How to tell if a Cell Phone Battery has gone bad

There are many ways a battery can fail, and this is just one example.
If your cell phone isn't holding the charge like it used to, or it shuts off during calls or while playing games, it's probably because of overheating in the battery. This simple test demonstrates the difference between a failing (old) battery and a perfectly new one.

[@MrWolfSnack]

When your phone battery swells and bulges, you need to stop charging it and throw it in the scrap bin immediately and buy a new battery. If you keep using that same battery, it WILL explode and/or catch fire. I've had it happen with the Blackberry C-S2 battery a lot of times. Also had it happen to a 2002 Sony Ericsson T62u battery.

[@konypunani9310]

liar

[@linexustjk6061]

This was a lifesaver. Thanks for the video.

[@MrKristoffle]

alright dude, please guide me through lastime, so are you saying by using a multimeter positive and negative testrr point onto my Zerolemon note 4 battery, if the multi meter show is 3.85V, meaning my battery is in perfect condition without cell or weak cell into the battery? OK if this can be done, the battery I need to charger is full before I do this test, or let the battery dry up all the juice till the battery can't even power up my phone??????! please help!!!!

[@joescheller6680]

check with ameter and still shows good is that possible i can no longer get phone to start up

[@user-vn3en2vc8p]

Well i have a complicated problem with my battery. If go to sleep leaving 70%(or below) battery, the phone is off till the morning(almost 7-8hours). What do i do? any suggestions advices please...

[@BroodallyHonest]

my battery isn't bloated, but it still won't hold a charge.

[@MrKristoffle]

oh I see! thanks dude! so, meaning if I have got a multi meter, I can actually test the voltage like this Zerolemon show

[@MrKristoffle]

this Zerolemon battery voltage from the back printed as 3.85V so is that mean if I test with the multimeter and if it show it's 3.85V, meaning my battery is in perfect condition? and if I performed thus test, my battery must be in full charge power, or in total dry up empty power?

[@Fizmarble]

Fully charge the battery before testing with the multimeter. Then set the multimeter to Volts DC. You should see something close to 3.85V. If you see as low as 3.7V your battery is probably still good, but it may read even higher than your battery's rating at full charge.

[@MrKristoffle]

yup, in extreme heavy usage, still last me 66 hours or so.

[@emmadavis314]

my battery doesn't appear swollan and I did the test. It sorta spun...but my phone doesn't hold charge and I've tired everything from guides, like the brightness is all the way down and suck but it usually holds a 100% charge for about 1-3 hours

[@joseesquivias3078]

thank you for the tip very helpful.

[@Fizmarble]

+Jose Esquivias Glad to help out!

[@eiadr43]

This nice. Thanks

[@MrKristoffle]

oh OK alright, but by the way may I ask is there any ways I can check if partially my battery cells is DEAD? like is there any app or any equipment I can check if my battery cells has DEAD? or how to bring back the DEAD cells?

[@Fizmarble]

Is it possible for you to just get a replacement battery? That would save a lot of the trouble and time of testing a battery.

[@CaptEricS]

My HTC Desire 510 went dead on me and I watched every video to reset it... nothing worked. (Less than 2 years old) When I took it apart, I noticed the battery was bloated. Being a mechanic for over 41 years, I found your video. Q. I have my phone constantly charging... what is your recommendation for charging the battery? Thank you for this... (I'm certain it's the problem!)

[@Fizmarble]

Most smartphones are "smart" enough to NOT charge the battery once it's fully charged. But, batteries get old and die regardless. I wouldn't do anything different. I leave my phone on the charger all night, and sometimes at work too. Batteries are relatively cheap and if you get a couple years of life for 15 bucks, I call it good. Some folks will recommend that you never leave your battery on the charger once it's fully charged. Don't listen to them, they are the people that unplug toasters to save 4 cents a year. My time is worth too much to be running around unplugging appliances to save a few coins. Enjoy your charged battery and move on. I hope you are able to find a decent deal on a battery. Here is one on amazon: amzn.to/2bTzGD3 There are cheaper ones, but this had the best reviews. Good luck!

[@CaptEricS]

LMAO! That's a good one. Yes the battery spins like a top, yet has 4.21 V. However if the amperage is not there, it's bad. Price is no object... my business relies on my Ph. and CL. Thanks again for the Video.

[@Fizmarble]

Glad to help. Thanks for watching. You are correct about the volts/amps. Volts are important, amps are important, but with batteries it's all about the capacity, which is the amount of current (amps) over time (hours). As capacity drops, the device will still work fine, but for less time. :( Oh well, bye bye spinning battery. Oh and don't keep the battery around after you get the new one. My brother-in-law kept his old battery in a draw for a couple more years where it continued to swell like a pregnant pig. It was almost cylindrical. Don't do that.

[@CaptEricS]

Yes these batteries are very dangerous. I lite a fire in my fireplace once and one of my five children had throw away a "dead battery" in the ashes and it exploded, and threw embers for 10 feet. Thank the God for Fire Extinguishers! :D

[@user-lr9uf5vi6w]

I know this is a old video.my I got the Samsung emerge and the battery is not charging to 100 percent on a good day 86 around that range. But I was hoping if you can tell me do I need a new phone or battery.because my phone shuts off at 30 percent or so and it barely charges I heard other people view of the phone and they say there Samsung j3 emerge works perfectly. I thinking it could be the battery? Brand new phone aswell.please reply

[@Fizmarble]

Are both the phone and battery new? Are you charging it with the charger that came with the phone? Weak chargers might fail to charge the battery all the way, even if the connectors fit correctly.

[@user-lr9uf5vi6w]

Fizmarble yes everything is new

[@avanae]

Yup, my battery is spinning :P I need to replace it! :)

[@0030mike]

This happened to me twice I lefted my cell charging overnight

[@simplyallegra]

Nice

[@joseesquivias3078]

if the battery drains really fast can it be the battery I know it's not my apps I checked them already

[@Fizmarble]

+Jose Esquivias Two things I can think of. First, your battery is failing and has a reduced capacity. Secondly, if your phone has ever gotten wet, there may be a short that causes excessive electrical draw and premature battery drain. When your phone has been sitting for a while (no games or browsing), is it warm? If it is, then you may have a short somewhere. Warmth is a sign of power draw and therefore battery drain.

[@fightingforce8498]

Hi, my battery drains from 50% to 15% rapidly. What's the problem?

[@Fizmarble]

It sounds like it's no longer holding enough capacity to accurately report how much battery life is left. Maybe an app is just grinding away the battery, but it's probably the actual battery has had enough.

[@mrnarason]

um was looking for a more empirical way to test if the battery is dead besides if its bloated...

[@Fizmarble]

1) Charge the battery to capacity. 2) Put a consistent, known load (in milliamps) on it. 3) Measure the time it takes for the battery to no longer power the load. 4) Multiply the load (in milliamps) by the time (in hours). This gives you milliamp hours (mAh). 5) Compare your calculated mAh with the battery's rating. If the difference is less than 10%, your battery has suffered some capacity loss.

[@Draugluin999]

Got sold a junk lg battery everything was fine for at least 7 months then crapped out on me tried the spinning thing and it spun like a top

[@MrKristoffle]

so how would I know if my phone battery has DEAD CELL???? please guide.

[@YesMustacheMusic]

I'm totally not an electrician or electrical engineer. But if your battery had a dead cell, I believe you would see either a reduced capacity, or no voltage, depending on how the cells are wired (parallel or series).

[@Fizmarble]

I was going to post the same exact thing. But mostly because I accidentally posted under the wrong user profile the first time.

[@MrKristoffle]

I can't afford to change my battery as mine is a 10,000 mah Zerolemon battery for my note 4 Samsung..

[@Fizmarble]

I see, that is an expensive battery. I wish I could be more help. If you have access to a multimeter, you can see if the voltage of the battery at full charge comes close to the voltage that the battery claims to output. I don't think it would be able to tell you about the capacity though. For that, you'd have to discharge it and measure the rate of discharge over time. I am far from qualified to give any tips on that, but maybe someone else could chime in. Good luck!

[@kokoze]

Whoa! Thats a lot. I've only got 3200

[@dancingworld3449]

Replacing a battery is very far better than blasting of the whole phone. And the explosion may surely cause a very severe condition of your body and then, the hospital is going to make a very big bill for you. Now you see whats better! Thank you!

[@blackspel54]

Hey dude ! I can't get my phones battery out of my phone , i think my battery is broken , cause phone is getting really hot , when i play some games or text friends.

[@Fizmarble]

If your phone doesn't have a user-replaceable battery, you may need to hand it off to an authorized repair center, unless you feel confident in opening the phone. There are probably tutorials online for your model. Extreme heat is a concern. If it gets too hot it could explode. Games use more processor power and more battery, so you should expect it to get warm while gaming, but not so much from texting.

[@blackspel54]

Fizmarble Thanks , i understand.

[@mcreator2000]

Hay thanks

[@itz_kevinvillegas4388]

My phone powers off when its 30% is the battery bad?

[@Fizmarble]

Pretty sure the battery is toast. I'm confident that if you replaced the battery it would solve your problem, but no guarantees. :)

[@itz_kevinvillegas4388]

Thank you I'm gonna change it today!

[@Fizmarble]

Best of luck to you!

[@itz_kevinvillegas4388]

I bought the phone a month ago. I'm pretty sure its just the battery

[@pacnick11]

Negative for me!

[@BroodallyHonest]

Is it possible that if your phone keeps dying, it's the phone that's defective, and not the battery?

[@Fizmarble]

It depends on how the phone is dying, but yes. How long is the battery lasting after a full charge?

[@BroodallyHonest]

It starts draining faster than any of my other phones, but the real problem comes when it gets below 50%. It'll just sudenly die, sometimes at 50%, or sometimes when it gets down to 10% or any point in between. By the way, my battery seems perfectly flat, It doesn't spin freely.

[@Fizmarble]

How old is the phone/battery, I'm assuming you haven't replaced the battery yet. Also, what model is your phone?

[@BroodallyHonest]

It's Samsung Galaxy Note 4 that I got used o Amazon maybe 6 months ago.

[@BroodallyHonest]

And I just got a new battery from Amazon that I'm testing right now.

[@invadernny]

But I have a iPhone and I can't take the battery out 😂

[@Fizmarble]

Spin the phone? :)

[@Kyx368]

hi

[@Fizmarble]

yo