A Life long question that has always been discussed as to how much should one charge his cell phone or laptop battery to prolong the battery life.
Charging a battery incorrectly does reduce the life of the battery, Given below are some of the facts and suggestions that will defiantly increase the battery life of you cell phone and laptops.
In order to understand it fully, let us start from the reasons that can effect the life of battery the most.
Charge Battery after every 50% Discharge: Do not wait for the battery to discharge 100% , rather it has been proven that the battery will last longer if the battery is charged after 50% discharge.
The smaller the depth of discharge, the longer the battery will last.
Do not Charge the Battery to full 100%: A battery which has been charged to 100% should be removed from the charger ASAP. with the busy life that we have, it probably might not be an easy task to wait and see the charger every 10min to make sure that the battery is charged to 100% or not. A good practice is to remove the charger once it reaches around 90%.
Though new charges are intelligent enough that they should disconnect themselves from the charging circuits and starts supplying the power directly to the laptop or cell phone. I am not sure if the cell phones are intelligent enough.
Fully Discharge the Battery once a Month: Why should you do this. well the new batteries are smart batteries and they exactly tell us how much battery life is remain and how much time will they last. Some times with frequent charging/discharging, their intelligence become less and they need to be Reset, which is possible only by discharging it to full 0%
Keep the Battery Cool: Heat is the biggest enemy of batteries, The cooler the better. For the cell phones, keeping them in pocket for long hours are never recommended. The table needs no explanation. Any temperature higher than 30°C lies in the range of higher temperature.
Try removing your cell phone from the pocket every once or twice an hour and hold them in your hand to keep them cool.
Similarly Laptops when used in bed and mostly placed over blankets, which could degrade and shorten the life of your battery much sooner than normal.
Try Using the Original Charger
Manufacturers do extensive research in designing the charger they ship with the cell phone or laptop. Using any other charger will defiantly have some voltage difference with the original once. Higher voltage chargers are never recommended for your device. though lower voltage charger may be recommended as they do not do as much damage as the higher voltage ones.
Conclusion:
Charging a battery incorrectly does reduce the life of the battery, Given below are some of the facts and suggestions that will defiantly increase the battery life of you cell phone and laptops.
In order to understand it fully, let us start from the reasons that can effect the life of battery the most.
- Temperature Conditions
- Charging Voltage at which a battery is charged(Charger)
- How frequent a battery is charged.
Charge Battery after every 50% Discharge: Do not wait for the battery to discharge 100% , rather it has been proven that the battery will last longer if the battery is charged after 50% discharge.
Do not Charge the Battery to full 100%: A battery which has been charged to 100% should be removed from the charger ASAP. with the busy life that we have, it probably might not be an easy task to wait and see the charger every 10min to make sure that the battery is charged to 100% or not. A good practice is to remove the charger once it reaches around 90%.
Though new charges are intelligent enough that they should disconnect themselves from the charging circuits and starts supplying the power directly to the laptop or cell phone. I am not sure if the cell phones are intelligent enough.
Fully Discharge the Battery once a Month: Why should you do this. well the new batteries are smart batteries and they exactly tell us how much battery life is remain and how much time will they last. Some times with frequent charging/discharging, their intelligence become less and they need to be Reset, which is possible only by discharging it to full 0%
Keep the Battery Cool: Heat is the biggest enemy of batteries, The cooler the better. For the cell phones, keeping them in pocket for long hours are never recommended. The table needs no explanation. Any temperature higher than 30°C lies in the range of higher temperature.
Similarly Laptops when used in bed and mostly placed over blankets, which could degrade and shorten the life of your battery much sooner than normal.
Try Using the Original Charger
Manufacturers do extensive research in designing the charger they ship with the cell phone or laptop. Using any other charger will defiantly have some voltage difference with the original once. Higher voltage chargers are never recommended for your device. though lower voltage charger may be recommended as they do not do as much damage as the higher voltage ones.
Conclusion:
- Never discharge Li-ion too low; try to charge more often.
- A random or partial charge is fine. Li-ion does not need a full charge.
- Avoid ultra-fast chargers.a
- If the charger allows, lower the charge voltage limit to prolong battery life.(keep the charger voltage as low as possible if your charger has this option)
- Keep the battery cool. Avoid hot cars, windowsills, blanket tops.
- High heat and full state-of-charge, not cycling, cause short battery life in laptops.
- Remove battery from laptop when used on the power grid(though impractical)
