Is it bad to completely drain the battery? - Galaxy S II Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

I've come across some people that say the GS2 battery should not be drained completely since for this type of battery it's not good.

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lckh said:
I've come across some people that say the GS2 battery should not be drained completely since for this type of battery it's not good.
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http://www.google.com/search?q=Is+it+bad+to+completely+drain+a+lithium+ion+battery?

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ctomgee said:
http://www.google.com/search?q=Is+it+bad+to+completely+drain+a+lithium+ion+battery?
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Pants - is the only way to describe that post, false info.
It does no harm at all to fully discharge, more problems are caused by giving regular, short charges, than 1 long full charge so i wouldnt believe that.
He also says to charge it 8-10 hours, that total rubbish as well, these batteries dont need 8-10 hours to prime, on average 3-4 hours for a full charge is more than adequate.
I think few year back batteries were far inferior and did indeed need longer charging periods, but not any more, and if ya flash roms a lot and need to calibrate your battery after flashing to a new custom rom indeed part of the calibration process is completely running down the battery, my s2 is well over a year old and has been drained flat many a time and i still get 14 - 20 hours out of it on average, which is damn good for any smart phone these days, That post is on a HTC Thread by the way, Htc notoriously have batteries with a crappy life span, i had a wildfire s, used to get about 6 hours out of the battery.

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I don't think that's true.
http://batteryuniversity.com/learn/article/how_to_prolong_lithium_based_batteries

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graemeg said:
ctomgee said:
http://www.google.com/search?q=Is+it+bad+to+completely+drain+a+lithium+ion+battery?
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Pants - is the only way to describe that post, false info.
It does no harm at all to fully discharge, more problems are caused by giving regular, short charges, than 1 long full charge so i wouldnt believe that.
He also says to charge it 8-10 hours, that total rubbish as well, these batteries dont need 8-10 hours to prime, on average 3-4 hours for a full charge is more than adequate.
I think few year back batteries were far inferior and did indeed need longer charging periods, but not any more, and if ya flash roms a lot and need to calibrate your battery after flashing to a new custom rom indeed part of the calibration process is completely running down the battery, my s2 is well over a year old and has been drained flat many a time and i still get 14 - 20 hours out of it on average, which is damn good for any smart phone these days, That post is on a HTC Thread by the way, Htc notoriously have batteries with a crappy life span, i had a wildfire s, used to get about 6 hours out of the battery.
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My post is full of false info? The one linking to direct Google search of the OP's question? Interesting.

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ctomgee said:
My post is full of false info? The one linking to direct Google search of the OP's question? Interesting.
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Hmmmmmm, no, you didnt start the thread, i was replying to the starter of the discussion, not yours.
More importantly, where is your link meant to point, coz from what i can see it only points to a google search and not to any specific document, unlike donalgodon who posted a very interesting and intriguing link indeed with so much info

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graemeg said:
Hmmmmmm, no, you didnt start the thread, i was replying to the starter of the discussion, not yours.
More importantly, where is your link meant to point, coz from what i can see it only points to a google search and not to any specific document, unlike donalgodon who posted a very interesting and intriguing link indeed with so much info
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Which was actually one of the results of the google search, if you bothered to look.
I was trying to impart the fact to the OP that he could easily find this info himself.
Also, if you were replying to him, then why did you quote my post, saying "Pants - is the only way to describe that post, false info"? Context is important.

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ctomgee said:
Which was actually one of the results of the google search, if you bothered to look.
I was trying to impart the fact to the OP that he could easily find this info himself.
Also, if you were replying to him, then why did you quote my post, saying "Pants - is the only way to describe that post, false info"? Context is important.
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aBSOLUTLEY, QUOTING YOURS WAS INDEED AN ERROR ON MY BEHALF, SPOSE DUE TO TIRED EYES SO APOLOGIES IF THAT CONFUSED YOU INTO THINKING I WAS MEANT TO QUOTE YOU, WAS INTENDED FOR THE ORIGINAL THREAD STARTER.
See what i mean, just realised i hit caps lock instead of shift, hmmmm, oh also yes i agree completely, google is completely the place to look so point taken, its suprising what you can ask google and still get an answer, i dont think some people realise that if they have a question in mind, then the likelihood is, someone else already asked it, yet they still dont google it, or maybe its just down to laziness that people dont goole anymore.

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graemeg said:
aBSOLUTLEY, QUOTING YOURS WAS INDEED AN ERROR ON MY BEHALF, SPOSE DUE TO TIRED EYES SO APOLOGIES IF THAT CONFUSED YOU INTO THINKING I WAS MEANT TO QUOTE YOU, WAS INTENDED FOR THE ORIGINAL THREAD STARTER.
See what i mean, just realised i hit caps lock instead of shift, hmmmm, oh also yes i agree completely, google is completely the place to look so point taken, its suprising what you can ask google and still get an answer, i dont think some people realise that if they have a question in mind, then the likelihood is, someone else already asked it, yet they still dont google it, or maybe its just down to laziness that people dont goole anymore.
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Mine was a rhetorical question, but it's all good, dude.

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Lol, short version: Depending on the battery type you will want to drain it completely before charging or never drain it completely. Let it charge fully overnight or it only needs a few hours.
Seriously, do some reasearch on batteries. Figure out what types there are, how they are different, and what makes them different. each has advantages and disadvantages.
Every battery type is a little different. For our phones will be different than for your rechargable nicad batteries at home, or the batteries in your remote control vehicles.
Bottom line: We COULD tell you, but that would be defeating the purpose. Instead we are pointing you in the right direction to acquire the knowledge yourself. Happy hunting! let us know how it works out!

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In simple, it actually causes more harm discharging the battery to empty.
There is alot of do's and donts to preserve the battery,
Info:
The Li‑ion charger is a voltage-limiting device that is similar to the lead acid system. The difference lies in a higher voltage per cell, tighter voltage tolerance and the absence of trickle or float charge at full charge. While lead acid offers some flexibility in terms of voltage cut‑off, manufacturers of Li‑ion cells are very strict on the correct setting because Li-ion cannot accept overcharge. The so-called miracle charger that promises to prolong battery life and methods that pump extra capacity into the cell do not exist here. Li-ion is a “clean” system and only takes what it can absorb. Anything extra causes stress.
Most cells charge to 4.20V/cell with a tolerance of +/–50mV/cell. Higher voltages could increase the capacity, but the resulting cell oxidation would reduce service life. More important is the safety concern if charging beyond 4.20V/cell. Figure
Discharging:
Li-ion should never be discharged too low, and there are several safeguards to prevent this from happening. The equipment cuts off when the battery discharges to about 3.0V/cell, stopping the current flow. If the discharge continues to about 2.70V/cell or lower, the battery’s protection circuit puts the battery into a sleep mode. This renders the pack unserviceable and a recharge with most chargers is not possible. To prevent a battery from falling asleep, apply a partial charge before a long storage period.
Battery manufacturers ship batteries with a 40 percent charge. The low charge state reduces aging-related stress while allowing some self-discharge during storage. To minimize the current flow for the protection circuit before the battery is sold, advanced Li-ion packs feature a sleep mode that disables the protection circuit until activated by a brief charge or discharge. Once engaged, the battery remains operational and the on state can no longer be switched back to the standby mode.
Do not recharge lithium-ion if a cell has stayed at or below 1.5V for more than a week. Copper shunts may have formed inside the cells that can lead to a partial or total electrical short. If recharged, the cells might become unstable, causing excessive heat or showing other anomalies. Li-ion packs that have been under stress are more sensitive to mechanical abuse, such as vibration, dropping and exposure to heat.
And may i point out, this is a community, People ask questions and peoples feedback, the web is not always correct and nor is the information you find.
It takes more effort to argue with someone and to point someone in the right direction, instead of just answering there question.
We have all been New here once before.

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dave7802 said:
In simple, it actually causes more harm discharging the battery to empty.
There is alot of do's and donts to preserve the battery,
Info:
The Li‑ion charger is a voltage-limiting device that is similar to the lead acid system. The difference lies in a higher voltage per cell, tighter voltage tolerance and the absence of trickle or float charge at full charge. While lead acid offers some flexibility in terms of voltage cut‑off, manufacturers of Li‑ion cells are very strict on the correct setting because Li-ion cannot accept overcharge. The so-called miracle charger that promises to prolong battery life and methods that pump extra capacity into the cell do not exist here. Li-ion is a “clean” system and only takes what it can absorb. Anything extra causes stress.
Most cells charge to 4.20V/cell with a tolerance of +/–50mV/cell. Higher voltages could increase the capacity, but the resulting cell oxidation would reduce service life. More important is the safety concern if charging beyond 4.20V/cell. Figure
Discharging:
Li-ion should never be discharged too low, and there are several safeguards to prevent this from happening. The equipment cuts off when the battery discharges to about 3.0V/cell, stopping the current flow. If the discharge continues to about 2.70V/cell or lower, the battery’s protection circuit puts the battery into a sleep mode. This renders the pack unserviceable and a recharge with most chargers is not possible. To prevent a battery from falling asleep, apply a partial charge before a long storage period.
Battery manufacturers ship batteries with a 40 percent charge. The low charge state reduces aging-related stress while allowing some self-discharge during storage. To minimize the current flow for the protection circuit before the battery is sold, advanced Li-ion packs feature a sleep mode that disables the protection circuit until activated by a brief charge or discharge. Once engaged, the battery remains operational and the on state can no longer be switched back to the standby mode.
Do not recharge lithium-ion if a cell has stayed at or below 1.5V for more than a week. Copper shunts may have formed inside the cells that can lead to a partial or total electrical short. If recharged, the cells might become unstable, causing excessive heat or showing other anomalies. Li-ion packs that have been under stress are more sensitive to mechanical abuse, such as vibration, dropping and exposure to heat.
And may i point out, this is a community, People ask questions and peoples feedback, the web is not always correct and nor is the information you find.
It takes more effort to argue with someone and to point someone in the right direction, instead of just answering there question.
We have all been New here once before.
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Indeed, not everything on the web is correct.
But may I point out that all you did was copy and paste text from this page, which donalgodon linked in post 4, and again, I feel I must point out, was actually one of the results in the Google search I linked him to.
The point I was trying to make, and seems lost on you, is teaching people how to look for stuff on their own. No one should just expect to be spoon-fed information. That is lazy to just post a question on a forum, sit back, and watch the answers roll in. You should do your own legwork and research.
As the old adage states: give a man a fish, and you feed him for that day. Teach a man to fish, and he is fed forever.