topic Re: Z5 compact sometimes won't charge, or stops charging in Z Series

Z5 compact sometimes won't charge, or stops charging

kadookoo — Mon, 30 May 2016 19:27:49 GMT

I have a nearly-new Z5 compact (2 weeks old), and it is showing the following problems (at various times). In all cases the phone has a "normal" charge level e.g. between 40% and 95%:

- sometimes, when you plug the charger in, it says "ping" and the charging indicator lights. But after some hours I notice the icon is off, it hasn't charged at all, it has just been draining slowly all the while.

- with some chargers (that are fine with any other phone) it does not even register they are plugged in, no "ping" and no icon.

- sometimes, when plugging the charger in, it says "ping" but does not turn on the indicator light

- and sometimes it charges just fine.

The above happens with the charger that came in the box, and other (quality, like HTC, LG) chargers we have around the house and all work fine with any other phones. But inconsistently.

Is there anything that can be done, or should it be sent back to the dealer as a dud?

Re: Z5 compact sometimes won't charge, or stops charging

CameronT — Tue, 31 May 2016 00:50:00 GMT

Hi @kadookoo,

Welcome to the community.

Can you please start your phone in safe mode and see if the charging issue persists?

Can you also please turn the phone off with a force shut down (Hold the power button and volume up button until the phone vibrates 3 times) and charge it while it's off.

Re: Z5 compact sometimes won't charge, or stops charging

kadookoo — Tue, 31 May 2016 12:23:23 GMT

Hi!

I tried Safe Mode - same behaviour.

With the phone in forced shutdown, when I plug in a charger (that I'm seeing problems with) I get a red LED for a couple of seconds, which then turns off. The screen shows the current charge level, but it does not increase.

Re: Z5 compact sometimes won't charge, or stops charging

CameronT — Wed, 01 Jun 2016 00:48:45 GMT

@kadookoo,

If it is not charging while the phone is off, then you will need to contact your local support team.

Re: Z5 compact sometimes won't charge, or stops charging

YoGem — Wed, 01 Jun 2016 01:40:29 GMT

If it charge while it's off, it's the thermal protection that is blocking charge to avoid damage. Probably there is an app running in the background and consuming lot of power and/or increasing battery temperature hence blocking the charge. If that's the case, a software repair will help.

Question, have you got any big software updates/upgrades? After a software upgrade it's always recommend a factory reset or a software repair. It's a typical android issue, not specific to Xperia devices.

Re: Z5 compact sometimes won't charge, or stops charging

kadookoo — Wed, 01 Jun 2016 05:44:16 GMT

No, even when it's off it sometimes (with specific cables / adapters) won't charge.

Re: Z5 compact sometimes won't charge, or stops charging

YoGem — Thu, 02 Jun 2016 00:07:06 GMT

@kadookoo wrote:
No, even when it's off it sometimes (with specific cables / adapters) won't charge.

Ok so if "with specific cables/adapters" it won't charge there is a chance that the specific "adapter" or "cable" is not idoneous to charge the battery of your device. You may have to use the original charger provided with the device - which should be usually safe but slower - or being sure to use the same provided usb cable and a powerful charger. I personally use an Anker 40W - 5V at 8A and never had issues with it, also if all chargers seems the same they are not, they may provide not enough Volts or Amperes to charge a demanding device such a Z5c, if you are still using the original one it may be damaged... if then "ALL" chargers are not working for you obviously there is something wrong with your device.

Re: Z5 compact sometimes won't charge, or stops charging

unhappyz5user — Mon, 01 May 2017 11:06:43 GMT

lol happened to me too(and is still happening), exact same scenario, tried different cables, charging indicator only blinks for a moment then stops. The cables/ports seem to function 100% fine cos tried them with a different android device(s6) which worked perfectly well. Had the s6 3 years now and still hasn't shown any complications but for my z5 compact which I had for about a year and a half now, and is already having issues such as this. smh tried all ways possible, guess I might just be one of those ppl who bought a malfuncioning one

Re: Z5 compact sometimes won't charge, or stops charging

NiftyC — Tue, 09 May 2017 14:06:27 GMT

Has anyone resolved this issue ? having the smae problem with my Z5

Re: Z5 compact sometimes won't charge, or stops charging

kadookoo — Tue, 09 May 2017 14:41:29 GMT

It seems to be that the device can draw a lot of current when charging, and if the cable cannot take the current (too long, or the conductors are too thin), the voltage at the device drops and it gives up.

It always seems to work with the original charger and a short cable.

Longer cables definitely can give problems - try a short cable, or buy a cable specifically marked as for "high current" use.

Re: Z5 compact sometimes won't charge, or stops charging

Simmerl19 — Wed, 10 May 2017 17:07:13 GMT

I will try that, although I find it remarkable that for me the problem started with the .33 update.

Re: Z5 compact sometimes won't charge, or stops charging

zebarnabe — Wed, 10 May 2017 22:53:05 GMT

I have a similar problem where since the beginning the phone seems to be quite picky with the charger and cables used.

Here go a few examples:

Regardless of the cable I use, when connected to my work laptop, it won't charge. However I know the laptop can dump 1A/5V. All other phones charge with no problems and quite quicky.

Should I connect it to personal laptop and most of the cables work fine to charge it.

When connecting it to my linux desktop the phone often goes berserk - like if I was plugging and unplugging the cable in quick succession - and settles down after a while. This is the only phone I've used that has this behavior, at least it got better with Nougat. Also, for 2 times BIOS logs shown me an energy issue with USB after using my phone on it - when that happenned I had to de-latch the protection of the USB ports on BIOS to make them work again - this did not happenned with Nougat, yet.

The original charger is quite picky with the cables I use it with.

My old phone charger (500mAh/5V) happily charges the phone.

IKEA USB charger doesn't give me any problems aside from a few cables.

Another generic (good quality) 2A/5V USB charger behaves like the original charger being quite picky with the cable used.

When charging it from a GP 4000mAh powerbank, long cables charge it for a few minutes and then stop.

When charging it from an Asus 10020mAh powerbank, almost all cables work.

My car USB connector doesn't charge the phone and media reading sometimes doesn't work. I suspect the car puts too little energy into the USB conection as it is probably intended to be used with pen drives. However it does charge all the other phones I connect to it (but really slowly and only if they are in standby) and allows for a stable connection.

Re: Z5 compact sometimes won't charge, or stops charging

GonzitO — Sat, 27 May 2017 10:52:40 GMT

It's not a charger problem since I can use car and USB and AC yet next time I can't use any of them. Testing today with AC-charger

It says connected to USB-charger and it won't charge. Unplug and plug Again got it to say AC-charger and started to charge (voltage all over the place but charge). Kept doing that and after 50% is just saying USB -charger and won't charge (it is ampere app)

Re: Z5 compact sometimes won't charge, or stops charging

GonzitO — Sat, 27 May 2017 11:04:26 GMT

Ok connection between USB port on phone and motherboard... Since I was unplugging and plugging it moved a bit or something so I toke my phone apart (while on and trying to charge since someone had to try cause Sony does't care) and unplugged from motherboard, plugged in again and working... So rather then being a software problem mine seems to be that the connection is moving a bit and that is causing the problem.

EDIT: closed it back up. And unplug, plug for back to USB-charger... So it's a design fault that over time the plug comes loose inside and recognizes the cable but something is of and doesn't charge for safety reasons is my best quess

Edit2: added about half a millimeter of padding between the inside support frame and the connector to motherboard, USB connector connection and it seems to been working. Plug unplug for 5 minutes now and every time works ( compare to not working half the time) . Will come back later to let you know how it is.

Re: Z5 compact sometimes won't charge, or stops charging

Arwin_SC — Mon, 18 Sep 2017 11:04:26 GMT

Thanks guys for the insight. Been experiencing this problem as of the moment. It is always an interplay of "hit" or "miss" of whether my phone will charge or not. Same as what you have experienced based on earlier posts. Any updates on this matter at hand? Thanks again!