Re: Samsung dead battery not charging/circle with lightning bolt symbol/Samsung phone won't turn on after battery died/Samsung charger troubleshooting
I never ever post on online forums but I had the very same problem and it was so frustrating that when I finally found a solution I felt compelled to share it. In the course of my research I read Darkpower_4's post about cutting and splicing old usb cords (essentially to manipulate charging voltage) and it sounded like a lot of work (and, frankly, insane) but it did help me to understand the crux of the problem and ultimately how to solve it. For those not comfortable cutting and splicing electrical wires I have good news - there's a much easier way to achieve the same result. I have a portable battery (iTek 10,000mah) with dual SUB charging ports (one port is marked "1A", the other is 2.1A for fast charging), I know there are many other manufacturers who make portable batteries with a similar configurations and I'm sure any of them with a 1amp output port will suffice. I woke up one morning to discover the circle with lightning bolt symbol on my Samsung phone and after an hour of charging it still wouldn't power on. I tried different cables, adapters, outlets, forced reset, battery removal, etc. I also tried charging with my portable battery using the 2.1 amp port (thinking the battery was completely dead and the higher amp port would charge it much faster). Then I went online and read about the trickle charging issue with the batteries in many Samsung devices and it occurred to me to try using the lower 1amp port on the portable battery and, sure enough, that did the trick. The circle with lightning bolt symbol changed to a circle with 1% - once the indicator hit 3% I was able to switch back to the 2.1amp port for faster charging. The 1.0 amp USB port provides less current than standard wall outlets and/or the USB 2.0+ output ports on most new computers etc. and that is the key to "jump starting" your Samsung device. From my research it sounds like this is a chronic problem affecting a number of Samsung models. If you own one of these devices I'd recommend finding a portable battery (or some other device with a low amp output port). Most portable batteries indicate the output amperage on the packaging or on the battery casing itself - find one with "Output: 1A" and keep it handy because if this has happened to you once it's likely it will happen again. Of course, it won't be a problem if you don't allow the battery to go completely dead but sometimes that's unavoidable and with this solution it's one less thing you need to fret about. Hope this helps and you find it before pulling out as much of your hair as I did