Develop Bugs

I just bought a few spare batteries... How to use?

Hi,
I've just purchased a couple of cheap batteries off ebay and just wondered what was the best way of using them and charging them?
I've just recently calibrated the battery on the Z the other day (and now been getting upto 22 hours on a single charge! Yay!) and wondered do I need to do the same for the batteries I just bought as they come with their own charger.
I just want to get the best out of the phone and batteries so wanted to know what's the best thing to do.
Thanks in advance,
Jason

I would run them flat (keep phone on until it dies, turn it back on, let it die, turn it on, let it die, turn it on...... until it boots no more) before charging fully/overnight.

Batteries aren't calibrated, the battery meter on the phone is calibrated (basically, so the volt meter on the phone knows what voltages correspond to "full" battery and "empty"). Li ion batteries don't need to be conditioned like the old NiCad type. Really, you don't need to do anything. Li ion batteries should be stored with about 40% charge according to the link below. They should have shipped with some charge, and hold the charge pretty well. Just check them once in a while if stored for a long time.
http://batteryuniversity.com/learn/article/how_to_prolong_lithium_based_batteries

wileykat said:
I would run them flat (keep phone on until it dies, turn it back on, let it die, turn it on, let it die, turn it on...... until it boots no more) before charging fully/overnight.
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Click to collapse
No! Do not run the batteries until empty. Running a Li ion battery empty can possibly cause it to no longer take a charge. Try not to discharge below 20%. See the link below. The proper way to calibrate the battery meter is charge to full, drain to about 20%, repeat a couple times.
http://batteryuniversity.com/learn/article/do_and_dont_battery_table
And as I've already mentioned in my previous reply, charge/drain cycles on the battery does nothing does nothing to the battery itself. Li ion batteries don't need to be (and can't be) conditioned. Charge/drain cycles only calibrate the battery meter on the phone (possibly incorrectly, if you are just going to then store that battery). So you are just wasting your time.
Also, you shouldn't store the batteries fully charged.
http://batteryuniversity.com/learn/article/how_to_prolong_lithium_based_batteries

Really?....
Links added to 'to do' list for later. Thank you pal. I really should research before taking peoples word as gospel.
Nice one.

What I've done is counter to what people always say about Lithium Ion batteries but I've had good success so I figured I'd share.
I have two batteries, one always lives in the phone and the other lives in an external charger (these can be had for as little as $5 on eBay).
Every morning I look at the phone and if the charge is <50% I pop the other battery off the charger and put it in my pocket. When the phones battery dies (may not be that day) I just swap the battery and when I get home I put the dead one on the external charger.
Periodically if I'm not in a hurry, I will even go so far as to power the phone on in recovery mode after the battery has died, it will run for a bit longer in recovery (sometimes as long as an hour) sucking a little bit more juice out of it.
I routinely get more than 2 days out of a battery charge.
I don't doubt that my method reduces the overall lifespan of my batteries but charge time is more important to me than battery lifetime and I end up picking up a new battery every 6 months ago and taking my oldest one out of service.

wileykat said:
Really?....
Links added to 'to do' list for later. Thank you pal. I really should research before taking peoples word as gospel.
Nice one.
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Click to collapse
No problem. I used to think the same, about draining the battery until the phone died, then charging to full, to calibrate the battery meter. Until Jackos over in the Rhodium forum informed me otherwise. I've also read pretty occasional posts over there (and likely other phones) by various users that discharged their battery too low, and then couldn't start their phones or charge the battery. Every phone is different, and I think a user on here said the Vision has better safety measures to prevent this. But best to play it safe. There is really no benefit to intentionally draining your battery to 0% versus 20%. Your battery meter will still be plenty accurate enough.

Ah ok thanks guys a lot of useful info here.
So to sum up:
- I can charge the batteries normally on the phone without need for calibrating either phone or battery.
And one more question:
- Are there adverse affects from charging the official battery or ebay batteries on the external charger?
Loving the Desire Z at the moment, I think I'll have one spare battery on me when at work or commuting on public transport and one in the car.
Thanks again!

BiMU said:
- Are there adverse affects from charging the official battery or ebay batteries on the external charger?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
They both charge fine either on the external charger or in the phone but in general I've had better performance with OEM batteries than with the generics, I suspect that there is a wide range or quality among generic batteries where the OEMs are more consistent.
Right now I have one OEM and one Generic, despite the Generic having a higher MAh rating and being newer in general I get more time on a charge off the OEM battery.
You can check eBay for a good deal on OEM batteries, just be sure to read the item description carefully to make sure you are getting a real OEM battery as opposed to an "OEM-type".

BiMU said:
So to sum up:
- I can charge the batteries normally on the phone without need for calibrating either phone or battery.
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Click to collapse
If you are going to be swapping batteries frequently, then I would say that there is no point in calibrating the battery meter on the phone. Its never going to be completely correct if you keep swapping the battery. If you are going to use one battery for a long time, I'd say calibrate the battery meter. There is no such thing as calibrating the battery, so obviously no on that.
BiMU said:
And one more question:
- Are there adverse affects from charging the official battery or ebay batteries on the external charger?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not sure on this, so maybe others have a better answer. But I'd say as long as the voltage is the same, it wouldn't matter if you used the phone or an external charger to charge the batteries.
From what I've read, Li ion batteries have safety circuitry to prevent over-charge, so you don't need to worry about the charger having that.

the truth about HTC extended batteries which claim same size , higher capacity

Under mango or one of the firmware updates which had been updated recently , u will see yr battery saver is fluctuating , at one time saying u have a 1 day, while another time it says u only 2 hours on a reasonably fuller charge.
there is a problem with HTC original batteries, rather i will say a safety regulation after recent incidents with battery safety
yr htc only charges up to 85% level even though the phone indicator shows 100%
when u unplug it from the charger, it immediately drains and stays at 80%.
THis is likely why the HTC phones have a shorter battery life, whether its android or windowsphone 7
this is not a defective battery, its made intentionally by HTC for 2 reasons 1) safety , 2)battery longevity ,the safety mechanism built in stops charging it to 100%, thus overcharging, overcharging means the battery is out thru stress which may pose a hazard. if a battery is fully charged to true 100 % , it poses a hazard if one of the pins in the phone connectors break. apparently this pin tells the charger or the phone not to charge anymore once reaching 100%. there is a possibility that if this pin breaks, the phone will overcharge and pose a safety hazard. So this is why HTC batteries dont charge to true 100% and this particular pin is tweaked to full charge to only 80%
wheareas, mugen batteries ect do not have this safety regulation or charging limit although they are safe to use, so they seem to last 20% more than stock HTC battery because they fully charge to 100%.
Mugen or other reputed aftermarket batteries are more likely to wear out sooner than stock batteries unless depending on the quality of the battery..
in order to get yr HTC battery to full charge it u need to bump charge it.bump charging is a technique to fully charged the battery closer to its real capacity
to bump charge
1) fully charge the battery from 20% to 100% , as indicated by the phone OS
2) turn off the charger, turn on again, u will notice the phone charges again even though its 100% full for 1/2 a minute. wait for it to fully charge
3) repeat the above step 2) for 10 times
4)use a timer plug to simplify the process. Set the timer plug to on/off every minute for 10 times. u need to get a digital timer for this purpose with mutiple timer settings

Magpir said:
yr htc only charges up to 85% level even though the phone indicator shows 100%
when u unplug it from the charger, it immediately drains and stays at 80%.
THis is likely why the HTC phones have a shorter battery life, whether its android or windowsphone 7
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Click to collapse
Interesting. I noticed this with my HTC Mozart; battery indiactor drops one bar (to 80-85%) as soon as I take it off charge. Always assumed it was a WP7 thing - like it was drawing a lot of current.
Where did you get this info from? Looks like I'll be ordering a new (non-HTC) battery asap!

If it's true i won't buy a plug timer but a new battery, not from HTC...at least i hope it's true caus my battery capacity sucks and that gives me hopes, enjoying my hd7 more than a half day without plugging it (when it's possible)...so nuff thanks for the tip.
Sent from my HD7 T9292 using XDA Windows Phone 7 App

Funny, I have always done this with every device (maybe not the x 10 repeat!). never knoew that was the reason though thanks!!

not only HTC, there are couple of other devices like samsung galaxy ect

now u know why they claim mugen and other aftermarket batteries last longer...
mugen 1500 mah battery with the same size as the stock 1230 mah batt>
thats bull..because a 1500 mah battery looks much bigger ... the samsung omnia 7 has a 1500 mah battery and its 30% larger than than the HD7 battery....

Aphasaic2002 said:
Interesting. I noticed this with my HTC Mozart; battery indiactor drops one bar (to 80-85%) as soon as I take it off charge. Always assumed it was a WP7 thing - like it was drawing a lot of current.
Where did you get this info from? Looks like I'll be ordering a new (non-HTC) battery asap!
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Click to collapse
thats because the battery stops charging once it reaches 85%
u may have heard of the HTC bump charging technique. thats what this si all about , but u need to do it everyday, so get a timer plug and leave it to do its job overnight everyday
the best is to use a digital programmable timer plug .

Ok, had a google and looks like your post is only partially true:
http://phandroid.com/2010/12/25/you...is-lying-to-you-and-its-not-such-a-bad-thing/
Appears it's an issue with all smartphones, not just HTC! Also bump-charging will dramatically reduce battery life.
As someone in the comments says; why can't the phone just stop charging and switch to running wall power once battery gets to 100%, same as laptops? I assume this is what Apple do, as the iPhone doesn't suffer from the same issue.

Interesting because I have no problems with my battery doing that running Mango beta 7712 on my HTC 7 Pro.
The moment I take my battery off once it turns green, it stays at 100% for hours if there's absolutely no activity on it.
I think it's how far you guys are draining your batteries. Ever since I've gotten my phone, only twice did I push the battery lower than 15% charge; once on accident and another to recalibrate it. After that, I never pushed it lower than 15% and made sure to only recharge it after at least a good 20% of usage (days i feared i wouldn't be near a charger and needed full charge).
Granted, I'll add that it maybe be because I swap the battery out every other night with a spare, and if I do so I make sure there's between 50-58% charge left.
No bump charging either.

ScottSUmmers said:
Interesting because I have no problems with my battery doing that running Mango beta 7712 on my HTC 7 Pro.
The moment I take my battery off once it turns green, it stays at 100% for hours if there's absolutely no activity on it.
I think it's how far you guys are draining your batteries. Ever since I've gotten my phone, only twice did I push the battery lower than 15% charge; once on accident and another to recalibrate it. After that, I never pushed it lower than 15% and made sure to only recharge it after at least a good 20% of usage (days i feared i wouldn't be near a charger and needed full charge).
Granted, I'll add that it maybe be because I swap the battery out every other night with a spare, and if I do so I make sure there's between 50-58% charge left.
No bump charging either.
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Click to collapse
yes its better to maintain 20% charge .

If u noticed the iPhone batteries wear out faster.
About year or so.

Just to confirm I have used the timer plug technique twice the last 2 days .
This is what I have
30% charge
8 hours since last charge
Moderate usage.
Somehow those who claim to use momax or mugen batteries claim to have the same results above .

the charge-controller is in the phone not the battery.

schranz01 said:
the charge-controller is in the phone not the battery.
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Click to collapse
apparently it still the battery...

up for awareness.....

My HD7 doesn't do this. Tried several times even over a 5 minute span keeping the battery indicator in view. It never dropped to 80%.
---------- Post added at 08:57 AM ---------- Previous post was at 08:54 AM ----------
Magpir said:
yes its better to maintain 20% charge .
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Click to collapse
You should not let Li-ION batteries fully discharge, ever. It's good to keep it on a charger whenever you can, than keep it off a charger and let it fully discharge. That wears the battery out.
Also, there's no risk in overcharging the battery because almost all decent phones will stop charging when the battery is full. They know when to stop charging, just like they know when to alert you that the battery is fully-charged (via a notification and/or changing the LED Notification light color).

You actually can overcharge it by exposing a fully charged battery to higher temperatures - putting the phone in direct sunlight or setting it in a car holder in the way of hot air from the heater deflector while using Satnav, for example. In order to avoid these conditions, controllers do prevent batteries from 100% charge. That being said, I don't think there's a standard for marking battery capacity, and an honest manufacturer should put real effective battery assembly capacity accounting for those limitations, not the sum of capacities of included cells. Don't think they do it really.

vangrieg said:
You actually can overcharge it by exposing a fully charged battery to higher temperatures - putting the phone in direct sunlight or setting it in a car holder in the way of hot air from the heater deflector while using Satnav, for example. In order to avoid these conditions, controllers do prevent batteries from 100% charge. That being said, I don't think there's a standard for marking battery capacity, and an honest manufacturer should put real effective battery assembly capacity accounting for those limitations, not the sum of capacities of included cells. Don't think they do it really.
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Yea, its like computer hard drives and flash cards....Formated they never will be the size your quoted or paid for.
I wish there was standards for this and it's only sold on the actuall usable space or time.

N8ter said:
Also, there's no risk in overcharging the battery because almost all decent phones will stop charging when the battery is full. They know when to stop charging, just like they know when to alert you that the battery is fully-charged (via a notification and/or changing the LED Notification light color).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's actually still not good to leave li-ion batteries plugged in when they are fully charged and stopped charging. They will suffer from capacity loss that way as well. Not to mention any heat coming off the device.

Update: i did not bump charge today..
and the old symptom returned again.. draining fast

New battery & how to condition it

I'm ordering a spare battery; what is the best way to give it it's first charge / how should I condition it?

I don't think a lithium ion battery needs to be "conditioned" since it does not have the "memory" effect. It's usually the battery stats on the phone that can mess up the reading.
I would probably just make sure it is fully charged when switching them to be more accurate. But, I'm no expert...
Vangelis13 said:
I'm ordering a spare battery; what is the best way to give it it's first charge / how should I condition it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

Thanks for the reply.
I'm fairly sure I'd read somewhere that it should be fully charged before turning on the phone for the first time & after that do a couple full cycles (full-empty-full) etc..?

Yes, a full charge before using is recommended (I've also heard to let it sit on the charger for a couple more hours after it is charged helps) and maybe a few full "cycles" after that. But, like I said, I'm no expert and I, personally, have had no issues with my battery
Vangelis13 said:
Thanks for the reply.
I'm fairly sure I'd read somewhere that it should be fully charged before turning on the phone for the first time & after that do a couple full cycles (full-empty-full) etc..?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

live4nyy said:
I don't think a lithium ion battery needs to be "conditioned" since it does not have the "memory" effect. It's usually the battery stats on the phone that can mess up the reading.
I would probably just make sure it is fully charged when switching them to be more accurate. But, I'm no expert...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
True, it's not for the battery but for the phone stats. Lithium ion batteries are fully conditioned at the factory before being sent out. It's the last step in the actual cell manufacturing process.
Yes, I work for a lithium ion battery manufacturer. We make larger cells (not the tiny ones in a phone battery) but I have contacts and friends that work for other manufacturers that do make the little ones and they're basically all the same.

i ordered too 1800mah batteries cause i couldnt find any 1950s...they both arrived dead i waited 30 mins to charge and turn the phone on, and the other one is extremely dead it shows charging for a few minutes and then the red light turns off
so far the one i charged to 100% isnt working how i would have liked it dropped to 50% within a few hours and i charged it to 100 again and it dropped to 80 very quickly im gonna let it die tonight hopefully i get them to work good

Sorry about your bad experience.
Don't know what you purchased or the vendor, but I purchased a 3200 mAh batt from Siedio and am quite happy with it. I've been using it for over a month and get heavy use of my Atrix. High quality batteries are not cheap. Don't get the $20 dollar specials. (I have no financial interest in Siedio, I'm sure there are other vendors with quality batteries).
Battery calibration has been a challenge but I think I have a solution. I'll know in a few days as I'm presently recalibrating. It would have been so much easier if Moto had added a 5 cent current sensor to the phone.

I wouldn't worry too much about conditioning it. Just use it like you regularly would any other battery. Most horrible battery life comes from the way Android handles the battery stats. In my experience, most Li-ion batteries seem to really get their most effective use cycles after about a week or 2 of consistent usage. If you're experiencing some really drastic battery drops though, that's when it may be time to recalibrate the battery stats or start questioning the rom/radio/kernel that you're using.

k0sun7eash3d said:
I wouldn't worry too much about conditioning it. Just use it like you regularly would any other battery. Most horrible battery life comes from the way Android handles the battery stats. In my experience, most Li-ion batteries seem to really get their most effective use cycles after about a week or 2 of consistent usage. If you're experiencing some really drastic battery drops though, that's when it may be time to recalibrate the battery stats or start questioning the rom/radio/kernel that you're using.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yep. However, unless you're impatient, charging it to full shouldn't do you any harm

For Lithium ion batteries, I've always put them immediately on the charger, let them go to 100%. Then unplug and let it completely die (that is, let it get so low the phone turns itself off) without pluging in. Then charge back to 100%. After that, use as normal. Doing this has gotten me long battery life, both short and long term compared to others I know who dont do that.

When I bought my phone the Bell representative said to fully charge then discharge the battery. I thought that you aren't supposed to do this though because Li-Ion batteries lose some of their maximum life when you do that. Only Ni-Cad batteries needed conditioning like that.
I could be wrong though. Would be nice to know proper procedure for this kind of thing
Sent from my MB860 using XDA App

You're right, lithium ion batteries should not be fully discharged but it does help the first time to get the battery reading accurate. After that just charge whenever. It only really becomes a problem if you let it go dead too often.
Sparx10 said:
When I bought my phone the Bell representative said to fully charge then discharge the battery. I thought that you aren't supposed to do this though because Li-Ion batteries lose some of their maximum life when you do that. Only Ni-Cad batteries needed conditioning like that.
I could be wrong though. Would be nice to know proper procedure for this kind of thing
Sent from my MB860 using XDA App
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Click to collapse

live4nyy said:
You're right, lithium ion batteries should not be fully discharged but it does help the first time to get the battery reading accurate. After that just charge whenever. It only really becomes a problem if you let it go dead too often.
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Click to collapse
+1. There's two reasons store reps tell you to discharge and charge the battery at least one complete cycle before using the phone. The first is that they're stuck in the past and think li-ion tech is the same as NiMH. The second and more sound reason is that it helps to set the battery statistics. If you're one of those people who loves to mod their phones right when they open the box, you could theoretically bypass this step by rooting and charging to 100%, and then just doing a manual battery recalibration by wiping the battery stats.

jbg1 said:
i ordered too 1800mah batteries cause i couldnt find any 1950s...they both arrived dead i waited 30 mins to charge and turn the phone on, and the other one is extremely dead it shows charging for a few minutes and then the red light turns off
so far the one i charged to 100% isnt working how i would have liked it dropped to 50% within a few hours and i charged it to 100 again and it dropped to 80 very quickly im gonna let it die tonight hopefully i get them to work good
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah - if these are the Chinese jobs that came with the charger on Ebay, I got them too. They drop REALLY fast down to 5%, then I get at least another 24 hours out of them. It's crazy. I have tried to recalibrate by removing battery stats, but these haven't gotten any more accurate in several full charge / discharge cycles.
I suppose I will use them as spares, and just understand that the meter is not accurate on them. I still get a minimum two days with these cells. Will see how long they last. With batteries, you do get what you pay for.

EVO will NOT fully charge a 3500 batt

The EVO, WILL NOT fully charge a 3500 battery without a SBC KERNEL. PERIOD!
Due to the charging algoritm that HTC uses in their Sense kernels, the charger will not stay active long enoigh to charge it 6 hours. Yes, it takes 6 hours to charge a 3500,not 2.5 hours.
If you continue to use any 3500 battery without using SBC, you will kill the battery in short order. Charging a lith ion bettrry to 80% day after day, will drastically reduce run time.
I have tested this and documented it on this site for many months.
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App

That is true because the evo wasnt made to charge the 3500 batts, but also unless you have the seidio 3500MAH battery most likely the batts arent going to last you long to begin with, because those cheap ebay ones everyone buys well lets just say you get what you pay for!

eggsack said:
The EVO, WILL NOT fully charge a 3500 battery without a SBC KERNEL. PERIOD!
Due to the charging algoritm that HTC uses in their Sense kernels, the charger will not stay active long enoigh to charge it 6 hours. Yes, it takes 6 hours to charge a 3500,not 2.5 hours.
If you continue to use any 3500 battery without using SBC, you will kill the battery in short order. Charging a lith ion bettrry to 80% day after day, will drastically reduce run time.
I have tested this and documented it on this site for many months.
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App
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Click to collapse
Could you please let me know where you are getting your data for this statement? It is patently false and, if you would like, I can provide you with the correct electrical, charging facts based on actual data, not hyperbole.
Thank you
OotR

My Evo charges my seidio 3500MAH battery just fine.
Lasts 10 hours with medium to heavy use.

Dragonfyr said:
My Evo charges my seidio 3500MAH battery just fine.
Lasts 10 hours with medium to heavy use.
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Click to collapse
Yes, it will. It would charge a 7000mAH battery if you could stuff it in your phone.
I mean... if you think that the Evo charger has a "timer" on it to only charge for x amount of time.... just read HTC instructions where it tells you to "... charge for at least 8 hours before use...". So much for the timer idea.
The charge is based on putting a set voltage into the battery at a set current. Then, when the voltage is reached and the current drops by a certain percentage, the foldback in the charge controlling chip will lower the charge voltage and the current. Some chargers, in Stage 4 of a charge will "up load" a small charge to "set" the battery based on individual cell properties. That is a way to balance the battery.
At any rate, the Evo charger ( or just about any other charger ), including a USB connection, will charge a 3500mAH battery just fine.
OOOPS.... I meant to add this, from several manufacturers data sheets on Li-ion batteries:
""It is important to note that trickle charging is not acceptable for lithium batteries" But hey.... What do the battery makers know? LOL
See ya'
OotR

OneoftheRabble said:
Yes, it will. It would charge a 7000mAH battery if you could stuff it in your phone.
I mean... if you think that the Evo charger has a "timer" on it to only charge for x amount of time.... just read HTC instructions where it tells you to "... charge for at least 8 hours before use...". So much for the timer idea.
The charge is based on putting a set voltage into the battery at a set current. Then, when the voltage is reached and the current drops by a certain percentage, the foldback in the charge controlling chip will lower the charge voltage and the current. Some chargers, in Stage 4 of a charge will "up load" a small charge to "set" the battery based on individual cell properties. That is a way to balance the battery.
At any rate, the Evo charger ( or just about any other charger ), including a USB connection, will charge a 3500mAH battery just fine.
OOOPS.... I meant to add this, from several manufacturers data sheets on Li-ion batteries:
""It is important to note that trickle charging is not acceptable for lithium batteries" But hey.... What do the battery makers know? LOL
See ya'
OotR
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I thought that post was a little fishy. I am a R/C car guy and lithium batts have been around for a while...uh they really don't have a problem with what is known as memory so even IF the battery charger cuts off after a while...and I'm pretty sure it doesn't, it would still be okay. But whatever, I mean, I could be wrong and stuff. Thanks for the clarification, BTW.
That is the problem with a lot of forums. I appreciate the fact that you substantiated your remarks with citation. Maybe the moderators should require APA guidelines for all users.

Battery life: frequent micro charges vs more spaced charges

What is best in terms of battery longevity?
1 - Wait until battery level fall below a certain level (and which % is ideal to start charging)
or
2- Charge the battery as frequently soon as possible
Thanks for any advice

Lithium batteries last longer if you do not disharge them all the way..
I don't have reference material handy. If you really want some, I will try and find some again..
But basically charge the battery whenever you can or at least do not let it go below say 20 or 25 percent if you are concerned about that. Since our devices have a replaceable battery I do not stress out over it too much. If I cut 6 months off the battery and it only lasts me a year or so, I can always just put in a new one, they are not that expensive..
Now on a device without a replaceable battery is where you really have to be concerned..

Drain till 20% then recharge it. Best way to use lithium battery.

kyokeun1234 said:
Drain till 20% then recharge it. Best way to use lithium battery.
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Click to collapse
Thank you gentlement for your advice. So far, I connect the USB cable each time I sit at the desk. Even if battery is 9x% full. I will stop doing this now.

http://batteryuniversity.com/learn/article/how_to_prolong_lithium_based_batteries
says it's best to keep the battery charged. best to keep the battery levels at 40-90%

ceejay83 said:
http://batteryuniversity.com/learn/article/how_to_prolong_lithium_based_batteries
says it's best to keep the battery charged. best to keep the battery levels at 40-90%
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Huh, I heard it was around 20%~80%...

kyokeun1234 said:
Huh, I heard it was around 20%~80%...
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Click to collapse
yea could be, just don't discharge or overcharge the battery :good:

i haven't looked into it lately. but i'm pretty sure our phones don't discharge the battery till it's technically at 0% (~3V)
i'll run my phone down tonight and check it with a mutlimeter to verify...
i wouldn't be surprised to find out the phone stops charging the battery before it's at a true 100% either. so i guess i'll check that too.

crazy talk said:
i wouldn't be surprised to find out the phone stops charging the battery before it's at a true 100% either. so i guess i'll check that too.
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Click to collapse
I was also puzzled by the warning of overcharging issue. I read somewhere that the GalNexus has an electronic which prevents overcharging. I am very interested by your verification if that is true. Because frankly, it would be very inconvenient to wake in the middle of every night to disconnect the charger.

2LoT said:
I was also puzzled by the warning of overcharging issue. I read somewhere that the GalNexus has an electronic which prevents overcharging. I am very interested by your verification if that is true. Because frankly, it would be very inconvenient to wake in the middle of every night to disconnect the charger.
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Click to collapse
there are wall chargers that have timers on them, they shut off power after a custom time

You can't overcharge a phone by leaving it plugged in all night, the charging circuit only allows it to charge to a certain point. You can overcharge a phone by plugging it in everytime it hits 90% because you're being all OCD about it. Over time that will screw up your battery

The main thing you want to avoid is heat, which will seriously degrade the life of the battery. I only charge my phone once a day(before I go to bed). I've been doing this since I got my first Android device(well, my Nexus S had to be charged like 3 times a day :| ) and have never run into any premature battery failures.

speedyink said:
You can't overcharge a phone by leaving it plugged in all night, the charging circuit only allows it to charge to a certain point. You can overcharge a phone by plugging it in everytime it hits 90% because you're being all OCD about it. Over time that will screw up your battery
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Oh that's what overcharging mean? Ok thanks.

speedyink said:
You can't overcharge a phone by leaving it plugged in all night, the charging circuit only allows it to charge to a certain point. You can overcharge a phone by plugging it in everytime it hits 90% because you're being all OCD about it. Over time that will screw up your battery
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Quite the opposite is true, regarding the second part of your reply, actually.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

Actually, it's never a bad time to charge a lithium battery because the charge you are using is always the oldest added. Consider it as a bucket with golf balls and a hole at the bottom. You load golf balls from the top and use them one at a time from the hole on the bottom.
All lithium batteries have circuitry built into them to prevent overcharging but at the same time the circuitry needs power to operate. If you drain your battery down to nothing and leave it uncharged for a long time the circuitry will drain the reserve and you will not be able to charge it at all.
Another fact about lithium batteries is that you can charge them more times than their natural life span. So as soon as a battery is manufactured it starts to go bad just sitting on a shelf. So buy them fresh. They have thousands of charge cycles and only about 2-3 years life. So even if you charge all cells inside 2-3 times daily (remember the bucket analogy) that's only about 1,000 charges in a year.
Also, you could plug your phone in and out 100 times during one day and still not complete one full charge cycle.
Conclusion ; charge it whenever you can, whenever you want. You'll need a new battery in about 2-3 years anyway in which time you'll most likely get a new phone.

Thanks obsanity. Oh wow, this is indeed even better. Thank you very much for the technical background explanation.
So as soon as a battery is manufactured it starts to go bad just sitting on a shelf.
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Are those the cheap batteries you find on eBay, the kind of $20 for 3 batteries?

2LoT said:
Thanks obsanity. Oh wow, this is indeed even better. Thank you very much for the technical background explanation.
Are those the cheap batteries you find on eBay, the kind of $20 for 3 batteries?
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the cheap ebay batteries use a cheap/inferior chemistry. they may be capable of the same Mah as stock for example when new, but i wouldn't count on it to age as well compared to OEM.

obsanity said:
Actually, it's never a bad time to charge a lithium battery because the charge you are using is always the oldest added. Consider it as a bucket with golf balls and a hole at the bottom. You load golf balls from the top and use them one at a time from the hole on the bottom.
All lithium batteries have circuitry built into them to prevent overcharging but at the same time the circuitry needs power to operate. If you drain your battery down to nothing and leave it uncharged for a long time the circuitry will drain the reserve and you will not be able to charge it at all.
Another fact about lithium batteries is that you can charge them more times than their natural life span. So as soon as a battery is manufactured it starts to go bad just sitting on a shelf. So buy them fresh. They have thousands of charge cycles and only about 2-3 years life. So even if you charge all cells inside 2-3 times daily (remember the bucket analogy) that's only about 1,000 charges in a year.
Also, you could plug your phone in and out 100 times during one day and still not complete one full charge cycle.
Conclusion ; charge it whenever you can, whenever you want. You'll need a new battery in about 2-3 years anyway in which time you'll most likely get a new phone.
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Thanks for the clarification!

2LoT said:
Are those the cheap batteries you find on eBay, the kind of $20 for 3 batteries?
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I would say they are not only old but also fake claims of capacity. It's actually hard to measure how much a battery can hold so they take advantage of it. Who's going to prove them wrong?

system shutdown occurs on the Galaxy Nexus at 3.39 volts (assumed, measured voltage with no load is 3.42)
in theory you could get a bit better battery life at the cost of cell longevity by running it down to 3.2 volts. assuming the system could continue to function.
EDIT: full system charge is 4.2 volts, as expected. i don't see a practical benefit to modifying the system to run at below 3.4 volts, even if possible.