Old smartphone/battery: charging but stays at same low charged level and power-cycle itself randomly

postcd

postcd

Weaksauce
Joined
Nov 24, 2016
Messages
96
Hello,

please what does it mean when a very old Samsung Galaxy S smartphone with old battery (7 years old Made in China) says it is charging, yet the battery charging level stays at same low percentage value of 8-9% for 5+ hours?
Phone started today randomly shutting down (power cycling) from time to time (sometimes multiple times in several minutes, sometimes runs for a few hours).

When power is interrupted and connected again, phone makes a sound. But this was not the case (no sound indicating bad power connection), so i assume it was/is not likely disconnection of the power.

I have asked AI at https://you.com and it thinks issue may be:
- bad battery
- bad port connection (i doubt that it is the case since no sound indication of a disconnection)
- software is not accurately detecting the battery level or is not properly communicating with the charging circuitry -> suggests software update or a factory reset
- incompatible charger (not the case)
- extreme temperatures (not the case)

What do you suggest/your opinion please?
 
Last edited:
Most likely the battery is so worn, it cannot charge and cannot output proper wattage while unplugged, causing strange sounds and power cycling.
 
Rechargeable Lithium batteries only last so long after manufacture, doesn't matter if they are used or not, they will degrade over time once manufactured.
My OG iPhone SE will charge to 100% and be dead within minutes since the battery has degraded so much.
 
  • Discharge your phone fully until it turns itself off.
  • Turn it on again and let it turn itself off.
  • Plug your phone into a charger and, without turning it on, let it charge until the on-screen or LED indicator says 100 percent.
  • Unplug your charger.
  • Turn your phone on. It's likely that the battery indicator won't say 100 percent, so plug the charger back in (leave your phone on) and continue charging until it says 100 percent on-screen as well.
  • Unplug your phone and restart it. If it doesn't say 100 percent, plug the charger back in until it says 100 percent on screen.
  • Repeat this cycle until it says 100 percent (or as close as you think it's going to get) when you start it up without it being plugged in.
  • Now, let your battery discharge all the way down to 0 percent and let your phone turn off again.
  • Fully charge the battery one more time without interruption and you should have reset the Android system's battery percentage.
This works for most android devices with removable batteries. There are other ways that typically require root access, and include deleting a file, removing the battery, reinserting it, and then fully charging it without turning it on.
 
... Just get a new battery if it's that old. There are S5 batteries for $10 on eBay, I'm assuming any of the generations with removable batteries, costs will be similar. If it's an S7 or something with an internal battery just recycle it, the thing is done.
 
Thanks all, phone with a new battery started working OK.
New battery is rated 3.7V with same part number as the old one, for like $17, I have measured voltage 3.87V of the newly incoming not yet charged battery (phone says 52% battery).
Old 3.8V problematic 7 years old battery had voltage 3.59V (even after full charging).
Issue solved.
 
Might want to get a new phone... But yea after 7 years I am even suprised that thing turned on
 
hope it lasts. i tried battery replacement with an older phone and it was good for about 6 months. after that the cheap knockoff batteries started to wear out. i gave up on replacing batteries, not many phones you can get an OEM replacement.
 
Does a 7 year old galaxy even get updates anymore? I’d be worried about the security.
 
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