Bold battery very hot after charging

**jaybag** · 12-20-2008, 02:04 PM

My apologies if there's already a discussion for this, I searched and found similar things but nothing specific to mine ...

I've only owned my Bold for two days, but I just noticed that the Bold is very warm while it's charging. I took the back off and the battery was actually hot to the touch. The only thing I was doing before was I played that Texas Hold 'Em poker game for about 15 minutes, and I didn't even notice it then. I put it down, came back in about an hour, and yowza! It's been unplugged for about 20 minutes now and it's still very warm. Is this a battery issue or is my phone maybe faulty? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

**Branta** · 12-20-2008, 02:47 PM

Something seems to be faulty. Exchange time, Monday morning. I would insist they replace phone, battery, and charger as a complete set. (Remember to retain your SIM). I don't think they will argue if the battery was hot enough to risk burning a user. (Remember the Dell battery fiascos?)

The battery should *not* get warm to touch while charging, maybe slightly warmer than ambient temperature but it shouldn't feel obviously warm. If the battery's outer casing gets hot (literally hot, like freshly filled coffee cup) the cells inside will be even hotter, and the battery has almost certainly suffered internal damage.

The standard charger is 5v / 500mA rated output which means maximum power available is 2.5 Watts, most of which should be used for charging. Even if all 2.5W goes into heat the battery shouldn't really get hot, and user reports suggest the charger will current limit about maximum rating. This implies that the phone was taking a heavier current (several amps) from the battery - but it shouldn't draw this kind of power unless it is on an active cellular connection and communicating to a distant cell tower where maximum output is needed. The only way a charger could overheat a phone and battery would be if the voltage regulation fails, and the phone gets significantly more than the designed 5 volts - even if internal circuits try to handle the excess it would still be dissipated as heat, which is Very Bad if it gets to the temperatures you describe.

The logical conclusion from this is that your phone probably had the initial defect, and the overload has subsequently fried your battery. Either that, or the charger was defective and put out excess voltage which would fry both phone and battery.

**rehab0808** · 12-20-2008, 02:52 PM

Originally Posted by branta

Something seems to be faulty. Exchange time, Monday morning. I would insist they replace phone, battery, and charger as a complete set. (Remember to retain your SIM). I don't think they will argue if the battery was hot enough to risk burning a user. (Remember the Dell battery fiascos?)

The battery should *not* get warm to touch while charging, maybe slightly warmer than ambient temperature but it shouldn't feel obviously warm. If the battery's outer casing gets hot (literally hot, like freshly filled coffee cup) the cells inside will be even hotter, and the battery has almost certainly suffered internal damage.

The standard charger is 5v / 500mA rated output which means maximum power available is 2.5 Watts, most of which should be used for charging. Even if all 2.5W goes into heat the battery shouldn't really get hot, and user reports suggest the charger will current limit about maximum rating. This implies that the phone was taking a heavier current (several amps) from the battery - but it shouldn't draw this kind of power unless it is on an active cellular connection and communicating to a distant cell tower where maximum output is needed. The only way a charger could overheat a phone and battery would be if the voltage regulation fails, and the phone gets significantly more than the designed 5 volts - even if internal circuits try to handle the excess it would still be dissipated as heat, which is Very Bad if it gets to the temperatures you describe.

The logical conclusion from this is that your phone probably had the initial defect, and the overload has subsequently fried your battery. Either that, or the charger was defective and put out excess voltage which would fry both phone and battery.

"I concur"

**bt224** · 12-20-2008, 02:55 PM

Yep, don't put up with a bad device. Just go exchange it.

**jaybag** · 12-20-2008, 06:09 PM

Thanks everyone. Before I saw the responses I was out and about and I went ahead and had the battery replaced. So far so good but I haven't plugged it in yet. The first couple times I charged it it was fine. Maybe I'll just go back for a new phone. Thanks again!

**bt224** · 12-20-2008, 06:22 PM

Hopefully that resolves your issue. Welcome to CB!

FightClub · 12-20-2008, 07:24 PM

I'm happy mine doesn't have overheating issues and these case creaks so many people seem to be having.

If I were you I'd definitely return it for a new one.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

**Morganizer** · 12-20-2008, 11:10 PM

Welcome to CB, get a new one!

**jaybag** · 12-22-2008, 11:29 AM

Thanks everyone! Actually the new battery seems to be working out well - I've only charged it once but I e-mailed and texted a ton yesterday and again this morning, and the battery is still showing 80% charged. Hasn't gotten the least bit warm either. If it was in fact a bad battery, I'd hate to bring the whole Bold back in case my current one turns out to be fine (and maybe the new one won't be).

BTW my early impressions of it are: LOVE the screen, 3G isn't as fast as I thought it'd be (not bad but not light speed), dislike the new keyboard - I liked my Curve's keyboard much better with the keys separated more.