[xenithon]

Hi all. I have some various questions and comments across different DAP threads, but did not see a thread dedicated for the topic - so thought I would start it.

With ever increasing capabilities (and pricing) of DAPs, I am sure we'd like to prolong their lifespan. Most DAPs these days seem to come with either a Lithium Ion (Li-Ion) or Lithium Polymer (Li-Po). What are the tips you have for maintaining the health and longevity of DAP batteries?

From what I saw in the threads, some of the tips included:
- don't charge with a charge more powerful than your DAP can handle; even if the DAP is meant to have some form of intelligent charge protection in the hardware / software. For example, if your DAP only supports QC2.0, don't use a QC3.0 / QC4.0 charger.
- don't keep your DAP in charge after it is full. Typically, this means not leaving it on charge overnight so that it stays in charge for a prolonged period after it reaches full, and goes into trickle charge mode.
- quite a few posts suggested not charging the DAP to more than 90-95%. In other words, don't charge it all the way to capacity. Admittedly, I do not fully understand the rationale, but just putting down what I came across.
- don't let the battery empty (i.e., down to zero). Some suggested getting it into charge by 10%, with some even recommending 20% as the "floor" before you recharge.
- don't use the DAP while it is charging. This is understandable if used purely as a DAP; though may not always be practical / possible - for example, if being used as a USB DAC connected to a computer, one may not be able to toggle off charging.

Any other tips....feel free to add them. And if you have any differing and more educated views to the above collated list, please chime in too!

 

[Poganin]

- don't overcharge your DAP. Typically, this means not leaving it on charge overnight so that it stays in charge for a prolonged period after it reaches full.

You can't overcharge a modern Li-ion battery. Once they're full, the battery electronics go into trickle charge mode, which only keeps the battery topped up.

- quite a few posts suggested not charging the DAP to more than 90-95%. In other words, don't charge it all the way to capacity. Admittedly, I do not fully understand the rationale, but just putting down what I came across.

Laptop battery studies revealed that you will maximise battery life if you do not allow the charge to drop below a certain level and do not charge it to full. See: https://batteryuniversity.com/index.php/learn/article/how_to_prolong_lithium_based_batteries

 

[xenithon]

You can't overcharge a modern Li-ion battery. Once they're full, the battery electronics go into trickle charge mode, which only keeps the battery topped up.

Thanks, yes I think I may have misworded it. The suggestions I came across were not to keep it in charge (i.e., trickle charge) for prolonged periods. Will update the first post accordingly.

 

[xenithon]

https://batteryuniversity.com/index.php/learn/article/how_to_prolong_lithium_based_batteries

This is intriguing. One of the suggestions is that "lower charge voltages prolong battery life". This can infer that high speed / voltage can be bad for batteries...though I am not sure how old the studies cited are, and whether this takes into account rapid charging protocols such as Quick Charge? I'm optimistically assuming that those were designed to charge quickly without negatively impacting battery life.

 

[baskingshark]

Hi all. I have some various questions and comments across different DAP threads, but did not see a thread dedicated for the topic - so thought I would start it.

With ever increasing capabilities (and pricing) of DAPs, I am sure we'd like to prolong their lifespan. Most DAPs these days seem to come with either a Lithium Ion (Li-Ion) or Lithium Polymer (Li-Po). What are the tips you have for maintaining the health and longevity of DAP batteries?

From what I saw in the threads, some of the tips included:
- don't charge with a charge more powerful than your DAP can handle; even if the DAP is meant to have some form of intelligent charge protection in the hardware / software. For example, if your DAP only supports QC2.0, don't use a QC3.0 / QC4.0 charger.
- don't keep your DAP in charge after it is full. Typically, this means not leaving it on charge overnight so that it stays in charge for a prolonged period after it reaches full, and goes into trickle charge mode.
- quite a few posts suggested not charging the DAP to more than 90-95%. In other words, don't charge it all the way to capacity. Admittedly, I do not fully understand the rationale, but just putting down what I came across.
- don't let the battery empty (i.e., down to zero). Some suggested getting it into charge by 10%, with some even recommending 20% as the "floor" before you recharge.
- don't use the DAP while it is charging. This is understandable if used purely as a DAP; though may not always be practical / possible - for example, if being used as a USB DAC connected to a computer, one may not be able to toggle off charging.

Any other tips....feel free to add them. And if you have any differing and more educated views to the above collated list, please chime in too!

Thanks for this post, good query that I'm wondering about too.

I am not an expert, but I have been told by an electrical engineer that electronics hate heat. I'm not sure whether this is backed by evidence (please correct me if I'm mistaken), but he says try to keep the electronics in a cool place, and try to minimize quick charging as per your above post. He even goes so far as to get rid of stock charges to use lower powered charges to do a slow charge for his DAPs and amps.

 

[buonassi]

If you use an android DAP and wish to practice best battery hygiene check out, "Full Battery Charge Alarm" by Syrupy on the google play store.

You can set the alert to 85% (or any other value) and the screen will turn on when the battery reaches this level. Of course the DAP must be in line of sight so that you see the DAP screen light up and unplug it.

I try and keep all my L-ion batteries between 15 and 85%. I also avoid fast charge if I can because of the heat buildup. 2 amp 5 volt standard charge with a good cable and it'll be fast enough.

 

[feverfive]

Whether modern Li-ion batteries can handle it or not, bad experiences years ago with fast charging car chargers (for cell phones) taught me to avoid anything that says "fast charging." Now scram, and get off my lawn!! hahahahaha

In all seriousness, for my DAPs I also follow the general advice: keep charged between 20% and ~80% (but for sure below 90%) in regular use; do a complete run-down of the battery followed by full charge to 100% every ~60 days to calibrate the battery (not sure this is necessary, but I'll keep doing so until experts say it causes harm)

 

[Lightspeed12]

Whether modern Li-ion batteries can handle it or not, bad experiences years ago with fast charging car chargers (for cell phones) taught me to avoid anything that says "fast charging." Now scram, and get off my lawn!! hahahahaha

In all seriousness, for my DAPs I also follow the general advice: keep charged between 20% and ~80% (but for sure below 90%) in regular use; do a complete run-down of the battery followed by full charge to 100% every ~60 days to calibrate the battery (not sure this is necessary, but I'll keep doing so until experts say it causes harm)

If batteries shouldn't be charged to no more than 90% then why do they sell them at 100%