Defective Battery or Board Damage?

Batteries are a common replacement item, but often a battery replacement does not resolve a customer’s original complaint: battery life. Here are some important things to consider before replacing that battery:

Lithium polymer batteries offer excellent energy density and a long service life. However, lithium polymer batteries lose capacity as they age. As a battery goes through deep charge and discharge cycles, the capacity decreases and internal resistance of the battery increases. These factors could cause the device to shut down under load when the battery can't supply enough power.

Software also becomes more demanding as a device ages. When a device is new, it has only the apps and OS software that were designed for it and shipped by the manufacturer; A very efficient setup! As the user adds more apps, power usage generally increases dramatically.

Devices themselves also undergo an aging process. Fine dust and debris make their way into devices over time. Exposed solder and and unprotected metal layers of the mainboard can oxidize and in humid environments, even corrode. In addition to usual aging, users may accidentally expose their devices to water and other liquids that can do even greater damage.

All of these factors must be taken into account before simply replacing a battery.

First and foremost, test the device to find out how long it actually lasts on a charge. If you have a similar device, test how long it lasts. Here’s a simple test: Fully charge each device, set both devices to 50% brightness, connect to WiFi (so your customer doesn’t incur data charges), and play a several hour long YouTube video. Record how long each device lasts during the test and compare.

The next item to check is installed and running apps. Android and iOS both have excellent battery life management, and both OS’s can tell you what apps are using the most battery power. If any one app is taking up a majority of the device’s battery power, that could be the actual cause of the problem. Recommend that the customer try uninstalling apps that use a lot of power to see if that improves battery life.

If the device has a short life, and apps don’t seem to be the cause, check for water damage or damaged components. Look for corrosion and signs of water damage near the charging port, headphone jack, SIM tray slot, and any holes or openings in the device frame first. Check for loose metallic filaments near speakers and vibrate motors. Any corrosion or stray metal can cause a short circuit which can bleed off power.

Finally, if you’ve decided to replace a battery, first test the new battery with the device. Disconnect the old battery, but do not remove it. Carefully move the old battery flex cable out of the way, and plug in the new battery. Test the device again, starting with the battery life test. Make sure you get results you’re pleased with before removing the old battery and permanently installing the replacement battery.