Help! My FP3 does not turn on anymore

After being used today for almost the entire day without any effect, the screen turned black this evening with only the LED blinking green regularly. After a long press on the power button, the same effect reoccurred. After waiting and plugging in the charger, the phone ceased blinking. This was the last reaction I was able to obtain.
Does anyone have an idea where to start physical debugging of the issue?

Things I’ve already tried:

  • Pluggin in power chords (with „s“- like multiple different ones), especially also while pressing the volume down button to access the bootloader
  • Cleaning the battery’s and phone’s contact
  • Undusting the power port with pressured air
  • Unscrewing the phone and applying pressures air to the insides
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Just some basic points.

  • If the phone is less than two years old get in touch with support quickly to benefit from the guarantee.
  • You can try dismantling the phone and putting it back together again1. This often produces results if there are internal contacts that have become improperly aligned.
    While you’re at it, clean all contacts with isopropyl or high-percentage alcohol.
    See the Ifixit tear-down and also their service manual.
    If the phone is still under warranty then don’t take the modules apart (don’t go beyond step 7 of the tear-down).
  • To identify a malfunctioning module and for additional help and practical advice, try to get in touch with a fairphoneangel if there’s one near you.

1 - See here for examples :smiley:

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Thank you, @OldRoutard! Since writing, I tried to dismantle the phone after prior successful instants of such magic repairs. No avail.
Unfortunately, my phone is older than 2 years. Nevertheless I’m going to contact the support in hope of ideas. I now contacted a #fairphoneangel in hope of help. Thank you for that advice!

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Ok, so I just used my voltmeter to check the remaining voltage of the battery pack, which appears to be only 3.1 V. The nominal voltage per text on the pack is 3.8something V. Can someone verify that their voltage is almost depleted state is well above that? This in turn would mean that maybe just the battery died instantly.

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That is very low. You would have to leave it on charge for 24 hours with the phone off and check again.

Batteries with very low voltage take a very long time to come alive, evben before they are fit to charge reasonably.

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Thank you for your reply. I will leave the phone plugged for a good while and report the status.

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You can plug the phone into an old non quick charger or the USB A port of a pc to ensure it charges slowly to begin with.

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Here is a link that may help understanding

https://lygte-info.dk/info/BatteryLowVoltage%20UK.html

Thanks for all the info, @anon9989719.
What somewhat buggs me is, that after an entire night of charging, the terminal voltage decreased to 2.8 V. Either the cell is degrading quickly, or there are leaking currents in the module…

If the phone isn’t properly dry there could well be a short circuit.
Can you try charging the battery in an alternative phone or otherwise, and maybe try an alternative battery.

There may be a #fairphoneangel near you that can provide assistance.

I charged the battery for almost an entire day now as @anon9989719 suggested. Unfortunately, the terminal voltage now is constant near 3.0 V and did not change since this noon.
I will meet a local #fairphoneangel soon, trying to identify the shortcoming that leads to full function denial. I will keep this thread posted.

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So, after meeting with a local #fairphoneangel, the phone seems to be FUBAR by all means at our hand.

We tried plugging in a charged battery and exchanging the bottom module without avail. Also, there is no access to fastboot with a charged battery.
Unfortunately, this the the point where my journey with this phone ends.

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