N/A cell phone batteries

mattaxelrod

mattaxelrod

Pre-takeoff checklist
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Matt
I've heard a million different answers, so I thought I'd go to the real experts--

Does leaving a cell phone plugged into the charger all the time when not in use damage the battery? I thought that it turned into a trickle when fully charged, so it didn't do anything, but then I was told otherwise.

Thanks!
 
I think it depends on the type of battery. My treo POH recommends charging often.
 
mattaxelrod said:
I've heard a million different answers, so I thought I'd go to the real experts--

Does leaving a cell phone plugged into the charger all the time when not in use damage the battery? I thought that it turned into a trickle when fully charged, so it didn't do anything, but then I was told otherwise.

Thanks!
Click to expand...

Virtually all modern cellphones have "smart" charging circuits inside the phone and will not overcharge the battery. If yours is older than 5-7 years this might not be true for you. An easy way to check is to leave the charger connected with the phone turned off for about double the time it normally takes to reach full charge. If the battery is warm at the end of that long charge, the charger isn't shutting off and you might shorten the battery's life by leaving it connected.
 
lancefisher said:
Virtually all modern cellphones have "smart" charging circuits inside the phone and will not overcharge the battery. If yours is older than 5-7 years this might not be true for you. An easy way to check is to leave the charger connected with the phone turned off for about double the time it normally takes to reach full charge. If the battery is warm at the end of that long charge, the charger isn't shutting off and you might shorten the battery's life by leaving it connected.
Click to expand...

As someone who has been in the cellular industry for almost 17 years I can tell you that this statement is true for the new phones. I can also tell you that all Motorola phones have this feature.
 
I work for Cingular and i second what Scott said..

As far as charging.. Don't worry about it. Any phone that has come out in the past 3 years has a Lithium Ion battery so the old charging issues are well.... a non issue :) Charge away and don't sweat it.

No i cant fix anyones bill :D
 
Please allow me to creep into this thread... :)

As a follow up question -- I have 'heard' that charging via car charger is bad for battery life... Any truth to this? I spend much of my time in agricultural equipment in remote areas, so I am constantly bouncing from analong-digital service, which seems to eat the battery. As such, I am required to keep my phone on the car charger plugged into the cigarette lighter a lot of the time. Lately, I have noticed that the battery life on my LG VX6100 is getting worse. Is this due to car charging or just crappy battery life b/c it gets exercised so much?

I'm still under the 1-year since new time frame, so I think I can get a new battery via warranty through Verizon. Just curious..

Thanks,
Chris
 
So why don't the laptops jump into this game and use 'smart' batts? My laptop has a Li-ion but the manual says to NOT leave it plugged into the charger. Doing so will overheat the batt and greatly shorten it's life.
 
CJones said:
Please allow me to creep into this thread... :)

As a follow up question -- I have 'heard' that charging via car charger is bad for battery life... Any truth to this? I spend much of my time in agricultural equipment in remote areas, so I am constantly bouncing from analong-digital service, which seems to eat the battery. As such, I am required to keep my phone on the car charger plugged into the cigarette lighter a lot of the time. Lately, I have noticed that the battery life on my LG VX6100 is getting worse. Is this due to car charging or just crappy battery life b/c it gets exercised so much?

I'm still under the 1-year since new time frame, so I think I can get a new battery via warranty through Verizon. Just curious..

Thanks,
Chris
Click to expand...

For one sounds like you have Verizon.. congrats.. great service.

Car chargers aka rapid chargers do charge your battery quicker and yes if that is your primary way of charging i would stop that. I put my phone on my house charger every night and if i ever forget (for a couple days in a row) i will use my car charger. Rapid chargers can put more wear on a batter in short.

As far as when you hit Analog towers. Put it this way, in digital your talk time is prob 3-4 hours.. in Analog 30 min IF that. It takes A LOT more power since the phone does most the work simply put. That is normal, so you really cant expect good battery in analog areas.

GSM service as opposed to CDMA gets much better battery life but CDMA is a Superior technology so its a trade off, but thats a whole other topic.
 
Richard said:
So why don't the laptops jump into this game and use 'smart' batts? My laptop has a Li-ion but the manual says to NOT leave it plugged into the charger. Doing so will overheat the batt and greatly shorten it's life.
Click to expand...

That is odd. Li-ion is a smart battery in that it does not build up a memory. OTOH, laptops and cellphones have it built in them to shut off charging once the battery is full. Overheating should not be a problem unless the battery is faulty. I leave my Acer laptop on the charger 24/7 and dont have any problems.
 
Darrell111 said:
Car chargers aka rapid chargers do charge your battery quicker and yes if that is your primary way of charging i would stop that. I put my phone on my house charger every night and if i ever forget (for a couple days in a row) i will use my car charger. Rapid chargers can put more wear on a batter in short.
Click to expand...
Get an inverter to plug into the car outlet and use your regular house charger in the car. I do this and the battery has been outlasting the phone. Plus you can use other household things in the car, such as laptops and TVs.
 
Ken Ibold said:
Get an inverter to plug into the car outlet and use your regular house charger in the car. I do this and the battery has been outlasting the phone. Plus you can use other household things in the car, such as laptops and TVs.
Click to expand...

Very nifty! :D

That would work just great
 
Ken Ibold said:
Get an inverter to plug into the car outlet and use your regular house charger in the car. I do this and the battery has been outlasting the phone. Plus you can use other household things in the car, such as laptops and TVs.
Click to expand...

I have a 300 watt inverter and used that the AC adapter with my cell phone in lieu of having a car charger.

I was off to Coscto last night to get one of these:
http://www.costco.com/Browse/Produc...=21248&Ns=P_Price|1||P_SignDesc1&Sp=C&topnav=
With that I wouldn't even need to plug in to anything. I suspect the 400watts would only last for 15 minutes on a good day, but it would still be handy in the tool kit for topping off the airplane and car tires.

I had an immediate need. The leaky tire on the car just went flat.

They don't have that one in the stores so I still gotta pay for road service.
 
Richard said:
So why don't the laptops jump into this game and use 'smart' batts? My laptop has a Li-ion but the manual says to NOT leave it plugged into the charger. Doing so will overheat the batt and greatly shorten it's life.
Click to expand...

Leaving your laptop plugged in won't overcharge or otherwise harm the battery, the warning label is simply wrong. You can overheat a battery if you charge it while the laptop is sitting on something soft, especially if the room is hot. Even then, there is a thermostat inside the battery to cut off the charging current if the temp goes too high.
 
lancefisher said:
Leaving your laptop plugged in won't overcharge or otherwise harm the battery, the warning label is simply wrong. You can overheat a battery if you charge it while the laptop is sitting on something soft, especially if the room is hot. Even then, there is a thermostat inside the battery to cut off the charging current if the temp goes too high.
Click to expand...

I suspect they put that statement to try to cover their ass if their batteries fail. Or if some stupid consumer buys some $10 battery from a guy in a white van on a street corner and leaves it plugged in for six months.
 
smigaldi said:
Nope.
Click to expand...

If the phone is recent (<3-5 yrs old) Scott's right. The wall wart and the car cord provide a constant voltage to the phone and the charging current is regulated by the phone itself. Therefore either "charger" will have the exact same effect on the battery. Older phones used transformer based AC adapters with very limited current output and that meant a slower charge. The newer ones use a switching supply that provides a lot more power in the same or smaller size. You can identify the newer type adapter by the input voltage range. If it's a small range (EG:110-125vac) it's transformer based and likely limited current. The switchers will run from 100-250vac). Whether or not that would affect battery life depends on the battery.
 
jangell said:
I suspect they put that statement to try to cover their ass if their batteries fail. Or if some stupid consumer buys some $10 battery from a guy in a white van on a street corner and leaves it plugged in for six months.
Click to expand...
Or they have a Dell computer....

-Skip
 
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