Battery Dying While in Cradle

**07GD SFD** · 10-12-2010, 01:39 PM

For the past 2 nights I've been leaving my BBerry in its cradle overnight as I usually do. But in the morning, when I take it out of the cradle, the battery is down from anywhere between 1 bar and 2.5.

Any ideas on what could be causing this?

**teg94** · 10-12-2010, 01:42 PM

That's an odd situation. While it's in the cradle does it show that it's charging on the home screen? If not there may be a disconnect between the charging contacts on the back of the phone and the battery. Can you try plugging the phone directly in for a night or two and see if it charges normally?

**07GD SFD** · 10-12-2010, 01:53 PM

Yeah I've made sure when I go to sleep that the charging icon is on the screen. I'll try it one more time tonight and see what happens. I'll plug it in via USB if it happens again.

The odd thing is, is that I have a light come on through BerryBuzz when it's fully charged. That light hasn't been on like normal.

**papped** · 10-12-2010, 02:07 PM

Probably isn't actually charging even though you see the icon, or it charges briefly and then stops.

**expidia** · 10-12-2010, 05:38 PM

I've had that happen too. If you are using the OEM cradle make sure the white LED light on the back is lit.

Next wipe the silver contacts on the BB with alcohol (removes oils) or rub them lightly with a clean pencil eraser (removes any oxidation).

Clean the contacts on the charger too.

Lastly, do a battery pull. I found mine was not charging due to some file hang up or something like that.

A battery pull re-boots all when things hang up. Just like your PC or cable box. Seems whenever I call my cable company for an issue the first thing they always suggest is unplug it and then plug it back in. 98% of the time . . . problem solved

Last thing it might be is a faulty wall charger (of course it could be the charging circuit in the BB too) But wall chargers can go bad too. I just had to replace the one for my Slingbox, but that one was 3 years old. Several weeks later my Brother who has the same 3 year old Slingbox model had his charger stop working too!

Feel the charger, see if it's real hot or buzzing.

But I betcha . . . the battery pull solves your issue. Post back!

**jaydee5799** · 10-12-2010, 05:43 PM

Usually the best thing to do is bypass the charger and just plug directly in with the cable. That will make sure the phone gets charged. Ditch the charger and replace it. They are cheap enough.

**07GD SFD** · 10-13-2010, 02:06 PM

Well I wiped the contacts with my shirt yesterday and did a battery pull as well. The light is lit on the cradle. I put it in bedside mode last night and left it in the cradle. Woke up to a full battery. So something was up.

Thanks for the tips.

**expidia** · 10-13-2010, 02:26 PM

Originally Posted by 07GD SFD

Well I wiped the contacts with my shirt yesterday and did a battery pull as well. The light is lit on the cradle. I put it in bedside mode last night and left it in the cradle. Woke up to a full battery. So something was up.

Thanks for the tips.

Nice that your issue was finally solved. It was probably the battery pull!
I have to admit those back contacts are of an ingenious Rimm design. When I first got my Tour I couldn't figure out how the cradle would charge the phone, because those contacts don't look like your average contacts.

I finally figured it out when I got the cradle and saw the position of the cradle's contacts. Even when you pull off the cover, it's not easy to see that they actually are the charging contacts.

What fooled me is that they are chromed. All my other PDA's had copper contacts of some sort

**07GD SFD** · 10-14-2010, 08:17 AM

The only thing that confuses me is how the battery would drain that much if a program was running and it was charging the cradle. You'd think the cradle would keep it charged regardless of what I was doing. But maybe it wasn't getting a good contact and the issue was caused by 2 problems.

**RegE** · 10-14-2010, 11:10 AM

Originally Posted by 07GD SFD

The only thing that confuses me is how the battery would drain that much if a program was running and it was charging the cradle. You'd think the cradle would keep it charged regardless of what I was doing. But maybe it wasn't getting a good contact and the issue was caused by 2 problems.

I've noticed on my phone that if it reaches a certain temperature, the charging is interrupted until the temperature drops. I think I recall the temperature being around 105 degrees Fahrenheit when my charging seized. The combination of charging and a program running (especially if it's polling the internet / network) will certainly cause the battery temperature to rise.