Why is my LG Phoenix 3 showing a battery with a flashing ? mark in the center?

[Android Central Question]

I was in the middle of checking email when my phone just shut down when I tried to start it back up I got a picture of a battery with a flashing ? marin the center. Even when I charge the phone. When I try booting up the phone without a charger it says not enough battery to start the phone. When I plug in the phone I get the weird battery symbol even before trying to turn it on. What does this mean? Before shutting down my battery showed about 38%

 

[Mooncatt]

Sounds like the battery is defective. If it's removable, you may want to try pulling it out for about 10 minutes and see if that resets things. Otherwise you likely need to replace it.

 

[Android Central Question]

I was in the middle of checking email when my phone just shut down when I tried to start it back up I got a picture of a battery with a flashing ? mark the center. When I try booting up the phone without a charger it says battery too low start the phone. When I plug in the phone I get the weird battery symbol even before trying to turn it on.
I have left it charging for hours with nothing changing. It is obviously recognizing it is plugged in because the message goes away about the battery being too low, but I have had this phone since July and have never seen the battery with the flashing ? mark. What does this mean? Before shutting down my battery showed about 38%.

 

[B. Diddy]

Welcome to Android Central! The battery has probably failed -- try a new or different one.