Sony-Ericsson K700, K500 Service Manual

RSI: K700,
K500 Alien
battery or
Capacity
problem

Background:
There have been some cases where the phone experiences short
standby time or / and the message "Charging, Alien battery" is
displayed

Description:
This can be caused by the conductive gasket on the camera flex
film short circuiting the three test points close to the battery
connector (see below picture).
The three test points are directly connected to the corresponding
battery pole, the centre one being the BDATA node.
If the BDATA node is shorted to GND, the phone will interpret
the inserted battery as "Alien".

If the plus pole of the battery gets shorted by the conductive
gasket, it shows as a discharge current of some 100 mA at all
time, resulting in extremely short stand by time and a need to
always charge the battery.

This problem has been identified and counter measures have
been taken in production by placing a protective cover tape over
the three test points, both on the K700 and the K500 families of
phones.

The working instruction for K700 / K500, will be updated
accordingly. However, for returns from the field concerning the
same issues, pls use a small piece of isolating tape and place it
just over the three test points. Note to ONLY cover the three
test point with the cover tape and no other gold plated surfaces
of the PCB.