Overheating battery!? Is 1x signal doing it?

[jmk32]

My Incredible battery watcher said 'overheating' today for the 2nd straight time in my office. Last week I thought Touchdown was doing it, but I stopped Touchdown from synching my 1000+ biz contacts after that day since it seemed to take a really long time (like over an hour with 1x signal) and I thought was overworking the phone.

My office has horrible cell reception and I only get 1x, never 3g. Could the phone be searching/workng too hard to find a 3g connection and overheating the battery?

I just installed System Manager (and uninstalled Task Killer) and don't see anything out of the ordinary running in the background that would tax the battery.

Any thoughts?

 

[jayhawkfan18]

I use a battery widget to display battery % and temp and I have only seen it's status as overheating one time... and that was when I left it in the car on a hot day after using Navigation for about an hour... this was with the stock battery too. Since upgrading to the Seidio 1750mAh battery it seems to run a bit hotter than usual. Are you using the stock battery or an extended battery?

I believe it gets hotter if you use it non-stop for a long period of time...

 

[jmk32]

I use a battery widget to display battery % and temp and I have only seen it's status as overheating one time... and that was when I left it in the car on a hot day after using Navigation for about an hour... this was with the stock battery too. Since upgrading to the Seidio 1750mAh battery it seems to run a bit hotter than usual. Are you using the stock battery or an extended battery?

I believe it gets hotter if you use it non-stop for a long period of time...

Using stock battery now. I was barely using the phone this morning too, which is the weird part.

 

[jayhawkfan18]

Using stock battery now. I was barely using the phone this morning too, which is the weird part.

No apps running in the background or anything either, right? I thought the phone went into "sleep mode" when not in use so that it doesn't constantly search for a signal and drain the battery.. but I could be wrong on that. Wouldn't be the first time lol.

So it was just sitting there, screen off and all that when you noticed the battery overheating? Was it sitting on or near anything that would be putting off heat?

 

[jmk32]

It just overheated again!!! 118 degrees on battery watcher.

I had it off for awhile and turned it back on about an hour and a half ago. Have not even been using it and I just too it out of my holster and it felt hot again and the meter said overheating. What is going on??

 

[jayhawkfan18]

It just overheated again!!! 118 degrees on battery watcher.

I had it off for awhile and turned it back on about an hour and a half ago. Have not even been using it and I just too it out of my holster and it felt hot again and the meter said overheating. What is going on??

By off do you mean powered off? I would try turning the phone off, let it sit for a minute or two, then turn it back on. Or pull the battery. Other than that you may want to try a hard reset. When you go to settings>about phone>battery>battery use what does it say there?

Also, is it in a case and a holster? Does it overheat when it's not in the holster? Maybe a magnet or something inside the holster is causing this...

 

[jmk32]

By off do you mean powered off? I would try turning the phone off, let it sit for a minute or two, then turn it back on. Or pull the battery. Other than that you may want to try a hard reset. When you go to settings>about phone>battery>battery use what does it say there?

Also, is it in a case and a holster? Does it overheat when it's not in the holster? Maybe a magnet or something inside the holster is causing this...

I've had it sitting on my desk for awhile and in the holster just a little while today.

I turned the power off once today for like an hour. The rest of the time it's just been asleep.

as for the battery use, it says cell standby 34%, android system 31%, phone idle 26%, display 9%

One setting I just tried was to uncheck 'enable always-on mobile data' to see if that could be the culprit (phone trying to update too much on a 1x signal at work perhaps)...

I'm about to leave the office and won't be back here til Thurs, so I'll have to try these settings again then. I have a fine 3g signal at home so I don't expect any problems the next couple days.

Frustrating...

 

[Qazme]

Your phone shouldn't be shutting off at 118 degrees. I've seen mine hit 120 while charging in the car and sitting in the sun and it didn't shut off. Sounds like you may need to look into related issues to me. Maybe a bad battery?

 

[jmk32]

The phone didn't shut off. The first time it overheated today I physically turned it off, took out the battery and left it off for 10 minutes.

This time, I only unchecked that always on data and just left it (never turning it off at all) and now it's at 105 degrees. So that might have helped, but it's been doing weird stuff with the temp all day.

I'll have to experiment with settings the next time I'm in this office where i only get a 1x signal to see what happens

 

[jayhawkfan18]

Yeah I would just monitor it while at home or in other areas where you get better coverage. If this problem continues I would be calling VZW for a replacement b/c it shouldn't be getting that hot when it's not being used..

 

[Qazme]

The phone didn't shut off. The first time it overheated today I physically turned it off, took out the battery and left it off for 10 minutes.

This time, I only unchecked that always on data and just left it (never turning it off at all) and now it's at 105 degrees. So that might have helped, but it's been doing weird stuff with the temp all day.

I'll have to experiment with settings the next time I'm in this office where i only get a 1x signal to see what happens

You do realize if it gets to hot the phone will shut itself off when overheating right? The battery it good for 160 degrees, the phone more than that. So don't shut it down you are still inside the safe zone. I think the stock battery either says 140 or 160 on it can't really remember.

 

[jmk32]

Ok, I'm working back in my office with the bad (only 1x) reception again today. Phone has been totally fine working from home the last 2 days and i even bought new usb cables from Verizon since my Blackberry ones weren't charging my phone at work.

I have the same EXACT set up at work as I do at home - I have a DELL laptop dock at home and work. My usb cable is plugged to the back of the dock. My DInc charged (and synched) just fine at home (with the same vzn usb cable too). Today at my office, it's been plugged in for 30 minutes and LOSING battery power (it's set to charge only and nothing extra is running on it):

10:30am 71% battery
10:48 69% battery (106.2 degrees)
10:56 68% battery (107.1 degrees)
11:05 68% battery (107.1 degrees)

It's got to be the 1x signal just killing my phone. I still have it unchecked for 'always on data' too.

Any thoughts or similar experiences when not in a 3g zone??

 

[jayhawkfan18]

This may have already been asked/answered but do you have wifi that you can connect to at work? That way you could turn off the 3g and use that..

I've also heard of some sort of signal booster that VZW can give (or at least Sprint does this) for "dead zones" in coverage - may want to look into that as well

 

[jmk32]

This may have already been asked/answered but do you have wifi that you can connect to at work? That way you could turn off the 3g and use that..

I've also heard of some sort of signal booster that VZW can give (or at least Sprint does this) for "dead zones" in coverage - may want to look into that as well

No Wifi at work and IT has said nothing is in the works to help the bad cell reception in the office.

 

[jayhawkfan18]

No Wifi at work and IT has said nothing is in the works to help the bad cell reception in the office.

Does your work pay for your phone? You may have to look into the signal booster yourelf... it may cost you more $/month... or if you complain enough they may give it to you for free. OR get a wireless router for work for like $40.

Other than that I'm all out of suggestions. Sorry!

 

[Qazme]

Just turn off your mobile network if you think it's the 3G heating things up. And it probably is if it's searching for signal constantly! Voice always goes over 1X.

 

[jmk32]

Just turn off your mobile network if you think it's the 3G heating things up. And it probably is if it's searching for signal constantly! Voice always goes over 1X.

Ok, so I just turned off my Mobile Network, and the phone is finally charging correctly (went from 46% to 53% in the last 20 minutes - first time all day the battery meter went UP when charged).

So I can now charge the DInc at work, but not having any mobile service at work is really not a solution for me as I don't want my phone 'off' for service.

So 1x is the culprit and this is bad. My Blackberry had the same 1x only service in my office and it didn't kill the battery all day like the DInc is.

Is there any other solutions here so I can keep my phone on at work??

 

[Qazme]

You can get a mobile cell from Verizon to boost signal. But you have to have an internet connection. If you do that you might as well buy a wireless router and hook your phone to it. If your blackberry had 3G in that area your Inc will. From all my test from my BB to the Inc they get identical signals +/- 5 db.

With 1X you still get SMS etc, you just won't get email or internet on your phone.