Battery going from ~80% to zero

[inm8num2]

The past two charge cycles my battery just dies. I don't notice it until much later when I check the phone and it is off. Anybody else have this happening to them?

I recently did the Verizon OTA update on October 4 (well, it was automatic) - not sure if that is causing a problem. That happened about a week or so ago, and this abrupt battery drain has surfaced just in the past 2-3 days. So, as far as I can tell after the update my battery was fine for 1-2 cycles.

Checking battery usage, it doesn't show any programs or apps that are causing this battery drain. The battery level simply drops off on a steep line down to zero. Cell standby says time without signal is zero. I have no idea what's going on. It's still taking 2-3 hours to charge, so it doesn't appear to be a calibration issue.

I'm not even using Mobile Data most of the time. My usage behavior has not changed in 3 months. Settings aren't the issue here. Something seriously bad is happening.

Is there an app I can use to monitor and log usage to figure out what's going on?

 

[tsweeney77]

My battery is draining a lot faster since the update. I haven't added any apps since the update, either.

 

[lbkiml]

Jeez it literally plummets.

 

[GSDer]

Uh, dude - you're getting 1 day, 10 hours (that's 34 hours for those keeping score at home) and you're wondering why your phone is suddenly dying? I'm lucky to get the better part of 10 hours before my phone jumps off the high-dive. I realize that it's mostly cell-standby time, but what did you expect - a constant discharge line to 0%? I don't remember seeing that kind of discharge curve for any battery.

Anyway, there's a ton of apps out there that'll allow you to monitor battery usage - here are a couple:
BetterBatteryStats: http://market.android.com/details?id=com.asksven.betterbatterystats
GSam Battery Monitor: http://market.android.com/details?id=com.gsamlabs.bbm

Sent from my rooted, debloated, deodexed Sinclair ZX-80 running CM -0.001 using Tapatalk 2

 

[inm8num2]

Uh, dude - you're getting 1 day, 10 hours (that's 34 hours for those keeping score at home) and you're wondering why your phone is suddenly dying? I'm lucky to get the better part of 10 hours before my phone jumps off the high-dive. I realize that it's mostly cell-standby time, but what did you expect - a constant discharge line to 0%? I don't remember seeing that kind of discharge curve for any battery.

Anyway, there's a ton of apps out there that'll allow you to monitor battery usage - here are a couple:
BetterBatteryStats: http://market.android.com/details?id=com.asksven.betterbatterystats
GSam Battery Monitor: http://market.android.com/details?id=com.gsamlabs.bbm

Sent from my rooted, debloated, deodexed Sinclair ZX-80 running CM -0.001 using Tapatalk 2

What the hell are you talking about? I'm not using my phone constantly. I can go 4-5 days on standby with light use. Now the battery plummets after 30 hours.

You are claiming that the steep drop down to 0% from ~80% is not odd or abnormal. There is no logic in your post. It's like you didn't even read my post or look at the graphs. Show me where it indicates my battery drain is due to heavy use or a poor signal.

Where did I say that there should be a constant discharge to 0%? Don't put words in my mouth. The screenshots clearly show that something is wrong, and the steep linear drop is inconsistent with the battery drain of typical use.

Honestly, what a terrible post. Read next time.

 

[FBPD10]

Are we in high school because I thought I received my diploma many years ago.

Sent from my SGH-T999

 

[OWybPPgO]

If you look at the blue "awake" indicator at the bottom, the decline coincides with some kind of phone use. Now, if the entire chart represents 34 hours, the declining section represents, what, 1/5 of that, maybe? So that's 7 hours. So what we're seeing is barely any use for 28 hours, and then heavy use for 7 hours. It doesn't look like you have much screen on time, so it must be something else.

It could be a signal issue. If your phone is trying constantly to find something - wifi, 4G, whatever, it might cause a steep drop.

I second the GSam recommendation. Make sure you don't have any task killers or battery enhancers running and let GSam watch, You should be able to see if anything is keeping the phone awake, running away in the background, using the sensors, and any signal issues.

 

[paintdrinkingpete]

When I first saw the screen shot and noticed it was 1day10hours, I thought the same thing... maybe the battery isn't calibrated correctly? That kind of drop off would be very abnormal if we were talking about a few hours of use, but with my phone I'd expect it to be well drained after that much time (although with a much more steady decline from 100 to 0). How you're getting "4-5 days" on a single charge is baffling to me -- I suppose it's possible if you have no apps hunting for data or keep mobile data turned off when not in use?

Are you rooted? If so you could try clearing battery stats and do a few full charging cycles to see if that fixes it...?

Sorry I'm not much help, but I don't think GSDer's post was "horrible" -- based on the time off charger, that kind of battery life is well beyond what most of us experience, which is why many of us would assuming that it's not an issue with the battery's ability to hold a full charge, but rather the reporting of battery % that is out of whack.

EDIT: Also, because the OP's screenshot comprises 34 hours of time, that drop-off from 80 --> 0% really represents a battery usage that most of us experience normally. What is abnormal is the very slow consumption from 100 --> 80%. I think to get to the bottom of this, we'd need to know more about what your "typical" use is? Do you keep mobile data turned on always? What apps to have that regularly use data? at what point in that graph are you sleeping? etc...?

 

[lbkiml]

I don't think it could be the mobile signal since it appears to be pretty clear.
Mine has intervals or a yellow and red color occasionally but even that doesn't create a constant plummet

 

[inm8num2]

Guys - during the drop off from 80% to zero - I WAS NOT USING MY PHONE.

4G is off for the entire time. Light use. No calls. The list of programs under the battery chart confirms this.

How are people looking at this and thinking that my usage is causing the steep drop? This has happened twice. I wake up and the phone is dead. I check the battery chart and at around 80% the battery suddenly drops off and dies.

I already said that 8 days ago my phone downloaded and installed the Verizon OTA update - hence, I am not rooted.

I can't believe some of you are trying to say my 100% to 80% use is abnormal - am I being trolled? If you turn off mobile data, don't make calls, and barely use the phone, you only lose 1% every couple hours. At least, that's how it is with me. Yes, I can go 4 days on standby with that very light use - that is not abnormal. That's quite typical.

Why are people questioning what I've explained and trying to somehow justify the steep battery drop, when I've said multiple times that it occurs without me doing anything? And I said that it takes 2-3 hours to charge the phone still, so it's NOT a calibration issue?

Let me restate once more - at around 80%, something unknown causes my battery to all of a sudden drain extremely rapidly and die. It is not due to my use.

You might think I'm being rude, but I find it very odd that I keep having to clarify things despite already explaining them, and some posters just want to blame this on my use of the phone when that is not the issue. How does anybody look at those graphs and screenshots, and conclude that the steep dropoff is the normal part? Just goes from 80% to zero without any apparent app use in a very steep, straight line that suggests either a complete drop or a rapid drain by an unknown process, but you guys are questioning and focusing on the very normal use from 100% to 80%, and claiming that the steep drop is normal for your typical use.

Once again, the phone was not being used by me during the dropoff.

 

[OWybPPgO]

Look at my post above. I gave you a suggestion for a plan to figure it out.

 

[paintdrinkingpete]

Guys - during the drop off from 80% to zero - I WAS NOT USING MY PHONE.

4G is off for the entire time. Light use. No calls. The list of programs under the battery chart confirms this.

How are people looking at this and thinking that my usage is causing the steep drop? This has happened twice. I wake up and the phone is dead. I check the battery chart and at around 80% the battery suddenly drops off and dies.

I already said that 8 days ago my phone downloaded and installed the Verizon OTA update - hence, I am not rooted.

I can't believe some of you are trying to say my 100% to 80% use is abnormal - am I being trolled? If you turn off mobile data, don't make calls, and barely use the phone, you only lose 1% every couple hours. At least, that's how it is with me. Yes, I can go 4 days on standby with that very light use - that is not abnormal. That's quite typical.

Why are people questioning what I've explained and trying to somehow justify the steep battery drop, when I've said multiple times that it occurs without me doing anything? And I said that it takes 2-3 hours to charge the phone still, so it's NOT a calibration issue?

Let me restate once more - at around 80%, something unknown causes my battery to all of a sudden drain extremely rapidly and die. It is not due to my use.

You might think I'm being rude, but I find it very odd that I keep having to clarify things despite already explaining them, and some posters just want to blame this on my use of the phone when that is not the issue. How does anybody look at those graphs and screenshots, and conclude that the steep dropoff is the normal part? Just goes from 80% to zero without any apparent app use in a very steep, straight line that suggests either a complete drop or a rapid drain by an unknown process, but you guys are questioning and focusing on the very normal use from 100% to 80%, and claiming that the steep drop is normal for your typical use.

Once again, the phone was not being used by me during the dropoff.

I wasn't trying to suggest you were being rude, or trying to "troll" you -- I was just pointing out that your battery life is very different from what most of us get, which can make it hard to diagnose without more info...such as the fact that you DO usually turn off mobile data. I agree, that makes a HUGE difference and does explain how your phone can normally last so long on a single charge. And while that is normal behavior, I don't feel like most people normally turn mobile data off, so I'm not sure I'd classify it as "typical". Most folks aren't going to assume that you had mobile data off or weren't using the phone at the time the dropoff occurs...having that info makes it a completely different story.

(I know you said you don't use mobile data most of the time in the OP...but that doesn't necessarily mean you have it turned off).

The screenshot you posted in the OP does show quite a bit of activity during the steep decline from 80-->0%, so if you were sleeping during this dropoff, something was running on phone to cause that to happen. The key is to pinpoint what that is...any new apps in the past few days (besides the OTA update)?

Also, I imagine you've already done this, but I'd also do a reboot after my next full charge just to make sure I'm starting with a "clean" system.

 

[OWybPPgO]

Exactly. Just because you weren't holding the phone and pressing keys does not mean the phone was not in use. Something is running and using the phone. Take the suggestions above to figure out what. Don't be rude to people trying to help.

 

[inm8num2]

Exactly. Just because you weren't holding the phone and pressing keys does not mean the phone was not in use. Something is running and using the phone. Take the suggestions above to figure out what. Don't be rude to people trying to help.

After I clearly explain I'm not being rude but clarifying the responses and comments people are posting, without referring to the information I provided, you still call me rude.. I posted clearly multiple times what's going on, and you guys are saying, "Oh look, his 100% to 80% drain is abnormal." Completely avoiding the actual issue and criticizing/questioning what I've said.

I'm being forced to respond this way because nobody's reading what I've said, multiple times. People are coming in here just to question that I get 4-5 days of use without mobile data on and light standby, instead of discussing the actual issue.

Yes, I'm quite aware that SOMETHING is draining the phone. But I was not ACTIVELY using it. And the screenshots I took show NO ACTIVITY of other apps draining the battery. I CLEARLY said this in the OP - that something is draining the battery, but I don't know what, and it's not a calibration issue because my charge time hasn't changed.

And it's still being suggested that my mobile data is on, even though I said it's off. Look in the screenshots - do you guys see a mobile data indicator on the status bar? No? So why do you think that is the cause?

I've been as informative as possible, and virtually every response is ignoring what I've said and deflecting the conversation to non-issues that don't apply.

No new apps, no changes in settings, no changes in my use. Nothing. That's why I posted - I have no idea. If it were an app I recently installed, I'd uninstall it then check the battery life. But I can't do that because I haven't changed anything on the phone.

 

[OWybPPgO]

No, you got snippy before you explained yourself clearly, not after. Your first post was vague in several respects. You did not clarify until later. I think you thought you were clear, but you weren't. That's fine, that happens all the time. However, even excluding your response to GSDer, your response to the thread at large was rude and condescending. In any case, it's not my place to police this site, but I will stand up for myself when I feel I'm being responded to in an undeserved manner.

Back to the issue at hand - something is keeping your phone awake during the drain. GSam is very good at reporting what is going on, much better than the standard battery screen. It can tell you if something is keeping your phone awake or running in the background, including items that would not show up on the standard battery screen. It's worth it to try to get more info out of it.

Have you seen this thread:
http://forums.androidcentral.com/sa...random-heavy-battery-drain-aka-plummet-7.html

 

[OWybPPgO]

I've been as informative as possible, and virtually every response is ignoring what I've said and deflecting the conversation to non-issues that don't apply.

Welcome to the Internet ;-)

 

[inm8num2]

I will stand up for myself when I feel I'm being responded to in an undeserved manner.

So will I.

Also, LTE isn't causing my plummet, since it's off. My plummet is caused by an unknown source. Both times it's happened at when the battery reaches about 83%.

Once more, LTE/mobile data has been off the entire time...

 

[paintdrinkingpete]

Yes, I'm quite aware that SOMETHING is draining the phone. But I was not ACTIVELY using it. And the screenshots I took show NO ACTIVITY of other apps draining the battery. I CLEARLY said this in the OP - that something is draining the battery, but I don't know what, and it's not a calibration issue because my charge time hasn't changed.

Yes, but if you look at the "awake" bar, it is obvious that *something* is running during that time...and quite frequently.

 

[titans30dude]

Inm8num2 is not doing anything wrong you guys just cannot read...if u dont really know the answer dont answer and do not be a politician and deflect what he is asking...he explicitly gave you info yet you tell him to make sure its off qhen he already explained it was off.

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Android Central Forums

 

[inm8num2]

Yes, but if you look at the "awake" bar, it is obvious that *something* is running during that time...and quite frequently.

The sentence after the one you bolded in red in my post says the same thing. We've already established multiple times that something is draining the battery. Whatever it is, it's not showing up.

This oddity is also not running the entire time during the 7 hour drain. Just sporadic. It doesn't really explain the straight line of the battery decline.

Thing is, I was fine for 1-2 cycles after that forced Verizon OTA update. The only possibility I can think of is that cell standby is draining the battery at a huge rate, but the battery's not calibrated to indicate that?

ajost95 - thanks, I feel like I've been clear and direct the entire time, but some of my info has been repeatedly overlooked. I think I've said that mobile data was off 3-4 times...