Charging / Battery disappointment

Hi,

I am having the same problems many people seem to have had with their FP1s:

  1. The USB charging socket is dodgy and only chargers when the cable is held at a certain angle.
  2. The battery goes flat incredibly quickly - from say 60% to 15% in a matter of minutes.
  3. Even when my phone is on charge, with the red charging light - it does not charge. It stays on (for example) 35% for the time the charger is plugged in, and as soon as i take it out it immediately falls to (for example) 18%.

This wouldn’t be too much of a problem if i could easily get hold of a new battery and replace the USB connector, but as this forum tells us, this is increasingly impossible. The motherboard is unavailable to buy, and somewhat unbelievably, Fairphone don’t have batteries available.

This is slightly mind-boggling to me - how are we supposed to extend the life of our phones when we can’r replace the battery? I don’t really know what to do now… if it gets any worse, my phone will just be unusable.

It seems like my only option is to find a phone repair shop who is willing to do difficult soldering to replace the USB - I assume at a high cost (that’s if I can even find a shop to do it, which a lot of people seems to be struggling to do). And even then, I still have a pretty duff battery, which I am struggling to replace.

I love Fairphone, and everything about them - I think this is a great project and want to support it. My phone is nearly 3 years old, and I can’t afford to buy a FP2 atm. At the least, I would have hoped that my phone would be as easy as possible to repair when broken, and that Fariphone would make it as easy as possible by having all the parts I need in stock.

Anyone have any brilliant ideas that have not been talked about previously?

Sam

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Concerning your current battery, have you had a look at the batteryguide?

And I do not know where you live, but maybe you are lucky and you find a repair shop that has some Fairphone experience near you in this list:

If necessary, you can get a compatible USB connector for a few cents.

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I think a new battery won’t help you. I have the same problem and bought one of the last available batteries to solve it. Unfortunately it did not. So I am open for more suggestions as well :wink:

I too share your frustration at the lack of replacement batteries. I have been trying to get a replacement as my battery is bloating. The advice on one page is to buy a new battery, Out of stock on another page, and references to a letter in 2016 that I never saw saying that they are withdrawing support…an this for a phone who’s USP is its repair-ability. Looks like its time to go back to a manufacture with a better business model…

This connection to charger problem is exactly why I have given up and replaced my FP1. Such a shame.

Problems here with the battery too.

I just sent them an email asking how to get a new battery. Does anybody know if they will have extra batteries available??.. I mean…I bought this mobile phone because of the long-life possibility (spare parts, etc)… if they cannot offer that service after just 4 years then this mobile is no different from the other ones… that would be very very disappointing and I would feel certainly scammed. :frowning:

Thanks!

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Well… for other phones you quite often get third party batteries for a good price on eBay for quite a few years. So there is a difference…

We have a FP1 from the very first batch in our household and it works without any issues on the second battery. Not being able to replace the battery when it is required the next time would be a showstopper.
That brings me to this question: Wouldn’t it be possible for future FPs to work on a battery that has the same format as some well known other phones? How “fair” is the battery of the FP? If it isn’t fairer than any other battery, in that way FP could relax a little and rely on the third-party spare parts for other phones. The user benefit would be cheaper spare parts with better availability.
I know that this would put another constraint into the design of the phone but it would also be another aspect of modularity and interchangeability.

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Everybody knows the main problem with all mobile phone and wireless devices in the world: the battery. On my battery it is written: “THIS IS YOUR BATTERY. It provides the power to keep you connected. But in case it ever does run out of energy, you can always replace it…”. So now I need to replace it… if they cannot provide a solution then we all (FP users) have a problem (and the phone is only 3.5 yo).

@yofaka: I’ve had my USB connector resolderes twice already. Charging works like before again. It’s worth to find a #localrepairshop that does the job for you! :slight_smile:

Wow, I just read this: Open Letter regarding FP1 Frustration Posts

What a joke! What is the “official constructive solution” of Fairphone? This sounds to me like, ok, we got your money, that is all we needed.

Here is one solution: why don’t you guys (Fairphone) ask all FP1 users if they would like a spare battery? I am pretty sure that we all would buy 1-2 batteries knowing that there will no longer be batteries available. We can organize a battery batch amongst all FP1 users. Of course, this should be a non-profitable solution for Fairphone (they have the right contacts, we have the needs and the money to pay for it).

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These were also my thoughts…
Hope they’ll follow them!

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@EnricPu You’ll have to contact Fairphone at support(@)fairphone.com to address Fairphone directly. You generally can’t expect an official answer here…

Glad that you have read the fp1openletter. I will move this topic to #fairphone-road-map as it hasn’t developed into a helpful topic that fits into #fairphone-help.

@all If the future posts turn around themselves and don’t give any constructive proposals, I’ll close this topic. Remember that you can click :heart: if you agree with some other person’s post.

A ‘dodgy’ USB-connector will be a result of rough handling.
I have always had charging issues when using the original (version 1, 2000mAh) battery. Since using a new version (version 2, 2100mAh) I never had any issue any more.

I don’t feel scammed. I understand that Fairphone were trying something very ambitious and worthwhile. FP1 served me well for a couple of years. I did manage to get a replacement battery when they had them in stock. They have learnt about the fragile USB connection and it is replaceable in the second model FP2.
The problems stem I think from economies of scale, or the lack of them. It was probably a mistake to have a bespoke battery when the volumes required as replacements were so unpredictable and small.
I quite understand that Fairphone wanted to move on to FP2 learning the lessons of FP1. I suppose my only disappointment was that the pioneers like us with FP1 who wanted to keep them going as long as possible are left high and dry now. Perhaps FP2s should have been reserved for us rather than allowing them to sell out to new buyers.

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I would go a step further - I’d buy a spare battery and a new motherboard if I could. My FP1 will only charge from one (partly broken) HTC cable. No other USB cable will work, because of the faulty USB socket. But without a new stock of motherboards, I’m stuck. Make me a motherboard and I’ll buy it :smiley:

Simply have your USB socket resoldered by a localrepairshop ! :slight_smile: I’ve also done it this way.

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Unfortunately, the only UK repair shop on that list is 350km away :frowning: Can anyone recommend one in London or Surrey?

Yeah, unfortunately the list at #localrepairshop is very incomplete. Basically any mobile phone shop that does soldering can do it, though you should be able to trust them. If you are not comfortable with leaving your Fairphone with one shop, try another one.

In London I have only heard of TFix. They are a professional repair center. I wonder if they would accept a Fairphone 1 repair order. If you ask, please tell us here on the forum! :slight_smile:

I just called TFix - they only repair iphones.

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If I hear of anywhere, I’ll let you all know!

I may be in Vienna later this year, so if there’s enough time, I can take it to handy-werk :slight_smile: