and sell for parts. The digitalizer probably works fine.
Sent from my sexy white HTC One X on T-Mobile
You really have to take it apart before putting it in the rice. These things are sealed up pretty good these days.
Might just be the battery. If water got in the pack, it would behave as you described from internal shorting.
Sent from my HTC One X using xda app-developers app
Open it
At this point, you have nothing to lose by opening it up and drying it out for a week or 2. At least you'll get out any remaining moisture. You may just get lucky.
Also if there is corrosion, use 99% alcohol to remove it.
Sent from my One XL

S6 water damaged - what needs replacing?

My girlfriend (about 8 months the ago) dropped her S6 in water. In her "wisdom" decided putting it straight on charge would help dry it out
I have since explained why that was bad.
I've found the phone, in my broken phone drawer and decided to look inside, expecting to see a swollen battery or something. My question would be; what's likely to have gone poof? Battery, lcd, motherboard or all the above?
8 months later, there's no LED's that light up, nothing appears on screen and charging it heats it up quite fast. I've also tried wireless charging, that does the same but slower.
Any tips would be appreciated.
Edit - phone was 4 days old
Not rooted, fully stock
irscotty said:
My girlfriend (about 8 months the ago) dropped her S6 in water. In her "wisdom" decided putting it straight on charge would help dry it out
I have since explained why that was bad.
I've found the phone, in my broken phone drawer and decided to look inside, expecting to see a swollen battery or something. My question would be; what's likely to have gone poof? Battery, lcd, motherboard or all the above?
8 months later, there's no LED's that light up, nothing appears on screen and charging it heats it up quite fast. I've also tried wireless charging, that does the same but slower.
Any tips would be appreciated.
Edit - phone was 4 days old
Not rooted, fully stock
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Most likely the motherboard has short circuited, lcd may be intact but for sure battery and motherboard would need to be replaced. But as with water damaged phones, it's a bit of a throw of the dice as you won't know if one thing is fixed until you fix another.
Thanks for the response.
Im just trying to gage whether or not repair is worth while to sell the phone. The mother board alone is between £50 & 170,with the 50 pound option rated as a test only piece. I think I'll just get rid, thanks!

Can a (going bad) battery cause the phone to boot loop?

Original battery.
Stock 5.01 (still) rooted.
The battery is fully charged.
LG logo, AT&T logo (and sound) then reboot. Repeat.
Just under a year ago, I bought 2 new batteries with external charger (Power Bear) because I felt the original battery was not lasting as long as it had previously. The new batteries seemed to deliver about the same time as the original so since then I've been rotating the three- charging using the external charger exclusively.
Around six months ago, I noticed that when the battery would reached to about 6,7 or 8%, I would be at risk for a "spontaneous" reboot, then a boot loop as described above. (this can occur w/the new batts too)
I quickly determined it was time to swap the battery and that's it.
In the past two months, THAT behavior has began to sometimes manifest itself with between 15-19% battery life. I thought, 'OK. Move on, the battery gauge is probably not accurately reflecting what's really left in the battery any longer.'
NOW, the original battery, though fully charged, is causing the circular reboot upon being inserted.
Can a battery "go bad" in this type of manner? Without really exhibiting significant "performance loss" (read: usage time)?
I'm thinking the orig battery can no longer deliver the proper current, or something like that.
To be clear, the other two batts work fine.
Anyone ever heard anything like this?
*edit:
An interesting piece of info: If I leave the phone plugged in to the charger, it DOES boot up fine and stay up. The second I PULL OUT THE PLUG, it reboots, and so on....
Yes it’s very very common. And is usually a battery issue. When it comes to the G3 anyway
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Did you ever figure it out? If it's not a battery issue maybe it's an LG motherboard issue, like everyone else who's had their G3 close to 4 years. In that case, do what I do, stick the LG G3 motherboard ONLY into the OVEN and BAKE it for 10 mins @ 360 degrees. Believe it or not, baking solves many of the problems, not charging, boot-loop, not turn on, blue screen, freeze ups, etc. I have 2 LG G3's, 1 AT&T and 1 TMobile, that I do this with. I can go weeks without having to bake them again but then sometimes when I'm driving and need my phone the most, it dies, won't even turn on. So it's not a permanent cure because it'll happen again, no doubt, the question is, how long...I laughed when someone said oh, just bake the motherboard. Well, come to find out the type of solder they used on the motherboard melts at a lower temperature so when it gets too hot some chips lose their connections, thus by baking it I guess it reseats the chips. Hey, it works every time after I bake it so I can't knock it.
Either way, give it a shot, it can't hurt your motherboard and if it fixes the problem, at least you'll know how to fix it and think about getting a new phone, like myself, lol. Instructions are quite simple.
1...Take back off
2...Battery out, Sim out, SD out
3...small philips head, remove 12 screws from back, the screw next to camera does not have to be removed.
4...remove both rear-housing assemblies
5...Remove motherboard by disconnecting the rear camera connector, front camera connector, lcd screen connector, and the touchscreen connector.
6...Now remove the motherboard, hold back the connectors when lifting the motherboard out. Do not bend or break the connectors.
7...Take the motherboard, piece of tinfoil or parchment paper (i prefer tinfoil), lay the tinfoil on a baking sheet/cookie sheet, and then place the motherboard on the tinfoil with
the CPU facing up. Pre-heat the oven to 360 degrees, when it beeps, put it in for 10mins. After 10 mins, pull it out, turn your oven off, let motherboard sit for 15 mins and put the phone back together. Be careful snapping the connectors back into their places.
8...Be surprised when your phone still actually works after doing something like that to it.
I actually just baked mine again last night.
Good luck.

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