Ipad 4 battery running out while plugged in..

[Shuvi McTupya]

I have recently upgraded from an old iPad 2 to a slightly newer iPad 4 expecting an improvement in performance. Ok, so it is capable of running stuff a bit better than the 2 I am not suffering browser crashes but, and this is a huge important but..

It won't charge up!! It is plugged in all the time. If I turn it off for about 20hours it will fully charge but if I am using it for anything at all the charge seems to steadily decrease even when plugged in.

I have now even turned the brightness down to less than half, turned off location services, and stopped running the Facebook app.

I am just using safari and the battery is slowly going down even though the charging indicator is on.

Should I return this thing to where I got it, or is this normal? I do use it a lot, but leaving it plugged in all the time I would expect it to sit at 100%.

[Scantily]

Nope, not normal. Sounds like the battery is dead, it's 4 years old and must have had some serious use.

I was using an iPad 3 until recently and I used it a lot, but the battery was still fine.

[Shuvi McTupya]

I am now doing an experiment, I have just stolen a charger and cable from another iPad and the percentage of charge has actually just gone up!

So..I guess they gave me a duff cable or charger..maybe the battery is ok.

[boxst]

Check the ampage of the plug. A lot of them (even old iPhone plugs) output just 1A which is not enough to charge an iPad.

[Shuvi McTupya]

I can't read what it says on the plugs, but the one they gave me was one of the little ones and the one I am using now is more substanstial. I have gone from 14% to 23% since plugging it in and it had just been steadily falling up until that point.

It's a bit stty of computer exchange to give me a charger that isn't up to the job, and a bit annoying that I traded in a decent charger to them with my old iPad!

[anonymous-user]

Supplying or selling 1amp chargers should be punishable by flaying. Useless ste.

[sgrimshaw]

Supplied chargers are rarely much cop.

Get something like this:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Charger-RAVPower-Desktop-...

(and maybe some decent cables) and you'll find things charge a lot better and faster.

[Zoon]

sgrimshaw said:

Supplied chargers are rarely much cop.

The original would be fine, sounds like he has an iphone charger.

[Thorburn]

Zoon said:

The original would be fine, sounds like he has an iphone charger.

This. iPhone chargers are often 1A, iPad ones are 2A. 2A, 5v is only 10W, and a tablet with screen brightness turned up can get pretty close to that (some will even exceed it) so charging whilst on will be very slow or could even discharge when in use.

My ASUS Transformer Book T100 used to discharge the battery whilst on charge if you were playing games on it, then throttle back performance once battery reached 20% to avoid running flat.

[sgrimshaw]

Zoon said:

The original would be fine, sounds like he has an iphone charger.

This is PH ... since when has "fine" been good enough

[motco]

My Hudl2 started doing this and a new, shorter thicker cable sorted it. It charges now in half the time it used to. A 2 amp charger is necessary too.

[Vipers]

sgrimshaw said:

Supplied chargers are rarely much cop.

Get something like this:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Charger-RAVPower-Desktop-...

(and maybe some decent cables) and you'll find things charge a lot better and faster.

Some clones are not accepted by the ipad, be carefull. Some cheepo ones from south east asia have been known to catch fire as well.

[sgrimshaw]

Vipers said:

sgrimshaw said:

Supplied chargers are rarely much cop.

Get something like this:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Charger-RAVPower-Desktop-...

(and maybe some decent cables) and you'll find things charge a lot better and faster.

Some clones are not accepted by the ipad, be carefull. Some cheepo ones from south east asia have been known to catch fire as well.

Been using RavPower (and others) from Amazon for years, never had an issue with inability to charge any device or reliability/durability.

As with anything though, always pays to check reviews etc before buying.

[Foliage]

Have one of these knocking around for checking chargers

https://www.amazon.co.uk/d/Electronics-Photo/TOOGO...

[Shuvi McTupya]

Foliage said:

Have one of these knocking around for checking chargers

https://www.amazon.co.uk/d/Electronics-Photo/TOOGO...

That looks like a handy little gadget, can it test how much power is actually getting through the cable, or just how much is coming from the charger ?

[motco]

Shuvi McTupya said:

Foliage said:

Have one of these knocking around for checking chargers

https://www.amazon.co.uk/d/Electronics-Photo/TOOGO...

That looks like a handy little gadget, can it test how much power is actually getting through the cable, or just how much is coming from the charger ?

Excellent! Three on order! Thanks Foliage

[boxst]

Foliage said:

Have one of these knocking around for checking chargers

https://www.amazon.co.uk/d/Electronics-Photo/TOOGO...

Ordered, although I think that should probably be in the frivolous purchases thread

[ecsrobin]

If you have an iPhone charger as mentioned it will not be sufficient:



You need an iPad charger:



I have an Anker 5 USB block from amazon. Charges the device a lot quicker than the original and saves on plug space

[Foliage]

Shuvi McTupya said:

Foliage said:

Have one of these knocking around for checking chargers

https://www.amazon.co.uk/d/Electronics-Photo/TOOGO...

That looks like a handy little gadget, can it test how much power is actually getting through the cable, or just how much is coming from the charger ?

It shows drawn load, in amps, and any subsequent voltage drop of which their shouldn't be any if the charger and cable are in good condition.

The current drawn can vary wildly depending on the cable, most cables are trash. Its worth testing them. The higher the amps the faster your device will charge.

The genuine charger that came with my phone gives about 1.7amp, the best chargers give 2amp, pound land chargers in my experience give about 1.2amp which tbh isn't that bad, cheap Chinese tat from amazon can be lower.

I have a genuine iphone charger I should check that.

[Shuvi McTupya]

ecsrobin said:

If you have an iPhone charger as mentioned it will not be sufficient:



You need an iPad charger:



I have an Anker 5 USB block from amazon. Charges the device a lot quicker than the original and saves on plug space

Yup, the cheeky buggers gave me an iPhone charger, to charge an ipad4..

Sorted now, the iPhone charger is ok for the mini iPad that doesn't get much use and can stay plugged in.