Nokia 5165 battery working weirdly

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Hey. A question for battery experts.

I'm currently using an old TDMA Nok 5165 on Rogers (TDMA works great now that there's much less traffic on the network), and the battery of my phone, like the topic title says, works weirdly.

When I received the phone, the battery didn't even had enough juice to power up the phone, so I charged it up. Once the charge is complete, I power it on, transfer my line on it, and holster the phone. Later, I get a call, and after two minutes of conversation, I hear the damn "Low Battery" signal, so I end the call, and the phone powers down. I just shrug it off and holster it. Later in the evening, I power it up, and, surprise, the battery gauge is back at 75%. I try to make a call, same damn thing happens. "Low Batter" buzz, phone powers down.

This is a pretty annoying problem. Anyone has some tips on what might be the cause, and if there's something that can be done about it?

 

Buy a new battery, seems like the current one is close to dead.

 

Common problem with older Nokia batteries.

I'm pretty sure there's nothing you can do.

 

I heard that dumping the battery in the freezer is supposed to help it keep it's charge, but it just looks like a silly myth to me.

Well, then, that's pretty much what I expected. Looks like it's time to look for a new one on eBay.

 

DotW, being the cell phone guru that you claim to be, you should know that whenever a manufacturer ships a device with a rechargeable battery, it's usually dead to begin with and you have to charge it overnight before using it.

Also, my fiancé used to work for crummy 'ol Sprint PCS, and she's telling me that there are two things that you need to do.

First, you need to let the thing die completely. Every time it powers it's self down, just keep trying to power it back up to drain the battery of all power the batter may not know it has. (I'm sure you've heard of some batteries that have a "memory")
Once it's totally dead, charge it for overnight (the whole night, not just a few hours. And when you do charge it, make sure the power is off to begin with.)

Next, if it's still acting up, try this: Power the phone off and remove the battery for at least 5 minutes. Then put the battery back in (and keep the power off), then plug in the power cable to charge it (overnight again).

If that doesn't work, it just proves my point that Nokia makes the lowest quality phones!

 

Kitrax

Li-Ion batteries do not suffer from the "memory effect". They do deteriorate faster though. So basically you have to swap batteries every few years. This is not a big problem as people tend to change mobile phones faster than it takes the battery to die.

[ January 30, 2006, 20:43: Message edited by: Erod ]

 

Kitrax, fact is, I bought that phone off eBay, and so I have no damn idea how the former owner took care of the battery, and that's what bothers me. I'll try the overnight charge, though. If that doesen't work, time to get a new battery. Besides, it's not a Li-Ion, it's a Ni-MH.

And besides, I might be SP's Cellphone Guru, but doesen't mean I know everything. But at least I admit it!

 

Oh, it is not a Li-Ion battery. I did not think that it would have a NiMH battery as the Nokia USA site only mentioned Li-Ion. A deep discharge might help in this case.

 

Well, it's at 75% currently. I transfered my line on the damn phone and I'll burn the battery until the phone no longer powers up. Then I'll do an overnight charge. And if THAT doesen't work... hello BlackBerry and hello eBay for a new battery.

 

What I don't understand, is why you would want such a crummy old phone. I mean Nokia in general make a fairly poor quality phone. My fiancé told me that when she worked for Sprint, over 90% of the "broken phone" calls she took were for Nokia phones...the other 10% being from LG phones.

But poor quality aside, why do you insist on such an ugly, and *old* cell phone? I mean, the free phones providers give out when you sign on are 10 times better than that thing!

 

Well, first of all, that phone costed me a buck, Kitrax. Besides, as a direct result of the diminution of traffic on Rogers' TDMA network, quality has significantly gone up. Sound quality on my 5165 is nearly the equal of a landline. Besides, my TDMA is Trimode TDMA 800/1900/AMPS 800. No GSM phone has analog service. Where GSM fails, TDMA prevails.

CDMA Nokias are pure ****ing , dude. Not suprised your fiancee processed a lot of those. Nokia's speciality is GSM (TDMA in the past). I've had two GSM Nokias for many, many years, and they've been roughed up, and they still work like a charm. Same for the TDMA.

And I buy my phones used from my contacts because I dislike sevice terms (That's not a typo). You better damn well love your phone if you're gonna be stuck with it for two or even three years. And besides, who needs all those camera, mp3 player, video capture crap, ultra-high speed data transfer? I don't.

Well, after this long-off-topic, it's still at 75%... Nok's user manual recommends a deep discharge every once in a while to maintain a NiMH battery's full potential. I'll try that. But for the meanwhile, my BlackBerry follows me everywhere.

 

You do know that you can upgrade your phone every 11-12 months or so.

Ok, who switched DotW with Harbourboy? Seriously though, no one needs any of that stuff, but it comes in handy. You never know when you need a camera to capture a video of a plane crash...or two hot chicks kissing...

 

Nokia GSM phones rock. They always have.

And yeah, the batteries die after a period of time, usually around three years of use. My 3220's battery lasts for two days if I'm lucky.

 

No, more seriously, there's too much bling on recent phones. Besides, what we have actually is damn fine. EDGE is great. I am not a fan of 3G. Who in the nine hells needs the 3.6 MB/sec transfer rate of HSDPA? And let's not mention watching TV on a cellphone. C'mon, watching TV on a square inch screen? Ridiculous.

Of course, but like I said, no sevice (not a typo) term for me. I use so little minutes (around 15 to 45 per month) that prepaid is the way to go for me. Besides, I'm set to switch carriers, I'm going with one that offers me a 120 days expiration date for my airtime, and a rate of .25¢ per minute for the first five minutes and then .15¢ per minute. I'm sick and tired of paying .40¢ per minute and having a ridiculous 30 days expiration date.

The only downside of switching carriers is that since the one I'm switching to is CDMA, I have to buy a new phone (thanks to Master Subsidy Locks), but they offer a decent phone for 70 bucks. So if I can sell my BlackBerry, I'm okay to buy it.

Ha! Just kissing? I get FAR more than that everytime two of my exes are in town.
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What?

Indeed! They're phones that never, ever let you down. I'm kind of curious if the new 3G UMTS/HSDPA phones are as good as the GSM ones, though.

Well, back on topic, I ordered a new 5165 battery. My faithful TDMA will be ready should my new carrier prove to be a deception.