Bad Battery Advice
Nov 27, 2022 07:03:21 #
I get daily tips from The Family Handyman. Some of their tips are ridiculous, but this one about cell phone batteries is just plain wrong.
“If you never let your battery drain fully, it will never ‘learn’ to recharge fully and will shorten the battery’s life,” says Motamedi. “It’s recommended that you let the battery drain down to 0 percent, and then refill it back up to 100 percent.”
The commonly accepted rule is to keep the battery between 20% and 80% charged. Back in the old days, it was good to let it drain completely, but that doesn't apply to modern batteries.
The daily Handyman email is basically a forum for advertising, so I don't take it too seriously, but I'm disappointed to see it giving bad advice.
“If you never let your battery drain fully, it will never ‘learn’ to recharge fully and will shorten the battery’s life,” says Motamedi. “It’s recommended that you let the battery drain down to 0 percent, and then refill it back up to 100 percent.”
The commonly accepted rule is to keep the battery between 20% and 80% charged. Back in the old days, it was good to let it drain completely, but that doesn't apply to modern batteries.
The daily Handyman email is basically a forum for advertising, so I don't take it too seriously, but I'm disappointed to see it giving bad advice.
Nov 27, 2022 08:18:06 #
He took the advice for NiCad battery which is not used for cell phone. You're right cell phones use Li-Ion which you shouldn't let it discharges completely nor charge it too full.
Nov 27, 2022 09:21:50 #
So much erroneous stuff on the internet by purported "experts".
Sadly, it is believed by so many.....
(Hits, they gotta get hits.)
Sadly, it is believed by so many.....
(Hits, they gotta get hits.)
Nov 27, 2022 11:15:13 #
Longshadow wrote:
So much erroneous stuff on the internet by purported "experts".
Sadly, it is believed by so many.....
(Hits, they gotta get hits.)
Sadly, it is believed by so many.....
(Hits, they gotta get hits.)
Yes, it's all about the hits.
Nov 27, 2022 11:49:50 #
therwol
Loc: USA
BebuLamar wrote:
You're right cell phones use Li-Ion which you shouldn't let it discharges completely nor charge it too full.
Both of my laptops have a setting that prevents the battery from charging to greater than 80% to prolong its life. I can't find such a setting on my call phones (Samsung). Regardless, I use the phone or phones during the day and charge them at night. I have better things to do than monitor the battery charge, so they're charged to 100% overnight. I've not had any problems so far if you don't count the one in an iPhone that was near exploding and popped the back off of the thing by swelling up.
Nov 27, 2022 11:56:29 #
therwol wrote:
Both of my laptops have a setting that prevents th... (show quote)
My Iphone only charge it full when it expects me to start using in the morning when I wake up. Thru the night when I plug it in it only charges almost full but not completely full. Close to the morning it completes the charge just before the time I wake up.
But any way the point is that the advice was for NiCad or NiMH which the phones don't have.
Nov 27, 2022 17:48:31 #
When someone claims to be an expert I pause and ask if they are an ex-spurt (drip previously under pressure).
Nov 27, 2022 18:34:49 #
wjones8637 wrote:
When someone claims to be an expert I pause and ask if they are an ex-spurt (drip previously under pressure).
Nov 28, 2022 05:54:26 #
therwol wrote:
Both of my laptops have a setting that prevents th... (show quote)
I thought most Li-on batteries whilst showing 0% - 100% actually restrict use to somewhere within that range (not necessarily 20-80) to prevent depletion and over charging.
Nov 28, 2022 06:54:29 #
BebuLamar wrote:
He took the advice for NiCad battery which is not used for cell phone. You're right cell phones use Li-Ion which you shouldn't let it discharges completely nor charge it too full.
Nov 28, 2022 07:52:44 #
BebuLamar wrote:
He took the advice for NiCad battery which is not used for cell phone. You're right cell phones use Li-Ion which you shouldn't let it discharges completely nor charge it too full.
I basically never let any battery get down to zero before re-charging, but I'm not going to sit there watching to stop the charge at 80-90% or whatever... If that's really a problem, the manufacturer should work that into the charger design. (They know how the batteries work.) Who knows, maybe they do, and the "100% indication" really is only 90% physically... like 100% of the "recommended charge".
Only the manufacturer knows for sure. We interpret the 100% as the most it can handle (receive).
Perception.
Nov 28, 2022 07:59:07 #
Longshadow wrote:
I basically never let any battery get down to zero... (show quote)
No you don't. Even the low battery warning is designed to not let the battery discharges too deep. The charger also taking care of cutting it out whenever it deemed good for the battery. So when I built my own battery pack the burden is on me to design and built a charger that doesn't ruin the battery.
Nov 28, 2022 08:10:04 #
BebuLamar wrote:
No you don't. Even the low battery warning is designed to not let the battery discharges too deep. The charger also taking care of cutting it out whenever it deemed good for the battery. So when I built my own battery pack the burden is on me to design and built a charger that doesn't ruin the battery.
I was going to also say that about the low end, but I wasn't 100% sure that was true in all cases.
I'd like to believe they designed the "device shutoff/depleted battery indication" the same way, before it damages the battery.
Kinda if they didn't, we'd be replacing damaged batteries left and right.....
0% and 100% are relative.....
Nov 28, 2022 09:22:26 #
jerryc41 wrote:
I get daily tips from The Family Handyman. Some o... (show quote)
Jerryc41, I also got that tip from Family Handyman, and today I was going to let the cell phone battery go to 0% on that advise. I'm glad you posted this, to correct my misguided thinking.
I use AccuBattery app (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.digibites.accubattery) on my Android cell phone, and have it set to give a jingle when the battery grows to 80% and then stop the charging. It is a must manual stop of the charge, but it would be nice if the charging automatically stopped at your set %.
Nov 28, 2022 09:40:00 #
bobbyjohn wrote:
Jerryc41, I also got that tip from Family Handyman... (show quote)
How do you know that that the manufacturer didn't already take that into consideration when they designed the charging circuitry and has the charging stop when it achieves the "recommended limit" for the battery type and does not "over charge"?
I've always been letting the chargers go to "100%", never had any problem with battery longevity.
So many "experts" out there, believed by so many people.
So, how many people are now pointing their car key fob at their forehead to get extra distance from the key fob?
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