I have a 2.5 year old fp2. A year or so ago I started having issues with the battery, draining fast, charging slow, overheating.A workaround from this forum helped me (after all the ‘usual’ tips like checking what is running in the background failed to change anything) so I put s small piece of paper under the battery. Thos worked for several months but now the issue is back and also the charging issue is worse, like there is a bad contact somweher. A second piece of paper only worked for.a short while. So I thought it would be time to change the battery (not bloated as far as I can judge)
But would that solve anything though, or should I change the bottom part where the micro USB port is?
Maybe first assure clean contacts and perform according to the #batteryguide
afterwards.
For the battery draining investigate if there is an app running wild causing a wake lock. (e.g. facebook standard app, syncing email app etc.). This can happen at any time not being only an one-time issue. Might return after updating apps or the OS. Sometimes a few reboots may help, but no guarantee. Better investigate on installed apps.
thanks!
I’ve done most of the batteryguide (I like how easy it is to find, thanks) tips but i’ll re-do them
what I have so far is
1.it’s not bloated
2.letting the battery drain completely now (no tour the France radio for me 
today 
)
3.not the SD card, cleaned the USB connector, this seems to be fixed still, not moving, on android 6.0.1 so I disregarded the one for 5 and tried the steps for the 6 bug, this worked up until the last part where at “location” I cannot tap the 3 dots anymore to find the “wifi-scanning”
I don’t suppose there is a free app that returns the same results? as opposed to better battery stats?
4.done
5.USB debugging is on
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I could find Gsam Battery Monitor which is free and should also provide info on what´s draining your battery. Maybe give it a try.
Sorry, I wasn´t aware that better battery stats wasn´t for free.
when I ‘reset’ the battery, that didn’t really change anything, I had to reposition the paper under the battery a few times or it wouldn’t change at all.
I was able to use three cables I had before, and now only one still works, even on that one the “connection” seems to drop all the time when charging, after 1,5h it reached 47%
I then installed the Gsam battery monitor but i’ve got to admit that was all way above my level of technology knowledge, it needed to know whether I “had root” or whether I would download an ‘ADB’, this then was another three links and extra steps.
the GSam gives 46% battery and between 36-39° temp but it also indicates the charging is being interrupted. display and gsam itself are listed as the ‘biggest’ users
i’m still thinking it’s the bottom module but the connector seems ok
If there are fairphoneangels in your vicinity, they could perhaps help you find out via swapping the module with another one.
You could also try to charge the battery not in the phone, but with an external charger.
I got me this one, pretty cheap and does the job if needed.
It’s a generic China piece being sold under different brand names all over the internet.
no fairphone angels anywhere near unfortunately
I couldn’t check the wakelock possibility as explained so I went ahead and deleted the fb app as it was bit of a known culprit from what I read
the last two days the fast draining of the battery seems to have eased a bit so that’s something at least
charging has become more and more of an issue, I think by now the USB in the bottom module must have some connection problems as the charging keeps dropping, I have to find a very tricky balance and put some weight on the charging cable and just now when it was almost full, it decided to discharge itself completely
ah well, i’ve ordered a bottom module and a battery (that last one is probably superfluous but we’ll see)
just wish I had done that a few days earlier as now i’ll be without a phone my entire holiday without a camera is most annoying as I wont be using the ‘phone’ bit abroad anyway
Ok I ordered a new battery and a new bottom module. If I only changed the battery, I couldn’t charge the phone either so it appears to have been the bottom module. When both are replaced the phone charges fine.
As I read a bit on the forum about the bottom module it appears to be a part that wears out rather fast ( I must say mine lasted 2,5 years and it must have received some shocks when charging so it’s not completely unreasonable) So I was wondering whether it might be worth buying a charger and changing the battery each time. Would that just lead to increased mechanical wear on the case or so? The last half year I had to use the phone (with the original battery and bottom module) with a piece of paper stuck between the battery and the module. Is there any way of knowing whether that was due to a battery issue or whether that was already the bottom module starting to deteriorate?
In several Fairphone 2 the battery seems to be a little loose in the battery compartment. By using a little piece of paper the battery stays better in place. If the battery isn’t fixed tight, then you could get reboots. This has nothing to do with the bottom module.
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In my opinion it is,always advisable to check first, if there’s one of the #fairphoneangels within reach. They can check, if the bottom module really is defective by swapping modules. And they generally seem to be nice people.
Ah sorry, I thought I mentioned that, I checked and the only one on the map was halfway through the Netherlands so too far away. I know people nearby who have a FP2 but they generally have more tech issues with it then me so when they have their phone up and running I don’t want to ask them to take it apart for me
the new module works fine, what I was really asking for was an opinion whether switching the battery (as I have two working ones now) instead of charging through the USB would avoid wear on the bottom module
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Well, changing the battery shouldn’t strain the micro USB port in the bottom module at least. Those ports can be surprisingly flimsy, sadly.
In case you exchange the bottom module for a new one, you can reduce future strain on the micro USB port with magnetic adapters. I use this one for over a year now and I only need to take it out of the port when I want to use USB OTG devices, or for testing purposes.
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