Razr XT912 will not charge through micro USB

[Vito.a]

I replaced the battery in my 3 year old Razr last week with an OEM (supposedly) battery from Amazon. When I turned the phone on, I had the red ? over the battery charge indicator. I tried charging the phone, but it would not accept a charge. So, I removed the new battery and reinstalled the old battery. The red ? is gone, but now the phone will no longer charge through the micro USB port. I then had the micro USB receptacle replaced thinking it may be bad. Still no charge.
I removed the back and connected the travel charger directly to the two battery connectors and it charges.

Any one have any suggestions!
Thanks

 

[FoxKat]

I replaced the battery in my 3 year old Razr last week with an OEM (supposedly) battery from Amazon. When I turned the phone on, I had the red ? over the battery charge indicator. I tried charging the phone, but it would not accept a charge. So, I removed the new battery and reinstalled the old battery. The red ? is gone, but now the phone will no longer charge through the micro USB port. I then had the micro USB receptacle replaced thinking it may be bad. Still no charge.
I removed the back and connected the travel charger directly to the two battery connectors and it charges.

Any one have any suggestions!
Thanks

Depending on how long that "new oem" battery sat on the shelf in the warehouse since being manufactured it may have lost its base charge. If so, it can look to the phone like a battery that had reached end of life hence the red?. Direct charging as you did briefly will get the voltage levels in the battery up where they need to be for the phone's battery charging circuit to properly recognize the battery and take over charging normally.

You don't want to leave it on direct charge for more that 30 minutes at a time before trying the normal charging process and not more than perhaps 1.5 to 2 hours total or you risk creating a mini bomb. These batteries are dangerous and can become unstable if overcharged.

 

[Vito.a]

Thanks for the advice. Unfortunately it will not charge the battery through the micro USB circuit, regardless.

 

[FoxKat]

Thanks for the advice. Unfortunately it will not charge the battery through the micro USB circuit, regardless.

So what you're saying is that since replacing the battery the charging circuit hadn't worked - even with the original stock battery back in place? That sounds like a phone failure. When you disconnected the original battery is it possible that you strained the connections for the cables on the motherboard? Could you have damaged a ribbon cable in the phone while opening it?

Of course I hope not but I can't see how replacing a battery could cause the USB charging circuit to simply give up working altogether.

You mentioned that you had the USB connector replaced as well? Those are some tiny connections to solder on the motherboard. It's very easy to get a short between two traces when soldering those by hand. Also, to much heat can cause the traces to break free from the board and become very susceptible to breaking while soldering.

I have soldered surface mount processors on motherboards and it was extremely tedious... I did the entire job wearing two pairs of reading glasses one on to of the other for the magnification and it required reinspection with a loupe to be sure everything was sound. I even had to use a knife to cut a solder short between two pin connections at the board level which could only see with the loupe.

 

[Vito.a]

Yes, it's fairly simple replacing the battery but replacing the micro-USB is a tough job. I had it done at a shop in Santa Barbara (CellTek). I can plug a micro-USB cord into it and search the files on my computer. The phone functions, it just will not charge. I'm afraid it's done. Sure has been a great phone until now.
Thanks