Weird charging issue - Nexus 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

I usually charge my phone using USB while in the office. At home, I'll use the supplied wall AC adapter.
I've noticed that even though I'm using the AC charger, the stock battery display will show Charging (USB), which is not the case. Power cycling the AC charger usually fixes it to show Charging (AC).
Have also noticed that in some instances when it's plugged into the AC charger, the charging status would switch between "charging" and "not charging". Very obvious in the notification battery icon, where I would see the lightning symbol appear and disappear, about every half second.
I think there's an issue with the AC charger, or maybe it's the charging circuit in the phone?
Anyone experienced something like this before?
Cheers

endlesstrail said:
I usually charge my phone using USB while in the office. At home, I'll use the supplied wall AC adapter.
I've noticed that even though I'm using the AC charger, the stock battery display will show Charging (USB), which is not the case. Power cycling the AC charger usually fixes it to show Charging (AC).
Have also noticed that in some instances when it's plugged into the AC charger, the charging status would switch between "charging" and "not charging". Very obvious in the notification battery icon, where I would see the lightning symbol appear and disappear, about every half second.
I think there's an issue with the AC charger, or maybe it's the charging circuit in the phone?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sounds like a hardware issue. If you want to run the test yourself, you can try swapping the charger with another OEM Nexus 4 charger (don't try to get around this). But I'd contact Google about this if I were you.

Might be the stock charger if thats what your using i had the same prob and sometimes but battery would either stay on the same percent for a while or go down so chanhed the charger and its been working fine ever since i still use the stock box charger i just changed the cord
NEXUS⁴

casonswag said:
Might be the stock charger if thats what your using i had the same prob and sometimes but battery would either stay on the same percent for a while or go down so chanhed the charger and its been working fine ever since i still use the stock box charger i just changed the cord
NEXUS⁴
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Click to collapse
^ this...
i had similar issue..when plugged it shows charging/discharging..if charging it will be slow as hell..swap cable all good..
throw away the original cable try a different one..

Thanks. Will give it a shot and see how it goes.

Do you guys think this is a charging issue? Temp is very high but still continues to charge at AC level. I have switched out my power bricks and cable but still have the same result.

Noctus Nosfuratsu said:
Do you guys think this is a charging issue? Temp is very high but still continues to charge at AC level. I have switched out my power bricks and cable but still have the same result.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It is due to temperature I believe. I have observed this behavior closely for a long time, so I'm almost certain this is the cause. I've seen it on the Galaxy Nexus and the Nexus 7. I can't tell you offhand the exact temperature they stop charging at, but I can tell you it's most likely between 50°-60° Celsius. You've got to let your devices cool off. It may be a pain, but it protects your hardware, so when it stops charging, your phone is saying "Hey partner, you think you could let me cool down for just a second? Is that too much for you or what? What's your problem, you dingdong?"..
... Or something like that. If that's not exactly what it says, it's very close.

myepicyear said:
It is due to temperature I believe. I have observed this behavior closely for a long time, so I'm almost certain this is the cause. I've seen it on the Galaxy Nexus and the Nexus 7. I can't tell you offhand the exact temperature they stop charging at, but I can tell you it's most likely between 50°-60° Celsius. You've got to let your devices cool off. It may be a pain, but it protects your hardware, so when it stops charging, your phone is saying "Hey partner, you think you could let me cool down for just a second? Is that too much for you or what? What's your problem, you dingdong?"..
... Or something like that. If that's not exactly what it says, it's very close.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ah I see. Anyways, I have used my cousins nexus 4 and every time the temp goes over 38 degrees, the charge rate drops down to USB. Mainly why I asked haha. Yah its a pain from time to time LOl

dzel said:
^ this...
i had similar issue..when plugged it shows charging/discharging..if charging it will be slow as hell..swap cable all good..
throw away the original cable try a different one..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same here. Worked out for me it was a dodgy cable. Using the supplied cable through a laptop, I will also from time to time get the plugged/unplugged notification on the computer, which being audible made me realize how often it was happening.
The supplied charger brick now seems to work flawlessly with a different cable (ie, always says AC, no odd charging/not charging behaviour, etc).
Try that and see how you go.

I guess it's the cable. I've tried using a generic ebay cable and it appears to be working fine now.
What sort of mA values are you getting when using the stock AC charger?
Battery Monitor widget says that the phone's only getting around 500mA when I believe it should be getting more than that. I've enabled the USB fastcharge in the options. and have left everything at default. This is after waking up the phone from standby. Keeping the screen on drops the charge rate to 200mA thereabouts.
No music playing, 3G and connected to a wifi access point.

Related

Now my phone won't charge

Totally stock (but i don't think it matters).
Plug the phone in, orange LED comes on.
Hold it or place in on the counter five seconds later, LED is off.
Had the phone since 6/4.
Anyone else having issues?
Are you using the AC charger ? I have two Evos and one of the chargers does what you are describing. The orange LED comes on and then goes off after a while and the phone stops charging. Does it on both phones, the other charger works fine with both usb cables.
Are you using the USB charger with a computer or laptop or plugging straight into the wall with an AC charger?
This does make a difference because if you are charging with a USB + laptop combination you could be suffering from the computer going to sleep and disabling the USB ports power to conserve laptop battery life. If you are having the issue when plugging into the wall, try plugging into a computer and selecting the "Charge Only" option when your USB debug comes up. Once it does this, allow it to charge for a period of time and then turn the phone off, switch to AC power plug and see what happens.
Perhaps you had some kind of over voltage spike on the charger through the AC plug. I could see it possibly tripping something in the phone to stop taking charge to protect the handset.
Also make sure if you do use a laptop, use a USB 2.0 or better port. More power and faster connection. Gotta love it.
Your charger may not be sourcing enough current anymore (for whatever reason). I have seen the exact same behavior with USB car chargers that were only sourcing 100-150mA.
Have you tried plugging the USB cable into a modern desktop PC? (Some laptops have reduced current ports, so a desktop is a safer bet)
Its definitely a current issue. I tried to charge my phone using my bluetooth headset's wall charger, but I got the behavior you are describing. The bluetooth headset's charger just doesnt put out enough current.
Are you using the charger that came with the phone? if so, you may want to exchange the charger...
im having the same problem when i connect it to my desktop, it sees it for about 2 secs n then disappears. My computer at work has no problem seeing the phone. i wonder if i need a driver or something for my usb ports, anyone have any ideas??
tarheelsmj12001 said:
im having the same problem when i connect it to my desktop, it sees it for about 2 secs n then disappears. My computer at work has no problem seeing the phone. i wonder if i need a driver or something for my usb ports, anyone have any ideas??
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Probably not a driver issue, but that that rail from the power supply is either undervolted (say 4.6V instead of 5V), or can't provide enough current (amperage) or both. If I recall correctly, the Evo needs 5V @ 1A (+/- 3% tolerance).
Phone not charging
my phone has been charging fine since I got it... even been using the night desk clock app while sleeping at night for the alarm with it plugged in... everything was good...
With my phone about to die today, I plug it in to the wall charger, the led/batter indicator shows that it is charging... then POW.. it says I have a low battery and it needs to be plugged in... WTH??? it is plugged in!
The only thing I did today was flash the new boot.img for the cap fix over in Toast's thread...
Weird thing now is that I took my hero battery and put it in my EVO, plugged it into wall charger, and it stays charging... So, I put my EVO battery in my hero, plugged it in, and whola... it's now charging...
Please help as I am baffled.
MILH0U5E said:
The only thing I did today was flash the new boot.img for the cap fix over in Toast's thread...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
that's your problem right there. that custom kernel is known to have charging issues.
I'm having the same issue with my car charger consistently. Plus my AC charger less consistently. For example, I'll go to bed and plug it in, the next morning I wake up and see the phone is at 80% charge and isn't charging. At some point over night, it gave up. This is with the stock charger too.

Charging issue

There seems to be a bug, where if i leave the phone connected overnight on the stock charger and wifi is off when i wake up the battery is at 80% or less. My theory is that as soon as it reaches 100% it stops charging, has anyone experienced this?
Here is a screenshot of battery settings
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda app-developers app
Isn't this why SBC kernels came to be popular
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda app-developers app
Now don't say its another bug
imoumni said:
There seems to be a bug, where if i leave the phone connected overnight on the stock charger and wifi is off when i wake up the battery is at 80% or less. My theory is that as soon as it reaches 100% it stops charging, has anyone experienced this?
Here is a screenshot of battery settings
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same issue happened to me. It only happened once though. Does this happen all the time for you?
aznsmith said:
Same issue happened to me. It only happened once though. Does this happen all the time for you?
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Click to collapse
happened twice so far.
Is this expected behavior?
imoumni said:
happened twice so far.
Is this expected behavior?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is happening to me as well; I've come to believe it's a faulty charger, actually. Or a charger designed that way. But the charger's fault regardless.
First occasionally, but now for a few nights in a row, I've found a phone plugged in overnight to be at 80% battery in the morning. When I look at the battery graph, it appears to have charged rapidly to 100% (or close-to), then started slowly discharging. However, with the battery use screen open, I also noticed that the status was rapidly changing between "Charging (AC)" and "Not charging", spending most of the time in the not charging state, despite a constant plugged-in icon in the notification area. This behavior persists regardless of wifi state and through many reboots; BUT, it hasn't happened at all yet (with just limited testing) when plugging it in through the adapter for my last phone (an HTC), nor does it happen when charging via USB. I don't know if the LG charger could be designed that way, where it stops when it's full, or if it's just a faulty unit that needs replacing. I'm going to try it on the HTC wall unit overnight tonight to see what happens.
chinly43 said:
This is happening to me as well; I've come to believe it's a faulty charger, actually. Or a charger designed that way. But the charger's fault regardless.
First occasionally, but now for a few nights in a row, I've found a phone plugged in overnight to be at 80% battery in the morning. When I look at the battery graph, it appears to have charged rapidly to 100% (or close-to), then started slowly discharging. However, with the battery use screen open, I also noticed that the status was rapidly changing between "Charging (AC)" and "Not charging", spending most of the time in the not charging state, despite a constant plugged-in icon in the notification area. This behavior persists regardless of wifi state and through many reboots; BUT, it hasn't happened at all yet (with just limited testing) when plugging it in through the adapter for my last phone (an HTC), nor does it happen when charging via USB. I don't know if the LG charger could be designed that way, where it stops when it's full, or if it's just a faulty unit that needs replacing. I'm going to try it on the HTC wall unit overnight tonight to see what happens.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm actually having a similar problem... For me I noticed that the screen stays on while the battery is discharging while on AC charging mode so it may be a different issue. It doesn't always happen but when it does, I'll be sitting around 75% when I wake up in the morning.
edited in a screen cap
Just checking in - a few days later, it hasn't happened yet using the HTC charger.
tofuboi88 said:
I'm actually having a similar problem... For me I noticed that the screen stays on while the battery is discharging while on AC charging mode so it may be a different issue. It doesn't always happen but when it does, I'll be sitting around 75% when I wake up in the morning.
edited in a screen cap
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Turns out this is caused by using a USB extension cable... it would say the phone is charging on AC but there would not be enough current going through. When I plugged the the stock usb cable in to the charger directly, it charged fine.

[Q] Overnight: Charging to 100%, then discharging while still connected?

Hi there,
got a strange problem.
I plug in my N4 in the evening, it is loading up to 100% and there it begins to DISCHARGE (or in other words, stops to hold the battery at 100%) although still connected to the charger. In the morning I unplug the phone and have just around 70% left ... see attached screenshot.
Using stock charger and cable that came with the phone.
I hope this is not intended by Google? Running Android 4.2.1 Stock.
is this the only time it happened?
It is probably because of the charger. They definitely didn't include the best charger out there try another charger, you'll see improvements.
Sent from my Nexus 4 in a Faraday cage
KyraOfFire said:
It is probably because of the charger. They definitely didn't include the best charger out there try another charger, you'll see improvements.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks! Used my equipment (powered USB hub with another micro USB cable) from old phone until yesterday, and read about charging problems when NOT using the charger and cable that came with the N4. To see if that is maybe the problem I therefore unpacked the "stock" cable and charger - but it didn't solve the problem.
The most strange thing is, that it charges perfectly up to 100%! I would expect then that it stops charging to avoid overloading, but that holds the charge level at 100% until unplugged. I think this logic is not within the charger, but controlled by the phone itself (Software / Hardware Unit)?
IINexusII said:
is this the only time it happened?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have the N4 about 1 week now and I realized this happening at least 4 times now. I'm usually plugging it in every evening and unplug it in the morning.
Its intended as a safety measure so it doesn't over charge when its 100 percent.... It's always been that way
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda premium
Locksmith81 said:
Its intended as a safety measure so it doesn't over charge when its 100 percent.... It's always been that way
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmmm ... never experienced this 15 years mobile phones (at least 4 of them using Android and tons of different ROMs ...). What would be the purpose to plug in your phone in at 22pm, stop charging at 1am and begin the fresh day at 7am with again 30% loss of capacity? I would need to carry my charger stuff all day with me ...
As I said, I fully understand that it stops charging at 100% to avoid overloading - and also see the sense in this here -, but usually it should HOLD it at 99-100% until you unplug and not lose capacity while still connected to the charger.
Cheers
did you plug it into a USB hub that was plugged into a computer? that might be your problem. My N4 has issues charging from USB ports... it never holds charge properly.
This happened to me previously, ended up swapping my charger back to my Samsung OEM one and havent had the problem again.
Another time that this could happen is if you're charging via your USB port on your computer and you shutdown your computer which it will still show the charging icon but the status says not charging which could be changed by replugging the phone and/or having BIOS settings that enable usb power draw etc...
Just found this one ... maybe I'm not explaining my case very well, but it seems I am not alone ...
https://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=39919
beegbear said:
did you plug it into a USB hub that was plugged into a computer? that might be your problem. My N4 has issues charging from USB ports... it never holds charge properly.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
UZ7 said:
This happened to me previously, ended up swapping my charger back to my Samsung OEM one and havent had the problem again.
Another time that this could happen is if you're charging via your USB port on your computer and you shutdown your computer which it will still show the charging icon but the status says not charging which could be changed by replugging the phone and/or having BIOS settings that enable usb power draw etc...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yesterday I used the wall plug. All the years before I used a SEPARATELY POWERED usb hub. Even if the PC is shut, the hub provides power to the ports. Anyway, it doesn't matter - Charging is working perfectly on wall plug, usb hub, stock cable, non-stock cable ... before reaching 100% and phone disscharges. Picture in 1st post illustrates the disscharge while still "charging" (last bar at the bottom)
it's def. not normal. mine doesn't discharge, it can stay plugged in all night and it'll say 'CHARGED'
beegbear said:
it's def. not normal. mine doesn't discharge, it can stay plugged in all night and it'll say 'CHARGED'
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Exactly what I would expect! Now that I found the others on code.google.com having the same issue I think there was a batch of devices having it and that I might need to RMA ...
Well the reason why I was mentioning the charger (unless you've tested another one) is because I was using the original LG oem charger and for a while it would give inaccurate readings on multiple occasions. Example being I woke up (used wall charger) and it said 70-80% and the charge icon was still there but on the status it said 'not charging'. Another time was when it said 96%, unplugged and replugged and it charged to 100%. Then I use the phone for a couple of seconds and it drops down percentage again 96%~ and when/if charged it will say 100% again (giving a false reading).
I was thinking it was the cord because I used my bro's LG charger and it charged the phone 96, 97, 98, 99, 100 and not 96 -> 100% therefore the cord may have been the problem. Went back to my Samsung OEM charger and it has been fine since then and never had any discharging.
Are you using stock kernel?
UZ7 said:
Well the reason why I was mentioning the charger (unless you've tested another one) is because I was using the original LG oem charger and for a while it would give inaccurate readings on multiple occasions. Example being I woke up (used wall charger) and it said 70-80% and the charge icon was still there but on the status it said 'not charging'. Another time was when it said 96%, unplugged and replugged and it charged to 100%. Then I use the phone for a couple of seconds and it drops down percentage again 96%~ and when/if charged it will say 100% again (giving a false reading).
I was thinking it was the cord because I used my bro's LG charger and it charged the phone 96, 97, 98, 99, 100 and not 96 -> 100% therefore the cord may have been the problem. Went back to my Samsung OEM charger and it has been fine since then and never had any discharging.
Are you using stock kernel?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm on 4.2.1 stock yes.
Thing is, that I'm not plugging it out! While being connected it suddenly starts to disscharge - Why the heck would you disscharge when you have a power source connected?! The "event" invoking the disscharge to me is the reach of 100%. Maybe this is a misbehavior of the overloading protection, to stop charging (as intended), but not restarting to charge at lets say 99% or 98% to get back to 100%. This would mean that when I'm using navigation in my car I would need to reconnectfrom time to time to trigger the charging again.
Traxter said:
I'm on 4.2.1 stock yes.
Thing is, that I'm not plugging it out! While being connected it suddenly starts to disscharge - Why the heck would you disscharge when you have a power source connected?! This would mean that when I'm using navigation in my car I would need to reconnect once and then to trigger the charging again.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah I know what you mean but its odd that I had this problem as well but disappeared when I swapped.
As for my USB/PC, that charges when the computer is on and off but when I turn it off, I would have to replug the phone to get it started again as it will have the same "charging icon" w/o it actually charging. My guess is that if the power source loses its power, even if its temporary it will stop charging. But when I using my Skyrocket a few months back I never had to replug the phone onto my computer to get it charging again but I do know that the computer will temporarily cut off power when you shutdown and bring it back to charge plugged devices. (didnt change any power states in BIOS).
So most likely it is something with the phone but it could also be a setting or some software error triggering a fail-safe or something.
UZ7 said:
Yeah I know what you mean but its odd that I had this problem as well but disappeared when I swapped.
As for my USB/PC, that charges when the computer is on and off but when I turn it off, I would have to replug the phone to get it started again as it will have the same "charging icon" w/o it actually charging. My guess is that if the power source loses its power, even if its temporary it will stop charging. But when I using my Skyrocket a few months back I never had to replug the phone onto my computer to get it charging again but I do know that the computer will temporarily cut off power when you shutdown and bring it back to charge plugged devices. (didnt change any power states in BIOS).
So most likely it is something with the phone but it could also be a setting or some software error triggering a fail-safe or something.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I see definitely some issues in the charging logic in both of our cases here. You shouldn't have to replug your phone if you send your PC to sleep, as long as it still outputs the USB power. Since I would not expect the decision to charge or not to charge in the wall plug or in the USB hubs, I can only hope it is not a hardware problem of the charging electonic, but a software problem which could be patched. Also wouldn't I wonder if this has to do with the wireless charging option of the phone ...
come to think of it i had the same problem. charging from the PC when off via USB it would do the same thing as OP. charging through the wall works fine.
Well just found out I am maybe reposting the issue as I didn't find this initially ... similar (or same?) problem described here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2031246

Experiences with Qi wireless charging receivers?

Does anyone else have any experience with Qi wireless charging receivers for the S4? I bought one from eBay at the end of last year (item no
151128038769), and it was fine for the first few months, but now it doesn't seem to charge the phone at all. I get a popup message when the phone is placed on the correct part of the charging mat (although this message doesn't always pop up as reliably as it used to), and the charge indicator displays in the notification bar, but if I return to the phone half an hour later it has actually lost charge.
I've tried this with two different charging pads, from two different manufacturers, and neither charges the phone, even though the phone gives the impression that it is being charged when I first place it on the mat. Charging using a cable still works fine.
I was wondering whether others had experiences of wireless charging?
Update: I just checked the charge status with the Galaxy Charging Current Lite app. When the phone is on the pad the charging current shows as 640mA (which should be enough to charge?), but the phone is actually losing 1% of its charge every few minutes.
???
are you using an adapter cover or a connector for the qi charging?, maybe they're not aligned well
also,i just checked and i get 460mA via simple usb/PC charging. and it's still charging. (really slow, but charging.)
yonye87 said:
are you using an adapter cover or a connector for the qi charging?, maybe they're not aligned well
also,i just checked and i get 460mA via simple usb/PC charging. and it's still charging. (really slow, but charging.)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm using a receiver insert. It sits on top of the battery, and has a flap which covers the charging terminals higher up the phone. I'm more than happy with 640mA as I usually charge it overnight. I just don't understand why it's losing charge instead of charging.
if it's charging with 640mA, but still your phone is discharging, then maybe your phone is draining the battery.
try to close everything, such as wifi, GPS, mobile data etc. and then check if it's still not charging.
also, you can try changing to a a different receiver, if you have one
btw, what about normal charging? does it charge normally?
yonye87 said:
are you using an adapter cover or a connector for the qi charging?, maybe they're not aligned well
also,i just checked and i get 460mA via simple usb/PC charging. and it's still charging. (really slow, but charging.)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yonye87 said:
if it's charging with 640mA, but still your phone is discharging, then maybe your phone is draining the battery.
try to close everything, such as wifi, GPS, mobile data etc. and then check if it's still not charging.
also, you can try changing to a a different receiver, if you have one
btw, what about normal charging? does it charge normally?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes it seems that there's something that's draining the battery faster than the Qi pad can charge it. I've tried a reboot but it made no difference.
"Normal" charging using a USB cable is fine (and quick). I've just set up the Better Battery Stats app to see what's causing the drain while it's on the charging pad.
I don't have another charging receiver to try (only another charging pad, which exhibits the same behaviour)

Charging problems

I just got my Note 3 working thanks to this group. When I first got it, it was without a battery and was locked by PIN. I was able to wipe it to factory conditions, but now it will not charge. It charged right away when I first got a replacement (OEM) battery, but then, I did the system factory reset, and now it will not charge. I am using a USB 3.0 cable and connecting this to my Apple charger I got with my iPhone 6 as I don't have a specific charger that might have come with the Note 3...just a generic USB 3.0 cable and the iPhone 6 charger that the USB cable plugs into. Any thoughts for me to try?
Try plugging the cable into a computer. It might not charge fast but it will let u know if it will charge or not. Iphone charger might not be compatible so battery will not charge.
If I helped Hit the Thanks Button Like This?
S2_brickmaker said:
Try plugging the cable into a computer. It might not charge fast but it will let u know if it will charge or not. Iphone charger might not be compatible so battery will not charge.
If I helped Hit the Thanks Button Like This
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Click to collapse
I have tried using the computer and that is part of my confusion...the phone will indicate it is charging...but it doesn't. I get the same indication whether I am using the computer with USB 3.0 cable, or using various wall charger pods with the same cable. It will show the charging symbol (lightning bolt) or, if turned off, but plugged in, it will show the upflowing green drops rising toward the battery. So, it seems to indicate it is charging, but the charge percentage never increases...only drops.
AUsome360 said:
I have tried using the computer and that is part of my confusion...the phone will indicate it is charging...but it doesn't. I get the same indication whether I am using the computer with USB 3.0 cable, or using various wall charger pods with the same cable. It will show the charging symbol (lightning bolt) or, if turned off, but plugged in, it will show the upflowing green drops rising toward the battery. So, it seems to indicate it is charging, but the charge percentage never increases...only drops.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's not unheard of for a brand new battery to be defective. If you know someone else with a Note 3...try swapping batteries with then and see if the problem moves with the battery.
There is nothing in a factory refresh that would effect the charging circuit.
Sent from my Note 3 via Tapatalk

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