Why are my cables going bad?

[andyandrew2006]

Ok, so I have a Galaxy Note 4. I charge my phone using a 2.1a 5v charger. I noticed that the cheap cables instantly don't work. So that make me have to buy more expensive cables. The more expensive cables work fine for a while, then all the sudden they stop positively charging and they cant keep up. So while i'm playing games, it starts to drain my battery and get super hot. I'm really confused of whats going on, please help.

 

[Rukbat]

It sounds as if the battery is bad, or something in the phone is draining a lot of current (and it has to go to a repair shop to get diagnosed). (It has nothing to do with the cables - I use name brand cables - some of which have fallen apart because they're so badly made - and cheap no-name cables that have lasted for years. Good cables aren't necessarily those that cost a lot. And a bad cable isn't going to cause the battery to overheat, it's going to cause the battery to go dead because it's not getting charged.)

 

[Mooncatt]

Check the cables with a computer. Often times the computer will have issues recognizing the phone if the cable is going bad, making this an extra verification that this is the issue. Wiggling the cable right behind the micro-USB plug will also affect its ability to charge (I.e. Connect/disconnect, or affect the charging rates) in most cases because it's the most common failure point.

I'm of the opinion that micro USB is just a poor design for charging all together. I've tried cheap and premium cables, and all of them tended to go bad within 6 months (As opposed to the old proprietary power cables before USB became standard, which lasted me years). The brand I've settled on for those is Volutz, sold on Amazon. They are a braided cable and a good value for longevity.

I'm just now starting to use USB C cables, so I have no idea how those will hold up.

It's also possible the port in the phone is starting to loosen up, which causes similar symptoms. Usually this means even brand new cables have these issues from the start.

 

[andyandrew2006]

what happens, is that it charges really fast for like a week or 2 and then all the sudden it slow charges. I have noticed that if I buy cheap cables, they never charge fast, but if I buy more durable cables, they charge faster then stop charging fast and act like cheap cables.

 

[Mooncatt]

what happens, is that it charges really fast for like a week or 2 and then all the sudden it slow charges. I have noticed that if I buy cheap cables, they never charge fast, but if I buy more durable cables, they charge faster then stop charging fast and act like cheap cables.

Then I'd start looking at the port itself, considering the age of the phone. If you can, try one of those 2 week old duds on another device and see if it charges fine. If so, then you may have your answer.

 

[andyandrew2006]

I tried and the cable works fine on other peoples phones. so that means it may be the phones port going bad?

 

[Mooncatt]

I tried and the cable works fine on other peoples phones. so that means it may be the phones port going bad?

That would be my guess. Sorry about that.

 

[marc3565]

No idea if this is your issue but this is what happened to us.

My fiancee plays games on her tablet a lot. She started playing it with a cord connected to it . She wanted it to charge while she played. Thing is the USB end going into the tablet would get some pressure on it as she moved around or if it pressed against her leg. She also frequently connects and disconnects the tables from the chargers as she switches tablets. This extra wear and tear and motion on the cable while charging caused the port in the tablet to fail. No cable would work. For a while we could do some tricks with standing the tablet against a wall with the USB cord connected at the bottom. The weight of the tablet put some pressure on the connection and if we got the angle right it would charge. This method was not very successful and no longer works. We ended up replacing the tablet..