Blinking red light?

[Wynnsman]

If I leave it plugged in for a time the phone gets really hot the the red notification light blinks. Is it telling me it's overheating or what?

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[Michael Nancarrow]

If I leave it plugged in for a time the phone gets really hot the the red notification light blinks. Is it telling me it's overheating or what?

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That could be the case; Red usually means warning. Generally the red light means battery flat (possible also the battery could be faulty!). The fact that the red light appears, and the battery gets hot tells me it may be time to test that battery.

The battery should not overheat- heck my phone is on charge 8-10 hours a night when I sleep and it does not heat up. How often do you charge your phone, for how long, and how long does the battery last?

 

[Wynnsman]

Well I've installed battery guru from snapdragon. It seems to stay charged a bit longer if I auto dim the screen. But it only lasts 5-6 hours with moderate use before I have to charge. I'll look for an app that checks the battery.

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[Michael Nancarrow]

Well I've installed battery guru from snapdragon. It seems to stay charged a bit longer if I auto dim the screen. But it only lasts 5-6 hours with moderate use before I have to charge. I'll look for an app that checks the battery.

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I think the best way to save battery (I found) is:

- Disable/Remove ALL un-used apps;
- Change sync settings to when open (I find using Snapdragon BatteryGuru is very effective)
- Use AutoMateIt/Tasker to make events trigger power saving actions.
- Minimise Widgets being used, as these require data to refresh
- If in poor reception, put phone into Airplane Mode (also when you're sleeping you do not really want calls anyway)

I achieve all of this with the following:

1- 2 Rules on AutoMateIt; when battery is less than 30% disable: sync, WiFi, 3/4G, set screen to 25% brightness, with 1 minute timeout and; If WiFi is idle/not connected, disable with a delay of 5 minutes.

2- Snapdragon on, with all programs set to sync when opened, not in background. Although some exceptions are made; Weather, Traffic and E-Mail.

3- I disable the stock SMS and use Hangouts (or vice versa), disable Mail and use G-Mail, disable all inbuilt notes, task and internet as we often use our own defaults etc.

All in all after doing this, I now can use my phone almost continually from 05:00am to 09:00pm and have 30-40% left.

These simple things help extend battery life considerable- although having apps like this run in the background can be just as draining.

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[Wynnsman]

Great info! Thanks!

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[ram1220]

I'll second the battery problem theory. I have read about this problem a few times here in these forums. Usually seems to be a failing battery.

 

[Eisenhorne]

I had this exact issue and was scratching head trying to figure out what my phone was trying to tell me.

I was on a road trip with my phone charging while using Google Maps for navigation. I noticed the battery was actually draining instead of charging. I reseated the cable on both ends. The notification light would light up red (as per usual when it's charging) but would turn off a minute later. Eventually, it started blinking red.

Once I touched the back of my phone, I figured it out: the phone is mounted on a phone holder attached to the windshield. It was a pretty sunny day and I had air blowing out the face level vents. The phone was overheating and was essentially begging for reprieve. I point the ventilation to the windshield instead. Problem solved!

 

[Michael Nancarrow]

I had this exact issue and was scratching head trying to figure out what my phone was trying to tell me.

I was on a road trip with my phone charging while using Google Maps for navigation. I noticed the battery was actually draining instead of charging. I reseated the cable on both ends. The notification light would light up red (as per usual when it's charging) but would turn off a minute later. Eventually, it started blinking red.

Once I touched the back of my phone, I figured it out: the phone is mounted on a phone holder attached to the windshield. It was a pretty sunny day and I had air blowing out the face level vents. The phone was overheating and was essentially begging for reprieve. I point the ventilation to the windshield instead. Problem solved!

That's definitely the way to go!I know Apple and Samsung have inbuilt feature to tell you that your phone is overheating, perhaps there is a third party app you could use to identify when your battery is overheating? Although I would not go as far as saying the battery was failing, I definitely think that some cases, cradles and docks need to adjust their design to help the phone 'breath'. Thanks for that info you provided, really helped!

 

[Brittany Lewis]

Just had this happen to my phone - it died and when I tried to charge it the phone would not accept the charge. Took the battery out a few times - it was never hot - but I read an article saying it had something to do with overheating so I put the battery in the freezer for an hour and it accepted charge again!