How can I turn on a smartphone without battery?

[hyperdimension]

I have an old i-mobile IQ6A whose battery no longer charges properly. After around 12h of charging from a wall power socket, with it switched off, it never could reach 100%. After turning it on the level was at 4% and it drained away after around 10 minutes.

I was hoping it would turn on when plugged in via the USB port without a battery, as a notebook computer does, but it doesn't. I've read that some phones do turn on without a battery when plugged in and I think such a feature will factor in to my decision-making when buying my next phone.

In the meantime I'm hoping there will be a way to power the phone without the dysfunctional battery, as I need to make use of it, e.g. to keep in contact with others before I find a good new phone. When I get a new phone I will need to migrate accounts and data from this old phone, so it will still need power before I dispose of it.

One option would be to get a new battery for this phone, but I don't really want to waste the money on it (I think it's 500 THB) when I'd rather dispose of it soon and get a newer phone. The phone may only be worth around 1k THB now so it doesn't make sense to spend much more on it.

Another option is to connect a USB cable to the phone's battery terminals:

Have any of you tried this on your phone? The main concern about this approach is that the voltage from a USB port (5V) is higher than the voltage a battery would supply (3.7V).

[Lannig]

Doesn't it turn on with the battery in and connected to an USB charger?

Note that an USB charger will provide more current than a computer USB port.

[hyperdimension]

Doesn't it turn on with the battery in and connected to an USB charger?

Note that an USB charger will provide more current than a computer USB port.

At the moment it still does, but I think it has been getting worse and it feels very soon it may not turn on at all with the battery in and attached to a power source via USB cable. I'm hoping to find an alternative solution before that happens.

[Lannig]

Well, unless the battery completely short-circuits there's no reason why this shouldn't continue to work until you save whatever is in that phone. It's my understanding that this was your primary concern, isn't it?

If the battery actually goes short-circuit, there's nothing you can do, and connecting a charger directly to the battery pins is a very bad and dangerous idea anyway. You're bypassing the charge current regulators and there's a real hazard of fire here. Li-Ion battery fire is no joke.

[silverhawk_usa]

You say it is working for a short time. Make sure all your contacts are transferred to the SIM card. If you want/must use a different SIM in your new phone it can be transferred by your phone provider. Any other info, pictures, documents or whatever, copy now to your computer via USB. Most importantly, get off your a$$ and go buy a new phone that you know you need. Geez, "mountains out of mole hills".

Edited June 15, 2016 by silverhawk_usa

[hyperdimension]

Well, unless the battery completely short-circuits there's no reason why this shouldn't continue to work until you save whatever is in that phone.

Wouldn't the battery continue to degrade until it's no longer possible to turn on the phone with battery installed and plugged into a power source? It would then effectively be like an open circuit, not a short.

My understanding is that the smartphone can only operate from battery power. Plugging in a charger only recharges the battery. The phone can only use whatever charge the battery has, which may not be much if the battery can no longer be recharged properly.

So with this battery that I have that has started to become defective, a few more charge cycles could lead to a totally unrechargeable battery and thus dead phone.

Did you watch the video in my original post? There would have been no need to go through that procedure if a phone could always be turned on with battery installed (even if it was defective) and plugged in.

connecting a charger directly to the battery pins is a very bad and dangerous idea anyway. You're bypassing the charge current regulators and there's a real hazard of fire here. Li-Ion battery fire is no joke.

I didn't mean connecting a cable to the pins of a battery. The video shows a USB cable being connected to the terminals on the smartphone where a battery would have connected. The phone then thinks there is a fully charged battery.

Edited June 16, 2016 by hyperdimension

[Crossy]

You could of course buy a cheap "pattern" battery

[hyperdimension]

I had decided to get the phone checked first at some repair shops. All of them said that the mini-USB port needed to be replaced. Price quotes ranged from 500 to 750 THB. I found one who would do it for 400 THB so I went ahead with it. I had them test charging for over 1h afterward. Everything was fine.

So it wasn't actually the battery that was the problem. Luckily I didn't just go and buy a new battery as that would've been a waste.

I'm not sure exactly what the problem was, but I think the USB port terminals could have become corroded due to moisture or rain. Do such things as USB port caps exist to protect the terminals from exposure?