Electronics Mystery

[Dannyalcatraz]

I own an LG Chocolate that is having battery issues. My talk time on a full charge is variable- as little as 30 seconds to as much as 30 minutes on a "full" charge.

However, I've noticed an entirely NEW behavior.

When I go to class on the weekends, I sit in the same place, every time. I take my phone off and set it on the table, and about 10 minutes later, it turns itself off due to the battery having "no charge"- this despite having just come off of the charger.

When I remove it from the table and turn it back on, it gradually "recharges" in just a few minutes. If I place it back on the table, it turns off again within about 5-10 minutes, again due to having "no charge." When I take it home, it registers fully to 3/4ths charged.

I've tried this a few times, and the result is always the same. Now, I've heard of this happening on shows like Ghost Hunters, but I'm doubtful that this is the result of the supernatural.

Anyone out there with expertise in electronics who has an explanation for this? What would be draining my battery in one area of a room?

 

[Thanee]

It cannot really be draining your battery, if it is still quite full afterwards.

Otherwise no idea what makes your phone "think" the battery is going low, when it lies on that mysterious table. Sounds weird.

Bye
Thanee

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Its freaking bizzarre!

I mean, this is a normal rectangular table, just like every other one in the room. No wires or anything like that.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Tried it again today with a twist: witnesses.

The phone was fully charged in the morning, fresh off the charger. When I went to class, I set it down upon the portable AV rack behind my chair. There it sat in standby mode for several hours.

I showed my classmates that it still had 4 bars- fully charged- then set it down on the table in front of me, still in standby mode. I then walked away to do some work at the front of the class, and predicted it would be dead in 10 minutes.

Well, I got caught up in my work and didn't return for 30 minutes. When I picked my phone up, it was dead. It had turned itself off. I showed my classmates its "Battery Low" message and it turned itself off again.

Then I set it back on the AV rack. Within 20 minutes, I had 2 bars of charge. 20 minutes after that, I had 3 bars, and by the time class was over, it was back to 4 bars.

No, there is no charger on the AV rack, and nothing on it was plugged in, so there was no mystery electronic field to recharge it on the rack.

 

[Nytmare]

Is the room particularly chilly?

Does the phone go into roaming mode when you put it down on the table?

That's really weird.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

No, its not particularly chilly. It was 30 something degrees when I left the house this morning and I had a heavy coat, and I took it & my hat off in class. I was sitting there perfectly comfy in my short-sleeved shirt & jeans. Heck, I almost dozed off at one point.

And I don't have any changes in my signal that I've noticed.

 

[Alan Shutko]

My guess is that you've lost a cell in the battery and it can't deliver as much juice as it used to. When you put it on the table, it is in a spot where it needs to use more power to push through to the cell tower. Since the battery is marginal, it can't get enough juice and it turns itself off. Same as a dying car battery might run the radio, but not be able to start a car.

I'd chance that if you bought a new battery, this problem would go away, although it would still use more juice in that one spot.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

I like that explanation than the "Its ghosts!" theory!

 

[Nytmare]

Ghosts was going to be my next suggestion.

 

[Thanee]

I would rather bet on gremlins, not ghosts, really.

Bye
Thanee