Battery drains faster than it charges

[johnnyshinta]

I checked the battery and it was at 88%
searched and watched a youtube video with low signal and then checked and battery was at 86%
watched another video and checked and battery is at 85%

all while plugged into wall charger

 

[mbranscum]

Did you pay your electric bill???

Sorry, just had to through that one in! Seriously though, are you trying to charge over your USB port instead of the wall outlet? Some USBs don't put out the power that some others do. Just a thought.

 

[flashman03]

That is what I would ask. USB charging rarely will charge as fast as a wall outlet. I didnt see the part that you were using a wall charger. Is it the same with multiple outlets? Try another and see if maybe you are getting different effects.

 

[NeilQ]

do you know for sure the wall charger is not defective? I had a RAZR charger that went bad (bad connection in the phone-end fitting).

 

[johnnyshinta]

Tried another charge same cable. Same thing

 

[alphadog]

IF you are in a low signal area, and you are using 3G data, then it is not impossible to use the battery faster then it will charge. This is not unique to the captivate - my Q on VZW would do it, the iPhone can do it, many other phones too.

Battery charging circuits are designed to charge at a maximum fixed rate so as not to overheat the battery - the discharge can not be so easily controlled. Also the battery is not a swinging door that works the same in both directions - charge rates are always less the discharge rates.

 

[johnnyshinta]

Well said. Thanks

IF you are in a low signal area, and you are using 3G data, then it is not impossible to use the battery faster then it will charge. This is not unique to the captivate - my Q on VZW would do it, the iPhone can do it, many other phones too.

Battery charging circuits are designed to charge at a maximum fixed rate so as not to overheat the battery - the discharge can not be so easily controlled. Also the battery is not a swinging door that works the same in both directions - charge rates are always less the discharge rates.

 

[alphadog]

One other thing - if you know you are going to do something that heavily discharges the battery and will cause it to heat up; you probably should not keep it on the charger; The phone's charging circuit will slow or stop charging if the battery gets too hot.

Couple that with the heat you are creating trying to charge during discharge, and you might as well just wait and charge when you are done.