Ipad question

[Winchester]

For those of you who have iPads, I have a problem. (Actually, I think I need a new battery)

If I don't keep my iPad charging constantly while on it, the thing will die completely in about an hour. I have a ten-foot cord that I use so I can keep it charged while using it. And, during that time, it will reload sites. It will reload and say, "Due to a problem on FB, it had to be reloaded" or something like that. If I shut it down, then re-start it, I'm fine for about 90 minutes and then it starts in again. And then it reloads about every 2 - 3 minutes or so.

This is a regular iPad, not an Air or anything like that. It's actually two years newer than my iPad Air 2, but, at this point, they're both fairly old. Rick has the same iPad and he has no trouble at all.

I was talking to my BIL, who suggested a new battery. There's a local store that will replace batteries in phones and iPads and such. He had his phone done and said it's about $60 total. We don't have any Apple kiosks or anything, so if I don't go that route, then I'll have to send my iPad away. As for voiding any Apple warranty, the thing is about four years old now, I think, so there's no warranty to speak of anyway.

I use my iPad pretty much all the time. And I read on it, which means I'll have the thing on for hours. (Which in itself would drain any battery fairly quickly. I get that.)

I could go back to my iPad Air 2 and start using that again. It works fine. But that means that I could lose my status with some of my games. *gasp* I don't have games connected to my FB account and prefer not to do so. Actually, I only play Wordscapes regularly.

Any thoughts? Thanks!

 

[Willowy]

Talk to the local repair guy. I find they're usually pretty up-front about whether it's worth repairing or not, and also usually know way more than the brand-name repair people. It might just need a new battery and perhaps a little cleaning up in the files. Or this might be it; they don't really have long lifespans. Anyway, I'm sure the repair people have seen this before and can give you their opinion about it.

 

[susanm9006]

Just went through this on Tuesday. Same problem with mine, the battery doesn’t hold. I made an appointment at Best Buy, an Apple authorized place to “replace batteries”. Turns out they don’t do that. If your battery is bad enough they ship your iPad to Apple, and then Apple sends you ANOTHER IPAD. So if you have anything on yours like game credits that doesn’t backup to the cloud you lose it and you get some random iPad back that is probably refurbished. He said it takes two weeks to get your IPad back but checking online it’s more like six. I said No thanks. My battery tested at 87% anyway and it would have to be lower anyway for them to do the exchange.

The gentleman was able to show me a few battery saving tips, like turning off background app refresh and swiping off apps that were running in the background (double tap home and then swipe up with every app you see on the screen).

Anyway, I will nurse mine along for another year or so before replacing it. But I will keep it as long as it works just for certain games.

 

[Willowy]

I made an appointment at Best Buy, an Apple authorized place to “replace batteries”. Turns out they don’t do that.

Try a local "unauthorized" repair place. If it's out of warranty you don't have anything to lose anyway.

 

[susanm9006]

Try a local "unauthorized" repair place. If it's out of warranty you don't have anything to lose anyway.

That is worth checking out if you are certain they actually do the repair there and don’t also send it out.

 

[Willowy]

I'm fairly certain that Apple, at least, won't accept devices from unauthorized repair shops. Not sure about other brands. But yeah, definitely worth asking about.

 

[Winchester]

I’m going to wait until we come back from Maine and then call the unauthorized dealer. My BIL said he actually just waited in the shop and it was done in no time. Since it’s no longer under warranty, I am ok with that.

 

[Margret]

Winchester , do you live in the U.S.? If so, there's a marvelous chain of repair shops named uBreakiFix. You find your closest uBreakiFix and give them a call. Ask whether they can replace iPad batteries and whether they're accepting walk-in customers (some require curbside because of the pandemic). Know which generation iPad you have before you call.

The guys at uBreakiFix will start by taking a look inside. If that fixes the problem (you'd be surprised how often it does) the repair is free. If it doesn't they'll tell you up-front whether they think it's worth repairing and how much it will cost you and you can decide what to do from there.

This does indeed sound like a battery problem to me. Most rechargeable batteries develop something called "memory" over time. See The memory effect of rechargeable batteries for an explanation. To avoid this in future, you need to periodically do a "deep discharge," where you let the battery run way down before rechargeing. (The exception to this rule was the HP ThinkPad, which, when completely discharged ended up with a dead battery and a thrown internal switch that meant that even if you replaced the battery it still wouldn't work -- horrible design.)

Margret

 

[Caspers Human]

Back the iPad up to iTunes, using your computer. Wipe the iPad clean, back to its factory configuration then restore from your local backup.

Also try deleting any apps that you don't use and paring down some of the stored stuff you might keep on your iPad like pictures that you never look at or songs that you never listen to. You can off-load those pictures or songs to your computer so that they aren't actually lost. Just free up as much memory on your iPad as you can.

Changing settings like you mentioned is a good thing to do, as well. It's pretty common to change a setting just to see what it does then forget to change it back. In the end, all you end up with is an iPad with lots of wonky settings, using up CPU and battery power, needlessly.

Lithium-Ion and Lithium-Polymer batteries used in smart phones and iPads do not get the memory effect as easily as other kinds of batteries but they do eventually wear out over time. One of the most important enemies of lithium batteries is heat. Overcharging or draining them too fast can cause them to heat up and that will shorten their life quickly. If you are charging, take the device off the charger as soon as it's done charging then give it a while to cool down. That will help preserve your lithium batteries.

Many people believe that you should charge your batteries, all the way, then use them until they are nearly discharged before charging again. That works well for Nickel-Cadmium or Nickel-Metal Hydride batteries but not so for lithium. Lithium batteries last longest if you charge and discharge them randomly. Sometimes, use them until the device warns you to recharge. Sometimes, just top them off. Sometimes, recharge them when they are half way. Never the same way twice.

A rechargeable battery MIGHT be rejuvenated by charging and discharging, empty-to-full, several times in a row but, if that doesn't work, the only way is to replace it.

Since you already know of a place that can do the work for you, I suggest looking into that option. There isn't any good reason to send it to Apple if it's out of warranty, just as long as you are confident that the place you have in mind is reputable.

Even if the place you send your iPad is reputable, I still suggest backing up your device and wiping it clean before letting it out of your control. Maybe the people at that shop are trustworthy but there's no telling what might happen when you aren't looking. You don't want to give strangers access to your private information even if it's only pictures of your cat.

Besides, what would happen if, through no fault of their own, your iPad gets bricked in the process of replacing the battery?

 

[Winchester]

Wow Caspers Human Excellent advice! I really hadn't thought about backing up the iPad, but I will definitely do that before handing it over! I'm a real bear about backing up my computer and even the laptop, but didn't think about the iPad. Thank you. And I'll make sure to wipe it before it goes off to the repair center.

Margret We are in the US, but there's not a UBreakIFix place close by. That would have been ideal!

I pretty much try to keep it charged because....the last time it ran down to nothing, it took almost a full day to even START charging back up. It was at 1% almost all day, then suddenly started to charge again.

Thanks!

 

[Caspers Human]

If your iPad’s battery won’t take a charge like that, it’s probably dead.

I think it’s time to replace the battery.