Sudden Battery Energy Drop

[sirmaru]

I noticed that my Kindle Fire battery dropped from 26% to 3% in just 7 hours when I was not using it.

BBMP shows the time frame of the drop on their main screen graph. I never saw that happen before.

I had been using it down to 15% for weeks and then recharging. This time I was not using it for 3 days straight. BBMP showed the charge level for 2.5 days and then the sudden drop.

To prevent another occurance like this, I set the BBMP low battery alarm to 20%. The firmware has it at 15%. Of course, if it happens when I am not around, I won't be able to stop it.

My last Kindle Fire had its battery bricked and this is my second unit. Its possible this battery may be near its end as well.

Has anyone else had this experience? If you have BBMP, you can examine the battery graph to inspect the curve.

[Blossom]

My guess is something was stuck in the background that could of cause it.

[sirmaru]

Originally Posted by Blossom

My guess is something was stuck in the background that could of cause it.

I have BBMP with the Notification Bar Replacement Battery Icon. Could that have been the problem?

It was the only app running when I wasn't using the device. I have not had any problems like that before I started using the Replacement Icon. I started using that icon on 2/29/2012 - just 11 days ago.

The beauty of the BBMP time / energy chart is that one can localize exactly when this kind of event happens and its time duration.

I did uninstall BBMP and then installed it again. The first uninstall attempt left the replacement icon still present and working without the app. I then re-installed the app and then uninstalled it again. This time the replacement icon was gone. Now I reinstalled the app again. Maybe it was a bad install the first time I got that new icon. Now the icon is part of BBMP and doesn't need a separate install.

If getting the icon separate from BBMP causes this kind of problem, then maybe it pays to just uninstall and reinstall after buying the replacement icon.

If it happens a second time, I'll stop using the Icon and see what happens then.

[beej231]

Originally Posted by sirmaru

I noticed that my Kindle Fire battery dropped from 26% to 3% in just 7 hours when I was not using it.

BBMP shows the time frame of the drop on their main screen graph. I never saw that happen before.

I had been using it down to 15% for weeks and then recharging. This time I was not using it for 3 days straight. BBMP showed the charge level for 2.5 days and then the sudden drop.

To prevent another occurance like this, I set the BBMP low battery alarm to 20%. The firmware has it at 15%. Of course, if it happens when I am not around, I won't be able to stop it.

My last Kindle Fire had its battery bricked and this is my second unit. Its possible this battery may be near its end as well.

Has anyone else had this experience? If you have BBMP, you can examine the battery graph to inspect the curve.

'

This did not happen with my KF but did happen with my iPhone. Solar flares?

[jduck]

I have had it happen a few times recently. Seems that some app woke up the Fire from sleep and it did not go back to sleep until the low battery alert. I haven't located the problem app yet but I've been more careful about killing some of the things that I notice stay running.

[sirmaru]

Originally Posted by jduck

I have had it happen a few times recently. Seems that some app woke up the Fire from sleep and it did not go back to sleep until the low battery alert. I haven't located the problem app yet but I've been more careful about killing some of the things that I notice stay running.

If one goes to Settings \ More \ Applications, a list of Running Applications is displayed. For me they are: Settings, Amazon Device Client Platform, Amazon Video, Kindle Keyboard and The Weather Channel.

I also notice that TuneIn Radio Pro runs in the background if not properly exited. If that happens, I can shut it down from the Running Applications without any consequences.

I notice, if I tap The Weather Channel, I can force it to shut down. The only consequence is that I must Sync when I want to use it again.

The only other app running had been Badass Battery Manager Pro. I uninstalled that one entirely since its data gathering process from the battery may interfere with the battery in some way since it always runs in the foreground.

The only uses for me on the Kindle Fire are to read eBooks, play chess against Chess Genius, play my MP3 music and listen to radio stations. None of those run in the background. I really don't want to get involved with battery management if possible.

[edbro]

Android handles task management superbly on its own. There is no reason to kill apps running in the background unless you suspect it had gone rogue. I have an Android phone that has 30+ apps running in the background. I've never had battery issues.

A likely scenario is that your battery calibration is off. When it reported 26% it might have actually been lower. There is a way to recalibrate the battery meters but I don't know how off the top of my head. Try Google.

[sirmaru]

Originally Posted by edbro

Android handles task management superbly on its own. There is no reason to kill apps running in the background unless you suspect it had gone rogue. I have an Android phone that has 30+ apps running in the background. I've never had battery issues.

A likely scenario is that your battery calibration is off. When it reported 26% it might have actually been lower. There is a way to recalibrate the battery meters but I don't know how off the top of my head. Try Google.

BBMP tracks the battery drain with a time / energy chart on its main screen. Thus, it was a sudden decline in battery energy, not an incorrect calibration.

However, I reinstalled BBMP and will just keep the Fire in Shut Down Mode when not in use. Thus, even if BBMP went through some program loops for some reason, no apps will be operating unless I am using the Fire at the moment or in the near term.

The probable BBMP battery drain only occurred once in 11 days so it is very intermittent. The Shut Down Mode will prevent it from happening when idle.