Chosen Solution
Ok, I replaced the cracked digitizer. Never removed the battery. Just the digitizer and LCD as per instruction video. It worked great and even charged to 100% after I got it done. Was using it last night and it just died. (Wasn’t even close to being low on battery) Now when plugged in, the apple screen comes on and it will even go to where I enter my passcode. The lightning bolt will be there like it’s charging but it’s at 1. Then the bolt goes away and it reboots again to the Apple screen. Cycles that way but won’t charge. Did the hard reset and tried to plug it into restore through iTunes but iTunes recognizes it for a second and then doesn’t. I’m beyond frustrated. I’ve checked the lightning port and it’s clean. I’ve tried everything I can except taking it back apart. Any suggestions?
Probably battery connection needs to be reseated, there is one screw that pushes the battery against the logic board, try loosening that screw then tighten it again and see if that helps. If the iPad’s housing is bent it can cause a bad connection between the battery and logic board. Jump to step 35 of this linked guide to see where the battery connector is located: iPad Air Wi-Fi Battery Replacement
