This is not a solution but a notification.
An issue i had with charging was that i had the wifi on and the phone was ‘charging slowly’. The result was the battery was discharging as the wifi used more than was being input. I imagine the bluetooth being on has a similar effect.
This is not normal, and as such …
… about a charging problem.
Recategorised.
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@AnotherElk
Thanks I will try charging again with wifi/bluetooth and see how it goes. I have just told my daughter, who received an FP3+ yesterday, to ensure wifi and bluetooth are off when charging, so it will be good to withdraw that recommendation.
No wireless usage should drain you battery more than what is being added by charging. What kind of charger and cable do you use? The official Fairphone accessories, just like many third-party accessories, support fast charging via Qualcomm’s Quick Charge 3.0 standard.
Try to get a Quick Charge 3.0 compliant charger and a USB IF certified cable and see if your issue persists.
Good luck,
Thomas
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@teezeh
Thanks for your quick response. I have bought two new IF cables from FP , so ??
And the charger I use is a 5.1V 2.4A usb Belkin dc to dc converter which can power the new Raspberry Pi4 which recommends a 5.1V 3A supply, so that should be good too. I use the phone very little and only on wifi. Am waiting for the next need to charge and see if it was a one off as I don’t often even have the wifi switched on ~ on the phone
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It should charge quite quickly with that charger. I had a similar issue and decided on a two pronged approach:
- I bought a new battery and bottom module
- I contacted support that my phone didn’t charge normally
When the module and battery arrived, I noticed that the new battery was not the solution so I built in the bottom module. This DID solve the issue.
I contacted support again and told them that with the new module, the issue was solved.
And you know what? They got back to me and refunded the bottom module and shipping cost (so I just paid for a spare battery). The repairability of this thing is its best feature.
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Is that the only charger you have? I’d borrow some from friends or family and test them too, to verify that the phone charges slowly or not at all on all of them.
In my story I left out that I tested my phone on everything I had in the house which is 7 or so different ‘known good’ chargers.
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@Dryhte
Hi again. Most of my charging options are 12Vdc to 5.1Vdc converters. I reside in the woods using solar for electric generation and there’s no friends or family around, not that I would want to use there 230V mains options as that is off my beaten track.
The good news is that with both wifi and bluetooth enabled things are looking OK.
I am monitoring the rate and from 37% to 56% it has taken 55m, so approx 1% in 3m which equates to 100% in 5hours, ignoring any charging slowly interruptions.
So hopefully I have a few glitches here and there but this FP IF cable and the 2.4A Belkin 12V USB converter is doing fine.
Thanks for your continued concern. 
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Just to be clear: If your charger supports 3A, it doesn’t mean the phone will try to draw 3A. The amount of power the phone draws is controlled to some degree by the phone itself, and to some degree by the charger. It cannot go above what the charger supports. But if your phone and charger don’t talk to each other, the phone might stop at e.g. 500mA because it cannot know how much the charger will allow.
This negotiation between phone and charger is what this @teezeh called “Quick Charge 3.0” / QC3. It’s the protocol the devices use for communication. If your charger does not support it, expect your phone to charge slowly, because it will only draw 500mA at 5V.
If you want to stay on your 12V grid, have a look for QC3-compatible 12V adapters, or verify your Belkin variant does support the protocol. There are tons of QC3 chargers for car plugs (the cigarette lighter thingy) out there. Maybe also some you can connect with a different plug to your 12V.
Fun fact: With QC3, your voltage does not necessarily stay at 5V for charging, but can ramp up to 20V, if the phone signals that it has support for that (and your charger is able to). This is to keep the charging current low, which means smaller cables can carry the same power without heating/burning.
More details on the official FAQ: https://support.fairphone.com/hc/en-us/articles/360047608951-Charge-your-FP3-FP3-
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@opatut Thanks for your input
With the current charge rate of 600mA plus (3000mAh / 5 hours) I’m OK. Especially as there are losses with the phone on and wifi and bluetooth enabled, so the Belkin at 5.1V seems fine. I can measure the current sometime to get a better idea. 20V is a bit scary 
and the cables are fine for an amp or so, I imagine.
Yes most of that I am familiar with. Back in the 60s I was a radio/radar and missile electrician in the Royal Navy, though vacuum tubes/valves where the main focus and power was never as issue.
Will read the article you link to ~ thanks for you concern.
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This does not need to be scary, if the electronics decide that they are fine with it and don’t send more current into in than the maximum power they consider safe. Remember that common laptop chargers do provide something like 18V as well (after the power brick), and again up to ~3A, giving them power around 60W. That’s safe for the small wires (compared to the wires that go to your mains plug) to handle, much better than 60W@5V which would be 12A.
Anyway, this 20V thing is nothing to be afraid of, it’s something you don’t even need to know. You’ll never be in a situation where you should be afraid of any voltage, if you’re using anything with a USB connector and off-the-shelf consumer hardware 
It’s of course different if you’re tinkering with the electronics, or care about why QC3 can deliver faster charging rates on the same wires than non-QC3 hardware. I just included it as a curiosity
I guess you’re set then. But if you decide at some point that you want to give it a try, now you know what to look out for – QC3 (or above) compatibility on your charger
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Well the power/charging unit in the phone must be good to handle 20V 
Ok I was gonna let this topic be, but I fear I might have been misunderstood. Here’s my disclaimer:
Don’t put 20V directly into the phone. 
Don’t use non-consumer hardware with your phone. Do not tinker.
The charger might provide 20V if the phone tells it to and the charger is able to. The phone requests this through the QC3 protocol, if it supports that voltage. You cannot know whether the phone does support 20V on the USB unless you are a QC3 compatible charger and speak to it through QC3. Do not tinker with different voltage sources on consumer hardware, unless you’re a certified expert and know how to handle catastrophic failures.
Consumer hardware that you can buy off-the-shelf is safe to use. Everything else is nothing you should attempt.
Sorry if I consued anyone. Stay safe 
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25th February
Well for some reason my phone is charging at 1% per minute which is fast. This is the first time since purchase on Ost 20 /2020 ???
Same cable, same source a 5v USB socket ???
Updated 8th March
For the second time I have what I’d call quick charging ~ that’s twice since purchase in Oct 2020 This time it’s 1% in 75seconds.
It’s worth noting that a) the battery was at 40% when I plugged it in.
b) There’s no notification that it is quick charging and no slow charging ever whether 90% or 99%
March 28th
I’ve received another email, plus a reminder as I didn’t answer promptly, from yet another support worker asking basically the same questions ~ version update, have I done this, will I do that?
I emailed back that I didn’t have it in me to jump through more hoops as what I had asked for was technical info on how the power charging module works.
I think my problem is that I thought I would get more help that is realistic and beyond the support staff’s ability to entertain.
I have reiterated my request for data on how the power unit works one final time, other that that ???
I have finally given up on resolving this issue and have send this email to Fairphone today 6th May 2021
You have not answered my questions for over four months and I can’t see you ever will so I am withdrawing my request for support on the battery charging issues. The issue is unresolved.
I wanted information on what parameters the charging software uses to decide at what rate to charge at. Clearly far too technical for Fariphone to answer given their limited resources.
Sad but not bad. 
Have you ever considered a hardware failure of your FP3?
@DeepSea Thanks for your concern, but not really.
Given I use a 12V to 5V USB 2.4A converter there is no communication between the phone and the charger, the phone has to sort out what it wants and there’s no knowing what it’s up to. It can occasionally charge at 1% every 5 minutes which is very slow, more often 1% in three minutes, which is slow, and then sometimes 1% in 1.5 minutes which is a ‘Quick Charge’
I have a idea it may be down to the state of charge of the battery. For example if the battery below 32% it may charge slowly ~ at 54% it may charge quickly ~ but I haven’t specifically tested if there really is a range.
There may be a hardware issue, but as I can charge the phone I am reluctant to send it for a check up as a) I don’t want to use the resources and b) I don’t have any confidence that Fairphone can resolve the issue. Fairphone may change some module or not but no doubt they will try charging with a ‘standard’ mains charger which isn’t representative of my situation.
And to add ~ I have sent so much detail to Fairphone that it is too demanding and demeaning to answer their repeatedly inane demands for me to ‘update’ take screen shots etc.
I’m happier knowing I have a problem than asking for help from Fairphone on this issue. 
Anyway, thanks again for your concern it is appreciated.
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