iPad charging irregularity / not at all

[bradleyheathhay]

Recently my iPad 4 had been giving the impression that my charger cord might have a short. I'd plug it in and it would say 'not charging.' But then a number of hours later the battery showed an increase in charge. After some round robin testing with other devices and charger cords the problem seemed to be coming from the ipad.

The charging port was clean with no obvious obstructions. Thought about cleaning the contacts w/ electronics cleaner on a q-tip but ended up not doing it.

Since then it's stopped charging altogether, and the battery has run out.

Now, when it's initially plugged in it shows the battery symbol w/ a red line at the bottom. That line has blinked in the past, but for the most part I think it's been staying solid. I'm guessing the blinking indicates active charging. At times plugging it in will prompt it to show the 'insert cord' symbol at the charging port, other times not. In the middle of being hooked up for a few hours the screen turns on w/ the apple symbol as if it's turning on, but then nothing happens.

Anybody know of what's going on here? I can probably order a kit and pry the thing open if that would help in the investigation. I'd much rather fix this myself if at all possible.

 

[Newtons Apple]

Sounds to me like it is just a bad battery.

 

[dcchi]

I have an original mini and a mini2 and have had a problem with charging for the past half year with the original mini. Because of this, I have bought multiple different cords and plugs (some Apple and some quality third party - like Anker), and also plugged them all into various wall outlets and such. It had been quite frustrating, as there didn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to the issue (the plugs/cords worked for other devices and it was not a "use Apple only" issue as Apple cords/plugs also didn't work frequently).

For my problem, I believe (knock on wood) that I have now determined that, if I have been using the mini and then try to plug it in, it often has the "not charging" issue. However, if I let it sit for a while, it will charge. (i.e., it seems the issue is related to it being too "hot" when I am plugging it in). Not great, but at least it seems like I have figured out how to charge it when needed (after allowing the mini to "rest/cool down"). Don't know if that will help you, but worth a shot.