Pixel XL - USB-C to USB-C not charging if phone is on when plugged in, sometimes

[Android Central Question]

I have a Pixel XL. Yesterday, I noticed that my phone was not charging (USB-C to USB-C from Verizon) even though it was plugged in. I re-plugged it in and it would charge if I held the phone up but not if I put the phone down. At a certain point, I was able to put the phone in a position to charge when on my desk and it started to charge for about 10 minutes. After about 10 minutes, it stopped charging.

My car charger (Verizon) also would not charge the phone.

I tried turning off and on the phone and that did not help.

I took it to a UBreakIFix shop (an authorized google repair shop) and when they plugged the phone into their samsung USB-C charger, it worked. They cleaned the charging port anyway.

I plugged the phone into my car charger, and it still doesn't work.

Went home, tried another Verizon USB-C to USB-C charger as well as the original Google version that came with the phone. Both didn't work.

Dug up the cable from my recalled Samsung Note 7s (Dont worry, I did turn the phone back in), which is a USB-A to USB-C cable, plugged it into an Apple IPad adapter, plugged in my phone, and it was charging (albeit more slowly).

Did some research, found that some people said that if they turn their phone off and then plug their phone into a USB-C to USB-C charger, it will charge and stay charging, even when they turn the phone back on.

Turned off my phone, plugged in the Verizon USB-C to USB-C charger, and it charges. Turn on the phone, and it is still charging. Unplug the charger and try to replug it in while the phone is still on, and it doesn't charge anymore.

I turned off the phone again, plugged in the Verizon charger, phone started charging, then turned the phone on. Phone is still charging. Now, I took out the verizon charger and plugged in the google charger. The first time, the charging icon went on for one second and then turned off. I unplugged it and replugged the google charger in, and now it is charging as normal. Unplugged the google charger and re-plugged in the verizon charger, and it seems to be working as well.

I was going to have the charging port on my phone replaced, and even paid the deposit ($40) so they could order the part. Now, I don't think it is necessary, but I'm a little wary because now I have no idea what is going on. Any help/advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[B. Diddy]

Welcome to Android Central! When you took it to the store to test, did they try placing the phone in different positions? If there's a loose connection in the port, it might not manifest until the phone is moved around a bit. If all they did was plug it in and show that it charged, that might not bring out the fault. However, even if they were able to reproduce the problem, I'm not sure they'd do anything about it -- they might tell you to contact Google for warranty repair.

 

[Rukbat]

@B. Diddy, they are authorized warranty repair for Google (and now Samsung).

To the original poster, did you ask them to plug their charger in while the phone was turned on? If others are having the problem, it could be a problem with the phone, or even one of the recent updates. And UBreakIFix is in a position to notify Google. (I wish I had one closer, just in case.)

 

[KeyserSohsie]

1) I am the OP 2) The UBreakIFix tech plugged the phone in while it was on.
So far, there appears to be a happy ending. Given that I could reliably get the phone to charge if it was plugged in when it was off and also when plugged in with a USB-A to USB-C cable, I figured there might be a software / operating system issue. I went through my apps and deleted about 25% of them. After doing this, I have not had issues with any of my chargers so I suspect that one of these apps running in the background was interfering with the charging. We will see if this truly was a permanent solution or not.

Thank you to everyone for your responses!

 

[Rukbat]

If you see this, next time start the phone in Safe Mode (which keeps any of the apps you installed from running at startup), then run them one at a time until the problem occurs. No need to reinstall a lot of apps.

 

[Akash Deodhar]

If you are on Android Pie follow this:
https://youtu.be/EdQEV9wkoLk

 

[jimmarako]

Bumping this thread. I have a Pixel XL (latest as of May 2019 Pie) and just got an open box Verizon USB-C PD 2.0 car charger off Ebay. The seller (US based) had like 50,000 reviews and said they tested the charger to make sure it works. So I assume its legit.......

When I plugged it into my phone today, nothing. Waited a bit, nothing. Flip the connector around, changed car ports, nothing. I see the little white LED come on when I plug it into the car port so at least that much is working on the charger.

I followed the video in the above post: My adaptive battery was already on, so I shut it off, turned it on, shut it off again then reboot the phone. I went to the car and when I plugged the phone in the screen turned on and said "charging". Yea! Then a few seconds later it said "rapidly charging". Double yea!.

I unlocked the phone and brought up my battery monitor app "Ampere". It said charging at 500mA (thats not rapid). Then a few seconds later it bumped up to 1200mA, then a while later up to 1900mA. Triple Yea! Then it said -1600mA. WTF?

So to keep it kinda short, after trying a few reboots, and other games it seems that the phone will charge for a while, then stop for a while, then charge, and so on.... The battery was at 75% so it shouldn't be throttling that much. Wasn't doing this long enough that heat should have been an issue.

I fell this thread got me half way there. Hoping someone has some other good suggestions to try.

Thanks
JM