# Is my phone dead?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-my-phone-dead/803555>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [December 4, 2017, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-my-phone-dead/803555 "2017-12-04T17:57:42Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![mixdenny](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mixdenny/32/2962_2.png) [@mixdenny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mixdenny)\
**Post date:** [December 4, 2017, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-my-phone-dead/803555/1 "2017-12-04T17:57:42Z")

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The wife bought a small ZTE smart phone from Walmart a year ago, did not like using it so just let it sit. Now I have a need for a phone just to run a single app on a WiFi network, I don’t need phone service. I tried our tablet and it works fine in this situation.

So I want to download the app on the ZTE and use it. But it won’t start. Naturally the battery is dead so I plugged in an auxiliary battery. I can tell it is charging because the meter on the aux drops fairly fast. But the phone will still not start when I hold down the power button.

Shouldn’t it be able to run on the aux? Is it just dead? I plugged it into the computer USB port thinking it might have more power for charging, and the computer wants to connect to the Internet and install something.

Dennis

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**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\
**Post date:** [December 4, 2017, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-my-phone-dead/803555/2 "2017-12-04T18:29:09Z")

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Do you have a charger you can plug into a wall outlet? The phone might not be getting enough voltage from an auxiliary battery or the computer to charge from a dead state, but an AC outlet might provide just enough _oomph_ to get it running again.

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**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\
**Post date:** [December 4, 2017, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-my-phone-dead/803555/3 "2017-12-04T20:25:15Z")

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you might want to try removing the battery (if you can) and then plugging it into a charger. It may be that the battery is totally screwed and needs replacing.

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**Author:** ![mixdenny](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mixdenny/32/2962_2.png) [@mixdenny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mixdenny)\
**Post date:** [December 4, 2017, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-my-phone-dead/803555/4 "2017-12-04T20:51:47Z")

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OK, I put it on a wall charger and after a few seconds it tripped the GFCI. Guess I need a battery.

Dennis