How to properly charge and prolong the life of Lithium batteries - Page 2 - Head-Fi: Covering Headphones, Earphones and Portable Audio

Guust-Fi · 02-07-2005, 01:04 PM

Originally Posted by eCs_LCS

I have a question. You know how it says to like fully discharge every 30 or so times. Would that be just waiting till the player dies by itself. Or after it dies turn it back on and wait till it dies again, etc.?

This only account for Lithium-ion batteries with an online fuel gauge (eg laptops) I believe this is a built-in system in the battery with led's that indicate its level of charge.
The tabel in the end says there is no additional maintainance needed. Li-Ion batteries should not be discharged completly once in a while, shallow discharges are best.

For NiMH batteries: "Discharge to 1V/cell every 3 months to prevent memory."
I believe that would be untill the device shuts down.

eCs_LCS · 02-07-2005, 11:28 PM

So like with the Creative Zen Micro, you should never discharge completely?

Guust-Fi · 02-08-2005, 07:39 AM

To keep the battery indicator working correctly, you should do a complete discharge/charge about every 3 months or so.

paradio · 04-28-2005, 07:02 AM

BTW, I also have a question, and look forward to some comments:

When I use 1hr fast charger to charge the AA NiMH batters, I found a strange problem ( all devices are new):
each time I put batteries to charger ( batteries were empty/disacharge enough)
the charger will indicate "end of charge" after 5 or 10 minutes.
Then I switched off charger and turned on again, I will face another round of this phenomenon.
After 3 or 4 rounds, everything goes well ( will end of charge around 1 hr).

The batteries I used are Sanyo 1800mA (total 8 pieces have the same issue)
When I use another AA NiMH from Hitachi 1500mA, no such problem.
All above batteries were bought from Singapore.

Who has any good comments?

kravenz · 06-18-2005, 06:36 AM

Hi

So.....Does the SONY NW-HD3 mp3 player have fuel gauge (laptops) battery ?

Should I discharge completely the battery once a month?

Thaks

Regards

Kravenz

slowbiz · 06-23-2005, 08:50 PM

When charging a battery, do you need to give it a full charge?

busky2k · 07-01-2005, 05:41 AM

I'd give the laptop battery a full charge. However if you use it as a desktop (plugged into the AC all the time), I'd actually remove the battery. This is because the heat from the laptop makes its way into the battery, which shortens its life slowly. Alternatively, if you use it as a desktop for weeks or more, i'd drain the battery to 40% and then remove it.

m3rs4 · 07-04-2005, 01:19 AM

Originally Posted by busky2k

I'd give the laptop battery a full charge. However if you use it as a desktop (plugged into the AC all the time), I'd actually remove the battery. This is because the heat from the laptop makes its way into the battery, which shortens its life slowly. Alternatively, if you use it as a desktop for weeks or more, i'd drain the battery to 40% and then remove it.

no offence but I would strongly advice against this practice. I have seen the charging circuitry?(or the battery?) dies on notebook whose owner insists of "removing the battery whien connected to the AC power". In 2005, the costs of a Li-Ion notebook batt is about US$100 bux. Is it really worth the hassle of removing / installing the battery frequently? Besides, the cost of replacing the motherboard is more expensive than the battery itself.

Sometimes BAttery will act as an super big capacitor for some electronics device. for example, your car 12V battery acts as a large capacitor to filter out voltage current spike when your motor is running. You can disconnect the 12V battery and the motor still runs fine. However, it may also fry the car's CPU.

My advice use your electronic device in a normal and convenience way you feel more comfortable until the day it calls it in.

Again, YMMV. :lambda:

busky2k · 09-09-2005, 03:11 AM

m3rs4, I respect your opinion. What I meant to come across is situations where a laptop is really a desktop replacement that sees little or no portable use (ie always on AC power). I too would not advise someone to remove it frequently.

Also the myth about the battery regulating the laptops power supply is well and truely old. Maybe in old skool laptops yeah.

Chri5peed · 10-04-2005, 12:04 PM

I knew most of that being an electrician, but certainly very handy. Proper care for my Zen Touch battery has meant its kept its capacity for nearly a year, it nearly lasted all the time I was away on vacation last week, well over 20 hours.

Also its important to know that Li-Ion batteries charge at 4.2Volts per cell and USB2 ports run at 5Volts. So in fact DAPs which charge through the USB port are getting the same level of charge as using the mains.

Also, I didn't know, but USB2 ports stay energised as long as your PC is plugged in, but it doesn't need to be turned on. Li-Ion batteries can't be overcharged so its okay to leave your DAP connected to the USB constantly.