Memory Effect - Mobile Battery

Oliet_No1

Oliet_No1

Oliet_No1

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Have a new N95 8gb and was wondering if charging every night will limit the battery's usueable power after a time?

Usually charge on the last 3-4 bars, as apparently they are the quickest to go?
 
All lithium technology based batteries have absolutely no memory effect.

They should be kept topped up, running the battery flat is never recommended. However, running down to about 10% once a month will help keep the internal battery meter calibrated.

If being left for a long time without being used, charge the battery to 100% and then run it down to around 40%, and store it at 40%.

So in fact, you should charge it every night.

Jon
 
Well that's news to me. Thanks

When you get a new phone now it's partially charged already and they normally advise you to run it down all the way before charging it don't they?
Is that correct?
 
Hen_Dawg said:
Well that's news to me. Thanks

When you get a new phone now it's partially charged already and they normally advise you to run it down all the way before charging it don't they?
Is that correct?
Click to expand...

Nope, not true. Along with the mythical give it a long intial overnight charge.
Just plug in and charge it when ever you need to really. Oddly enough 80% of the charge will occure in the first our or so. The final 20% takes a lot longer.
 
It's pretty impossible to run them flat and thus cause damage, as they have voltage protection built in, you would have to completely discharge it (hits low voltage protection) then leave it uncharged for months so it self-discharges below ~2.6v.

My P1i runs dead all the time and the battery still holds charge without any problems.
 
Agreed, the self protection built into newer batteries should prevent the cell becoming completely discharged and thus unable to be recharged. But it is generally stated as good practise to not run them down completely; and it is definitely not necessary.

As far as the "mythical 16 hour charge" goes, there have been several discussions. My view on the matter after playing around with Lithium technology batteries is the following:

The 16 hour charge is not necessary in that the battery must be held charged for 16 hours, as was the case with Nickel technology batteries. However, it can be useful. As the battery charges for the first few times its resistance is slightly lower, and the battery can "peak" slightly too early. At this point, the charger will switch off. During the next few minutes the battery will discharge to maybe around 90-95%. As soon as it does, the charger will kick in again until the battery reaches 100%. This will continue until the battery really does reach 100% charge. This is when the charger can be removed.

Making sure it reaches 100% for the first few charges is important in that it calibrates the internal battery meter. For the same reason, on the first 2-3 charges it is worth running the battery down to about 10%. After this, however, that is no longer required or recommended.

So whilst the full 16 hours is not required, it won't hurt, and it will ensure the battery is fully charged. Having said that, once the phone says it is fully charged, leaving it on charge for another, say, two hours will do the same job. In effect, it is a matter of giving the battery enough time to set itself up, and not switch of the power as soon as the phone says "charged" for the first time.

Jon
 
Thanks for these replies. I'm holding my new N95 8Gb which I just got today so the info has come at just the right time:)
 
GeForce said:
Agreed, the self protection built into newer batteries should prevent the cell becoming completely discharged and thus unable to be recharged. But it is generally stated as good practise to not run them down completely; and it is definitely not necessary.

As far as the "mythical 16 hour charge" goes, there have been several discussions. My view on the matter after playing around with Lithium technology batteries is the following:

The 16 hour charge is not necessary in that the battery must be held charged for 16 hours, as was the case with Nickel technology batteries. However, it can be useful. As the battery charges for the first few times its resistance is slightly lower, and the battery can "peak" slightly too early. At this point, the charger will switch off. During the next few minutes the battery will discharge to maybe around 90-95%. As soon as it does, the charger will kick in again until the battery reaches 100%. This will continue until the battery really does reach 100% charge. This is when the charger can be removed.

Making sure it reaches 100% for the first few charges is important in that it calibrates the internal battery meter. For the same reason, on the first 2-3 charges it is worth running the battery down to about 10%. After this, however, that is no longer required or recommended.

So whilst the full 16 hours is not required, it won't hurt, and it will ensure the battery is fully charged. Having said that, once the phone says it is fully charged, leaving it on charge for another, say, two hours will do the same job. In effect, it is a matter of giving the battery enough time to set itself up, and not switch of the power as soon as the phone says "charged" for the first time.

Jon
Click to expand...

interesting, thanks for the insight :)
 
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