iPod touch 6th Gen - Battery Life Problems - Down and up, and down, and up...etc...

[vpblaze]

Hey all,

So I just picked up a used iPod touch 6th gen for my little guy to mess around with.
Its in great shape, no physical damages that I can see.
The seller has said he never once had any problems with it. So I will take that for what it's worth.
Anyways, the problem we are having is battery life/the battery indicator.

When I got home, I fully charged it, updated to 11.2.2. Now whenever my son plays with it, it seems to last however long Different times. Any where from a few minutes to 50 minutes. Then the low battery warning will come on and be in the red.
So I plug it in.
Then after just a few minutes, the battery will start reading a much higher percentage. Sometimes right back to 95% or around there.
We have repeated this a few times already.
Similar thing will happen if I try a "hard" restart or just turn it off and then back on.
I will plug it in, it will show 0% and charging then bam, right back to 99%.
So its looking like the battery power is there, but the iPod keeps thinking that its not?

Any ideas here?

Thanks

 

[Just_Me_D]

If selecting “Reset All Settings” and/or a restore and set up as new doesn’t fix the problem, it’s possible the battery is defective.

 

[vpblaze]

If selecting “Reset All Settings” and/or a restore and set up as new doesn’t fix the problem, it’s possible the battery is defective.

Yeah. I was thinking about giving it a reset this evening. Just starting over from scratch again.

If the battery is defective, then comes the challenge of swapping a battery.

 

[Ledsteplin]

Sure sounds like a worn battery.

 

[vpblaze]

Is there anyway precise way to tell if it’s the battery? When I plug it into Coconut Battery it’s telling me design capacity is 1043mah and charge capacity is 1080.

 

[Ledsteplin]

Is there anyway precise way to tell if it’s the battery? When I plug it into Coconut Battery it’s telling me design capacity is 1043mah and charge capacity is 1080.

Try this test. It's the test used at the Genius Bar.

Write down your usage and standby time, press the sleep/wake button (or lock button, as some call it) to put the device to sleep, and set the device down for five minutes. When you come back, take note of the change in time. If your device is sleeping properly, then the Standby time should have increased by five minutes and your Usage time by <1 minute.
If your Usage time rises by more than one minute, you have a drain problem. Something is keeping your device from sleeping properly, significantly shortening the time it will last.

 

[vpblaze]

Try this test. It's the test used at the Genius Bar.

Write down your usage and standby time, press the sleep/wake button (or lock button, as some call it) to put the device to sleep, and set the device down for five minutes. When you come back, take note of the change in time. If your device is sleeping properly, then the Standby time should have increased by five minutes and your Usage time by <1 minute.
If your Usage time rises by more than one minute, you have a drain problem. Something is keeping your device from sleeping properly, significantly shortening the time it will last.

Thanks. Gave this a whirl. No increase in usage time. And this was from straight off of a full charge. I unplugged it and gave it a whirl. No apps running in the background either.
If you look at the battery indicator too, seems like quite a lot of battery lost for 6 minutes of standby time.
(Sorry for the crappy phone pic)

 

[Ledsteplin]

Thanks. Gave this a whirl. No increase in usage time. And this was from straight off of a full charge. I unplugged it and gave it a whirl. No apps running in the background either.
If you look at the battery indicator too, seems like quite a lot of battery lost for 6 minutes of standby time.
(Sorry for the crappy phone pic)
//uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20180121/6b73668dae40a524cd618b34f2fc9f30.jpg

That battery icon indicator may not be accurate. The problem may not be the battery.
Maybe something else causing the wonkiness. If it comes and goes, I would think the battery. Maybe your test was done during a good period.

 

[vpblaze]

I am starting to get slightly better battery life on it.
I have been charging it up fully and then either leaving it on standby or using it. Got 6 hours in standby today and an hour of usage yesterday. So this could be a good sign.
Hoping that doing charge cycles like this is maybe re training the battery ...if that’s even a thing...

 

[windude99]

Is there anyway precise way to tell if it’s the battery? When I plug it into Coconut Battery it’s telling me design capacity is 1043mah and charge capacity is 1080.

iPods (all of them...Nano, Classic, and iPod Touch) lack what is called the "Gas Guage" ability...this is what gives iPhones such a precise battery measurement. This is also why the iPods lack battery percentage. For some strange reason, Apple has never incorporated accurate battery monitoring.

I'm not 100% sure how iPods measure the remaining battery life, but it is most likely estimated based on Voltage and and maybe system load as well.

Even new ones will fluctuate a bit, but this gets much worse when the battery fails. Its not a logic board issue...it's a battery issue.

If you take it to Apple (best option, but most expensive), they will replace it for $79. They do not repair any iPod Touch as the screens are held on with adhesive and the battery wiring is soldered to the logic board. You will most likely receive a refurb unit as a replacement, but be sure to ask the Genius to confirm.

I researched this issue a ton back in the iPod Touch 4th gen days because mine got really bad...was basically doing the same thing as yours. When i took it to the genius bar, they ran the battery diagnostic and it came up fine. I explained that I had been observing this issue for a while, and was willing to pay the battery replacement cost. They agreed to the replacement. The only reason why I'm mentioning this is because yours may very well pass their battery diagnostic since it is designed to for devices with Gas Guage capabilities and the iPod Touch lacks that. Insist on a replacement and insist on it being a refurb (Apple's website says the replacement could be a new, used, or refurb iPod so be sure they give you a refurb or a new one.


Hope this helps!