Techie question, sort of

[drcpunk]

The woman at the Verizon store tells me (well, told me, as this was months ago) to let my cell phone run down completely, recharge it, and be careful not to overcharge it.

mnemex says this is all a myth -- that the Nokia batter I have in my phone won't get damaged from being plugged in for longer than it takes to charge it.

He has the web.

She has her experience in a Verizon store and genuinely believes what she is saying.

So, who's correct? And will the battery lose its ability to hold a charge if I don't let it run down?

Comments

[stormsweeper.livejournal.com]

It's a myth - the closest you could come is with certain kinds of NiCd batteries, which your phone isn't using. Your phone has Lithium Ion batteries which have no memory effect whatsoever. The batteries do lose capacity as they age, apart from use (see the flap over iPod battery life). If anything, completely discharging it will reduce your overall battery lifespan.

[mylescorcoran]

Go to Wikipedia! (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lithium_ion_battery)

In short, mnemex has it right. Discharge times for Li-ion or Li-polymer batteries are fairly long and can't be overcharged with your charger.

[ladymondegreen.livejournal.com]

According to my Verizon store the battery will age and hold less charge, and might become inefficient about 5 years down the road, but as they said to me then "in five years, we'll have given you a new phone".

[bigscary.livejournal.com]

Memory effect is but a memory.

[stormsweeper.livejournal.com]

Probably more like three years, but the same argument applies.

[mneme]

And even there was a myth -- the actual fact (with Nicads) was "overcharging your battery consistently may screw it up, but draining it may mitigate this damage somewhat" rather than anything resembling a true memory effect. And as mentioned, this doesn't happen with Li batteries, and the chargers are pretty smart now and won't overcharge.

[drcpunk.livejournal.com]

Thanks. So, going on the "half a tank is out of gas -- refill" is legit for cell phones, too?

Does all of this also apply to laptop batteries now? cattitude told me, years and at least one laptop ago, that if I didn't drain the laptop battery occasionally, it would get worse at holding a charge. My old laptop, as far as I can tell, can't hold a charge worth a dang. When I want to use it, I plug it in. It is over 7 years old and has Windows 98 as the OS.

[stormsweeper.livejournal.com]

Most laptop batteries are Lithium-Ion as well, except for very old ones. After 7 years, the battery will be useless. A battery still in shrinkwrap after 7 years would be useless. You might be able to buy a newly manufactured battery if it's a Thinkpad or something else that has had a pretty stable design for several years, otherwise you're going to be out of luck.

[drcpunk.livejournal.com]

The old laptop is, um, a NEC something or other, I think. I use it rarely, and just plug it in.

My current one is, mm, I think about a year old. I generally work with it plugged in, though I occasionally work with it not plugged in, then plug it in when the battery drains. Gets about 2 hours of battery life.