Mobile won't charge anymore - what to do?

[pippop1]

Hi clever people,

My son's mobile with over 400 contacts and precious text messages won't take a charge anymore. He doesn't think it's the charger as that's fairly new but the phone is about 2 and a half years old. Nothing is saved to a computer and the information is saved onto the phone rather than the sim card.

What is the best way to get the contacts and (text messages if poss) onto a new phone that he will buy tomorrow? Can phone shops such as the Carphone Warehouse do this kind of thing for customers (especially if they are buying a new phone)?

He seems to think it will cost a great deal of money to do this?

Has it happened to anyone and they've successfully resolved it? How did you do it and what did it cost.

Could it just be the battery - has it been dropped in water or otherwise damaged ?

One problem I've seen with both (old) Ericsson and Nokia phones, is the contacts in the phone (which were springy strips of metal, folded over, the springiness used to ensure contact with the 3 or so contact points on the battery) was that the contacts in the phone could either have broken on the 'hinge' so there was an air gap instead of proper contact with the battery, or could have been corroded because of moisture, or just plain grimy.

I've sometimes taken a battery out and (carefully) scratched the battery contacts with either a small screwdriver, or something like metal wool, such that there's some fresh, bright, metal, exposed.

Similarly for the strips in the mobile, or, if part had broken off, bending what was left in half (again, carefully) using some small pliers (normally used for holding components when soldering them).

If you get no joy at CPW, you might consider finding a replacement battery for the phone, on Ebay, say.

You don't mention which phone it is - if you do someone else who has had the same phone may be able to give you a much better answer, as they'll know what worked and what didn't! Good luck.

Thanks for your reply. I will show him your excellent suggestions when he gets in. The battery idea sounds hopeful to me.

Just a suggestion - but he is trying the charger in the correct socket isn't he?

My Pils get this a lot and their phones are old. The battery just dies. Try a new one first before you do anything else!

He's been recommended to a local repair shop and will go there tomorrow.

The phone shop did something to the charging port and then repaired the touchscreen as it was a bit hit and miss. A miracle happened and he had two weeks left on the guarantee that he didn't know he had (always worth going to an official mobile phone store, rather than a dodgy shop).

Voila, one working phone, one happy son. He's going to buy a new phone (he has a sim only contract on this one) when he gets back from holiday though as he doesn't really trust this one anymore. It's lived a hard life in those two years in his pocket, on the floor, in the car, down the sofa and so on.

Thanks for all your advice.

He's ordered a bluetooth adaptor so that he can save all the information (including text messages)onto the computer. Apparently they are not printoutable but at least he has a record of them. The adaptor costs less than £2.

Good to hear the shop sorted his phone out and for free makes it all the better from your PoV.

Just nosy but what phone is it that went faulty ?

It's a Samsung 8GB, well that's what it says on the side. To be fair it really has had a very hard life with my son, backwards and forwards to Uni.

He's taken a v old one of mine with on his holiday as he's gone to a third world country. He was "charmed" that the old one's battery lasts for a few days whereas his current one lasts for less than 24 hours. He says it's because the old one does nothing much (it's just a phone).

It's interesting to me (I'm not a techie) that the very versatile phones that run your life use so much power that they constantly run out of charge. This fact is not promoted.

It's greener to have an old-fashioned simple phone then.

True, much greener.

I suppose it would not fit in with the "image" if they explained that because each facility (Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, GSM [voice/SMS/data]) that handles transmit and receive will have circuitry working 24h (battery permitting!) and even if not transmitting, has to have the receiver on, just in case of a signal.

You will now find a number of phones have GPS (listening for signals from satellites) to work out your position, using both radio receiver circuitry and then calculating the position based on calculating differences in the time from three or four signals from different satellites. I think all new phones in N America have GPS as standard (probably for the FBI/NSA to locate users when a terrorist call is identified).

Add to that the extra memory chips and the fact there's quite a powerful processor working feverishly, even if the user isn't doing much, and it explains the power consumption being higher.

I only run down my phones if I use the FM radio a lot of the time. I've a number of 'bare bones' phones - no touch screens, no web access, and so on... OK for text and phone calls of course, and days between charging.

Ah, Samsung... Not a brand I've used, though have looked at them from time to time...

i stick to nokia for precisely that reason, they seem to have really good battery life. also hated the samsung i once had because it was forever on charge.
when looking at phones they do tell you the standby/talktime in hours that you'll get from it, which is definitely something to look at when buying a new one

is it a contract phone? if so he will prob be entitled to a free upgrade at some point. i am with 02 and get a new phone every year!

regardless, he could buy a new phone and put his sim card in and it should still have all his contacts on. messages/photos he would need to specify to save to sim rather than phone memory before switching

Interesting. No, he has a sim-only contract so can buy any phone that he likes (money permitting).

My husband compares how infreqently he spoke to his parents when he was at Uni (had to get called down to the booth in the hall of residence when a call was put through in the mid-1970s, to how easy it is to contact our son, by any of text, email, or speaking on the mobile. That's if the battery on the laptop or phone hasn't run out of course !

Sometimes it would have been less worrying not to have been able to contact him once you have spoken.

Other son hopes to go to Durham Uni (will know on Thursday) and has just got a new O2 contract as, strangely there is a problem with all other providers in certain areas in hilly Durham. He throughly researched this problem and it seems to be true.

When he gets a new phone, it may be worth checking your local Asda Living (or possibly buy online from e2save.com) as he may be able to get one unlocked from a specific network (as he has a SIM-only contract, with perhaps a 1 month notice period, and a better deal may come up in the next year anyway)...

No doubt he has been able to copy all his contacts from the phone, so it might be worth checking with one of those 'we'll give cash for your phone' services as to whether they think it is worth much ... have to admit I'd be tempted to make an offer, but would need to know more about what network it is on, etc...

Hey, good advice. I'll discuss with him when gets back from India....

An unlocked phone is always going to be useful, to accept any SIM in an emergency, though I have to admit my personal interest in the old mobile is also part of my reason for posting, now he might be persuaded to part with it (!)