Samsung Galaxy S3 charging issue

[Darren W Quinn]

Guys, its not the charger, battery or cables, its the USB socket of the phone. When you put it in your pocket, it picks up 'fluff' etc some which can create a short circuit in there, causing your battery to discharge quickly, think it's docking, or not allowing the charging cable to connect properly. You have to be carefully not to cause damage if you try to clean yourself. IMPORTANT; remove battery first. Use a cocktail still to carefully dislodge debris and blow out. You will most often be surprised, but it isn't always successful. You may have to send it away to be repaired properly.

 

[jwardshard]

I'm ASSuming that the wireless charging options I see on eBay and Amazon won't work with a case on, correct? This phone is way to slim and slippery to not have a case. I have just tried the "Shaniqua: wipe the cache" option, because I have tried multiple chargers (750 mA, 850 mA, 1A, and 2.1 A) and cables, and I know it's not the battery, because after a battery pull, it would fully charge...once....but the charge would last all day, like normal. It this fails to work, I will do a factory reset and spend half of my evening re-setting up my phone that SHOULD NOT have this problem in the first place. I guess a second battery with a stand-alone charger will be option 3. I will re-post if option 1 works, as I did not see anyone confirming if the "clearing the cache" worked or not, however, I can attest to the fact that it doesn't erase any accounts.

Thank you to all of you that are posting solutions. Much appreciated.

**UPDATE** The "Clear Cache" approach is a fail. Still having the same issues. Obvisously a software issue.

2nd update*** I had been using 6' cables I bought off of eBay. They worked at first. I started using the OEM cables, it started charging. Is there a difference between micro USB cables?

 

[sure why not]

I'm ASSuming that the wireless charging options I see on eBay and Amazon won't work with a case on, correct? This phone is way to slim and slippery to not have a case.

My phone charges fine using the Pixi mod or a Qi sticker from Amazon.and a silicone 'sleeve' or the molded Samsung case.

It will not charge well using the thicker Otterbox Defender.
It constantly cycles on and off, boop beep, beep boop as it struggles to charge with the thicker case.

 

[GSDer]

jwardshard,
As the previous poster noted, it really depends on the thickness of the case that you're using. I thought I read something that noted that you could use up to a 5 mm case thickness and still use a Qi charging solution.

Of course, if your phone charges fine when it's turned off, there's nothing wrong with your charging port.

You can use the Kies software on your PC to make a backup of various types of information: contacts, call logs, SMS/MMS, pictures/videos, TouchWiz settings.

And you can use something like Helium: http://market.android.com/details?id=com.koushikdutta.backup to backup your apps and app data.

Sent from my rooted, debloated, deodexed Sinclair ZX-80 running CM 10.2 using Tapatalk 4

 

[jathomas444]

I think I may have fixed mine. I have been having the same problem. I have used multiple chargers all of a different type.

I fixed mine by wrapping a thin strip of scotch tape around the end of the metal prong on the usb charger. I wrapped one whole time plus a half. So, there is only overlap on half the tape. The strip of tape was about 1/4" in width. Just make it wide enough so that it covers the metal. Of course, after doing this, the usb charger does not easily slide into the phone, but with some finesse, you will be able to get it in. Now it is charging like it should.

 

[dbibby88]

Im so glad that I have found a thread with so many people with the same issue as me!
I've been living with this issue for probably around 4 or 5 months now. My phone is around a year and a half old and the problems started around 11 months of me owning the phone. It happened totally out of the blue one night, as I plugged in the charger to my Samsung S3 the bleeping charging noise sounded and I pressed the lock button so that the screen would go to sleep, after turning over to go to sleep I heard another beep and noticed that the screen was flashing quite rapidly. I looked at the phone and noticed that S voice, driving mode and docking mode was all opening and closing itself by its own accord. Unplugging the charger and plugging it back in caused the same issue. Luckily my old Nokia N8 came with a micro USB that I tried and LUCKILY this charged the phone, so I put it down to a faulty charger. Looking at the pins on my old the next morning, (the one that came shipped with my s3) I noticed one of the pins inside of the micro usb had snapped off, so I put it down to that.
Unfortunately the problem reappeared a month or two later, this time the charger would only charge when it was at an angle, i.e. the micro usb section which fits in to the s3 had to be pressed “up” slightly for it to recognise the charger. This meant I had to hold the charger flat in my hand and very gently press the charger wire upwards (have other people tried this?). This time instead of trying another charger I thought Id take it to have it looked at/ repaired. I purchased extra insurance when I bought the phone so I thought why not try? I made arrangements to have the phone sent off to Tesco mobile (where I purchased the phone from). After a fortnight of hearing nothing I got the phone back in the post, a letter inside stated that they found no problems with the phone but they had updated the software on the phone. I thought theirs no way it could be software related as the charger is hardware! I tried my girlfriends old HTC charger and it charged straight away.
Now skip forward a couple of months and ive had no problems with the phone until last week, yet again its completely out of the blue. I had been charging the phone on and off all day as I was busy and everything was working fine. Later on in the day I plugged in the phone and it charged, until I noticed that the blue LED on the front of the phone wasn’t flashing, I pressed the lock button on the phone to check and the phone wasn’t charging. From past experience I tried pressing the charger “upwards” again, and it charged until I let go of it. Now I am back to square one.
I have spent quite a lot of time reading other forums about this issue, one solution that I have found is cleaning inside of your phones USB port. I have found that doing this does unearth a lot of dust/lint. Even this morning I managed to get quite a sizeable ball of fluff out of it. My phone is now opening S voice of its own accord whilst charging, but at least its still charging. Its on charge again now and has been for the past half an hour and no S voice or docking mode has appeared so far (touch wood).
So I suggest to you guys to gently try and clean the pins on your phone and try along the corners and ‘drag’ it upwards to see if you can get any dust/lint out. You don’t have to be forcefully, just gently brush/ stroke upwards. If I find my problem has disappeared in the next few days, Im DEFINTELY putting it down to this problem. I have also stumbled across this from amazon: a usb cover and it’s only ?1.49 so it cant hurt to try out!
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Cover-Stopp...ag=hawk-future-21&ascsubtag=UUacUvbUpU3109640

 

[redcherry2711]

Severe charging issues with samsung S3...I replaced the USB wire with a HTC and the problem is solved...Try it ...It works likes a charm

 

[urmayankfriend]

there seems to be a problem with the charger, i have already had this issue and replacing the cable of the adapter did the trick. this is problem with most of the samsung high end phones. i suppose a more permanent solution will be to get a normal charger and not to use travel charger.

 

[Georgia_r]

I had exactly the same issue. Try a different USB cable. I started using one that I found at work and charging through the USB port on a PC, and it charges so much quicker.

 

[Valaza]

I've had the same issue, slow charging.:-[ Even bought another battery, same issue...but THEN while my phone was charging, it accidently fell on the ground with the USB still plugged in. This bent the mini USB by about 5 degrees. AS A RESULT IT CHARGES QUICKLY and to 100% in about 3 hours just like when it was new. This is with the 1 year old battery as well as the new battery. So now my theory is that the mini USB on the phone end gradually works loose and does not have a solid connection. Its a little tighter to pull out of the phone because of the bend but that seems to have solved my issues. So, a miracle, my phone plagues have fixed themselves by accident!

 

[chirag05]

I bought S3 in May this year and faced charging issues. When I went to service centre there wer at least 5 more people who had S3 n had the same issue. I chatted with all of them mostly n they all were told its because of the faulty USB Cable. It's been a month now since they changed my USB n this one also stopped working.... Samsung produced the faulty batch of USB last year I guess, especially in case of S3.

Sent from my GSIII

 

[sure why not]

Try wireless charging and keep a silicone plug in the USB port.
Saves a lot of wear and tear on what seems like a delicate part of the phone.

I type this as my S3 is happily blinking blue, stuck to its Palm Touchstone.

 

[tatHEEiana]

mine had the same problem 3 days ago.. i tried using a samsung wall charger but my phone was still not charging correctly.. so i used the LG cable and the original samsung usb adaptor, and my phone charged fine.. so i think the problem is the cable..

 

[Josh Burzycki]

i had this issue. the problem was the charging port at the bottom of the phone was loose and not making a solid connection. so I got a warrenty replacement from Verizon. which means I had to use my old battery still. phone charges within 30 minutes now. and lasts all day long with moderate usage

 

[sMarthie_Pants]

I'm rather depressed because my S3 (which I love) just won't charge

I have done the following:
* Used various Samsung chargers and connectors = Nothing worked
* Used various other chargers and connectors = Doesn't work
* Cleaned out the micro usb = Made no difference
* Charged my battery in someone else's S3 = Works 100%

I then purchased the Samsung Wireless Audio Dock that worked perfectly and solved my charging problem (obviously the way the usb sat on the dock ensured effective charging). Then, 2 days ago, it started to only charge the phone up to 40% (eventhough it shows it is charging and it sits there for almost 12 hours) Turning the phone off makes no difference.

This leads me to believe that there are two issues with my phone.

1. Micro usb on the phone faulty
2. There is a software issue that prevents the dock (which charged it perfectly up to 2 days ago to not charge it up to 100%)

I live in South Africa and getting your phone repaired can be EXTREMELY costly.

I purchased the Samsung S3 Wireless Desktop Dock and I'm hoping that will help (its only being delivered next week), though I dont' know how to resolve what I think might also be a software problem.

 

[Rain CDO-PH]

I share your problem. Mine is original S3, bought at known Australian electronic shop. My phone charges very slow, using the supplied original charger and all. I have also tried to charge using original Samsung docking charger, but it was still very slow. I tried to use charger cable for Samsung digicam and it worked fine: the phone got recharged quickly. I am now using QI wireless charger pad and the receiver installed on phone's battery as instructed, but the same problem (slow charging) persists. I am now confused whether it's the new QI wireless charger pad that does not work well, or is it the phone itself (or its battery) that causes the charging to take forever! Samsung people, are you listening?

 

[GSDer]

...Samsung Wireless Audio Dock...
...Samsung S3 Wireless Desktop Dock...

I'm not familiar with these two accessories, but if they both connect to the phone via the micro-USB port then I think you're going to have similar problems. It's likely that there's something wrong with the micro-USB port on the phone and the only way to get around the problem is to replace the port or bypass it altogether.

I'd suggest a wireless charging solution (a Qi charging pad and replacement back) that totally eliminates the micro-USB port from the equation.

Sent from my rooted, debloated, deodexed Sinclair ZX-80 running CM 10.2 using Tapatalk 4

 

[GSDer]

I tried to use charger cable for Samsung digicam and it worked fine: the phone got recharged quickly... Samsung people, are you listening?

If the cable for the digicam worked fine why have you gone on to other solutions? You obviously isolated the problem.

BTW, no - Samsung is not listening.

Edit: I haven't seen anything that describes the charging rate for the Qi wireless charging solutions. You should look on the one that you got to see if it's 500 maH or higher.

Sent from my rooted, debloated, deodexed Sinclair ZX-80 running CM 10.2 using Tapatalk 4

 

[Alby Mathew]

I've had the same trouble, but recently found a solution. The original charger provided with the phone is a 1 Amp charger. I purchased the original Samsung charger three times to no avail. A few months ago, I purchased an original Samsung car charger, but that was only a 0.75 Amp charger. As promised by the shop keeper, it worked perfectly with my phone. The charge time took two hours to go from around 10% to 100%. But that did not solve my problem of charging the phone with a wall-socket charger. A few weeks ago, I discovered that the Sony charger (micro usb) works beautifully with my phone. It is a 0.85 Amp charger and charges at almost 1% per minute. It takes around 100 minutes to go from 10% to 100%. I guess there is something wrong with the Samsung 1 Amp chargers.

 

[C K Thakkar]

Re: Samsung Galaxy S3 charging issue - BEST SOLUTION

I think charging problem has nothing to do with the device or the charger. Remove mobile cover/casing other than flip cover and charge and see that the problem is gone. Also see that when plugged in the pin is connected correctly or best is use computer spike buster to connect the charger.