Strange smell from ipad air 2

[elf69]

my fiancee has an ipad air 2 and she says it has a strange smell of late.

She said smelly like acid, like a leaking battery smell.

She was using it with a 3rd party bluetooth keyboard so told her just use tablet incase was the keyboard.

smell still there with tablet alone.
It is not in a case just bare.

She says the battery life not great either but that is due to having bluetooth on 24/7 if you ask me.
Always using the keyboard and bluetooth can drain battery.

any thoughts guys/gals?

 

[Pakaku]

If it's a leaky bad battery, Bluetooth isn't going to be the culprit. I would shut it off and take it in to get checked.

 

[elf69]

no bluetooth has nothing to with the smell but run time she says is low, i suspect bluetooth always on is why it not as log as she expects.
plus she plays a lot of those hidden object games so quite graphical.

Will take it to the apple reseller weekend as got go that way anyway.

I personally cannot smell it but I have poor sense of smell.

 

[RedTomato]

Damn, I should have cleaned it better after I borrowed it. Apologies.

 

[ericwn]

no bluetooth has nothing to with the smell but run time she says is low, i suspect bluetooth always on is why it not as log as she expects.
plus she plays a lot of those hidden object games so quite graphical.

Will take it to the apple reseller weekend as got go that way anyway.

I personally cannot smell it but I have poor sense of smell.

I run Bluetooth all day on that iPad, the impact on the battery when used with my two keyboards is very tiny.

 

[elf69]

she claims about 2-3 hour battery.

but bluetooth and her games are likely culprit rather than a bad battery I'd guess as ipad quite new and only a contract so I think it only 6 months old.

 

[Pakaku]

she claims about 2-3 hour battery.

but bluetooth and her games are likely culprit rather than a bad battery I'd guess as ipad quite new and only a contract so I think it only 6 months old.

Brand new + suspicious scent = Could be a defect, and if you suspect a bad battery, the first thing you should be doing is shutting it off.

 

[44267547]

my fiancee has an ipad air 2 and she says it has a strange smell of late.

She said smelly like acid, like a leaking battery smell.

She was using it with a 3rd party bluetooth keyboard so told her just use tablet incase was the keyboard.

smell still there with tablet alone.
It is not in a case just bare.

She says the battery life not great either but that is due to having bluetooth on 24/7 if you ask me.
Always using the keyboard and bluetooth can drain battery.

any thoughts guys/gals?

Besides keeping it turned off, contact Apple for further advice as well. They will likely advise not to use it and send it in.

 

[Septembersrain]

If you've got an Apple store near you, bring it in right away. There are certain smells from electronics that signal the battery is leaking. Leaking can lead to corrosion, overheating, even fire. Best not to ignore that.

 

[elf69]

going take it to store next week as busy right now.

powered it off in mean time

 

[cynics]

Bluetooth has a negligible effect on battery life. In the test I done with my iPhone in the fruitless quest for better battery life I would get better battery with it on by a couple of minutes which I think it was just a coincidence of usage however because of that I could tell it had little negative effect.

Generally and off topic the additional hardware is always powered, my first tablet was a motorola xoom and the LTE card was a motorola add on AFTER purchase (shipped it to them and they installed it) which obviously negatively effected the battery even if it was off. And once people took them off line it was a popular mod to remove the card to conserve battery. However if you personally have no use for BT then turning it off obviously doesn't hurt anything, but I would be that guy that turns it on and off all day thinking you are saving tons of battery your just wasting your time possibly using more by turning on the screen and going through the process of turning it off.

I definitely get better battery life using BT to talk on the phone vs just using the phone but I guess that might be obvious to some.

More on topic a couple of things you can do before taking it to Apple (which I would do regardless).

I would carefully examine the ipad. Lay it back down on a very flat surface and see if you can see any bulging from a swelling battery. Also bring up a very black screen at max brightness and look for distortion as if battery was pushing on it from behind.

Also look into the headphone jack and lightning port with a strong flashlight for corrosion from a leaking battery.

There is also software you can use to see battery health on PC, Mac and maybe even apps.

2-3 hours would be tough even with intense gaming although not impossible I guess.

 

[elf69]

Of note it is a LTE ipad.

 

[M. Gustave]

Modern Bluetooth (Air 2 has v4.2) does not appreciably affect battery life. Mine is on 24/7 because I am constantly either connecting to Bluetooth speakers or keyboards.

 

[elf69]

Ipad is fine all checked out ok.

it turns out to be the certified 3rd party charger.

she has alot of usb charging devices so we bought a stack.

it sits on bedside cabinet and has 6 ports.
2 for samsung
2 for apple
2 auto sensing.

it is certified by apple, or so packet said when we bought it.

since not using tablet and unplugging charger, no smell.
now she is using the original charger still no smell.

Not sure why a charger would smell like that but it ok again.

I personally could not smell anything but she is around it all the time so may only do it when warm.

 

[M. Gustave]

I hope everyone who said "turn Bluetooth off" reads your update.

 

[elf69]

don't think anyone said turn off bluetooth?

still getting short run time but I'm putting it down to her games as they quite graphical.

I just bought an ipad 3 so will compare my run time with hers.
I play boom beach and clash of clans alot so also graphical games.

 

[M. Gustave]

don't think anyone said turn off bluetooth?

You're right, it was only you saying that! LOL, I hope you read your own update.

 

[elf69]

I asked if bluetooth was the cause.

besides still poor run time.

my older tablets and windows pc would kill battery quickly if bluetooth on.
as you pointed out the air has 4.2 which is much better on battery than previous versions.

but she still gets 3-5 hours run time only.

You did not read my update as said smell gone but still short run time.
I never said bluetooth make the smell, i did ask if it affects battery life.

 

[Newtons Apple]

she claims about 2-3 hour battery.

but bluetooth and her games are likely culprit rather than a bad battery I'd guess as ipad quite new and only a contract so I think it only 6 months old.

Bluetooth is always on my 9.7 and I found it uses little to no power while not in use. Today's BT is very frugal with power.

2-3 hours is not good, even if playing her games. I would have the battery checked out. Not sure if L-Ion batteries have an odor, do not think so.

 

[T'hain Esh Kelch]

it is certified by apple, or so packet said when we bought it.

https://9to5mac.com/2016/10/19/amazon-fake-apple-chargers-cables/

 

[elf69]

Had tablet checked by apple store, they say all ok.

We binned the charger.

yes new bluetooth very good on battery so not sure why she getting low run time.
she has lte off but would it still be using battery?

is it still looking for signal even if off?

 

[Newtons Apple]

Had tablet checked by apple store, they say all ok.

We binned the charger.

yes new bluetooth very good on battery so not sure why she getting low run time.
she has lte off but would it still be using battery?

is it still looking for signal even if off?

Is she on WiFi? If so no need for LTE cellular as it WILL use a lot of battery.

Does not matter about Bluetooth as it uses so little power it is not worth turning it off if you use it.

 

[T'hain Esh Kelch]

If LTE is off, it won't be looking for a signal.

 

[elf69]

thank you.

maybe she has a dud battery then?
[doublepost=1484057287][/doublepost]downloaded app battery hd+ that gives me approx run time for tasks.

my ipad 3 at 71% battery has 1hour 45mins run time.

if true this would work out for my fiancee short run time.

on MY ipad 3 it says:

internet 7 hours
video 7 hours
music 140 hours
reading 10 hours
standby 504 hours

These are estimated but sound about right to me.

you guys?

 

[44267547]

thank you.

maybe she has a dud battery then?
[doublepost=1484057287][/doublepost]downloaded app battery hd+ that gives me approx run time for tasks.

my ipad 3 at 71% battery has 1hour 45mins run time.

if true this would work out for my fiancee short run time.

on MY ipad 3 it says:

internet 7 hours
video 7 hours
music 140 hours
reading 10 hours
standby 504 hours

These are estimated but sound about right to me.

you guys?

Stats look normal to me. I would continue to monitor it and see how it does. Perhaps it was just something that got warm inside the iPad and then emanated in order.