Why is my battery so erratic on a Tab 3?

[Dave Saintterrapin]

Erratic Battery on tab 3

Hi everyone. I am having issues with my Samsung tab 3, battery. To give you an example. I charged it this morning until the meter stated 100%. I used it for perhaps 25 minutes and switched it off at 96%. When i turned i back on some 4 hours later it read 37%. Switching it off then back on, it read 74%. Then switched off again. Just switched back on after a couple of hours and it read 27%. This is normal behaviour and has been for some time now. Its been to the repair centre who found nothing wrong with it. Iv'e tried the run it down to absolute zero, as recent as yesterday, to the point where when you switch it on, it immediately switches off with 0% on the battery meter. But here we are again. Please help!

 

[Rukbat]

Re: Erratic Battery on tab 3

After that discharge, you should have charged it to 100% plus 30 minutes. Do 3 full cycles like that - 3 full discharges and 3 full charges.

If that doesn't fix it you have either a defective battery or something is defective in the tab's hardware. (I'd guess, without testing anything, that the battery is growing dendrites. See Lithium Battery Dendrite links.)

 

[VidJunky]

Re: Erratic Battery on tab 3

That is curious I will say. How long have you had this device?

Over time your battery may start to do odd things the longer you've owned it and the more charging cycles its seen, but even this is a new one to me.

Why are you turning it on and off so often instead of just allowing it to sit idle? How are you turning it off? Do you hold the power button until it shuts off or do you use the off option when it appears?

I asked this because turning off the device by holding the power button is akin to holding the power button on a PC to power it down. This doesn't allow it to finish shutdown processes and could have adverse effects in behavior, leading me back to the display just being out of sorts and not representing the true level of the battery.

Not knowing what version of Android you are running, do you still have the fast boot option?

They've recently taken it out of one of the Android versions, I don't remember which one though. I will say this that restarting your device with fast boot enabled may cause a higher draw on the battery then allowing it to idle might, depending on the conditions and start up apps. However to see swing as you've described is a bit much to attribute to even that. If you still have Fast Boot try disabling it and see if your system levels out. With Fast Boot disabled processes will start as they are called for instead of every start up app starting when the device is booted regardless of need.

Are you running any kind of "battery saver", "memory saver", or "app killer" apps?

Just as a note, these are really not needed any more with more up to date android OSs. They only still exist because of Android's poor reputation in the early days, around and before Eclair, and that rep persists due to some devices with under sized batteries. In the meantime a battery saver, app killer, or even a memory booster app could be causing false readings on your meter, especially with the frequent on and offs.

I understand your wanting to solve this issue but I will say that allowing the battery to power down to the point it shuts the device off is bad, mainly if it is a regular occurrence. Once or twice to test something or when it can't be avoided probably not a big deal, but I just wanted to throw that out there. While I'm throwing things out there I will say that I like your avatar. I'm not a cat person but the effect is cool.