[McBAIN]

Hi guys,

bought a Storm off ebay and despite the number of people rubbishing it i actually thing it's pretty good. i looked at the iphone but at the end of the day it's hard to leave the world of blackberries!

that said, it's a bit strange when i try to charge the unit. I've got 3 charging options.

1. Wall charger - if the battery has >60% power then the wall charger works, if the battery goes below 60% then the charge icon will show for a few minutes and then disappear and the battery does not charge.
2. Car Charger - at any time this one does nothing, i see the charge icon for a few minutes and then it goes away and the battery starts to get hot.
3. USB cord plugged into computer - works 100% of the time regardless of if the battery is drained or just needs a top-up.

So for some consistency I'm stuck carrying around the USB cable and plugging it into a PC at either work or home to charge it up.

does this sound like firmware or are the wall and car chargers (both genuine RIM) the issue?

[Triforce66]

First stupid question, are the chargers and usb cable the ones that came with the blackberry or bought directly from Verizon? I tried using a generic one and it showed the charging icon but never charged. It then caused the phone to not get charged from an orginal charger until I pulled the battery.

Second stupid question, did the person you bought it from mention why they are selling it? With all the new OS updates the storm is a fairly good phone now and I am curious why they are selling it.

[McBAIN]

Originally Posted by Triforce66

First stupid question, are the chargers and usb cable the ones that came with the blackberry or bought directly from Verizon? I tried using a generic one and it showed the charging icon but never charged. It then caused the phone to not get charged from an orginal charger until I pulled the battery.

the wall charger and usb cable were inside the box that the phone came with from vodaphone Australia. the car charger was a separate piece, i'm told it was purchased from vodaphone but on reflection i can't guarantee it's genuine.

Originally Posted by Triforce66

Second stupid question, did the person you bought it from mention why they are selling it? With all the new OS updates the storm is a fairly good phone now and I am curious why they are selling it.

it was apparetly bought as a work phone but then replaced by an iphone before it was opened. when i got it the unit was still in plastic, still had the original screen protector on it in original condition, etc, if it had been used they must have had it professionally detailed clean because i couldn't find any signs that it had even been turned on. so for all intensive purposes it is a "new" phone.

unfortunately i don't think i can take it back to vodaphone because i unlocked it via a code from uniquephones so i could run it on optus (it's a work phone on a company contract). i'm not restricted by it but it's just a little perplexing!

[KOR]

It sounds like your wall charger may need to be replaced or it's not seating in the port on the device securely.

The USB charger sounds like it's working as intended, a trickle charge.

I experience the same behavior with my car charger. I posted about it a while back and was informed that it should be used for a quick charge, not prolonged.

[McBAIN]

more pieces to the puzzle. i accidentally left the usb cable in the office yesterday so was only able to boost it up with the wall charger. after about an hour on the charger the battery level didn't change and the battery temp (according to meterberry) was approaching 40 degrees Celsius.

so this morning i thought it may be the battery unable to handle the power from the wall charger and was overheating. so i put it in the fridge. brought the temperature down to about 10 degrees, plugged it back in and hey presto, we're back in business.

might pop down to local vodafone shop and pick up a new battery to see if that makes any difference.

i wonder if the car charger would make any difference now if the phone were to be placed in front of an air conditioning vent, it does get extremely hot when plugged in to the car.

have to consider condensation in the phone too from the cool i guess!