[Q] Battery lingo - One (M7) Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

In the process of charging my One for the first time. Read a little about how with new Li-ion batteries, you don't want it to go dead.
Now, this may be a matter of semantics, but if I let the battery run down the first time and the phone turned off, is that technically a "dead" battery? I would bet that if I tried to turn the phone on again, I probably could and there would be some residual charge left.
I'm charging the phone right now until full (with it off). Has anyone seen a 4+ hour charge time with the phone off?
ps. I'm charging it off b/c I have another phone I can use in the meantime.
Thanks.

Just don't try to over-empty the battery or leave it empty for days.

Yeah, the phone takes eons to charge. Make sure you're using the AC adapter to charge or it will take even longer.
Sent from my HTC One

A lot of the information out there for how to care for batteries is old or just plain wrong. It is hard to figure out what to listen to, but I was researching exactly what I should do to care for my battery last week and the conclusion I came to was:
It is good to run the battery down to 0 about once a month.
The battery will last longer if the temperature is kept lower, both for daily use and for the potential lifespan of the battery.
Batteries have a certain number of charge cycles, and one full discharge and recharge is one full cycle.
You are prevented from reaching dead 0 on a battery as a safety measure.
You are prevented from overcharging the batter as a safety measure.
If you wont use your phone for a long period of time, don't store it with no battery or a full battery.
The best way to treat your battery is use it, and charge it whenever you need to.
Hope some of that helps.

Related

battery lifetime extender tool

Hi there,
I was wondering if there exists any tool to prolong the liftime of the battery.
In energy settings you can specify that the battery isn't charged when the device connected by USB.
Wouldn't it be good to have a tool running in the background that checks battery status from time to time?
It should turn off charging until the charge level drops below a configurable percentage (e.g. 20%). Then the battery gets recharged again until full.
Should prolong battery lifetime.
Only Question is, when connected to usb and battery charging is turned off, is the device still powered by the USB port or is the battery used.
So, have you heared of such a tool?
Nice love the idea saves havin to leave phone on charge over night screwwing battery hopefully some 1 will know/be smart enugh to creat 1
But actually, Lithium polymer and LiOH batteries in fact do best with more frequent charges. Deep cycling a Lithium battery will kill it far faster then many partial discharge/charge cycles (deep cycle it once too far, and it'll be toast anyway - hence the smart circuitry that shuts it down before it fully discharges). Similarly, not using a Li battery is not great for it either - they do best with regular use. So my practice is to always charge whenever it's convenient, regardless of the battery's charge state, and to leave my Tilt on 24/7. I've found over the years that my various Li batteries (cell phone, laptops, etc) retain greater charge capacity for longer that way, then either not using regularly or not charging them frequently.
And a Li battery has a finite lifespan anyway - just sitting unused at optimal conditions on a shelf, and it will be toast in about 4-7 years (typically) from internal self-oxidation. That's why when buying replacements, you always want factory new, not warehouse stored
I've always been thinking that Li-ion batteries wear with every charge cycle. Yes, deep cycle is deadly to battery life.
With Li-ion I've made a different experience: My laptop at home is usually operated without its battery. It's five years old and the battery is still in good shape / about 66% of its original capacity.
My laptop at work is three years old, battery is always installed, has got its second battery one year ago, because the first one was worn out.
Of course, this is not a sample quantity to be statistically relevant but a single experience.
Anyway, if you use the ernergys panel option not to charge the battery on USB connect and have the device connected to usb, the battery gets discharged if you have the Kaiser turned on, so the idea wouldn't work.
dont torture that battery!
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=351610&highlight=batt
I've always said this simple statement about LiIon: Charge early and often.
Do you need to plug the phone in every time you get off a call? No. Do you need to worry about it dropping below 80%? No. Just charge as often as is convenient. Sitting at a desk for a hour working on something? Charge. Driving for more than 15m? Charge.
I think if you obsess too much you might wind up with USB connector problems from all the cycles on the connector itself, but intelligent use of the above statement should get you the most out of your battery.
(Figure I'll do a small cross-post here as I replied to the wrong topic a minute ago)
i charge each night
doing so more often would not have too much of an effect if you ask me

[Q] Battery format ?

I just got a brand new SGS, and one question puzzles me. On the old phones, you would need to format the battery. Is this still needed ?
we have mixed opinions in this forum.
personally i don't really care which one is truth, because i cycle through 3 ~ 5 battery packs
and i use them all until they are dry (when the phone POP up and warns you 10% left)
Li-Ion battery does not suffer the same problem as the old nickel-metal hydride and nickel-cadmium (the old ones requires training)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lithium-ion_battery
however there are members of this board that believes Li-Ion & Li-Po batteries still requires to be trained
The only truth behind either case, is that the more you leave the USB connected to the phone
the more your battery will get WASTED, that reduces the life cycle of your battery
it can easily be proven, if you leave a phone connected all the time to a power source, and you disconect it after a few months
the life of the battery gets shortened due it's contant charge & recharge cycles
that's why Android OS put a cap on battery full dectection, so that when the battery is fully charge, it WARNS you to disconect the phone, to prevent battery damage.
Android OS actually regulates the battery charge, by stooping further charges until it detects it's less than 99%, the only problem with this is that if your phone is dead (bricked) it will not charge the battery even if you leave it plugged as the OS is not running.
that's why using a wall charger to charge the phone is better
i'm using this kit here
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=733705
Thanks for the detailed reply.
One more thing to add. A battery can be formed, not formated.
Got it. Thanks.

Charging NC for longest battery lifetime

( meaning how many months before the battery loses storage capability, as opposed to "battery life" - how many hours until you run out of juice )
There are a lot of battery/charger threads, and some bright person actually looked up the TI charger circuit documentation, but I don't see anyone who has looked up what a li-ion battery needs to have a long lifetime.
So, I found information at:
http://batteryuniversity.com/learn/article/charging_lithium_ion_batteries
Interesting tidbits:
- Charging to 100% means that you can use the device longer the next day, but is not necessarily best for the battery itself. Frequent partial charges are just fine, and are actually better for the battery.
- It seems to be particularly important for Li-ion battery charging to be turned off when you get to 100%. The LED turning green in the NC cable shows that the system is taking care of this (so you can safely charge overnight without damaging the battery).
Connecting the NC to another system that does not stop applying current at 100% charged seems to definitely be a bad idea. So, don't use any system overnight, that the NC does not recognize as "charging".
This indicates that charging from a laptop USB may "work" but may be bad long-term for the battery. Here it depends on whether the TI charging circuit is sophisticated enough to adapt to the non-standard condition. Since the charging indicators do not indicate "charging" then the answer may be "no", and while you are getting the battery charged up, it may not be in the best way. (This seems to be an area for more research about the actual NC charging system.)
- The critical part is to not use a USB cable or other charging system that is not recognized by the NC, when the NC is close to 100% charge, to make sure that it doesn't overcharge the battery. As the article states:
Li-ion cannot absorb overcharge, and when fully charged the charge current must be cut off. A continuous trickle charge would cause plating of metallic lithium, and this could compromise safety. To minimize stress, keep the lithium-ion battery at the 4.20V/cell peak voltage as short a time as possible.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
- So, in summary, I think that a different brand of charger is okay as long as the NC recognizes it as "charging", and one should avoid charging in situations where you are "fooling" the NC by charging the battery when the NC is not noticing.
I honestly had no clue about this lol, thanks!
This might save a lot of headaches with "bad batteries" in the long run.
Thanks for this! Very interesting.
Well said, ADude. I'm so used to having to go onto forums and set people straight on the "myth's" of battery charging, but you hit it right on. The most important thing to remember is that overcharging drains your battery life (but most modern tech has auto off, in which it goes into a low power mode that allows for a stable current to just keep it around 99%), there is no benefit to letting your nook (or any other device) die completely before charging again, as there is not benefit to charging fully (or not charging fully) in the long run.
Thanks again!
LiIon likes being charged early and often... Don't run it down to 20-30% every time, it'll only shorten the overall battery. If it's down to 40-50% at the end of the night, put it on the charger.
Mine lasts 3 or so days before it gets near 40%.

[Q] First charge, how to do it?

Much has been said about the best way to proceed with new battery technologies, but I would like to ask how you did things when you bought your OB and charged it for the first time. Did you consume the remaining ~30% left from factory before the first charge or did you charge it regardless what was left? when you did charged it, did you wait 8hrs or more to extend battery life in the future or just waited until it said it was full?
Thanks for your help
sensei22 said:
Much has been said about the best way to proceed with new battery technologies, but I would like to ask how you did things when you bought your OB and charged it for the first time. Did you consume the remaining ~30% left from factory before the first charge or did you charge it regardless what was left? when you did charged it, did you wait 8hrs or more to extend battery life in the future or just waited until it said it was full?
Thanks for your help
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
First charge: well, you grab the usb cable. One side, the small connector you connect it to the upper side of the phone. The big usb connector, you connect it to the AC-to-USB adapter. Then, you plug in to the wall this big piece. Just kidding
If you read, you will find the experts saying that Li-ion batteries don't have memory effect and you don't need to do a first charge or full charge-discharge cycles. God forbid that I contradict them, but my experience says that the best is doing cycles from around 0% (well, below 10% you can plug it in), to 100%. Never parcial charges (for example from 65% to 100%, or from 20% to 60%), although I lately do lots of parcial charges because I can't play anymore to run out of battery.
The first remaining 30% out of the box, well although I knew I "shouldn't" use it (maybe), I just do because on the way home after picking it up, well, I want to try it! It won't hurt. Use it and when it's at 10%, charge it completely, to 100% and hang on a while before unplugging.
EDIT: no need to wait 8 hours or anything. Just 100% and some more minutes. Charger will stop letting the electricity go once the phone has said "hey, I'm fully charged". It's a environmental and energy saving thing. Completely pointless waiting hours (it won't charge).
8 hours ? Nope
Just normal charge when the battery is completely depeleted (about 5% or less)
so it i'll be replaced with the new 'ion' or something,then the longer battery life you'll get
When battery is still full or half of it's capacity (more or less), it's not recommended to charge it
Let's take an example, a half burnt tree branch, what happen to the burnt one if you keep burning the branch? Ashes
That's what i think and do
Sent from my heart into yours
Thanks for your responses guys, I want to clear out all my doubts since I want to buy this cell phone, and hopefully I can find a good price soon
Does the OB original charger prevent overcharge?
I usually leave my OB connected to charging during the night. Is it ok?
ohadz said:
Does the OB original charger prevent overcharge?
I usually leave my OB connected to charging during the night. Is it ok?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, it's okay

Phone is hot while plugged in and @ 100%

While at work, I leave my phone plugged in and charged at all times.
I don't have exact temperatures but I've noticed that it is warm the whole time. Anyone else notice this?
blazinazn said:
While at work, I leave my phone plugged in and charged at all times.
I don't have exact temperatures but I've noticed that it is warm the whole time. Anyone else notice this?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Are you using the official charger?
Some aftermarket USB C cables can damage your phone or even fry it completely.
If you are using a standard charger, I'm more inclined to say your phone is getting warm because the battery has been charging. If you have hotspot on, that can warm your phone up quite alot too... Basically the more your phone is doing the hotter it can get (Bluetooth/wifi/hotspot etc)
FYI: charging to 80/90% will make your battery last alot longer too, if you plan on keeping it a few years. Charging to 100% is the fastest way to degrade your li-ion battery.
If you are rooted you can limit your charge to 90% but depends if you don't have access to a charger all day you might need that 100%.
Hope that helps.
Demolition49 said:
Are you using the official charger?
Some aftermarket USB C cables can damage your phone or even fry it completely.
If you are using a standard charger, I'm more inclined to say your phone is getting warm because the battery has been charging. If you have hotspot on, that can warm your phone up quite alot too... Basically the more your phone is doing the hotter it can get (Bluetooth/wifi/hotspot etc)
FYI: charging to 80/90% will make your battery last alot longer too, if you plan on keeping it a few years. Charging to 100% is the fastest way to degrade your li-ion battery.
If you are rooted you can limit your charge to 90% but depends if you don't have access to a charger all day you might need that 100%.
Hope that helps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, using the official charger. I also failed to mention that I have a case on my phone. Not sure if that is contributing to it.
Is it because charging to 100% counts as a full cycle? I will admit that I'm not up to snuff on battery tech and what the best way to preserve the battery long term. From my past understanding, if you take your battery all the way down and then charge it to 100%, then that was a full cycle. More cycles = degraded battery over time.
Not sure if this still holds true for li-ion batteries today.
Edit: My thought here is to leave it on the charger whenever I can, thus minimizing the cycles I put on the battery.
blazinazn said:
While at work, I leave my phone plugged in and charged at all times.
I don't have exact temperatures but I've noticed that it is warm the whole time. Anyone else notice this?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
blazinazn said:
Yes, using the official charger. I also failed to mention that I have a case on my phone. Not sure if that is contributing to it.
Is it because charging to 100% counts as a full cycle? I will admit that I'm not up to snuff on battery tech and what the best way to preserve the battery long term. From my past understanding, if you take your battery all the way down and then charge it to 100%, then that was a full cycle. More cycles = degraded battery over time.
Not sure if this still holds true for li-ion batteries today.
Edit: My thought here is to leave it on the charger whenever I can, thus minimizing the cycles I put on the battery.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My suggestion is download accubattery, it will tell you your battery temperature and also it calculates the degredation and health of your battery. It will also explain how many cycles of wear you are adding to the phone.
Back in the old days with nickel cadimium batteries you needed to do the whole 0-100 thing, that was good for battery memory... But modern day lithium batteries actually are better being topped off and kept between 20-80% in an ideal world. So deep discharges and high % charges wear out your battery significantly faster... This is why electric cars often limit charge, by doing this they can extend the life of the battery cells quite dramatically.... but if you are upgrading yearly, don't worry about it.
Here is an article that will help you.
EDIT: try charging with and without the case and see if it gets hot, definitely cases can be an insulator. You can monitor temp in accubattery.
https://www.wired.co.uk/article/how-to-improve-battery-life-tips-myths-smartphones
The idea that there is a set number of charging cycles for a particular battery, and every time you charge the phone you use up one of those cycles regardless of how much it charges (ie a 10% charge and a 100% charge both use one charging cycle) isn't how modern cell phone batteries work.
As noted, it is best to not charge your phone to 100%, nor do you want to discharge your battery to 0%. It is best to charge it more frequently for a smaller amount of charge each time as well. So charging a phone 10% ten times is better for the better than charging the battery once for 100%.
Heat is also a huge problem with batteries and the hotter a battery gets, the shorter life expectancy it will have. So definitely look into the issue.
If rooted, there are a couple of Magisk modules that control charging. They usually will automatically pause charging if the battery gets too high of a temp. Once a preset time has passed, it will restore charging again. The idea being that the pause in charging will allow the battery temps to drop. You can also limit the battery max charge to another value other than 100% if you want. 80% max charge is suppose to be the sweet spot for battery longevity, but anything less than 100% is going to add life to your battery.
Just so you know the phone does not charge to 100% or allow you to discharge the battery completely. Your phone just shows that you are at 100% when charged as much as allowed and discharged as much as allowed when you reach 0% charge. The partial charge thing no longer has much of any effect since the phone is doing it for you already but the internet hasn't' caught up to that yet. These chargers do stop charging at full and your phone should not be warm if it's charged but unused. So... are you using while on the charger? That's not a great idea because it's going to kick it into charge over and over. The fellow above was correct about using proper cables, I'm not sure that's much of a problem anymore but there still may be some ringers on Amazon and elsewhere. You could also have something discharging the battery enough to get it to charge continuously or close enough to it to warm the phone up over time, a wake lock can do it for example. Those can keep the phone on charge enough to warm it up.
In general with charging it's going to be best to keep your charging and total cycles down because capacity loss during charging is a real issue due to physical deterioration and transfer of materials in the battery caused during the charge. You would be better served by allowing it to discharge at least somewhat and only charging as needed rather than keeping it plugged in. Since you're at work it should be fairly easy to plan your charging so that you'll be able to get through the day without the constant charge. Not saying wait until it dies and then charge, that would be inconvenient, just that you would get more life if you reduced your charge cycles.
No matter what your phone is getting warm something needs to be addressed if it's doing so when not used but plugged in. The charger should stop for long periods and the phone should be cool after the charge completes.

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