Droid Bionic charger no longer works properly

[sullyjohn]

Droid Bionic charger no longer works properly

Age of phone: 6 months, 2 weeks

Tuesday, March 27, 2012

My first attempt at a fix -

I turned the phone off, and then restarted. This had little or no effect on the symptoms, although it was able to charge a bit, here and there, because I was unplugging and replugging the various parts and trying different AC receptacles. I am only using the wall charger.

Wednesday, March 28, 2012

My second attempt at a fix -

Today, I turned the phone off, pulled the battery for five minutes, and restarted. It appears that this has worked. The phone claims to be recharging. I am only using the wall charger.

I think it has messed up something (like the battery, for instance), because it's taking forever to get from 90% to fully charged.

Nope. The battery is going south (percentage dropped from 90 to 80) while still on the charger, and it is saying that it's charging. This is unlike yesterday, where it was plugged up, but wasn't saying it was charging. So, now, it's telling lies. Sucks. Time for a little research...

Android Central Forums entry - Droid Bionic sub-forum
http://forums.androidcentral.com/droid-bionic/

Android Central Forums entry - Weird battery issue, says charging, but really not?? (original post: September 21, 2011)
http://forums.androidcentral.com/dr...ttery-issue-says-charging-but-really-not.html - entry is Bionic specific, says the Bionic's charger outputs 5.1v at a rate of 850 mAh

Android Central Forums - phone is plugged in but not charging. light is on (original post: September 7, 2011)
http://forums.androidcentral.com/htc-evo-3d/116922-phone-plugged-but-not-charging-light.html - entry is for the HTC EVO 3D, which uses a 1,000 mAh charger

Android Central Forums entry - Why didn't it charge overnight? (original post: March 16, 2012)
http://forums.androidcentral.com/droid-bionic/161962-why-didnt-charge-overnight.html - entry is Bionic specific, says you can use any charger, even though I've only used the stock one

For those who may ask: I have never used anything but the charger that came with the Bionic.

I now have the phone hooked up to the powerful USB 2.0 ports at the rear of the tower computer. I'm starting at 80%. Let's see where it goes...

 

[1812dave]

The phone and accessories have a 1 year warranty. why are u complaining here instead of getting replacement item(s)?

 

[sullyjohn]

1) Establishing a pattern of hardware failure, so that I won't have to remember when such and such happened

2) My Verizon store is 42 miles from here, not so easy to drop by for replacement parts

3) At this point, I'm not exactly sure of the cause. But it is likely that the AC/DC converter part of the wall charger is failing/has failed, because it charged just fine when hooked to the USB port at the rear of the tower

Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Tapatalk

 

[1812dave]

u can get replacements via calling verizon. they will SHIP u replacements.

 

[sullyjohn]

Good to know. Thanks.

Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Tapatalk

 

[KRMenzel]

The exact same thing happened to mine a couple of weeks ago! Four trips to Verizon (and one to FedEx), and things were finally resolved.

During my first trip to Verizon, they replaced the battery. During the second visit (the next day), they ordered a replacement phone and spent a lot of time doing what might need to be done to set up the phone to transfer apps/settings/contacts. During the third visit (after I realized that it charged just fine while plugged into the USB on my computer or the car charger), they gave me a new charger (but kept the cord). When I got home, I realized that the cord that had come with the new charger did not work to transfer files to my computer via USB. Back to Verizon for the fourth time to get a new cord. Then I had to make a trip to a FedEx drop-off spot to return the refurbished replacement phone they'd sent.

It was a really time-consuming adventure, but everything is fine now. Just get a new charger (will be free under warranty), but make sure the cord is fully functional for file transfer in addition to charging via USB!

 

[sullyjohn]

Talked to Verizon Wireless this afternoon. And, just as Dave said, they're sending out a whole new charger, for free. Should be here in two days.

Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Tapatalk

 

[sullyjohn]

It's now taking every bit of three hours to charge from 40% to 100% via USB hooked to the 2.0 ports at the rear of the tower computer. Still waiting for my new charger to come, which was under warranty and, thusly, free of charge. Prior to this dead-charger incident, the phone never took more than two hours to fully recharge, no matter how badly it was depleted. But that was on the wall charger. So I'll wait and see. And save passing judgement for the appropriate time. I was told that the charger would arrive in two business days, which puts it at arriving on Friday or Monday. We've already shot past Friday, so my fingers are crossed for Monday.

Waiting until I can get home to the tower computer has really cramped my style, forcing me to make it all day on a single charge, which means using 'sleep mode' quite a lot. For those who think I'm complaining, I'm not. For those who think I'm asking for help, I'm not. I am documenting a singular aspect of owning a Droid Bionic. This is done for possible future reference, for all owners of this make and model smartphone.

Other than this hiccough, my experience has been excellent; the Bionic is a worthy flagship device.

Besides what's going on now, my biggest complaint has been the occasional garbled-speaker effect, said to be caused by a buzzy transistor. A software fix came out pretty early on (November/December 2011), but failed to affect my Bionic in any positive way.

Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Tapatalk

 

[sullyjohn]

The new wall charger arrived on-time via FedEx. The original charging cable is three feet long and Motorola branded, while the new one is nine feet long (extra long) and Verizon Wireless branded. The paperwork says it costs $30, but Verizon didn't charge me a dime. On the new AC/DC converter, the output is 1,000 mAh; the old one is 850. The new charger proclaims itself MicroDraw, "a special circuitry that automatically reduces power consumption to 0.03 watts when not actively charging the phone." The micro-USB end that goes into the phone is a tight fit.

Charging with the new cable is fast, although getting the last 10% is much slower. This leaves me thinking that the battery was slightly damaged during the two-day period when the old charger was deciding whether or not it was going to fail.

Complaints: few.

Customer satisfaction: high.

Hopefully, this is the happy ending to this tale.

Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Tapatalk

 

[sullyjohn]

Houston, we have a problem.

The touchscreen is rendered inoperable when connected to the new charger.

I did not notice this the first time I recharged the Bionic.

But then the second time, I wanted to use the phone while it was charging. First, the lock screen didn't want to unlock. Then I noticed that none of my screen touches landed where they were supposed to. And the virtual keyboard had become useless, my touches landing several keys away or not on the keyboard at all. I fought with it like this for a couple of minutes. Then finally thought to unplug it from the charger.

Immediately, behavior returned to normal.

What could be going on here?

Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Tapatalk

 

[WebOS Refugee]

I've seen that problem on the old Palm Pre and Pixi (see my username for all the details you need on that score), but never on the Bionic. Assuming that it has enough power to do so, I'd try taking it off the charger, rebooting it, reattaching the charger and seeing how the screen responds.

 

[sullyjohn]

I'm a webOS refugee myself. And had similar problems (to what I'm having now) with my Pre. Took hours today, but Verizon did a fine job of making things right. They got Motorola on the line, and they'll be sending out one of their 850 mAh chargers. And I'll be sending the new 1,000 mAh charger back to Verizon. When the new Motorola-branded charger arrives in 3 - 5 business days, I hope the problem will be solved, and not a replay of what happened with the Pre, where the touchscreen started losing its mind, by touching itself.

I'll try to mosey on over to PreCentral/webOS Nation and have a looksee at what you've been up to. Just as you're here and there, ditto for me.

Just remembered -

Today, when the first Verizon person got me to turn off the phone and back on again, a new symptom emerged when I connected it to the charger: it took two to four presses for the input of each touch or keystroke to be acknowledged.

Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Tapatalk

 

[sullyjohn]

The exact same thing happened to mine a couple of weeks ago! Four trips to Verizon (and one to FedEx), and things were finally resolved.

During my first trip to Verizon, they replaced the battery. During the second visit (the next day), they ordered a replacement phone and spent a lot of time doing what might need to be done to set up the phone to transfer apps/settings/contacts. During the third visit (after I realized that it charged just fine while plugged into the USB on my computer or the car charger), they gave me a new charger (but kept the cord). When I got home, I realized that the cord that had come with the new charger did not work to transfer files to my computer via USB. Back to Verizon for the fourth time to get a new cord. Then I had to make a trip to a FedEx drop-off spot to return the refurbished replacement phone they'd sent.

It was a really time-consuming adventure, but everything is fine now. Just get a new charger (will be free under warranty), but make sure the cord is fully functional for file transfer in addition to charging via USB!

Is your new charger Motorola or Verizon branded?

 

[malignanttheories]

Just some additional input:

I've noticed that the screen is less responsive when plugged into the multimedia dock as compared to when it is going through the provided Motorola-USB charger. Makes me wonder if it's related to the current the adapter produces.. I'll have to look at the dock later when I'm home.

I also had the stock adapter fail recently. I was traveling and thought there was something going on with the outlets at the Phoenix airport but it would short out and stop charging within a few minutes regardless of where it was plugged in.

And yes, charging from the USB port takes much longer than an outlet, you can improve it slightly by placing the phone in charge mode from the USB menu.

Finally, I may be imagining it, but it seemed as though the screen response issue improved with the .902 update.

 

[sullyjohn]

April 6, 2012; edited on the April 8

The Bionic could be on its way out. I've got to be realistic and prepare for that possibility.

All of this turmoil may be ruining the phone's touchscreen.

What do I mean by turmoil?

Having to not use the Motorola-branded charger. See, I'd always used it, and nothing else, to charge the Bionic. Now I'm using Tom, Dick and Harry (everything but that). The original charger has been dead for nearly a couple of weeks now and various attempts at solutions have been made.

I used that 1,000 mA Verizon charger over a half dozen times. I've used the rear USB 2.0 ports on the tower a half dozen times. I used an old, clunky laptop's USB ports several times. I now even used my netbook, and I think it would've taken it six hours to put a full charge on the Bionic.

Why I think the Bionic will die soon -

It's the new symptoms:

1) the screen winks off in just 5 or 10 seconds oftentimes, like its proximity sensor is screwed up

2) the screen got really hot, just once, around this time*

***

The new wall charger arrived on Friday, the 6th, right after writing the negative piece above. I am trying to do everything exactly right, in order that I might reset the problem:

I turned off the Bionic. I pulled the battery for a few minutes. I reinserted the battery and restarted the smartphone. After it had fully rebooted, I hooked it to the new, Motorola-branded charger. I'm making sure that I don't use the same receptacles, although this is definitely an inconvenience.

So far, so good. Wish me luck.

*The two things happened only on the 6th, just before the new charger arrived.

Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Tapatalk

 

[sullyjohn]

Hopefully, things are going to go well for a while. I offer these two crummy videos as final comment -

New Verizon charger (1,000 mAh)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pa2Q0unfLyc&feature=youtube_gdata_player

New Motorola charger (850 mAh)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=em0NZ80w6LE&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Tapatalk