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ayasinsk

macrumors regular
Original poster
Apr 29, 2008
242
67
I have purchased a used iPhone SE on eBay. Phone is in good shape, however I noticed the battery behaved poorly. It would drop percentage pretty quickly during basic tasks like music playback or just idling, during other times it would hold percentage for a while. Also phone would often times get pretty hot during charging which is not normal. I ordered a gently used original iPhone se battery on eBay. When I opened the phone I did see that a third party battery was installed, so I swapped it out with the OEM battery I just purchased. I followed ifixit guide. Afterwards I booted up this phone and at first battery showed 1%, then jumped to 10%. No matter what phone would not charge passed 10%. I opened up coconut battery and it showed max charge of 6% out of original capacity and cycle count and temperature unknown. So I contacted seller and he sent me another battery. I connected the 2nd battery i just received and phone was behaving the same way, except for now it charged to 13%. I decided to connect the original battery this phone came with (3rd party battery), and behold it is also doing the same thing. Charges up to 10 or 15% and that's it. When I go to battery health it says service battery, where as before it showed 98% capacity and was saying that battery was at peak performance. So the original 3rd party battery is now behaving the same as the 2 OEM battery replacement I got from eBay. Original battery was performing poorly but it did charge to 100% and held charge. Also full charge capacity was at 100%. So something happened between me opening up this iPhone and installing multiple batteries. I have reconnected all the ribbon cables, all the brackets are connected. Touch screen, camera, sound, touch ID....everything is working. I can not figure out what is going on. Also when connected to my mac this iPhone reboots every 5 minutes. When connected to apple 5w wall charger phone does not reboot, but does not charge passed 10-15%. Only bracket missing was the one for touch ID ribbon cable, but I do not see how this would effect battery. If anything missing touch id bracket would affect touch id, but it is working just fine. Seems like phone can not read any of the 3 batteries. Anyone have an idea of what's going on?
 

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Banglazed

macrumors 603
Apr 17, 2017
5,014
9,514
Cupertino, CA
Is battery from reputable seller? Battery can be cloned 1:1 high quality as original battery. I had this issue before but it was resolved after a replacement battery. What iOS version are you running?
 

JPack

macrumors G5
Mar 27, 2017
13,570
26,281
Power management chip is probably defective. Happens when people use cheap chargers.
 

ayasinsk

macrumors regular
Original poster
Apr 29, 2008
242
67
Is battery from reputable seller? Battery can be cloned 1:1 high quality as original battery. I had this issue before but it was resolved after a replacement battery. What iOS version are you running?
Batteries are from eBay seller, he has good reviews. 2 battery replacements seem legit with apple logo. Thing is after the two eBay OEM batteries did not work, I connected the battery this phone came with and it's doing the same thing. Battery this phone came with was working before the swap.
[doublepost=1564710532][/doublepost]
Power management chip is probably defective. Happens when people use cheap chargers.
I use OEM chargers and cables. Phone's battery was working before the swap.
 

Newtons Apple

Suspended
Mar 12, 2014
22,757
15,254
Jacksonville, Florida
Batteries are from eBay seller, he has good reviews. 2 battery replacements seem legit with apple logo. Thing is after the two eBay OEM batteries did not work, I connected the battery this phone came with and it's doing the same thing. Battery this phone came with was working before the swap.
[doublepost=1564710532][/doublepost]
I use OEM chargers and cables. Phone's battery was working before the swap.

The Apple logo mean little. If it is an OEM it was pulled from someone else’s phone as Apple does not sell its parts to repair people.
 

ayasinsk

macrumors regular
Original poster
Apr 29, 2008
242
67
The Apple logo mean little. If it is an OEM it was pulled from someone else’s phone as Apple does not sell its parts to repair people.

Yes it was pulled from I'm assuming a damaged phone. Seller claims they check their batteries and they are in great shape healthwise. What's weird is the battery my phone came with is behaving same way as these two OEM battery replacements from ebay. Battery that came with my phone was working decent right up to battery swap. I have a feeling some part responsible for battery monitoring or battery connector got damaged somehow during the battery swap. I don't know how else to explain this. I followed ifixit guide and was very careful. I'm going to apple store after work and drop off this phone for battery replacement and see what they say or if they can fix it. If it's anything more than a battery it's just not worth it and I'll sell this phone for parts and look for another SE.
 

ftaok

macrumors 603
Jan 23, 2002
6,491
1,573
East Coast
Yes it was pulled from I'm assuming a damaged phone. Seller claims they check their batteries and they are in great shape healthwise. What's weird is the battery my phone came with is behaving same way as these two OEM battery replacements from ebay. Battery that came with my phone was working decent right up to battery swap. I have a feeling some part responsible for battery monitoring or battery connector got damaged somehow during the battery swap. I don't know how else to explain this. I followed ifixit guide and was very careful. I'm going to apple store after work and drop off this phone for battery replacement and see what they say or if they can fix it. If it's anything more than a battery it's just not worth it and I'll sell this phone for parts and look for another SE.
I would suggest putting in an OEM battery before taking it to the Apple Store. If they see a 3rd party battery in there, they may (depends on your local store's employee's) say that they can't touch it because it had unauthorized service and parts.

Now that Apple's battery replacement prices are lower more reasonable (still kinda high), there's no reason not to get an OEM battery from the Apple Store ... provided they're still servicing that particular model iPhone and you have an Apple Store close by.
 

44267547

Cancelled
Jul 12, 2016
37,642
42,495
Yes it was pulled from I'm assuming a damaged phone. Seller claims they check their batteries and they are in great shape healthwise. What's weird is the battery my phone came with is behaving same way as these two OEM battery replacements from ebay. Battery that came with my phone was working decent right up to battery swap. I have a feeling some part responsible for battery monitoring or battery connector got damaged somehow during the battery swap. I don't know how else to explain this. I followed ifixit guide and was very careful. I'm going to apple store after work and drop off this phone for battery replacement and see what they say or if they can fix it. If it's anything more than a battery it's just not worth it and I'll sell this phone for parts and look for another SE.

Apple isn’t going to touch your phone, once they figured out that you made the repair yourself, then they have to get involved in a matter that’s not their fault. I would just be upfront and honest with them from the beginning, then maybe they can make some suggestions to you.
 

ayasinsk

macrumors regular
Original poster
Apr 29, 2008
242
67
Apple isn’t going to touch your phone, once they figured out that you made the repair yourself, then they have to get involved in a matter that’s not their fault. I would just be upfront and honest with them from the beginning, then maybe they can make some suggestions to you.
I bought this iphone on ebay with a 3rd party battery installed and battery performed like crap. That's why I found a gently used OEM battery on ebay and bought it. Right now I have one of the OEM battery's installed. But the will be able to tell phone been taken apart, touch id cable bracket is missing and one of the phone screws is broken off so half as long as the other. I'm paying for battery swap so I don't see why they wouldn't do it. I don't know if I should be honest with them and tell the whole story, or play dumb and say I bought it like that. I don't like to lie to anyone but I've been short shafted with this phone from the moment I bought it.
 

44267547

Cancelled
Jul 12, 2016
37,642
42,495
I don't know if I should be honest with them and tell the whole story, or play dumb and say I bought it like that. I don't like to lie to anyone but I've been short shafted with this phone from the moment I bought it.

You not being honest, doesn’t change the fact that Apple will figure it out one way or the other. Think about it, they see this type of stuff all the time and they’re trained to spot these types of scenarios, so they’ll deny you either way, because it’s not their fault/you used a third-party part. But my point was, being honest, they can at least make a fair suggestion to you and what they would do in your situation or find a reputable third-party store that will make the repair for you at a lower cost.
 

ayasinsk

macrumors regular
Original poster
Apr 29, 2008
242
67
You not being honest, doesn’t change the fact that Apple will figure it out one way or the other. Think about it, they see this type of stuff all the time and they’re trained to spot these types of scenarios, so they’ll deny you either way, because it’s not their fault/you used a third-party part. But my point was, being honest, they can at least make a fair suggestion to you and what they would do in your situation or find a reputable third-party store that will make the repair for you at a lower cost.
But if I'm paying for the repair, what is it to them if I tried to replace battery my self and previous owner had third party battery installed. You saying they will deny me a repair, is that based on your similar experience?
 

44267547

Cancelled
Jul 12, 2016
37,642
42,495
But if I'm paying for the repair, what is it to them if I tried to replace battery my self and previous owner had third party battery installed. You saying they will deny me a repair, is that based on your similar experience?

Apple doesn’t know the history of the phone, the fact that it’s slightly broken/missing parts, I’m not sure if they will acknowledge the battery repair or not. Also, they have to test the phone itself to begin with. As I said, tell them your situation, see what they have to say. Either way, they’ll find out what’s wrong with the phone once they see the condition/parts missing.
 

ftaok

macrumors 603
Jan 23, 2002
6,491
1,573
East Coast
But if I'm paying for the repair, what is it to them if I tried to replace battery my self and previous owner had third party battery installed. You saying they will deny me a repair, is that based on your similar experience?
If the insides are that out of whack, I doubt they would even entertain doing anything. They'll just button it back up and say, "nope, can't work on it".

The reason is that if they do try to repair/replace stuff, and it doesn't work, you (not saying you will, but countless people have) will claim that it was working before they started the repair and that Apple needs to replace their device.

And before you ask, it's highly unlikely that they'll let you sign a waiver releasing them of any responsibility of further damage. Not saying that it can't happen, just that I've never heard of anyone getting apple to do that.

Either way, good luck.
 

ericwn

macrumors G5
Apr 24, 2016
12,121
10,912
But if I'm paying for the repair, what is it to them if I tried to replace battery my self and previous owner had third party battery installed. You saying they will deny me a repair, is that based on your similar experience?

Most companies that perform repairs and service will want to provide you with a guarantee or warranty on the service work performed.

If you have played around in the device yourself and have already replaced components or caused damages, that’s a liability risk for any professional repair technician. Hence there’s a chance they might deny you service.
 

ayasinsk

macrumors regular
Original poster
Apr 29, 2008
242
67
Alright thanks everyone, I'll see what they say. Maybe I had some static electricity when installing battery and shorted something out on logic board during install.
 
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