Battery: Defective?

[V J]

@Samtheman7, if I'm not mistaken, "Android System" is usually the lump sum of all your background processes running behind the scenes (or most of them). Things like sync services, mail exchanges and widgets. Do you have anything like those that are maybe continuously retrieving data or syncing in the background. The worst culprits would be weather widgets that are constantly using GPS to determine your current location and retrieve weather information on the go. You can check what sort of processes you have in the background by doing this:

1. Long-press the home button and click on the pie chart icon.
2 Click the "RAM" tab and press "Clear memory".
3 Press the "back" capacitive button back to your homescreen again and long press the home button again.
4. Press the trash bin icon this time, then the back button and wait a few seconds. Now only your default processes should be running, as in the ones set to start-up when your phone boots up, and ones that are set to start back up when killed.
5. From your homescreen go into Settings > Applications manager > swipe left to "Running" and you will see a list of background services active. Have a look and see if you can see any that may be causing the battery drain, if not take screenshots of the list.


@meyerweb Apple - Batteries - iPhone

"Use iPhone Regularly

For proper maintenance of a lithium-based battery, it?s important to keep the electrons in it moving occasionally. Be sure to go through at least one charge cycle per month (charging the battery to 100% and then completely running it down)."

That's the only one I could find with a quick google search but I've read a few other similar notes from different sources. It's not a widely advertised practice but it's definitely advised if you're suffering from inconsistent battery life. If your battery performs to expectations though I wouldn't worry about trying to recalibrate it using this method. Honestly though, I've never had batteries fail on me because I tend to upgrade my phone at least once every year or 2. But my partner's phone battery lasted roughly 4-5 years before an abrupt failure, it wasn't a gradual loss of charge capacity and that remains my only experience of battery failure.

But like I said, the minimal impact on the battery's operational lifetime is inconsequential since most of the time you'd have upgraded your device before the battery starts showing signs of failure. But if you're absolutely set on using your device for years to come, and you have no issues with the battery performance, then you don't have to bother with discharge cycles. Otherwise, fully discharging it and letting the battery calibrate is an easier option than having to replace it.

 

[MrDoh]

Please point me to these device manufacturers recommendations. I've never seen one. The instructions that came with my GS3 certainly don't say anything about it. And good luck getting anywhere near 6 to 8 years of useful life out of a phone battery. In my experience, they start showing significantly shorter useful life on a charge after a couple of years. That may not matter if you buy a new phone everytime your contract is up, but not everyone wants to do that.

Yes, you're 100% correct...I keep seeing these recommedations to completely discharge your battery to "recalibrate" it or something like that. When you read about how Li-ion batteries really work, and recommendations from real experts on making your Li-ion battery last, they all say NOT to discharge your battery to anywhere near empty. Doing that shortens the battery's life, adds a lot more wear quickly. Like you, I'm not sure where on the battery discharge curve the phone is designed to cut off and stop working, but I hope that it would be well before full discharge, since I hear about lots of people "running out of charge". As a result, in the years that I've had Li-ion batteries in my phone I've never let the charge get really low, and have had no problems with those batteries. In fact, the battery in the iPhone 4 that I passed onto my wife is still going strong after 2 years, seems to be in about the same place as when I first got the phone. These myths all stem from the old NiCad and NiMH batteries where if you didn't discharge them completely occasionally, they would have shorter and shorter charge/discharge cycles and would be useless before too long. This is definitely not true of Li-ion batteries.

 

[MrDoh]

@meyerweb Apple - Batteries - iPhone

"Use iPhone Regularly

For proper maintenance of a lithium-based battery, it?s important to keep the electrons in it moving occasionally. Be sure to go through at least one charge cycle per month (charging the battery to 100% and then completely running it down)."

That's the only one I could find with a quick google search but I've read a few other similar notes from different sources. It's not a widely advertised practice but it's definitely advised if you're suffering from inconsistent battery life. If your battery performs to expectations though I wouldn't worry about trying to recalibrate it using this method. Honestly though, I've never had batteries fail on me because I tend to upgrade my phone at least once every year or 2. But my partner's phone battery lasted roughly 4-5 years before an abrupt failure, it wasn't a gradual loss of charge capacity and that remains my only experience of battery failure.

But like I said, the minimal impact on the battery's operational lifetime is inconsequential since most of the time you'd have upgraded your device before the battery starts showing signs of failure. But if you're absolutely set on using your device for years to come, and you have no issues with the battery performance, then you don't have to bother with discharge cycles. Otherwise, fully discharging it and letting the battery calibrate is an easier option than having to replace it.

I think that the quote above from Apple needs to be updated, it really isn't supported anywhere else, nor even elsewhere on their own site. If you go here:

Apple - Batteries

you'll see a much different story, complete with how the "battery cycle" can be composed of smaller discharges. I'd go further from what I've read to add that not only can the full discharge cycle per month be composed of incremental discharges, but it should be if you don't want to add extra wear to your battery with a full discharge.

Another reference worth a look is:

How to Prolong Lithium-based Batteries - Battery University

and there are many others as well.

 

[V J]

Yes, you're 100% correct...I keep seeing these recommedations to completely discharge your battery to "recalibrate" it or something like that. When you read about how Li-ion batteries really work, and recommendations from real experts on making your Li-ion battery last, they all say NOT to discharge your battery to anywhere near empty. Doing that shortens the battery's life, adds a lot more wear quickly. Like you, I'm not sure where on the battery discharge curve the phone is designed to cut off and stop working, but I hope that it would be well before full discharge, since I hear about lots of people "running out of charge". As a result, in the years that I've had Li-ion batteries in my phone I've never let the charge get really low, and have had no problems with those batteries. In fact, the battery in the iPhone 4 that I passed onto my wife is still going strong after 2 years, seems to be in about the same place as when I first got the phone. These myths all stem from the old NiCad and NiMH batteries where if you didn't discharge them completely occasionally, they would have shorter and shorter charge/discharge cycles and would be useless before too long. This is definitely not true of Li-ion batteries.

Well ok, let's not derail the topic here. Whether or not the advised procedure of fully discharging the battery affects the expected lifetime is not in question because it does. Plain and simple. Batteries can only do a few thousand charging cycles before they die. And this is almost completely irrelevant to the OP.

He is having battery performance issues and since I've seen more than a few sources advising a full discharge to calibrate the battery, a practice that in my experience works in most cases, I relayed the information to him. While it may have some minor impact on the expected lifetime duration of his current battery, really what does he have to lose? His battery is under-performing severely right now so why not try a possible solution if he's facing having to purchase a new battery to replace a possibly defective one anyway.

The OP came here for some advice, and I'm trying to offer possible solutions. If you're gonna try and explain why he shouldn't do it in his current situation then at the very least offer a counter-solution. Otherwise you're just implying that my advice is worthless and that he should do nothing and just put up with his average of 1.5 hours of screen time on a full charge, which isn't really helping anybody.

 

[Samtheman7]

Guys, AT&T lets you upgrade after 18 months on contract. No chance I'm keeping this thing over 24 months. Battery life 5 years from now isn't an issue.

 

[funkylogik]

I think both of you MAY have valid points on rechargable battery cell tech' (of which i have zero)
But surely we three would agree that $?20 per 500discharges is far better than even THINKIN about whats best for your batt' am i wrong chaps? :thumbup:

quadcore 1gb GS3, Neat Rom by Salesale. Paisley, Scotland, Western Europe :beer:

 

[funkylogik]

Guys, AT&T lets you upgrade after 18 months on contract. No chance I'm keeping this thing over 24 months. Battery life 5 years from now isn't an issue.

I buy my phones mate.
Unlocked phone with a prepay sim ends up cheaper, unltd data,txt etc but im on welfare so ill be buyin a couple of batterys before i can get a phone like this again

quadcore 1gb GS3, Neat Rom by Salesale. Paisley, Scotland, Western Europe :beer:

 

[V J]

I buy my phones mate.
Unlocked phone with a prepay sim ends up cheaper, unltd data,txt etc but im on welfare so ill be buyin a couple of batterys before i can get a phone like this again

quadcore 1gb GS3, Neat Rom by Salesale. Paisley, Scotland, Western Europe :beer:

Oh dude, I buy my phones outright too and I don't know where you are but in Australia, if you get a BYO (bring your own handset) month-to-month plan it works out WAY cheaper than prepaid. For 10 bucks a month I get $200 on voice/text credit, 2GB data, and $1000 voice/text to numbers on the same carrier. I basically never go over my credit limit regardless of how hardcore I use my phone. A lot of my friends think prepaid is the cheapest way to go but here you're not really getting your money's worth. Not sure if it's the same where you are though.

 

[meyerweb#CB]

Back to the original topic:

Android system is a catch-all for a lot of processes, and it's not very helpful in figuring out what's going on. So far, I've only found one app that will show you at a detailed level what is using cpu, which is a pretty good proxy for battery use (other than screen and radio). That app is System Panel: https://forums.androidcentral.com/e...panel.r1&feature=search_result&token=z85SnxKR..

The paid version (2.99) has a monitoring function that runs in the background and shows at a very detailed level what's going on over time. Some of what follows may work on the free version, but I'm not sure.

Go into the app settings and check App CPU monitors, App CPU Time, and System processes. Then take a look at all the apps and processes that are using up cpu. Scroll all the way down to the bottom section of the app list, labeled "internal system processes," and you'll see the things that make up "Android System." Tapping any one of these rows will display a page with even more detailed information.

Earlier this week, my SG3 suddenly went nuts on battery, losing about 40% of full charge just sitting, unused, over night. 20% is more typical for me. Using System Panel, I was able to track it down to the QOSMGR service, which was using more cpu than everything else combined. If you're having any kind of device performance issues, System Panel is worth it's weight in gold. Hmm, apps don't weigh anything, so I guess that old expression doesn't work here. But it's well worth the $3 asking price.

Some Google searches turned up some links indicating QOSMGR had been a problem with some custom ROMs, and some recommendations to rename it with .bak on the end. I didn't really want to do that, because a properly working QOS manager should help with multi-tasking. I tried restarting the device, but that didn't seem to solve it. A full shutdown and reboot did, and I've not noticed a recurrence of the problem. Anyway, try using System Panel to see if you can figure out what part of Android System might be chewing up battery.

Note, though, that many of these processes are always running in the background, and if you're not doing a lot with the phone Android System will, by default, become the major user of cpu and battery. The battery stats pictured above don't look out of line for Android System.

Another trick I just learned this week: Go to Settings / Developer options, and make sure that's switched on. The scroll down and check "Show CPU usage." This will display an overlay, on top of whatever else is on your display, showing all the apps currently using cpu.(This is a lot easier to see on a dark background, so you might want to create a blank home screen with dark wallpaper.) If the same app or process is constantly at the top, that might be a problem. When I checked it, QOSMGR was at the top, and highlighted in red. Since I did the reboot, I haven't noticed that process show up in the list at all.

Watching this overlay can provide some interesting info. I just noticed a facebook process show up, and I thought I had turned off all facebook background actions. Need to go double check that....

 

[MrDoh]

He is having battery performance issues and since I've seen more than a few sources advising a full discharge to calibrate the battery, a practice that in my experience works in most cases, I relayed the information to him. While it may have some minor impact on the expected lifetime duration of his current battery, really what does he have to lose? His battery is under-performing severely right now so why not try a possible solution if he's facing having to purchase a new battery to replace a possibly defective one anyway.

The OP came here for some advice, and I'm trying to offer possible solutions. If you're gonna try and explain why he shouldn't do it in his current situation then at the very least offer a counter-solution. Otherwise you're just implying that my advice is worthless and that he should do nothing and just put up with his average of 1.5 hours of screen time on a full charge, which isn't really helping anybody.

Sorry you took it that way, I didn't mean that your advice was worthless, just that particular common misconception that the solution to battery problems is completely discharge your battery and then recharge it is counterproductive. That's all. Doesn't matter how long you keep your phone, it causes extra wear on your battery for no benefit.

Okay, other ideas, most of which have been mentioned...I agree that looking at the battery usage information in settings is a good idea, if anything stands out there, that's a big help, low-hanging fruit. Also, one thing that I've found very helpful is the "BetterBattery Stats" app, where you can research what's causing your battery usage and what's keeping your phone awake using battery when it could be sleeping. Other things that I've found helpful are to set up the WiFi so that it only connects when either not sleeping or when it is plugged in and sleeping (I leave mobile data off unless I'm away from home, WiFi only at home). Since I let my phone charge all night (and leave mobile data off unless I'm away from home), this is a battery savings for me. I've also rooted my phone so that I can freeze the Verizon apps that want to run that I never use, along with the "email" app (I only use gmail). Right at the moment I have "maps" frozen since I"m not using it and it was running for inexplicable reasons, but will un-freeze it when I do need it next. I don't use Google Now, either. And I"m not syncing anything in the background, I sync manually when I go to look at gmail, etc. No widgets, just apps, and I let the weather app update only when I open it. There are lots of things that one can do, but it means really spending some time focusing on figuring out what's using your battery, and what you really want and what you can do without. And going through your settings to see what opportunities there are for power savings. A lot of little savings can add to a big savings, after you've hit the big battery eaters. In the end, though, your phone needs to be useful to you (and fun *smile*), so the things that you need and enjoy should be able to stay on.

 

[Samtheman7]

These were yesterday's stats. Horrific. I let it die and then recharge last night, so we'll see what happens today.
Please note that the third photo is not my total screen time, but I wasn't sure if I would remember to screenshot it before it died, so I took that with 9 percent left.

 

[MrDoh]

Just a quick thought, I see that you're using 4G/LTE. Personally, I use 3G, since I find 4G is a real battery sucker for me. You might try using 3G for a while and see if that makes a difference. Since I use WiFi at home, I only use 3G when I'm mobile, and 3G has been fine for me so far. When I did try 4G, I wasn't happy at all with it, but I must be hanging out in a lot of marginal 4G signal areas *smile*. Anyways, just a thought.

 

[Michael Kergosien Jr]

Android system is on the top of my list. Why? It's really annoying and I don't know what app is sucking up my battery. Pics attached.

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Android Central Forums

 

[meyerweb#CB]

See post #29, and here: http://forums.androidcentral.com/sa...android-system-eating-your-battery-check.html

It can often be very useful to read what other people have posted to see if it addresses your problem before asking your question. Even if QOSMGR isn't the problem, the approach I described will let you figure out what is running amok.