Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community - View Single Post - Battery life: When should I charge my cell phone?

Martian · 04-12-2006, 12:31 AM

In the olden days the when and where of battery charging was very important - and in some devices, this is still the case. Cell phones, however, now use L-Ion batteries pretty much universally. L-Ion is good for that application, because of their charge characteristics.

NiCad (and to a lesser extent, NiMH) batteries suffer from a memory effect - essentially, this means that if you recharge the phone before the battery is fully drained, it will decrease the life much more quickly. NiCad is also prone to damage from overcharging. These are the finicky batteries that you have to charge properly.

L-Ion is different. There is no memory effect. An overcharged L-Ion battery doesn't happen either, but for a different reason; while the nature of the chemicals in a L-Ion battery is such that they don't have a charge memory, it's also formulated in such a way that the batteries will explode if overcharged. L-Ion batteries contain a failsafe device to prevent overcharging because of this.

The short answer is it doesn't really matter when or how you charge your phone. Bear in mind though that rechargable batteries do have a useful life and that L-Ion batteries have a particularly short one - approximately 400 charge cycles, or roughly two years. NiCad and NiMH are cheaper and last longer (600-800 charge cycles if properly taken care of), but the disadvantages of L-Ion are outweighed by the benefits in this particular application.

So, yeah. That's the long and short of it. Any questions?

04-12-2006, 12:31 AM	#3 (permalink)
Martian Young Crumudgeon Location: Canada	In the olden days the when and where of battery charging was very important - and in some devices, this is still the case. Cell phones, however, now use L-Ion batteries pretty much universally. L-Ion is good for that application, because of their charge characteristics. NiCad (and to a lesser extent, NiMH) batteries suffer from a memory effect - essentially, this means that if you recharge the phone before the battery is fully drained, it will decrease the life much more quickly. NiCad is also prone to damage from overcharging. These are the finicky batteries that you have to charge properly. L-Ion is different. There is no memory effect. An overcharged L-Ion battery doesn't happen either, but for a different reason; while the nature of the chemicals in a L-Ion battery is such that they don't have a charge memory, it's also formulated in such a way that the batteries will explode if overcharged. L-Ion batteries contain a failsafe device to prevent overcharging because of this. The short answer is it doesn't really matter when or how you charge your phone. Bear in mind though that rechargable batteries do have a useful life and that L-Ion batteries have a particularly short one - approximately 400 charge cycles, or roughly two years. NiCad and NiMH are cheaper and last longer (600-800 charge cycles if properly taken care of), but the disadvantages of L-Ion are outweighed by the benefits in this particular application. So, yeah. That's the long and short of it. Any questions? __________________ I wake up in the morning more tired than before I slept I get through cryin' and I'm sadder than before I wept I get through thinkin' now, and the thoughts have left my head I get through speakin' and I can't remember, not a word that I said - Ben Harper, Show Me A Little Shame