Cell phone question

[oldman45]

One of my cell phones is a Motorola Tundra. There is some type problem and I am confused about it.

I charge it nightly using the house charger. The problem is the phone does not hold a charge long.

I charge it using the car charger and it seems to hold a charge better.

So I figured it was a bad battery. I went to the dealer to buy a new battery. They would have to order one and it would cost me about $60 including tax. Still cheaper than a new phone.

I went on line to eBay and found new batteries for it at $5 including free shipping. I ordered one and it should be here Tuesday.

Now I wonder if it could be the house charger is not working properly. Then I wonder why a new battery would be so cheap at an auction site and so high at the dealer.

I know next to nothing about cell phones even though I have a couple of them. One is several years old and never a problem with the battery. The Tundra is two years old and has been very good until now. The Tundra gets about 125 calls per week. The other gets maybe 10 calls per week.

Maybe the battery will solve the problem but would love to get some feedback from those that know more about cell phones.

 

[curtmini14]

i did the same thing and it worked out fine that 5 dollar batt worked out great.verison wanted 70.00 for a new batt not sure how that works but they can keep them.i also was told car chargers tend to over charge batts why i am not sure.

 

[Maximumbob54]

One, even lithium ion batteries dies at some point. They have no battery memory issues like nickel cadmium or nickel metal hydride batteries do but they still have a rough maximum amount of charges they are good for. If it lasts its entire life then you should notice it works great for a long time and then just suddenly starts having this issue. Two, you are seeing the difference in a store that has a massive amount of employees, all the overhead costs of a major business, and the constant flow of returns to have to eat vs. an online bulk buyer from China I would guess. Verizon is as close to the Maytag of cell phones as you can get. They have certain specs that a vendor must meet in order to be sold by Verizon. Not all batteries are made to the same quality standard. Batteries have been known to explode while charging, leak toxic muck from them, and short out electronics. So your five buck battery may work just fine. Or it might not. The best check I can offer is to make sure and keep checking how warm it gets while charging. It should be warm but not hot to the touch.

This is honestly about as bad as asking why a Taurus is so much cheaper than a S&W...

 

[cballman]

One of the problems is that you have not let the battery run down before charging. I was told that it is best to use the phone till the battery charge level gets very low then charge it. Once you charge a battery that does not need it like every night, it will then retain a short memory. So try to let the battery run down and see how much longer it will last then.

 

[oldman45]

One of the problems is that you have not let the battery run down before charging. I was told that it is best to use the phone till the battery charge level gets very low then charge it. Once you charge a battery that does not need it like every night, it will then retain a short memory. So try to let the battery run down and see how much longer it will last then.

Therein is part of the issue. The current battery can be fully charged at 8am and be fully dead at 8:30am. Or it can last til 10pm. This phone is the one I get called to various crime and accident scenes with. Use will depend on how many call outs I get or who I need to call for information. Few calls last longer than 5 minutes.

Yesterday the battery was "showing" fully charged at 7am and not used until 1pm but went dead during a two minute call.

Those to whom I have to answer is after me to replace the phone with one of the phones that have a keyboard so text messages are easier. They pay for the phone through my expense account but I am tough on phones by dropping them, getting them wet during rains and such. I am not much for small keyboards since my fingers are larger than the keys.

The Tundra is a flip phone which insures terminating a call by closing it. It is also worn to the extent I can pick it up by the body and and the flip falls open.

 

[Stevens]

I had one that wouldn't take a charge, I found the terminals at the battery were badly tarnished (or lightly corroded) I took it out and polished them with a rough pencil eraser it has been working fine since, that was 2 years ago. May not be the problem in your case but easy,and cheap, to try.
Steve W

 

[cballman]

I have purchased a phone from verizon. The phone I have is a Casio GZ-one Ravine. It is supposed to be almost indestructable. This is the second one in the series and it is waterproof, dustproof and very rugged. It works for me. There is another one in the series that has a full keypad and is supposed to be just as good as this one. I am very hard on phones and this has been the best series in the 3 years I have owned them. Also my wife and kids have Droids and theyt love them but since I am getting older and losing my eyesight I cant see the screen to play on the net. If you have any questions feel free to pm me and I will try to answer any questions that I can.

Charlie

 

[P&R Fan]

Sounds like you just got a bad battery. I have US Cellular and my Wife's phone had issues like this. They have a free battery exchange program. You stop in the store and they swap your old battery for a fully charged one. I think they are re-conditioned, but that's fine with me.
With the new batteries I don't think you have to fully dis-charge them first. I asked the store sales people about that and they said it used to be that way with the old ones but the not with the new batteries.
US Cellular is a pretty good company. I use about 2500 minutes per month on my phone and usually charge it about every other day. I had a major issue with Verizon, and will
never use them again.
Jim

 

[26Ford]

oldman sir if I may, after you get a new battery, try and not to charge the new one as often. Let it go down to the last bar before charging. It should last much longer. If I may make a suggestion, get a charger that will work in the car/truck also, this way in the event it goes down on you on sight, you can plug in for a few and complete the task. You and i have spoke before and I know how critical the phone must be to you and what you do, but fully charging every morning if it doesn't need it will only shorten the battery life. If and when you can, let it run down to the point of hearing the signal of low battery, and then charge. hope that helps. My el-cheapo Samsumg is 7 years old, the original battery, and has fallen of the Harley many times, dropped in the shop, I cant begin to remember LOL, my only complaint is it takes pictures of the inside of my pocket now and then when I remove it, funny how long it took me to fiqure out what the heck those pictures were of, 26

 

[sipowicz]

I've bought loads of discount batteries on ebay for my cameras and cell phones...no problems...just check the feedback...although with batteries, it can be tricky since most people just post positive feedback when it arrives....not ater a few days of testing it...

 

[captorquewrench]

Sometimes it is the battery. Since it is not holding a charge, that is most likely the issue, esp if you've had the battery as long as you've had the phone. Someone else has already mentioned...after you replace battery, let it run almost completely down before you recharge. I can go for days before recharging. My husband's stupid smart phone can barely make it all day, those devils suck batteries!


As an aside, if those who are asking you to receive text messages are footing the bill, it may be worth noting that the way text messages are sent requires less signal and energy...if you have no voice signal there is a decent chance you can still send a text message. This has been very helpful when I've been way out of range of voice signal, but still had some urgent matters come up when I can't get to voice signal.

They also are making ruggedized QWRTY phones now even tho there is not a lot of selection. If they pay the bill and want you to have this it may be worth investigating.

 

[LedFowl]

I've had chargers fail. Phone seemed to discharge quickly, even though it showed it had fully charged. I replaced the charger and the problem stopped. It was cheaper than replacing the battery, anyway, so it was worth a shot. I believe a salesman suggested it.

 

[oldman45]

I have the new battery on the way. Bought on eBay for a small fraction of the cost of a new one. Still seem to be getting better results with the car charger. Again, there is no real way to measure it since the talk time is not the same. I may go all day and use it ten minutes total or I may use it two hours. All depends on what is going on in the area when I may be needed.

However there are other providers that may offer better reception or longer lasting products. I am though locked in to what is provided me by the powers above. They have a contract with ATT that gives a pool type call time. There are at least ten phones I know of in the pool I am in. Where I may use 1,000 minutes this month, it may be twice that next month and the time alloted is not per phone but rather total use of all the phones. Some phones may not be used 20 minutes during a month. I have no say as to what provider I can get.

 

[oldman45]

UPDATE

The battery I bought on eBay for $6 came in yesterday's mail I fully charged it after installing it in the phone. A little after 4pm, it was in service and off charge.

It has taken 19 calls and I made 5 calls for a total of 2hrs 28 minutes. It still shows a full charge.

I am now going to take the advice from above by not charging it nightly. We will see how long the charge lasts and if it goes out during the day, I will use the car charger.

Thanks for all the advice.