Device won't recharge after being abandoned for a few months

**jrwatson** · 03-09-2013, 03:14 AM

I stopped using my N7 when I graduated a few months ago; I got a 5" phone so that helped too lol. When I tried to use it tonight, I found that as soon as I disconnect it from the USB charger, it immediately dies. i.e., the battery is permanently at 0% and will not recharge. I've tried different chargers, I've tried charging it from my laptop, I've restarted it numerous times, I did a soft reset, etc. It just won't charge, although it stays awake as long as it's plugged into something.

Is this a common issue (devices refusing to charge after being left to die)? Would yet another factory reset (already done this 2x for different issues) make the battery charge up again? Do you think the battery itself got messed up, or is it just a software glitch?

**dancing-bass** · 03-09-2013, 06:49 AM

First of all (for next time) if you know you're going to store a Lithium Ion battery for long term, charge it or use it until the battery is around 50%. I have read numerous times that Li-On batteries prefer to be stored with about a 50% charge. No, not everyone knows this, but it's the reason why whenever you buy a new phone it's NEVER fully charged out of the box. Its always about 50% battery.

I would say your best hope for now is charge it for 24hrs without trying to use it or turn it on. Plug it in, and if it turns on by itself, turn it off. If you have to charge it via a USB port rather then using the wall charger, it may take longer. (USB ports only put out 0.5 amps, I believe the wall charger for the Nexus 7 puts out 2 amps).

In fact in this case, because the battery may have issues, it may be BETTER to charge via USB rather then using the wall charger. In any case, plug it in, make sure it's powered off, and leave it alone for 24hrs. Then power it up and unplug it. See what happens then

Good luck

**MJKearney** · 03-10-2013, 11:41 AM

You might also want to take the back off and make sure the battery connector is seated properly.

**jpash549** · 03-10-2013, 12:32 PM

And you could install a new battery.

From my N7 or BBPB or HPTP or HP Laptop

**jd914** · 03-10-2013, 07:24 PM

Lots of bad advice especially recommending you change out the battery. Just get a warranty replacement and be done with it.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2

**MJKearney** · 03-10-2013, 08:13 PM

Originally Posted by jd914

Lots of bad advice especially recommending you change out the battery. Just get a warranty replacement and be done with it.

Instead of basically insulting your fellow forum members with your opinion that their advice is bad, next time please be a little more diplomatic. Just leave out your opinion about other's advice and simply give your own. Your advice probably makes the most sense, but that doesn't make the other ideas bad. I'm sure the OP is smart enough to figure out which idea, or combination of ideas, is best for his technical knowledge and situation. We're all just trying to help, and I put quite a few hours of time into it. Thanks for your consideration.

**philba** · 03-10-2013, 08:31 PM

If it's under warrantee, he's right. otherwise, there are some good thoughts.

What I suspect has happened the battery has self discharged below the lower voltage limit so the charging circuit thinks the battery has died and is refusing to recharge it. You could refurbish it but you'd have to do a constant (low) current charge directly to the battery terminals (i.e. end run the charge controller). Better to just get a replacement battery if not under warrantee.

**jpash549** · 03-10-2013, 08:42 PM

Sorry for the "BAD" advice. Of course he would be within the standard year warranty but he could have difficulty applying it since his neglect could be considered not normal use. My point was that battery replacement is not that difficult or expensive. Others have had troubles dealing with Asus and Google in getting malfunctions repaired. Exercising warranties is not always easy. Have a good day Bro.

From my N7 or BBPB or HPTP or HP Laptop

**B. Diddy** · 03-10-2013, 09:42 PM

Lithium batteries generally don't like being completely discharged. If they truly get to zero charge, they're essentially unsalvageable.

**jrwatson** · 03-11-2013, 12:44 AM

Originally Posted by B. Diddy

Lithium batteries generally don't like being completely discharged. If they truly get to zero charge, they're essentially unsalvageable.

seriously? oh crap :|. I think the problem was that I left the device 'asleep', not fully shut down--at the time I didn't think I'd go so long without it, and it just slipped my mind. I need to learn to take better care of my electronics. I wish tablets had some sort of auto shut-down feature after like, 1000 hours of being 'asleep'.

I was about to ship it off to ASUS repair, but when I turned it on a few hours ago, it looked like it had charged a little bit (albeit much, much slower than it usually does). It's been plugged in for the past 20 minutes, and it still says 4% (which is a lot better than 0%). The battery stats won't update (it says it's been on for 19 days, won't change even if I restart it), and the device is overall pretty sluggish. I'll leave it charged overnight and see if it changes anything, but I'm afraid I permanently screwed up the device

. If it does charge, the whole reason for shipping it in the first place is rendered null.

Thanks for all the advice everyone! I'll see if it fully charges by tomorrow. It really was my fault that this happened, so I don't know how generous ASUS will be with the warranty if it doesn't :|. At least it was affordable; worst-case scenario is, come the time I need to use a tablet daily, I'll just get the newest model.

**pcdebb** · 03-11-2013, 01:29 AM

Apparently this is a common problem. I read on another forum that they left it to charge using the wall charger. Just curious, but what would be the proper way of charging? I know it sounds kinda stupid to ask, but I don't want to destroy mine. I usually give mine some juice daily, or if it gets anywhere under 50%. Otherwise the battery life is pretty good.

Does Asus use a different type of lithium battery? I've never seen or heard about this issue with any other tablet.

**B. Diddy** · 03-11-2013, 02:07 AM

As far as I know, the N7's battery isn't any different from any other device's. Most devices, including the N7, won't allow you to operate it until the battery goes to zero--it will typically warn you when it gets to around 15%, then automatically shut down at 10%, I think. A completely shut down device at 10% will probably still survive for a while, but if it's been left uncharged for weeks to months, there's obviously a big chance that the battery will completely discharge. I've never experimented with this myself (who'd want to?), but it's what I surmise from reading authorities like Battery University.

Sent from my ASUS Transformer Pad TF300T using Android Central Forums

**jd914** · 03-11-2013, 02:25 PM

Originally Posted by MJKearney

Instead of basically insulting your fellow forum members with your opinion that their advice is bad, next time please be a little more diplomatic. Just leave out your opinion about other's advice and simply give your own. Your advice probably makes the most sense, but that doesn't make the other ideas bad. I'm sure the OP is smart enough to figure out which idea, or combination of ideas, is best for his technical knowledge and situation. We're all just trying to help, and I put quite a few hours of time into it. Thanks for your consideration.

Bad advise is bad advice sorry if you took it personally.

**mr_nobody** · 03-11-2013, 06:56 PM

Honestly I would take mjkearney's advice before I took yours. You seem pretty eager to get people involved in the Asus return process. Ever experienced it yourself?

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Android Central Forums

**jpash549** · 03-11-2013, 07:27 PM

Originally Posted by jd914

Bad advise is bad advice sorry if you took it personally.

Didn't take it personally. Just realized I had to explain my point a little more fully. We obviously have different viewpoints as to what constitutes bad advice. Since OP had not said where he bought the N7 or whether he had any sort of special warranty protection the casual advice to just send it off and get a warranty replacement might not be so great either. If the battery turns out to be bad they will probably replace it not return a whole new unit. If they pay for the repair you would be ahead but otherwise you might be better off doing it yourself. A quick internet search showed a kit available for $40.

From my N7 or BBPB or HPTP or HP Laptop

**Doc Marten** · 03-11-2013, 08:06 PM

Your Nexus 7 is still under warranty, why not go down that route before messing around replacing batteries and thereby invalidating your warranty?

What kind of special warranty are you talking about jpash? The Nexus 4 was first released in July last year, barely 8 months ago. In any country on the planet the Nexus is within warranty. The OP said in one reply he was going to ship it under warranty so I don't know why people are advocating actions that would invalidate that warranty potentially leaving the OP seriously out of pocket.

First port of call whenever something you have bought is defective and it is within the warranty period is either the place you bought it from or the manufacturer. All you need to tell Google/Asus is your device no longer charges. Don't tell them you left it sitting for 5 months!

**Jennifer Stough** · 03-11-2013, 08:14 PM

Originally Posted by Doc Marten

Your Nexus 7 is still under warranty, why not go down that route before messing around replacing batteries and thereby invalidating your warranty?

What kind of special warranty are you talking about jpash? The Nexus 4 was first released in July last year, barely 8 months ago. In any country on the planet the Nexus is within warranty. The OP said in one reply he was going to ship it under warranty so I don't know why people are advocating actions that would invalidate that warranty potentially leaving the OP seriously out of pocket.

First port of call whenever something you have bought is defective and it is within the warranty period is either the place you bought it from or the manufacturer. All you need to tell Google/Asus is your device no longer charges. Don't tell them you left it sitting for 5 months!

I wouldn't advise someone to be dishonest when doing warrenty exchanges. Its just not the right thing to do. The only advice that could possibly void warrenty is installing a new battery, but other than that there were many pieces of advice that were helpful if the op didn't want to go through the warrenty process or wanted to leave it as a last choice.

Sent from my Verizon Droid DNA

**jpash549** · 03-11-2013, 11:01 PM

Originally Posted by Doc Marten

Your Nexus 7 is still under warranty, why not go down that route before messing around replacing batteries and thereby invalidating your warranty?

What kind of special warranty are you talking about jpash? The Nexus 4 was first released in July last year, barely 8 months ago. In any country on the planet the Nexus is within warranty. The OP said in one reply he was going to ship it under warranty so I don't know why people are advocating actions that would invalidate that warranty potentially leaving the OP seriously out of pocket.

First port of call whenever something you have bought is defective and it is within the warranty period is either the place you bought it from or the manufacturer. All you need to tell Google/Asus is your device no longer charges. Don't tell them you left it sitting for 5 months!

Sorry again about my bad advice but I certainly would not advise dishonest or misleading discussions with Asus. There are special warranties available from Square Trade,Walmart, Staples etc in US. Don't know where OP is located. Of course the standard Asus warranty applicable in the US is a limited warranty. This usually covers defects in materials and workmanship happening under normal usage but not damage caused by misuse or operating errors. Since you were going to send it back to Asus perhaps you discussed the warranty aspects with them and have some idea as to what is going to happen. Don't know if you discussed the issue of neglecting to charge or anything else with them. If returning for repair is what you decided don't take the back off or do anything. Don't believe you said what version of Jelly Bean the unit was on but suppose it was 4. 1. My advice as to battery replacement was to taken as an alternative to pitching in a drawer or getting into a losing fight with Asus.

"Another trick which has been reported in other threads in Android Central is :

bugs that we are slowly figuring out fixes for. One of those that has plagued many (according to a variety of forum posts), is a charging issue with the Nexus 7. As users leave their tablet idle for an extended period of time or use it for hours until the battery runs completely dry, the device is having a hell of a time charging back up again or even turning on.

In fact, if you let your Nexus 7 die completely, you may run into a screen flashing or pixel party experience once plugged into a charger that won’t bring you joy. The device, at least mine and in others’ cases, won’t turn on with any combination of button pressing. Well, there is one combo along with a charger that worked for me, getting my N7 back on the charging path of pleasure.

To charge a dead Nexus 7:

1. Plug-in your dead N7 to a wall charger. (Jump immediately to step 2.)
2. Immediately after plugging it in, press Volume Down and Power at the same time.

*This should get you into the bootloader menu. You may have to try this with different chargers or test out the timing in order to get it to work.

3. Once in the bootloader menu, use Volume Down until you see “Power Off Device.”
4. Choose that option with the Power button.
5. Once your device is off, unplug the charger and then plug it back into the device.
6. You should now see the battery meter (pictured above) with your device returning to life.

Hope that helps those of you with dead Nexus 7s. For the rest of you, I suggest not letting your N7 completely run out of juice. Should you see it drop to 10% or under, find yourself a charger.

Via: Android Central"

An URL reference to the same thing follows:

From my N7 or BBPB or HPTP or HP Laptop