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I have a Sony Ericsson Live With Walkman (WT19i). About a week ago my phone started discharging when plugged in for charging using either a Samsung wall charger or the USB port on my PC. It charged slowly but correctly when it was turned OFF, but dropped down to zero rapidly from 60% charged state when plugged in ON state.

I fail to understand the reason for this as the phone works correctly when not charging (battery appears to be intact and not leak charge on regular use).

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  • @DanHulme I normally use a wall charger from Samsung which is my brother's. My original charger is a USB-to-phone wire with a wall socket adapter. I was using this wire for charging when this problem arose. I used both modes, PC and wall socket charging, both not working satisfactorily.
    – VedVals
    Jun 9, 2013 at 11:02
  • The best way to add additional information to your question is by editing it, with the edit button, so I've taken the liberty of adding that to your question. This makes it easier for other visitors to see all the relevant information.
    – Dan Hulme
    Jun 9, 2013 at 11:59

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Try using a Sony Ericsson wall charger. Because standard USB can't supply much power, manufacturers often use off-spec currents and/or voltages in their wall chargers in order to charge the device faster. Because they're breaking the standard by doing this, sometimes a wall-charger for one manufacturer's device can't supply enough current to a different manufacturer's device.

This isn't specific to Android devices, but any device that charges using USB. For example, many iPhone and iPad users have noticed that their Mac charges the device faster than a PC does, because the PC has a standard USB port, but the USB ports on recent Macs can recognise that they're connected to an iThing and supply extra voltage and current.

If you don't have a Sony Ericsson wall charger, follow Izzy's suggestion and make sure to keep the screen turned off when you want to charge.

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  • +1 for using official chargers, it's one of the things where you don't want to save money by buying off brand stuff. Wall chargers often use proprietary tech to make your device charge faster than regular USB, cheaper chargers usually give you the same charging performance as plugging it into the computer (bad)
    – pzkpfw
    Sep 16, 2013 at 12:28
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I'm using Galaxy Tab SHW-180S. This same thing happened with me few days ago. This is how i solved it.

1)First remove the battery from the device.

2)Charge your battery from any other electric source.(I don't remember the device name. But most mobile repairing shops have that device )

You can also try by changing your charger or may be your charging source isn't provide decent level of electricity that needs to charge your phone.

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If watching the charge level with the display turned on implicates you're using the device while charging, the explanation might be easy -- if the following example somehow matches:

Assuming you're charging via USB from a computer/laptop/other-USB-source (i.e. not the wall-plugged charger). According to the USB specifications, this provides a charging power of 500 mA (USB 2.0) or at maximum 900 mA (USB 3.0), as you can read e.g. in this Wikipedia article. Now taking the Samsung Galaxy S3 (as we've got some reference data for this device, see my answer here), and let's play some numbers:

  • You're recording some video. This uses 1683 mW.
  • You're downloading something via UMTS (3G): 1074 mW
  • You're using the camera: 1460 mW
  • You tethered your laptop to the phone, and download something: 1254 mW

All these things with the screen off! So you've got to add another ~800 mW for the screen (567 mW to 1568 mW, depending on brightness and colors).

In each example (and I can easily construct several more like that combining some facts, like "Bluetooth download (487 mW) plus average display (800 mW) → 1287 mW), your device uses more juice than the USB power source can provide. Consequently, your phone -- although connected to an external power source -- DIScharges. This would be the case even when performing no actions, just having the display turned to max with a non-black (but rather white/colorful) picture: 1568 mW > 900 mW.

So, rule of thumb: when charging via USB, keep the display off; USB 2.0 cannot even provide enough juice for a fully dimmed display (567 mW > 500 mW), in case of the S3 (it might be slightly different for your device: the Motorola Milestone e.g. needs just 310 mW for a fully dimmed display).

See also:

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  • the answer makes sense but might not be applicable to my problem. Anticipating overload on battery, I turned off my mobile data plan and set screen brightness to the minimum. I have tried USB charging from my laptop before and my USB port (labeled eSATA) was able to charge the phone even while I was listening to music from my phone.
    – VedVals
    Jun 9, 2013 at 10:56
  • MP3 playback takes less than 200 mA (S3, Milestone), and for sure less than USB power -- even when adding the base consumption (standby for WiFi and mobile network). But adding screen-on, even when on minimum, at least scratches the break-even for USB 2.0 charging. Maybe "back then" you didn't have your display on permanently, and this time you had? Btw: eSATA is for sure the wrong label for USB :)
    – Izzy ♦
    Jun 9, 2013 at 11:38
  • There's a very interesting G+ thread by HTC PR (Shen Ye) on lithium ion batteries and some useful tips on it, @Izzy, I know you despise Google+ but feel it would serve a useful conjunction to your answer :)
    – t0mm13b
    Aug 15, 2013 at 18:25
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    @t0mm13b Fine with me: I don't need to have a G+ account for you to post that hint (or for others to read) :) Thanks! Interesting read, indeed, sums things up :)
    – Izzy ♦
    Aug 15, 2013 at 20:23

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