Pixel 3 battery rapidly draining charge

[Apple2Droid]

Has anyone else had this problem??

On December 26, I realized that my battery was draining quickly so I connected it to a charger, which made exactly no difference. The rate of drain was exactly the same, whether connected to the charger or not. The battery level dropped to about 19% and then spontaneously started charging again. It was fine for three days after that.

On Monday night December 29, it started rapidly draining the battery again--the night before I was flying out of town for a funeral. I was desperate as needed a phone while travelling, so I bought a cheap burner phone to take with me.

There was no software update available and tech support did nothing but fail to listen to me and waste my time.

I'm now shopping for a phone again but I wanted to post this to see if anyone else had experienced this or had any suggestions.

Thanks!

 

[B. Diddy]

Anything unusual in the battery stats when that happened? Was any app or service using an unusually high percentage of battery? And was the phone getting warm when this happened?

 

[Apple2Droid]

Anything unusual in the battery stats when that happened? Was any app or service using an unusually high percentage of battery? And was the phone getting warm when this happened?

You know, I was so panicked when it happened that I didn't even think to check the battery stats for some reason. The phone wasn't hot at all.

 

[B. Diddy]

Besides checking the battery stats if it happens again, it'd also be interesting to see if the phone actually shuts off on its own as the battery level approaches zero. It may be that the battery sensor software is malfunctioning and misreporting the battery level.

 

[Apple2Droid]

Besides checking the battery stats if it happens again, it'd also be interesting to see if the phone actually shuts off on its own as the battery level approaches zero. It may be that the battery sensor software is malfunctioning and misreporting the battery level.

I was thinking the same thing re: the software, which is why I keep checking for an update that might resolve the issue. November 5 is the latest update. I'm not sure why there wasn't a December update.

The two times that it happened I either turned it off or put it in airplane mode because I really needed to be able to use the phone, i.e. to text my friend who was driving me to the airport the next morning. I felt an ominous sense of dread each time the percentage dropped below 20%.

One thing I forgot to mention is that on the day I was flying, the phone started charging in the car on the way to the airport, so I plugged it in in the airport and on the plane. It took about 6 hours to fully charge. Since then I've been afraid to let it drop below 80%--and I usually don't charge past 80% for battery longevity.

 

[mustang7757]

Do you use the stock pixel charger and brick? , I found using others besides orginal tend to give these issues.

 

[Mike Dee]

It could be a rogue app causing sudden drain.
If it happens again check your battery stats to see if you can find the culprit.

 

[Apple2Droid]

Do you use the stock pixel charger and brick? , I found using others besides orginal tend to give these issues.

I used every charger I had: Pixel, Samsung, Samsung cable with RavPower car charger--ironically, the second time it happened, the phone was plugged into the car charger with Samsung cable when it started charging again. --It had been plugged into the Pixel charger all night and was turned off, but all it did was drain the battery from 70-20%.

 

[mustang7757]

I used every charger I had: Pixel, Samsung, Samsung cable with RavPower car charger--ironically, the second time it happened, the phone was plugged into the car charger with Samsung cable when it started charging again. --It had been plugged into the Pixel charger all night and was turned off, but all it did was drain the battery from 70-20%.

Sounds like a bad pixel charger , keep using the other ones and monitor it .

 

[Apple2Droid]

Sounds like a bad pixel charger , keep using the other ones and monitor it .

Oh that would make way too much sense . . .

The charger is actually fine. When the phone charging is working, that charger works, as do all of them.

I've just never seen anything like this. I really wish that I'd thought to look at the battery info when it was happening.

 

[mustang7757]

Oh that would make way too much sense . . .

The charger is actually fine. When the phone charging is working, that charger works, as do all of them.

I've just never seen anything like this. I really wish that I'd thought to look at the battery info when it was happening.

You might have 2 issues one your battery draing at a faster rate then it usually does and two putting on a charger makes no difference in charging and intermittent. Do you have warranty or insurance on the phone?

 

[B. Diddy]

This is unlikely to be the problem, but blow out the charging port with a can of compressed air, and clean the contacts with a swab dipped in rubbing alcohol.

 

[Apple2Droid]

You might have 2 issues one your battery draing at a faster rate then it usually does and two putting on a charger makes no difference in charging and intermittent. Do you warranty or insurance on this ?

I bought the phone sealed & NIB from someone on Craigslist. When I talked to support they didn't actually say they wouldn't honor the warranty, but they did nothing to help me either.

I had mentioned that when the phone wouldn't change with the wired charger, I picked up a wireless Qi charger at Target just to test it, but that didn't charge it either. Tech support kept replying to me as if I said this was my issue. This was via chat and email and it's really easy to blow people off with electronic communication.

 

[mustang7757]

I bought the phone sealed & NIB from someone on Craigslist. When I talked to support they didn't actually say they wouldn't honor the warranty, but they did nothing to help me either.

I had mentioned that when the phone wouldn't change with the wired charger, I picked up a wireless Qi charger at Target just to test it, but that didn't charge it either. Tech support kept replying to me as if I said this was my issue. This was via chat and email and it's really easy to blow people off with electronic communication.

Try some of those tips Mike and b.diddy mentioned , if same call Google see if they will warranty it . And when you try safe mode you'll need to do it for little time to get accurate result as this turns off all 3rd party apps can call and text but limited to native apps , and just restart the device to exit out

 

[Rukbat]

I usually don't charge past 80% for battery longevity.

Charginf it to 100% won't affect the longevity. If the charging chip fails, and doesn't turn off t 100%, you can eventually cook the battery if you leave it n for another half hour. But charging it to 99% or 100% won't affect the longevity at all. Discharging it below 45% will.

 

[mrpackerguy]

Installing the accubattery pro app will give you very detailed discharging information which could also isolate the issue for you

 

[J Dubbs]

I bought the phone sealed & NIB from someone on Craigslist. When I talked to support they didn't actually say they wouldn't honor the warranty, but they did nothing to help me either.

I had mentioned that when the phone wouldn't change with the wired charger, I picked up a wireless Qi charger at Target just to test it, but that didn't charge it either. Tech support kept replying to me as if I said this was my issue. This was via chat and email and it's really easy to blow people off with electronic communication.

Before you give up on the phone factory reset it and set it up as a NEW phone, don't restore anything.... that will remove all third party apps from the picture. If it's fine you'll know it was a rogue third party app causing the problem. If it's not you'll know the phone has an issue, then contact Google and get a replacement.

I always have at least one backup phone completely set-up and ready for a quick sim swap if something happens to my main phone ;-)

 

[Gdraft#WN]

I had the same issue, along with some funky functionality of the phone in general. I've had a pixel OG and now 3xl, I've never had to factory reset, but decided to do it as I figured it was a rouge app.

Did it on new years, it's been perfect ever since.

Solved the battery issue as will as the functionality issues I was having.

 

[Apple2Droid]

This is unlikely to be the problem, but blow out the charging port with a can of compressed air, and clean the contacts with a swab dipped in rubbing alcohol.

Thanks! I had blown out the charging port and swabbed the contacts a few times.

 

[Apple2Droid]

Charginf it to 100% won't affect the longevity. If the charging chip fails, and doesn't turn off t 100%, you can eventually cook the battery if you leave it n for another half hour. But charging it to 99% or 100% won't affect the longevity at all. Discharging it below 45% will.

Thanks. I use Accubattery and have followed their guidelines re: the 80% for a few years.