Galaxy S6 edge keeps overheating, freezing and rebooting randomly, other power issues

This #GalaxyS6 post covers some of the oft reported troubles for this phone model — water damage issues and power problems. We hope that you’ll find the solutions helpful.

If you are looking for solutions to your own #Android issue, you can contact us by using the link provided at the bottom of this page.

If you have a newer model, check out our Galaxy S23 overheating troubleshooting guide.

When describing your issue, please be as detailed as possible so we can easily pinpoint a relevant solution. If you can, kindly include the exact error messages you are getting to give us an idea where to start. If you have already tried some troubleshooting steps before emailing us, make sure to mention them so we can skip them in our answers.

Below are specific topics we’re bringing for you today:

Problem 1: Diagnosing Galaxy S6 water damage problems

I put my phone beside the sink which is dry enough so that my phone won’t be damaged. However after washing dishes I shook my hands so bad and not noticing that some of the water went through to my charger port. So I immediately wipe my phone with a dry cloth. Once I started using my phone it started vibrating and appearing the blue semi circle (it’s a sign that you just charge your phone) but not charging. So I tried charging it at first. it’s just cable charging so I was wondering why it’s not fast charging so I shook it; some liquid went out. After shaking it I tried charging it again but it’s not recognizing the charger anymore but once you move the charger it charges. However after few seconds it turns off but when I remove it and turn on the phone it goes back to normal. When I tried charging it again it turns off and it charges whilst it’s turned off and suddenly its battery goes up so fast from 29 to 42 to 100. When I removed the charger it goes back to 29. What could be the damage? Is it too serious everything is normal except it’s not charging. HELP ME ON THIS PLEASE. JUST GIVE ME AN INITIAL DIAGNOSIS. — James

Solution: Hi James. We can’t possibly know the extent of water damage in your phone but based on your description, the least that you can expect is bad charging port. If there’s enough moisture that leaked inside, there’s a chance that the battery has been shorted. At most, you may be looking at a possible motherboard replacement.

If you want a more accurate diagnosis though, you want to bring your phone to a shop that handles wet electronics. The longer the battery is in contact with moisture inside, the higher the chance of your device incurring even more damage.

Since we know for a fact that your phone no longer works normally, the best course of action for you is to have it repaired. And no, there’s nothing much that you can do about fixing it unless you know how to diagnose Galaxy S6 hardware problems and more importantly,fix hardware problems.

Sure, there are lot of DIY (do-it-yourself) videos how to replace, say, the battery or charging port, but that’s just one part of hardware troubleshooting and diagnostics. Before you commit to part replacement, you still need to check if said part is actually problematic. Water damage can sometimes result to a lot of issues that it’s better to just simply replace the motherboard or even the entire phone.

If you want to do the repair yourself though, we suggest that you try to replace both the charging port and battery first. If your phone won’t charge still, that’s the time that you want to replace the motherboard.

Problem 2: Galaxy S6 edge keeps overheating, freezing and rebooting randomly

Hi. My phone Samsung S6 Edge plus (G928T) always on getting freeze when my phone is on lock screen mode. So when I press power button nothing happens (black screen freeze I think?) and my phone getting hot when it freezes.

I try to turn it on by pressing the power button but that doesn’t work. So I must press volume down and power button to restart It. And also, it suddenly restarts and shuts down. It happens 10x in one day, so I just turn it off. If I turn on a few minute or hour it will be like this. Thanks. — Wily

Solution: Hi Wily. Overheating can sometimes be a sign of a battery problem so the first troubleshooting step that we would like you to do is recalibrate the battery. At times, Android can get confused in detecting the true levels of the remaining power, which unfortunately can lead to all sorts of problems. It’s good if you can retrain it how to detect battery levels more accurately. Here’s how:

1. Use the phone by playing games or doing tasks to hasten power discharge, until the phone turns itself off.
2. Charge the phone without turning it back on.
3. Wait until the battery says it is fully charged to 100%.
4. Wait for an hour before unplugging the phone from the charger.
5. Use the phone until battery reaches 0% percent. The phone should turn off by itself.
6. Recharge the phone to 100%, wait for an hour before unplugging it again.
7. The battery should now be recalibrated. Observe how phone works.

If the phone continues to overheat and/or restart on its own, the next step is the more drastic factory reset. This is a logical follow-up step to battery calibration. If the problems remains after a factory reset, that means that you have an existing hardware problem. The issue can range from a malfunctioning battery, bad power management IC, to a general problem with the motherboard. The least that you can expect is repair to fix the battery.

We suggest that you contact Samsung so they can fix your phone. If that’s not possible, consider sending the device to a good independent service center. Keep in mind that hardware repair is a tricky business and not all repairs have a positive result. Depending on the damage in your phone, repair may be successful or not. If it’s not, you may have to eventually just replace the phone. If you send the phone to Samsung for repair and they can’t repair it successfully, they’ll eventually replace it. Replacement may or may not be free.

Problem 3: Galaxy S6 black screen issue, won’t turn on

I plugged my phone in to charge when I went to bed last night and it was around 10% battery I believe. Based on what I found when I woke up, I initially thought it may not have been plugged in well. I don’t remember if it showed a charging status or not when i plugged it in. This morning the phone will not power on at all.

I’ve plugged it in to a different charger; it gets warm like it is taking a charge, but it still won’t power on. There’s nothing on the screen, no LED light, no vibrations. I’ve tried the power and volume button reset, and still get nothing. I believe my version is Nougat. I’ve done an update overtime one is available, so which ever one is the latest edition. Thank you. — Andrew

Solution: Hi Andrew. If your phone was working normally before it stopped taking a charge and you didn’t do anything that might have caused Android to fail like flashing or rooting, it’s possible that you have a battery problem.

When a battery reaches 0%, it doesn’t really drain all power totally. There’s just enough power left to energize its circuits while waiting for the next charging session. If the next charging session takes too long, or if the battery leaks power for some reason, the remaining charge may eventually drain, leaving you with a totally dead Lithium battery. Unfortunately, there’s no way to revive it once that happens. We think this is the reason why your phone fails to turn on right now. Unlike older Galaxy S devices, your S6 comes with a non-removable battery pack so replacing the battery is not easy. If you are positive that the phone is totally dead, that is, it doesn’t ring, vibrates, or displays any LED light while charging, you should consider sending it in so a technician can check the battery.

If, on the other hand, you can get the phone to show LED light, ring, or vibrate though the screen remains black, it’s possible that you may have a screen problem. To check, try to see if you can restart the phone to alternate modes. Here’s how:

Boot in Recovery mode:

1. Charge the phone for at least 30 minutes.
2. Press and then hold the Home and Volume UP keys, then press and hold the Power key.
   When the Samsung Galaxy logo shows on the screen, release the Power key but continue holding the Home and Volume Up keys.
3. When the Android logo shows, you may release both keys and leave the phone be for about 30 to 60 seconds.
4. You can either wipe the cache partition or do a factory reset when in this mode.

Boot in Download Mode:

1. Charge the phone for at least 30 minutes.
2. Press and then hold the Home and Volume DOWN keys, then press and hold the Power key.
3. When the Samsung Galaxy logo shows on the screen, release the Power key but continue holding the Home and Volume DOWN keys.
4. Wait until the Download screen appears.
5. If you can boot the phone in download mode but not in other modes, that means that your only way out may be to flash a stock or custom firmware.
6. Use Google to look for a guide on how to do it.

Boot in safe mode:

1. Charge the phone for at least 30 minutes.
2. Press and hold the Power button.
3. Once the Samsung Galaxy logo appears, release the Power key and immediately press and hold the Volume Down button.
4. Continue holding the button until the phone finishes rebooting.
5. Once you see the text “Safe mode” at the bottom left corner of the screen, release the Volume Down button.
6. The only difference of safe mode from normal mode is that the former prevents third party apps from running. If you can boot the phone in safe mode but not in normal mode, uninstall all apps until the issue (that prevents you from booting normally) is eliminated.

Remember, if your phone won’t boot to any of the modes above, it means that your phone needs to be repaired.

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