Battery percentage use only changes after I turn iPhone off and on

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iPhone 5

Repair information, troubleshooting tips, and guides for the sixth iteration of Apple iPhone, announced on September 12, 2012. Model: A1428, A1429

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Ayrunn @ayrunn

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Posted: Aug 16, 2014

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Battery percentage use only changes after I turn iPhone off and on

After successfully replacing my iPhone 5 battery by following the guide on here, I turn on my phone to see that everything works as normal. (The battery showed 66%) After plugging it in for the night soon after I wake up to see the battery still shows 66% (my phone showed it was charging when I plugged it in). After turning it off and turning it back on it showed 100%. Now, throughout the day's use, the only way I can see the "accurate" battery percentage is by turning off the phone and turning it back on. I don't understand how this can be. Any help would be great!

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PDM @pdm43083

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Posted: Aug 17, 2014

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That sounds like a bad battery controller to me. Unfortunately, I'm not sure if the controller is part of the battery or if it's on the main logic board.

Usually it's on the battery itself, but having looked at these batteries I can't figure out where.

If I'm right, and the controller is on the battery, you just have a defective one.

The only other thing I would recommend trying is restoring you phone.

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Ok well my original problem was my phone not showing the accurate battery percentage (the phone would die at 30% or any random percentage below 50%) AND the battery did not last long at all so I might not have even fixed the original problem. I'll restore the phone and update with what I find.

Aug 17, 2014 by Ayrunn

That behavior is a sign of a deteriorating battery. Or at least a poorly calibrated one (a battery will recalibrate itself every time you do a full power cycle). Eventually, the battery degrades enough that it doesn't know what percentage it is really at.

It is of course possible that there is another problem, but most of the time it IS the battery.

Aug 17, 2014 by PDM

UPDATE: Restore was successful but now my phone keeps restarting during the sync with iTunes process. So i can set it up as a new phone but cannot sync to iTunes without it restarting in the middle of the sync...I've tried hard reset and both USB and wifi sync and it always restarts in the middle.

Aug 18, 2014 by Ayrunn

Replace the battery once more and see what you get.

Aug 18, 2014 by oldturkey03

UPDATE 2: Replaced the battery with another new one and I'm still having the same problems. Even after setting up the phone as a new iPhone and not as a backup. So it looks like either the iPhone's hardware or my iTunes is messed up..Anyways I have not checked yet whether the battery percentage thing is fixed yet because I'm more worried about this new issue!

Aug 19, 2014 by Ayrunn

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Ok well my original problem was my phone not showing the accurate battery percentage (the phone would die at 30% or any random percentage below 50%) AND the battery did not last long at all so I might not have even fixed the original problem. I'll restore the phone and update with what I find. — Ayrunn
That behavior is a sign of a deteriorating battery. Or at least a poorly calibrated one (a battery will recalibrate itself every time you do a full power cycle). Eventually, the battery degrades enough that it doesn't know what percentage it is really at.

It is of course possible that there is another problem, but most of the time it IS the battery. — PDM
UPDATE: Restore was successful but now my phone keeps restarting during the sync with iTunes process. So i can set it up as a new phone but cannot sync to iTunes without it restarting in the middle of the sync...I've tried hard reset and both USB and wifi sync and it always restarts in the middle. — Ayrunn
UPDATE 2: Replaced the battery with another new one and I'm still having the same problems. Even after setting up the phone as a new iPhone and not as a backup. So it looks like either the iPhone's hardware or my iTunes is messed up..Anyways I have not checked yet whether the battery percentage thing is fixed yet because I'm more worried about this new issue! — Ayrunn