Battery won't fully charge... even after a refurb

[Philky]

I took my Thunderbolt to Verizon after the battery first would not charge fully, then it died completely. The charging node was bad on my phone, so I got a refurb. But then my battery would not charge up past 85 percent. They sent me a refurb battery and the problem remains. This is after hours of charging on three different chargers.

I figure the problem can't be the phone and battery since I got replacements for the problems. Is there a software issue with one of my apps that drains the battery? I'm also using Advanced Task Killer.

Thanks.

 

[srkmagnus]

Does the battery % stop at 85% or does it get to 100% and reduce to 85% when disconnected?

I've read several articles about battery charging and several have stated that when the phone hits 100% on the charger it will slowly decline even though it is left connected. Basically, it hits 100% and acts like it's disconnected (even though connected). When disconnected the battery percentage will drop. I'm not sure if this is what you are experiencing or if it's a problem with the device.

To start, I would suggest backing up all data on the phone and sync with Google. Perform a factory reset and log back into the device. This may solve the problem. If not, then I'd suggest going back to Verizon.

 

[Philky]

Thanks for your response. It won't even go up to 100 percent. Right now, I've been charging it at work for several hours and it won't go past 88 percent. The battery power decreases at a normal rate.

I'm not the best techie in the world... I know how to back up my stuff, but how do I do a factory reset?

 

[Lee_Bo]

There are several "battery calibration" apps in the market. All this does is deletes the battery file from your device and starts a new one. I had the same issue with my Bionic and after doing this my battery charged to 100%. There are several free apps that do not require root access.

 

[sniffs]

Clear the batt stats. Chances are that 85% is actually 100% but the stats are being read wrong.

This can be done in CWM/Recovery..

 

[Philky]

Clear the batt stats. Chances are that 85% is actually 100% but the stats are being read wrong.

This can be done in CWM/Recovery..

I have to root my phone first, correct?

 

[MrSmith317]

Unfortunately, let me dig this up again:

The batterystats.bin file in the data/system/ directory is used to maintain, across reboots, low-level data about the kinds of operations the device and your apps are doing between battery changes. That is, it is solely used to compute the blame for battery usage shown in the “Battery Use” UI in settings.
That is, it has deeply significant things like “app X held a wake lock for 2 minutes” and “the screen was on at 60% brightness for 10 minutes.”
It has no impact on the current battery level shown to you.
It has no impact on your battery life"

Are you using a custom ROM? I've heard of a lot of issues with the Tbolt. I had a similar issue with my Rezound based on using a 3.8v battery with a kernel that didn't support it. Perhaps the battery is the issue. If you know someone with another Tbolt that charges fully, swap batteries and see if either make it to 100%. Oh and refurb batteries? That's a new low. Verizon regards batteries as consumables so why should it be ok to give anyone a "refurbished" battery?

 

[Philky]

Unfortunately, let me dig this up again:

The batterystats.bin file in the data/system/ directory is used to maintain, across reboots, low-level data about the kinds of operations the device and your apps are doing between battery changes. That is, it is solely used to compute the blame for battery usage shown in the ?Battery Use? UI in settings.
That is, it has deeply significant things like ?app X held a wake lock for 2 minutes? and ?the screen was on at 60% brightness for 10 minutes.?
It has no impact on the current battery level shown to you.
It has no impact on your battery life"

Are you using a custom ROM? I've heard of a lot of issues with the Tbolt. I had a similar issue with my Rezound based on using a 3.8v battery with a kernel that didn't support it. Perhaps the battery is the issue. If you know someone with another Tbolt that charges fully, swap batteries and see if either make it to 100%. Oh and refurb batteries? That's a new low. Verizon regards batteries as consumables so why should it be ok to give anyone a "refurbished" battery?

Sorry, I misspoke on the "refurbished' battery part. It is a new battery. No, I'm not using a custom ROM. Thank you for the info on the battery stats. I will try a battery calibration program and see if that works.

 

[srkmagnus]

If you can use a third-party app to "calibrate the battery" it's worth a shot. But like Mr. Smith said, the whole battery calibration thing has been defunct by a Google Engineer.

You can factory reset via menu > settings > privacy/security. There should be an option somewhere in there to factory reset.

 

[Philky]

Well, after recalibrating the battery and then doing a factory reset, the problem persists. At this point, I'm wondering if it's something with a program. Surely it can't be the phone if I had the phone and battery replaced. Any other suggestions?