Charging Issue

[moparherb]

i have a 2 year old iPad Air2 that since the iOS 11.0 update is giving me an issue. The issue may not have anything to do with the update. At night I always plug the iPad into the charger and off to bed,but first I check to make sure the charge icon is being displayed. On two or three occasions lately in the morning I only have 30-40% usable charge. In other words sometime after I go to bed things aren’t charging as they should be.Any suggestions......the charger and cord seem in good shape....I’m hoping this isn’t a battery issue. Any help appreciated.

 

[scifan57]

Have you tried a different charging cable? It's possible yours has an intermittent fault that causes the iPad to stop charging. There could also be a problem with the charging port on the iPad.
To eliminate the possibility of a faulty electrical outlet, try a different one on another circuit.

 

[giradman]

i have a 2 year old iPad Air2 that since the iOS 11.0 update is giving me an issue. The issue may not have anything to do with the update. At night I always plug the iPad into the charger and off to bed,but first I check to make sure the charge icon is being displayed. On two or three occasions lately in the morning I only have 30-40% usable charge.........

Hello - I also have an iPad Air 2 (now 3 years old and will replace soon - battery is 'aging' faster than expected) - BUT, I have had the same issues as you describe, i.e. charging end is plugged into the 'lightning port' and may or may not show the charging symbol or after a while 'Not Charging' appears - as posted by SciFan.. check his suggestions - I have used 3 different chargers, including the Apple original one and all have given me intermittent problems (and will charge my wife's iPhone & iPad Mini) - so may be an issue w/ the 'lightning port' and/or the device?

As an example, I plugged my iPad into Apple's charger, initial charge symbol appeared (see first pic); but shortly showed 'Not Charging' (second pic) - leaving the charger in that mode eventually fully charged the device, likely at a lower rate. Other suggestions: 1) Make sure the contacts on the lightning plug-in are clean and bright - I've used an eraser on several tarnished contacts in the past; 2) Clean out the charging port of the iPad carefully - a toothpick is often recommended (LINK); I've also used a 'gentle' hand air bulb from my workshop (third pic) - don't use compressed air in a can or a powerful vacuum, adjacent electronics around the port could be damaged; 3) Reset the iPad, if not already done (hold both the HOME & ON-OFF buttons until the Apple logo appears - then release); and 4) Make sure that your iOS is updated (a backup and restoration may also help). Check HERE for a further discussion and suggestions - let us know. Dave
.

 

[twerppoet]

Some careful cleaning with a plastic floss pick is a good way to get lint out of the lightning port. One of the ones with a flimsy, flxible tip. No scraping or forcing. If there is resistance, stop.

For instance, the brush side of this pick will easily remove lint from a lightning port with little risk of damage; as long as you are gentle and patient.

I’ve never done this with my iPad, but I usually have to clean pocket lint out of my iPhone’s Lighting port once or twice a year.

 

[moparherb]

Thanks everyone for your suggestions....sorry it took me so long to respond. I have change chargers and outlets all to no avail. Sometimes I get a 100% charge and sometimes I don’t. I will try cleaning the lightening cable end and the port on the device. One thing that seems to work is if I totally shut down the iPad....so far for three days I have gotten a full charge. It may be time for a new iPad but I was hoping to wait until Apple announced a newer version. Another possibility is that my Apple cover is getting a bit worn. So maybe it is not shutting the iPad off when it closes, meaning it is on all the time....but I doubt this is the problem.

 

[SwanseaMick]

I too have been experiencing similar problems when charging. I plug it in, get the ‘beep’ and charging symbol so shut cover to leave it to charge. After 3 or 4 minutes I get another ‘beep’, I open cover, check charging symbol still there so leave it alone again. After 30+ minutes, when I check, the charge level has decreased! If I leave cover open to monitor charge level, it increases and reaches a satisfactory level.
Another thing, whether related or not, but since latest update (IOS11.1.2), when booting up, the apple symbol doesn’t stay on continously until login screen appears, but goes off briefly halfway threough boot sequence.
Any thoughts?

 

[Jupiter7]

It isn’t good to charge an iPad with the case shut. It may cause overheating, which is probably why it won’t charge normally.

 

[SwanseaMick]

I get where you’re coming from, but this is what I have been doing for past 2-3 years So doubt this is cause. This problem has only manifested itself in last 3 or 4 weeks.
In any case, I doubt it would overheat in just 30 minutes.
I’m more concerned that problem could be caused by it being in sleep mode when cover shuts

 

[moparherb]

My problem like this has gotten better. I replaced the cable (lighting port to USB Charger) and all seems good now. But I have used the old cable on another Apple device and it seems to work fine. I suspect that there may have been or still is some dirt or lint in the lighting port on my iPad. I’ve looked in there and can’t see anything but my eyes are not to good for close up stuff. I believe my almost 3 year old iPad Air 2’s battery may also be getting weak but it’s not time for replacement yet.

 

[SwanseaMick]

I too am beginning to suspect the cable. I’ll put it on santa’s list.

There are some weird things going though. it ran down to 30% charge, so I plugged it in and it immediately dropped to 28%. I unplugged it, plugged it back in and it dropped to 27%, but shortly rose to 28%..29%.. etc. It had finally reached100% by the time I got back from shopping. (All with lid open) - as I say, weird.

 

[moparherb]

I have had similar issues which I blame on a very old battery. Sometimes when I plug it in to charge it jumps like 20 or 30 percent in just a few minutes and then falls back soon after that while still plug into the charger. I seem to be getting a full day of use out of this battery so I guess I’ll just see what develops.

 

[twerppoet]

The iPad’s battery percentage reading isn’t like a car’s fuel guage. There is no simple, mechanical way to measure a batterie’s current charge percentage. Instead there is a self adjusting algorithm that takes into account relative voltage/current measurements, time, age, and other factors to ‘guess’ what the battery level is.

(Measurements taken are an educated guess on my part. I don’t have access to Apple’s engineering team.)

So, yes, you may occationally see small inconsistancies. If the battery alogrithm has to re-calibrated in a long time you may even see large unexpected changes.

Apple recommends that once a month you let the iPad discharge to 5-10% and then plug it in untill it is fully charged. This forces a re-calibration of the percentage reading.

That’s not to say that the issues being described here are due to re-calibration issues, or dont’ exist. Just to remind people that small changes (a few percentage point) or occational weirdness are not always signs of trouble. Try a re-calibration, and keep an eye on things to see if they continue.

Also, Setting > Battery can give you clues about any misbehaving apps that might be causing unexpected battery drain. Be sure to tap on the clock icon so you can see how much time/battery apps are using in the background.