Samsung Galaxy S3 - charging problem

ColdBlade97

Honorable
Apr 11, 2013
3
0
10,510
So I had this problem for a while now and I can't seem to find the solution for it. My phone only charges when connected to PC and I was charging it like that for a couple of weeks now (before it worked fine). When I connect the USB cabel to the adapter for charging it starts charging for ~10 sec and then it stops. I changed the adapter and the cable but the problem is still there. When I recently connected the same cable to an iPhone adapter it was charging normally. I don't believe its the micro USB hub on the phone that causes the problems. Any suggestions?
 
Solution
So it only charges with computer's USB port? Seems like something voltage regulator or something has dead inside and it can not handle high voltage from adapter and can only handle low voltage from the computer's port. Have you checked that there is dust in your phone's port? If there isn't any dust it means some hardware is faulty and you might need to take it to repair shop. This is what I think and for now if you want to charge your battery quickly you can buy a universal charger.
If you phone is old you can try compressed air into your phone's port and scratch port's inner surface with some wire or something to clean old dirt if any.

shahbaz200

Honorable
Apr 20, 2012
287
0
11,260
So it only charges with computer's USB port? Seems like something voltage regulator or something has dead inside and it can not handle high voltage from adapter and can only handle low voltage from the computer's port. Have you checked that there is dust in your phone's port? If there isn't any dust it means some hardware is faulty and you might need to take it to repair shop. This is what I think and for now if you want to charge your battery quickly you can buy a universal charger.
If you phone is old you can try compressed air into your phone's port and scratch port's inner surface with some wire or something to clean old dirt if any.
 
Solution

Happythymes

Estimable
Jun 3, 2014
1
0
4,510
i am working on one here with same issue. It did have belly button lint inside usb port. enough to hold connector out enough or cause regulator problem. After cleaning Usb port on phone with wooden toothpick GENTLY poke around, then air. A blackberry thick cord into usb on tower and I did a successful backup!. It charges just fine on the tower. I am now going to try several wall jacks and maybe get lucky. I bet you are right about lint(static)damaging regulator on motherboard.. I will post if I find more information..

 

benreaves

Estimable
Oct 25, 2014
1
0
4,510
Solved by visiting a repair shop. Cost $80 and was finished in a few hours. They had the part available, because it's a common problem.

I'd had this problem for about a month. Tried various different chargers, cables, angles, forced-air spray. Best Buy (where I purchased it) and Sprint (carrier) insisted I replace the phone for $800. Yeah right. Today it was repaired by independent "Cellular Repair Center" in San Jose but I'm sure many other shops will do. It charges just fine now.
 

GunShotWound77

Estimable
Feb 13, 2015
1
0
4,510


The battery might be almost dead. My S3 mini suddenly stopped charging and when I plugged it in to charge it would vibrate as if it was registering I had just plugged it in, but it wouldn't charge. Eventually the battery completely died over a couple of days and it wouldn't switch on.
Today I took it back to the store I bought it from (it was still under warranty) and explained the problem to a member of staff. He told me the battery might be so dead it wouldn't even charge! Sounds unbelievable, right? He took the battery out of the phone and charged it in a machine they keep in the store (02 store) which apparently can charge a cell phone battery in 8 mins! He said he thought that it just needed a "jump start" as it had reached a point where it was so dead it wouldn't charge normally. He charged it in the store to about 25% for me and I left it to charge for a few hours when I got home (as it was now charging) and so far so good! Problem (hopefully) solved in 30mins! I use a lot of Samsung tablets at work and a few weeks ago I sent a tablet to Samsung for repair as it wouldn't switch on or charge and they said the same thing - that the battery was at a point where it needed a "jump start" and then to be charged for a few hours.
If the battery won't charge at all, either try a new battery (eBay or Amazon are good places to look for cheap batteries. Make sure to get a genuine Samsung with NFC capability. The NFC receiver is in the battery!) or take it in to the store where you bought it, or your carrier's store (02, Vodafone, etc) and explain the problem and see if they can help.
Hope this helps guys!
**UPDATE**
So the problem seemed to be fixed and the battery charged like normal a couple of times, but after 5 days the battery is refusing to charge again and is slowly dying... I've plugged it in to a charger (genuine one that came with the phone) and it says "charging" on the screen so it's registering that it's plugged in, but the battery is losing charge. I've bought another battery from eBay so will update this when it arrives as hopefully that will solve the problem.
 

Blaziness

Estimable
May 6, 2015
1
0
4,510
My girlfriend was having this same exact issue for weeks before we finally discovered that it would charge perfectly ONLY if the usb wall-charger adapter is a Samsung brand unit that is specifically intended for cell phone charging.
 

KSA_2016

Estimable
Jan 3, 2016
1
0
4,510


I have the same problem. My Samsung Galaxy s3 looks to be charging(It shows the lightning bolt sign) but the battery decreases. I even bought a new and genuine Samsung battery from Amazon but the battery still decreases.
 

Brandy_10

Commendable
May 1, 2016
1
0
1,510


 

david62311

Commendable
Aug 3, 2016
1
0
1,510
I had the same issue as some of you. My S3 wouldn't charge when turned off with a wall charger but, would if it was plugged into a PC. I tried different chargers and cables for the wall charger but, had the same issues of not charging. This all seemed to start when I got it a little wet when I was riding my bike 43 miles but, not wet enough where it would of ruined it. My battery got down to 3% when I was using a riding app too. I got home in the nick of time to get it on the charger and save my workout. I took the Otterbox casing apart and dried the phone off. When I heard the buzzing when it was off I started to look for answers online and this was one of the places I found answers. I tried to use a can of air to clean out the charging port but, since the S3 charged in the off position plugged into the PC, I thought, that was weird that it charged like that off and not when it was plugged into a wall. I didn't think dirt was the problem.

I'm going to get to what I am going to mention what I believe i found out what it was. My issue I believe was an app that always took control of my phone when I put it on the charge. It's called 360 security. After a week of not knowing what it was that was giving my phone the issues, I had my suspicion that it could be an app. This could probably happen with any app that takes over when the phone is put on a charger. I uninstalled the 360 Security App and my S3 started to charge in the off position plugged into the wall. If you have any type of app that takes over when you plug it into the wall and you have the charging issue when the phone is off then, try uninstalling the app and then plug the phone in and turn it off and if it starts to charge then good. It's worth a try. I believe sometimes app updates can cause an issue like this. Maybe you would want to uninstall the app you might suspect and then reinstall the app.
 

danelopower

Commendable
Aug 4, 2016
1
0
1,510
I have this problem as well. I tried to get the charging port fixed, but they couldn't fix it. I have only had my Samsung S3 for 6 months and the charging port stopped working. I just ordered an external battery charger to charge the battery itself.then I will put the battery back into the phone.
 

Justan

Commendable
Sep 12, 2016
1
0
1,510
I had this same frustrating problem for so long. Solution for me: Walmart Canada. Micro USB Cable by ONN or ONNMICROWH.
Product number 6 922052 926470. It has 2 little clips that hold the cable in proper position in the port when charging. My phone now charges fully, reliably and quickly.
 

Darin_2

Commendable
Nov 1, 2016
2
0
1,510


 

Darin_2

Commendable
Nov 1, 2016
2
0
1,510
The toothpick idea led me to try a bread twisty tie. Gently push it in on both side of the tab inside of the port on the phone. Just that rubbing action removed whatever debris that was causing it not to charge.
 

Mike_279

Commendable
Nov 4, 2016
1
0
1,510
Hello all, I have the same issue with my phone -- looks like it isn't charging by a wall socket (no lightning bolt icon), and the battery indicator level goes down. What I found was that it actually is charging, a reboot will show the battery at 100% I haven't poked about in the USB slot. Wonder if it is a software issue on the phone?