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TheGreatMightyPoo · Apr 7, 2017

So I had this issue where the Switch's battery indicator showed far too much battery drainage for the time I played and I saw a post in the Switch launch thread on how to remedy it.

It said to play a game for the extent of the Switch's battery life and let it run out, then fully charge it.

I did that and then played and the indicator seemed to be accurate UNTIL I turned the system off.

It was at around 60% charge and when I woke up the next day, it was down to like 20% charge when I turned it back on.

I know the battery life is fine as that one instance where it appeared to drained too fast while I was playing, it let me play for over an hour after the warnings and 1% charge reading but while I seemed to fix the "while playing" reading, it goes all screwy giving me a false battery life reading after it's off and I turn it back on.

I don't want to send in my system for a faulty reading but can this be fixed in an update or is it a hardware issue???

Maintenance · Apr 7, 2017

Another completely different machine, but I had the same problem with my Vita. I opened it, disconnected the battery cable from the motherboard, cleaned it (connector / connection), stuck it back again and it went away.

I also tried the "empty the battery and then fully charge it back again" and it didn't work for me.

Equanimity · Apr 7, 2017

Here is what I posted in the Switch Launch thread:

"So I thought there was something wrong with the battery installed inside my Switch because I was getting the final low battery notification 45 mins into a full charge playing Zelda in portable mode.

Turns out my battery is just fine, the culprit lies within the OS somewhere.

If anyone is experiencing similar issues here's what you need to do:

-Charge your system to 100% and put it in sleep mode until you have around 3 hours to spare
-Play a game of your choice, preferably Zelda for 3 hours straight

Don't worry about the low battery notification, carry on playing even if it warns you of saving before it turns off. The Switch won't turn off 45 mins, an hour, 90 mins, 2 hours or even 150 mins into a full charge playing Zelda on 50% brightness and volume with wifi turned on.

Once you have done that and completely charged it again, the battery indicator should be fixed."

TheGreatMightyPoo · Apr 7, 2017

Equanimity said:
Here is what I posted in the Switch Launch thread:

"So I thought there was something wrong with the battery installed inside my Switch because I was getting the final low battery notification 45 mins into a full charge playing Zelda in portable mode.

Turns out my battery is just fine, the culprit lies within the OS somewhere.

If anyone is experiencing similar issues here's what you need to do:

-Charge your system to 100% and put it in sleep mode until you have around 3 hours to spare
-Play a game of your choice, preferably Zelda for 3 hours straight

Don't worry about the low battery notification, carry on playing even if it warns you of saving before it turns off. The Switch won't turn off 45 mins, an hour, 90 mins, 2 hours or even 150 mins into a full charge playing Zelda on 50% brightness and volume with wifi turned on.

Once you have done that and completely charged it again, the battery indicator should be fixed."

Yeah, I mentioned your advice and did that and it fixed the indicator AS I PLAY but I had 60% charge before calling it a night, turned the system off and when I powered it back on, it was at 20%.

Equanimity · Apr 7, 2017

TheGreatMightyPoo said:
Yeah, I mentioned your advice and did that and it fixed the indicator AS I PLAY but I had 60% charge before calling it a night, turned the system off and when I powered it back on, it was at 20%.

Yeah there seems to be an issue with the battery indicator when you completely turn off the system. I have kept mine on standby and it only drains about 1-2% overnight.

As for your question, It's a software issue so I don't see why it can't be fixed through a patch.

TheGreatMightyPoo · Apr 7, 2017

Equanimity said:
Yeah there seems to be an issue with the battery indicator when you completely turn off the system. I have kept mine on standby and it only drains about 1-2% overnight.

Is it fine to keep it in "sleep mode" every time you aren't playing???
Will that have any adverse effect on the system long term??

Equanimity · Apr 7, 2017

TheGreatMightyPoo said:
Is it fine to keep it in "sleep mode" every time you aren't playing???
Will that have any adverse effect on the system long term??

I haven't had any issues yet. Although I would say that I do actually prefer to completely turn off my electronics when not in use.

Also don't forget that there's currently no way to completely turn off the Switch while docked.

Portugeezer · Apr 7, 2017

Equanimity said:
I haven't had any issues yet. Although I would say that I do prefer to completely switch off my devices when not in use.

Also don't forget that there's currently no way to completely turn off the Switch while docked.

I think you can by holding power button.

LegendofLex · Apr 7, 2017

TheGreatMightyPoo said:
Is it fine to keep it in "sleep mode" every time you aren't playing???
Will that have any adverse effect on the system long term??

The system is always in sleep mode when docked, even if you turned it off.

I'd recommend against leaving it in sleep mode with a game running, but it's fine to have the system in sleep mode generally.

Equanimity · Apr 7, 2017

EuropeOG said:
I think you can by holding power button.

It will turn back on if it's docked.

TheGreatMightyPoo · Apr 7, 2017

LegendofLex said:
The system is always in sleep mode when docked, even if you turned it off.

I'd recommend against leaving it in sleep mode with a game running, but it's fine to have the system in sleep mode generally.

I haven't used the dock yet.

tsab · Apr 7, 2017

EuropeOG said:
I think you can by holding power button.

nah it will go to sleep mode again

roytheone · Apr 7, 2017

Yep, have the exact same issue. Charge up the switch, it is at 100 %. Turn it off, then when I switch it back on, it is at like 30 %. It drops to 1 % in like 20 minutes, and just stays there. If I switch it off and back on again, it will be at something like 20 %, drop to 1 % again within minutes, and stays there again. It's pretty annoying since it makes the battery indicator 100 % useless and have to manually keep track of how long i have been playing to predicts when I need to charge. I hope nintendo fixes this soon.

Timeaisis · Apr 7, 2017

For whatever it's worth, my Switch is very bad with reading the battery level of my Pro controller. It has three states: fully charged, medium, and low (charge me). I almost always see it as "medium" charge, even if I've only been playing for an hour or two on the current (~40 hour charge). It keeps saying medium for many, many hours while staying around the same level (middle of battery icon). Only when it gets to low does it display it as low. It's not discrete at all.

I dunno if that has anything to do with your issue, OP, but my guess is the OS has some bugs with displaying battery life.

Scrawnton · Apr 7, 2017

I thought my Switch had this issue, but I tested it a couple times yesterday, my Switch goes from 100% to straight up dead in 50 minutes. It's on it's way to NOA for repairs.

DragonGirl · Apr 7, 2017

I think you can turn it off docked. I hold down the power button and get an options menu that asks if I want to put it in sleep mode or power options > restart or turn off. I always turn it off unless I need to recharge the joycons. I've noticed that if I turn it off and connect the joycons, they don't seem to charge, while if I put it into sleep mode, they do charge. Granted, I haven't rigorously tested anything, these are just regular use observations.

Jaded Alyx · Apr 7, 2017

TheGreatMightyPoo said:
Is it fine to keep it in "sleep mode" every time you aren't playing???
Will that have any adverse effect on the system long term??

I've only turned my Switch off twice - when I applied the screen protector, and when it froze a couple days ago.

It lives in the dock, forever in sleep mode. That's how it's designed. Nothing wrong with that at all.

Equanimity · Apr 7, 2017

Scrawnton said:
I thought my Switch had this issue, but I tested it a couple times yesterday, my Switch goes from 100% to straight up dead in 50 minutes. It's on it's way to NOA for repairs.

Straight play through of 50 minutes or did you put it in sleep mode during your time on the Switch?

shotgunbob04 · Apr 7, 2017

Here's to Nintendo being able to patch this issue. When I'm on the go, I turn my Switch off until I actually play it so that I save battery, but then it always says it's at like 60-70% when I turn it back on. So annoying. At least I've experienced this issue with other products so I know it can be fixed.

senj · Apr 7, 2017

Equanimity said:
Here is what I posted in the Switch Launch thread:

"So I thought there was something wrong with the battery installed inside my Switch because I was getting the final low battery notification 45 mins into a full charge playing Zelda in portable mode.

Turns out my battery is just fine, the culprit lies within the OS somewhere.

If anyone is experiencing similar issues here's what you need to do:

-Charge your system to 100% and put it in sleep mode until you have around 3 hours to spare
-Play a game of your choice, preferably Zelda for 3 hours straight

Don't worry about the low battery notification, carry on playing even if it warns you of saving before it turns off. The Switch won't turn off 45 mins, an hour, 90 mins, 2 hours or even 150 mins into a full charge playing Zelda on 50% brightness and volume with wifi turned on.

Once you have done that and completely charged it again, the battery indicator should be fixed."

(That's not an OS bug, that's just how LiON charge-remaining circuitry behaves when it hasn't been calibrated yet -- it makes bad guesses about charge remaining because it lacks full information about the voltage-time curve. A full discharge cycle calibrated it)

Scrawnton · Apr 7, 2017

Equanimity said:
Straight play through of 50 minutes or did you put it in sleep mode during your time on the Switch?

Sitting there idle with no volume on and zelda running on the screen. At launch I got 3 hours playing zelda.

flipswitch · Apr 12, 2017

I'm also getting this. I'm guessing it's from on the recent firmware updates because it was fine up until a week ago.

Shin Johnpv · Apr 12, 2017

I've got this issue as well, looks like I need to drain the battery completely over the weekend.

flipswitch · Apr 18, 2017

Upgrading to new firmware, but nothing has changed, battery indicator still wrong.

Charged really quick to 100%. Put it on later and it was at 87%.

flipswitch · Jun 18, 2017

Sorry for the double post, just an update. I think I may have fixed my dodgy battery indicator.

I used my Switch in portable mode until my battery went to 1% to which it was still working for an additional 20-mins or so. Continue playing until it shuts off, then I placed my switch in the dock to charge.

Previously it would charge at an abnormally fast rate and drain just as quick, but when I left it in the dock it was charging at the correct speed. I was playing my Switch in dock mode while it was charging btw.

So maybe this is how you calibrate it.

My switch's fans would also go full speed but it's not doing it as well.

So give that a try. Drain the battery until it switches off then put it to charge. It may have fixed the issue for me, but I'm still testing it.

Ursn · Jun 19, 2017

I just sent my switch to Nintendo for service because my battery would drain in less than 10 minutes just sitting idle.

WaterAstro · Jun 19, 2017

It sounds like a faulty battery.

The tech that's used to detect battery charge would not work if the battery has gone bad. I'm not an expert on how batteries work, but I read up on this kind of issue a lot when my 4 year old phone would be at around 90% and shut off saying I have no battery left.

Steve McQueen · Jun 19, 2017

There is a fix for this. Had the same problem. Let's see... dunno if I'm right but I remember you should disconnect al cables ( especially the HDMI from your tv ) and then reconnect. Then you should start your Switch in safe mode and do a reboot of the system. Make sure you choose the option when you keep your savegames. Worked for me. I'll try and see if I can find the link on Nintendo

https://en-americas-support.nintendo.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/22395/p/897

flipswitch · Jun 20, 2017

Steve McQueen said:
There is a fix for this. Had the same problem. Let's see... dunno if I'm right but I remember you should disconnect al cables ( especially the HDMI from your tv ) and then reconnect. Then you should start your Switch in safe mode and do a reboot of the system. Make sure you choose the option when you keep your savegames. Worked for me. I'll try and see if I can find the link on Nintendo

https://en-americas-support.nintendo.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/22395/p/897

Well, that 'fix' I mentioned in my previous post didn't end up working after all.

I'll give this a go. Thanks!

Update: Resetting to factory settings didn't fix it

Steve McQueen · Jun 20, 2017

flipswitch said:
Well, that 'fix' I mentioned in my previous post didn't end up working after all.

I'll give this a go. Thanks!

Update: Resetting to factory settings didn't fix it

Ah that's too bad. It worked like a charm for me. Guess your battery is faulty. You made sure you unplugged the HDMI from your tv?

flipswitch · Jun 20, 2017

Steve McQueen said:
Ah that's too bad. It worked like a charm for me. Guess your battery is faulty. You made sure you unplugged the HDMI from your tv?

Yeah. Done all that. But I don't believe the battery is faulty, just that it's showing the incorrect reading because I can still get my 3hrs or so in Zelda.

The battery will drain fast but once it hits 1% it just stays there for a long time, then if I switch it off and put it on again later a different percentage will be shown ( ie: the correct one) like 10%.

But thanks for helping

.

SomewhatGroovy · Jun 20, 2017

How much battery life should we be seeing in handheld mode on average? Playing Arms, my battery seems to be draining at 1% per minute.

flipswitch · Jul 13, 2017

Article on Kotaku from Today.

https://www.kotaku.com.au/2017/07/nintendo-switch-battery-issue-may-not-be-as-bad-as-it-looks/

Part of the article, see link for more.

If your Switch battery appears to drain rapidly, it might be an issue with the battery indicator, and not your actual battery.
Since launch, some Switch owners have intermittently reported issues with the battery draining rapidly. This recent video from YouTube channel Switch Force shows a couple of egregious examples — one person's battery drains from 100 per cent to one per cent in a minute:

That looks scary, but Switch owners have reported this issue for a while, and it might not be totally catastrophic. It turns out that for some Switch users, once the battery reaches one per cent, it doesn't actually turn off. One person was able to play for an additional 30-45 minutes on one per cent battery, with his total battery life lasting three hours in handheld mode. Another person said that they'd dealt with this issue since launch. One person I spoke to, Redditor theseconddennis, also said he was able to play for a while until the battery shut off while on one per cent. Today he solved the issue by turning the battery percentage display on and off, which worked for one other person.

So, if you're watching your Switch battery drain really fast, it might not be all that bad. Most users who reported this issue were also able to get their Switches repaired or replaced by Nintendo. Still, if you're freaking out, know that you might able to solve your problem with a tried and true method: Turning it off and on again.

Read more at https://www.kotaku.com.au/2017/07/n...ot-be-as-bad-as-it-looks/#yV4kHhd3G7qRVmRh.99

Might give the bolder a try, not expecting anything though.

Nintendo still hasn't come out with an official statement or acknowledged the problem?

ZOONAMI · Jul 13, 2017

I just had a weird as fuck battery issue the last 2 days.

Wouldn't charge. Multiple resets and eventually got it to charge. Then it was draining the battery literally a percent every few seconds. Several more charges to 100% and resets and it seems to be holding a charge again. Called Nintendo and they walked through reset and unplugging according adaptor from outlet and plugging directly into switch. Didn't help. Eventually just started holding a charge again. Weird.

I actually did initiate the system without deleting save data, which did resey battery indicator setting, so maybe that was it. Hmm.

It was also seemingly sitting at 1% but I kept plugging it in thinking it would die so maybe it actually wasn't hyper draining but just giving incorrect charge amount.

Strange this is happening to multiple people at the same time all of a sudden.

flipswitch · Jul 22, 2017

Just an update. I'll just cut and paste what I wrote on the Nintendo forum.

Apologies for the double post but I have an update.

Yesterday night I played to pretty much to 0 percent, and then I put my Switch to charge over night for like 7 hours. Woke up and it was at 100% obviously, I then thought I turned it off but left it in sleep mode but not charging.

A couple of hours later I turned it on to play and it showed 99% ( remember it was in sleep mode) I played approximately 1hr if Splatoon 2 including some multiplayer, but mostly single player, and from 99% it went to 68%. So around 30% drop in an hour which seems correct now.

I was very surprised with the new reading.

It looks like if I continued playing I would have got my 3hrs of gameplay.

So in a nutshell, try completely draining your Switch then charge it over night for at least 7 hrs. Even if it shows it's 100% still continue charging it for 7hrs.

After that play a game in portable mode for like an hour and see how much percentage has dropped.

Akoi · Jul 22, 2017

only started noticing this after the latest firmware or two, never had this issue around launch.

Hoping a firmware update will fix it, if not I will send it in before the warranty goes out. Maybe I will send in my joycons for the fix at the same time even though I dont really have issues with them.

kraspkibble · Jul 22, 2017

I had the exact same issue and nothing fixed it. Most likely a software bug that can be fixed by Nintendo. It really bugged me (heh) that I decided to just send it back for a refund. I wasn't prepared to send it to Nintendo and wait 2 weeks for them to maybe fix it and send it back especially after having just gone 2 weeks without being able to play thanks to the left joycon issue.

I miss playing Zelda and was looking forward to Mario Kart/ARMS/Splatoon. I'll probably pick a Switch up next year when they release the inevitable "New Nintendo Switch" hardware update.

flipswitch · Jul 22, 2017

Just an update from my previous post.

After what I typed I turned it on 20 minutes later and from where I left it at 65% it showed 32%

.

Very disappointed.

Akoi said:
only started noticing this after the latest firmware or two, never had this issue around launch.

Hoping a firmware update will fix it, if not I will send it in before the warranty goes out. Maybe I will send in my joycons for the fix at the same time even though I dont really have issues with them.

Aren't you concerned about losing your save game data?

Akoi · Jul 22, 2017

flipswitch said:
Aren't you concerned about losing your save game data?

Thats why I am willing to give them around a year to fix it if its a firmware then, wait last minute then jump on it.

Juraash · Jul 22, 2017

flipswitch said:
Just an update from my previous post.

After what I typed I turned it on 20 minutes later and from where I left it at 65% it showed 32% .

Very disappointed.

Aren't you concerned about losing your save game data?

So I had this problem as well. I did tons of testing with different variables, and in my
case I found that it pretty much only manifested if I turned the Switch completely off.

Only using sleep mode, it tracks battery perfectly or close enough I don't notice. I was afraid it would chew through battery while it slept, which is why I powered it off. Not sure if other folks in the thread are doing the same as me, but not powering it off solved it in my case.

Maintenance · Jul 22, 2017

Glass Shark · Jul 22, 2017

Luigiv · Jul 22, 2017

Sounds like it just needs a recalibration. Try leaving it on charge overnight, so you know it's fully charged, and then run it down to empty before charging it again. Should hopefully reset the values in the software.

Edit: Oops didn't realise this thread was old.

Pandy · Jul 22, 2017

Equanimity said:
I haven't had any issues yet. Although I would say that I do actually prefer to completely turn off my electronics when not in use.

Also don't forget that there's currently no way to completely turn off the Switch while docked.

You can power down using the power button rather than the menu when docked.

I've only done it once or twice though. My Switch has essentially been powered since launch.

flipswitch · Jul 23, 2017

Luigiv said:
Sounds like it just needs a recalibration. Try leaving it on charge overnight, so you know it's fully charged, and then run it down to empty before charging it again. Should hopefully reset the values in the software.

Edit: Oops didn't realise this thread was old.

I've been doing this the past few times and every time I get something different.

I had it charged just now at 97%, played 30 mins of Splatoon 2 MP, and it went to 73%.
Had dinner, then 30 minutes later tuned it in on and it showed 100%.

So basically the complete opposite of what happened in my previous post.

Juraash said:
So I had this problem as well. I did tons of testing with different variables, and in my
case I found that it pretty much only manifested if I turned the Switch completely off.

Only using sleep mode, it tracks battery perfectly or close enough I don't notice. I was afraid it would chew through battery while it slept, which is why I powered it off. Not sure if other folks in the thread are doing the same as me, but not powering it off solved it in my case.

I read the same thing on another forum, so I'm going to give it ago and leave it on stand by. I had it standby for many hours this morning, because while it was charging I turned it off from the power point but it just left my Switch in standby mode. In 8 hours it dropped 3 % to 97%.

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