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Updated and simplified version here : http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=3846897#post3846897
I've been around this forum for some time now and I have noticed one thing that is spelled in all sub-forums: BATTERY LIFE
So I thought of pulling some info together that is relevant to our Raphs (Li-ion batteries), taken from www.batteryuniversity.com.
Hope you find it helpful and understand better behaviour of your battery
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About the Author
Isidor Buchmann is the founder and CEO of Cadex Electronics Inc., in Vancouver BC.
Mr. Buchmann has a background in radio communications and has studied the behavior of rechargeable batteries in practical, everyday applications for two decades. Award winning author of many articles and books on batteries, Mr. Buchmann has delivered technical papers around the world.
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"If possible, do not discharge lithium-based batteries too deeply. Instead, recharge more often."
Lithium-ion is a low maintenance battery, an advantage that most other chemistries cannot claim. There is no memory and no scheduled cycling is required to prolong the battery's life. In addition, the self-discharge is less than half compared to nickel-cadmium, making lithium-ion well suited for modern fuel gauge applications.
Charging
There is only one way to charge lithium-based batteries. The so-called 'miracle chargers', which claim to restore and prolong batteries, do not exist for lithium chemistries. Neither does super-fast charging apply. Manufacturers of lithium-ion cells have very strict guidelines in charge procedures and the pack should be charged as per the manufacturers "typical" charge technique.
Lithium-ion is a very clean system and does not need priming as nickel-based batteries do. The 1st charge is no different to the 5th or the 50th charge. Stickers instructing to charge the battery for 8 hours or more for the first time may be a leftover from the nickel battery days.
Most cells are charged to 4.20 volts with a tolerance of +/?0.05V/cell. Charging only to 4.10V reduced the capacity by 10% but provides a longer service life. Newer cell are capable of delivering a good cycle count with a charge to 4.20 volts per cell.
A lithium-ion battery provides 300-500 discharge/charge cycles. The battery prefers a partial rather than a full discharge. Frequent full discharges should be avoided when possible. Instead, charge the battery more often or use a larger battery. There is no concern of memory when applying unscheduled charges.
Batteries live longer if treated in a gentle manner. High charge voltages, excessive charge rate and extreme load conditions have a negative effect on battery life. The longevity is often a direct result of the environmental stresses applied. The following guidelines suggest ways to prolong battery life.
The time at which the battery stays at 4.20/cell should be as short as possible. Prolonged high voltage promotes corrosion, especially at elevated temperatures. Spinel is less sensitive to high voltage.
The lower charge current reduces the time in which the cell resides at 4.20V. A 0.5C charge only adds marginally to the charge time over 1C because the topping charge will be shorter. A high current charge tends to push the voltage into voltage limit prematurely.
Do not discharge lithium-ion too deeply. Instead, charge it frequently. Lithium-ion does not have memory problems like nickel-cadmium batteries. No deep discharges are needed for conditioning.
Do not charge lithium-ion at or below freezing temperature. Although accepting charge, an irreversible plating of metallic lithium will occur that compromises the safety of the pack.
Not only does a lithium-ion battery live longer with a slower charge rate; moderate discharge rates also helps.
Discharge of the lithium-ion battery is 5% in the first 24 hours after charge, and then reduces to 1% to 2% per month thereafter. The safety circuit adds about 3%. High cycle count and aging have little effect on the self-discharge of lithium-based batteries.
The battery industry is making incremental capacity gains of 8-10% per year. This trend is expected to continue. This, however, is a far cry from Moore's Law that specifies a doubling of transistors on a chip every 18 to 24 months. Translating this increase to a battery would mean a doubling of capacity every two years. Instead of two years, lithium-ion has doubled its energy capacity in 10 years.
Although lithium-ion is memory-free in terms of performance deterioration, batteries with fuel gauges exhibit what engineers refer to as "digital memory". Here is the reason: Short discharges with subsequent recharges do not provide the periodic calibration needed to synchronize the fuel gauge with the battery's state-of-charge. A deliberate full discharge and recharge every 30 charges corrects this problem. Letting the battery run down to the cut-off point in the equipment will do this. If ignored, the fuel gauge will become increasingly less accurate.
Despite its overall advantages, lithium-ion has its drawbacks. It is fragile and requires a protection circuit to maintain safe operation. Built into each pack, the protection circuit limits the peak voltage of each cell during charge and prevents the cell voltage from dropping too low on discharge. In addition, the cell temperature is monitored to prevent temperature extremes. The maximum charge and discharge current on most packs are is limited to between 1C and 2C. With these precautions in place, the possibility of metallic lithium plating occurring due to overcharge is virtually eliminated.
The worst condition is keeping a fully charged battery at elevated temperatures, which is the case with running laptop batteries. If used on main power, the battery inside a laptop will only last for 12-18 months. I must hasten to explain that the pack does not die suddenly but begins with reduced run-times.
The voltage level to which the cells are charged also plays an important role to longevity. For safety reasons, most lithium-ion cannot exceed 4.20 volts per cell. While a higher voltage boosts capacity, the disadvantage is lower cycle life.
"how deep can a battery be discharged and still achieve maximum service life?" There are no definite answers. Batteries are like us humans. Suppose we ate all the vegetables our mother heaped on our plates and do our daily exercise, would we life longer? Perhaps. But by how much, no one will know. Batteries lose capacity as part of aging, cycling and exposure to heat. Nickel-cadmium also loses capacity due to lack of exercise because of memory.
Some lithium-ion batteries fail due to excessive low discharge. If discharged below 2.5 volts per cell, the internal safety circuit opens and the battery appears dead.
Aging is a concern with most lithium-ion batteries and many manufacturers remain silent about this issue. Some capacity deterioration is noticeable after one year, whether the battery is in use or not.
Lithium-ion batteries lose capacity through cell oxidation, a process that occurs naturally during use and aging. The typical life span of lithium-ion is 2-3 years under normal use. Cool storage a 40% charge minimizes aging. An aged lithium-ion cannot be restored with cycling.
Shorted Cells
Manufacturers are often unable to explain why some cells develop high electrical leakage or an electrical short while still relatively new. The suspected culprit is foreign particles that contaminate the cells during manufacturing.
Cell reversal caused by deep discharging also contributes to shorted cells.Specified to deliver 100% capacity when new, the battery should be replaced when the capacity drops to below 80% of the nominal rating.
The self-discharge on all battery chemistries increase at higher temperatures. Typically, the rate doubles with every 10°C (18°F). A noticeable energy loss occurs if a battery is left in a hot vehicle.
Premature voltage cut-off
Not all stored battery power can be fully utilized. Some equipment cuts off before the designated end-of-discharge voltage is reached and precious battery energy remains unused. Applications demanding high current bursts push the battery voltage to an early cut-off. This is especially visible on batteries with elevated internal resistance. The voltage recovers when the load is removed and the battery appears normal. Discharging such a battery on a moderate load with a battery analyzer to the respective end-of-discharge threshold will sometimes produce residual capacity readings of 30% and higher.
Counterfeit cell phone batteries (clone batteries)
In the search for low-cost battery replacements, consumers may inadvertently purchase clone cell phone batteries that do not include an approved protection circuit. Lithium-ion packs require a protection circuit to shut off the power source if the charger malfunctions and keep on charging, or if the pack is put under undue stress (electrical short). Overheating and 'venting with flame' can be the result of such strain.
Cell phone manufacturers strongly advise customers to replace the battery with an approved brand. Failing to do so may void the warranty. Counterfeit cell phone batteries have become visible since the beginning of 2003 when the world was being flooded with cheap replacement batteries from Asia.
Cell phone manufacturers act out of genuine concern for safety rather than using scare tactics to persuade customers to buy their own accessories. They do not object to third party suppliers in offering batteries and chargers as long as the products are well built, safe and functioning. The buyer can often not distinguish between an original and a counterfeit battery because the label may appear bona fide.
Caution should also be exercised in purchasing counterfeit chargers. Some units do not terminate the battery correctly and rely on the battery's internal protection circuit to cut off the power when fully charged. Precise full-charge termination and a working protection circuit are needed for the safe use of the lithium-ion battery.
A large number of lithium-ion batteries for cell phones are being discarded under the warranty return policy. Some failed batteries are sent to service centers or the manufacturer, where they are refurbished. Studies show that 80%-90% of the returned batteries can be repaired and returned to service.
© Copyright 2003 - 2005 Isidor Buchmann
Thanks, very good read.
It explains why when flashing a new ROM I felt that I needed to discharge and recharge fully the battery to have an accurate reading.
lots of dispelled rumors and myths ! thanks for the post , its really informative .
i really do hope that capacity goes up though , it would be cool to not have to charge for like 4 days or something crazy lol.
excellent read!
now if I may ask, how dense cells can be packed into a battery? this relates to the min size versus max capacity of a Li-on battery pack.
There's also an issue with the device not reading the battery accurately.
I've read somewhere that full discharge once every 3 months or so is helpful not because of the chemistry, but because how the device reads/calculates full capacity.
g2tl said:
There's also an issue with the device not reading the battery accurately.
I've read somewhere that full discharge once every 3 months or so is helpful not because of the chemistry, but because how the device reads/calculates full capacity.
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I would think that would only apply to the clone batteries.
Originally Posted by g2tl
There's also an issue with the device not reading the battery accurately.
I've read somewhere that full discharge once every 3 months or so is helpful not because of the chemistry, but because how the device reads/calculates full capacity.
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Kraize said:
I would think that would only apply to the clone batteries.
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sorry. disagree. at least from my experience, both original and 'clone' alike need full discharge every now and then.
side note: with overwhelming numbers of batteries or any other components being made in China, who would safely label one is 'original' and the other is 'clone'? God knows.
BumAround said:
sorry. disagree. at least from my experience, both original and 'clone' alike need full discharge every now and then.
side note: with overwhelming numbers of batteries or any other components being made in China, who would safely label one is 'original' and the other is 'clone'? God knows.
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10/4...if I just may quote what is written in post 1: "..A deliberate full discharge and recharge every 30 charges corrects this problem ("memory" effect). Letting the battery run down to the cut-off point in the equipment will do this. If ignored, the fuel gauge will become increasingly less accurate..."
BumAround said:
excellent read!
now if I may ask, how dense cells can be packed into a battery? this relates to the min size versus max capacity of a Li-on battery pack.
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From what I understand density is controled by proper voltage (3,7 in our case). With different type of batteries you can do "shock" therapy and temporarly overload the current of charging to reformat cells. So I guess it depends on chemical mix in your particular battery, because as we've learned those chemicals are being replaced with different ones and very often by manufaturers and to us consumers it might seem we use same batteries, but technically speaking exact same batteries bought in different places may perform differently just because of what's inside. Not speaking of aging effect which is the worst out of all batteries (process starts right after battery is manufactured and no matter if is used or not, therefore li-ion batteries are kind of like vegetables-not good if too old )
bauerpavel said:
10/4...if I just may quote what is written in post 1: "..A deliberate full discharge and recharge every 30 charges corrects this problem ("memory" effect). Letting the battery run down to the cut-off point in the equipment will do this. If ignored, the fuel gauge will become increasingly less accurate..."
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hmm, I must have skipped over that part while scrolling down.
Thx for the confirmation.
Easy way to discharge battery quickly, Flash your phone 4 or 5 times in a row, always seems to nuke my phone when testing ROMs while cooking!!
Great post
This should be made one of the stickies, not in the ROM thread though, maybe in the accessory thread?
gmgonzal said:
This should be made one of the stickies, not in the ROM thread though, maybe in the accessory thread?
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I'm planning on moving it to just "Raphael" section....as for the stickie, that's not my call
PS:Thread moved to more "appropriate" section "Raphael" rather than "ROM Development"
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=518861 ....sorry for confusion!
Admin please close this thread.
Not too fast...
B4PJS said:
Easy way to discharge battery quickly...
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The article mentioned it was wise to avoid stressful discharges as well as fast charging.
Not only does a lithium-ion battery live longer with a slower charge rate; moderate discharge rates also helps
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It makes the case for those .5 car chargers and charging from the USB port…David.
Im curious. I work for Verizon and when we sell phones we normally recommend customers to unplug there phone once it is fully charged. Im curious to know if anyone has a reference that states this whether or not this is fact or fiction. I've heard and would think that the manufacturers would prevent this from happening, but I am not sure if that is the case. Does anyone have more information regarding this charging process?
I would rather burn my phone up than deal with unplugging it after it is charged. And no, you don't have to.
Sent from my ThunderBolt using XDA App
Most batteries have built in safety measures to prevent over charging
Sent from my ADR6400L using XDA App
NavyKwonMA said:
Most batteries have built in safety measures to prevent over charging
Sent from my ADR6400L using XDA App
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This is why when you unplug it you lose 5% almost instantly. It charges to 100% then lets it die down to 95% and repeats.
Thanks for the replies. The information given was helpful. Im still curious if anyone can provide a legitimate reference to this information though. A link of some sort would be awesome.
Over in the dInc forum someone put together a big set of charts relating to how that phone charges. It's battery technology is identical to the Tbolt so I assume it would apply. In short, no, you cannot overcharge the phone. What's damaging to the phone is being left in a fully, or nearly fully charged state for extended portions of the battery's life. The ideal long-term storage charge for a Lithium polymer battery is basically the charge that it comes with from the factory.
From all that I've read....
Lithium Ion/polymer batteries have top and bottom thresholds for min and max charge. Below a point, the materials become damaged, and above a point, they become damaged as well. This is unlike a car battery where you can basically suck nearly every volt out of it then recharge it like new. A lithium battery yields only about 1/2 to 1/3 of it's total charge before it's technically "dead". And the voltage drop relative to charge state isn't linear either. Over the useful life of the battery, the voltage drop is relatively slight. Once it begins to drop off more sharply, it's displaying characteristics of being "dead". A lithium battery is assumed to be fully charged when one of 2 things happens; the temperature begins to rise under an unchanged charge input, or the voltage/resistance inside the battery begins to rise. The latter is the method HTC devices use because it largely eliminates the environmental variable of temperature which can vary wildly between a purse, a hot car, an ice arena, or an air conditioned home. Additionally, circuitry is installed on the battery itself to prevent an overcharge state and over-temperature state because these two conditions can easily cause the battery to explode. And lithium will react violently to any form of moisture.... like your skin. The internal circuitry also includes a fuse which will destroy the battery by breaking the contact the internal cells have with external circuitry in the even of moisture saturation due to the risk of thermal runaway my means of short circuit.
As users of HTC devices, or any Li-Io devices may notice, unplugging immediately after charging is complete will prevent a sudden drop off in available battery percentage. This is because the charge has stopped and will not begin again until a min threshold has been reached, usually around 95%. This isn't a flaw with the battery, phone or charger. Tiamat kernels come in forms that will prevent this, but will damage the life of the battery in doing so.
ziggy471.com has some good info on these batteries, as does the thread in the dInc forum. Not sure exactly what forum or thread over there, but a quick search should yield it.
And that's pretty much all I can tell you about lithium-polymer batteries!
brizey said:
I would rather burn my phone up than deal with unplugging it after it is charged. And no, you don't have to.
Sent from my ThunderBolt using XDA App
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I guess this would be OK if I had money to throw away. Buying batteries can get very expensive. One of my main reasons forvthinking overcharging is very possible was because I have noticed that when my phone is plugged in and I am using it, it tends to get very hot. From my understanding, while the phone is charging the current causes the batteries cells to heat up, which creates the charge. Once the battery is fully charged I assumed the cells were still being heated up which causes the higher temperature. I also assumed thatvthis could burn the cells up in the battery.
loonatik78 said:
Over in the dInc forum someone put together a big set of charts relating to how that phone charges. It's battery technology is identical to the Tbolt so I assume it would apply. In short, no, you cannot overcharge the phone. What's damaging to the phone is being left in a fully, or nearly fully charged state for extended portions of the battery's life. The ideal long-term storage charge for a Lithium polymer battery is basically the charge that it comes with from the factory.
From all that I've read....
Lithium Ion/polymer batteries have top and bottom thresholds for min and max charge. Below a point, the materials become damaged, and above a point, they become damaged as well. This is unlike a car battery where you can basically suck nearly every volt out of it then recharge it like new. A lithium battery yields only about 1/2 to 1/3 of it's total charge before it's technically "dead". And the voltage drop relative to charge state isn't linear either. Over the useful life of the battery, the voltage drop is relatively slight. Once it begins to drop off more sharply, it's displaying characteristics of being "dead". A lithium battery is assumed to be fully charged when one of 2 things happens; the temperature begins to rise under an unchanged charge input, or the voltage/resistance inside the battery begins to rise. The latter is the method HTC devices use because it largely eliminates the environmental variable of temperature which can vary wildly between a purse, a hot car, an ice arena, or an air conditioned home. Additionally, circuitry is installed on the battery itself to prevent an overcharge state and over-temperature state because these two conditions can easily cause the battery to explode. And lithium will react violently to any form of moisture.... like your skin. The internal circuitry also includes a fuse which will destroy the battery by breaking the contact the internal cells have with external circuitry in the even of moisture saturation due to the risk of thermal runaway my means of short circuit.
As users of HTC devices, or any Li-Io devices may notice, unplugging immediately after charging is complete will prevent a sudden drop off in available battery percentage. This is because the charge has stopped and will not begin again until a min threshold has been reached, usually around 95%. This isn't a flaw with the battery, phone or charger. Tiamat kernels come in forms that will prevent this, but will damage the life of the battery in doing so.
ziggy471.com has some good info on these batteries, as does the thread in the dInc forum. Not sure exactly what forum or thread over there, but a quick search should yield it.
And that's pretty much all I can tell you about lithium-polymer batteries!
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Thanks, that was very informational.
_Stomp_ said:
I guess this would be OK if I had money to throw away. Buying batteries can get very expensive. One of my main reasons forvthinking overcharging is very possible was because I have noticed that when my phone is plugged in and I am using it, it tends to get very hot. From my understanding, while the phone is charging the current causes the batteries cells to heat up, which creates the charge. Once the battery is fully charged I assumed the cells were still being heated up which causes the higher temperature. I also assumed thatvthis could burn the cells up in the battery.
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The device will switch off before damage to the battery is done. I've done it repeated with a couple phones.
Li polymer batteries generate heat as energy is puller from them at a high rate. So if you watch a movie on your phone or have some other program running for extended periods it will get hot. Also if you expose it to oxygen the polymer get high unstable and extremely hot. That's why they tell you not to puncture them. Remember kids in apocalypse time Li ion batteries make great fire starters.
Sent from my ThunderBolt using XDA Premium App
mcpo117 said:
Li polymer batteries generate heat as energy is puller from them at a high rate. So if you watch a movie on your phone or have some other program running for extended periods it will get hot. Also if you expose it to oxygen the polymer get high unstable and extremely hot. That's why they tell you not to puncture them. Remember kids in apocalypse time Li ion batteries make great fire starters.
Sent from my ThunderBolt using XDA Premium App
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So do magnesium motorcycle clutch covers!
I'm running Liquid Smooth 3.2 with Imoseyon Lean 6.2.1 kernel. I also tried to activate the speed tweaks included (?) but it didn't work so I downloaded speed tweaks 7.1 from Imoseyon's website and flashed it.
This is my problem.. I understand that with this kernel USB fast charging works unless the battery temp gets too high, then it shuts off and I assume goes back to standard charging. I've been using the kernel for about six hours and the battery temp has been in the low to mid thirties mostly, so that's great.. But my voltage has gotten up slightly over 4200 a couple of times and that has driven the battery temp up, but not much. I use a battery monitor widget that sounds an alarm if the temp or voltage get outside of my defined ranges.
What I would like to know whether there is a way to keep the voltage in a safer range when the phone is fast charging? I think if the fast charge could be stopped when the voltage is above 4200 or below 3000 like it is when the battery temp gets too high would be a great feature, and it would ease my mind that the voltage won't spike to 4300 or 4400 and blow up while I'm sleeping at night (if I happen to not hear battery monitor alarm).
If that's just the way it is with the voltage spikes, does anyone maybe know of a kernel/rom combo that safely allows fast charging by keeping the battery temp and voltage in recommended ranges or by shutting fast charge off if the temp/voltage suddenly spike while on the charger?
Thanks for reading/considering my question.
I'm not 100% sure but isn't the reason fast changing works is because it bumps up he voltage. Wouldn't lowering it make it not charge as fast.
Sent from my ADR6400L using Tapatalk 2
Not sure
I looked at my battery history and I think you're right. The voltage has spiked quickly and then steadily climbed past 4200, but the charge in that time frame is like 60+ percent so it's worth it I guess. Figure I'm hurting the battery, but for now it's worth it. I I may get an iphone 5 if the features are right.
I guess I'll just have to find a toggle so I can leave it on the charger at night and not have to worry about it catching fire. Just out of curiosity, does anyone know about how long a lithium battery can charge above 4200 or below 3000 before it blows up?
Also, this is my first phone with a 4.3 inch screen.. Do all big display phones suffer from terrible battery life? I keep my brightness down to about 20% indoors, but I generally keep 4g on because 3g tends to drop the signal and I play Pokerist a lot at work. Don't like getting kicked off and having to sign back in when I'm all in in a hand. I guess it also could be that the game is taxing the processor and in combination with 4g wrecking my battery life.. Mainly though, and on a custom rom without a fast usb charging feature, I couldn't play and charge at the same time, the phone would just barely stay at the percentage it was at. My last question is, does anyone know of a phone with a large display and 4g that doesn't drain the battery as quickly as Thunderbolt, or that at least charges fairly fast while using phone without having to flash a fast usb charging kernel?
edit: I can't find an app or widget that will allow me to toggle between normal charging and fast usb charging.. Anyone know of one for Thunderbolt?
Most of the new 4G phones with the 4.3 inch screen suffer from batter drain. The razr maxx is the best stock phone for battery right now but the phones just aren't built well. I think the newer phones are getting better so I would wait a little while longer and see what is coming out soon. The battery issue won't be a problem forever and neither will the crappy data drops.
Sent from my ADR6400L using Tapatalk 2
The spike in voltage and temperature is a NORMAL behavior of this type of battery and the charging technology it uses. As a Li-on battery discharges, it's voltage drops very little for it's corresponding level of charge (Very useful in small electronics that require excellent power consistency.). As the battery nears fully discharged, the voltage begins to drop sharply as does the resistance of the battery. Shortly after that, the internal temperature rises. You are now damaging your battery to further discharge it. You're phone won't let you do this. Likewise, it won't allow you to overcharge it. A Li-on battery is determined to be fully charged when the voltage output begins to rise sharply over the nominal charge rate. The internal resistance of the battery will rise sharply as well. The you'll notice temperature rise. Depending upon other conditions, a significant rise in cell temperature doesn't necessarily indicate a charged battery. If the resistance and voltage are consistent, the battery isn't fully charged but rather exhibiting the normal rise in temperature as resistance rises. You'd be pretty shocked how hot it really has to get before the phone will simply shut itself off and refuse to power up for half an hour or more to avoid actually damaging the battery due to thermal stress. Think hot, dark stone sitting in the hot sun all day long. And that cut-off, as far as I know, is below what the battery is actually rated for.
You're HTC device uses neither voltage, resistance, nor temperature independently to determine a charged or discharged state. That is calculated through compiled statistics based upon load, voltage output, resistance, and temperature. Li-on is a very well understood technology. The ONLY way to obtain the life and performance from these batteries that they do is to have fairly advanced charging and monitoring technology. It's really pretty hard to destroy a phone or it's battery strictly through heat generated by charging (assuming all parts meet spec.). In fact, it's hard to even if the phone is sitting on a heating vent or under the hot sunlight.
Unless you're device is some brutally overclocked, customized to the gills monster of a device, narrowly switching transistors at ridiculous speeds with precious few electrons to spare, you're pretty hard pressed to damage your battery or your phone. The stuff that manages the battery is beyond what kernels and ROMs do. You can definitely do some meaningful damage to a battery messing with charge characteristics, however catastrophic failure is practically impossible.
I've seen some apps in the Play Store purporting to fix bad parts of the battery (e.g., this: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.rx.batteryrepair). I am quite sceptical about the ability of an application to fix battery hardware issues in this way, but I am open to persuasion! Are these apps for real, or are they placebos, or worse?
@DarthJabba9 Almost hilarious what is being claimed here:laugh: The phones battery is a single cell and is is not like a NiCad battery that gets memory effect - it does not need to go through a process that is a graphical knock-off of the old defrag utilities in Windows. The graphic is totally irrelevant and nonsensical to any sort of battery conditioning.
The best thing you can do for your battery is not to run it to dead flat too often and not leave it charging after it reaches its full charge voltage (which may be different to the 100% charge indication). Some phones (like our RN2) overcharge the battery to increase the claimed Amp-hour capacity - this reduces battery life. The charged voltage should be slightly under 4.4V, not the 4.44V our charger software is set to.
jajk said:
@DarthJabba9 Almost hilarious what is being claimed here:laugh: The phones battery is a single cell and is is not like a NiCad battery that gets memory effect - it does not need to go through a process that is a graphical knock-off of the old defrag utilities in Windows. The graphic is totally irrelevant and nonsensical to any sort of battery conditioning.
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Exactly my thoughts.
@DarthJabba9 and all,
Some interesting scientific facts:
Lithium batteries do not care if they are never fully charged or discharged and do not benefit from "conditioning" cycles.
4.23V is the technically correct fully charged voltage for the LiPo battery chemistry found in phones.
At 4.3V, the battery gains 5% in capacity but battery life is halved.
There is no rating for battery life or capacity at 4.44V since this is well above the accepted maximum charged voltage and risks spontaneous combustion.
jajk said:
@DarthJabba9 and all,
Some interesting scientific facts:
Lithium batteries do not care if they are never fully charged or discharged and do not benefit from "conditioning" cycles.
4.23V is the technically correct fully charged voltage for the LiPo battery chemistry found in phones.
At 4.3V, the battery gains 5% in capacity but battery life is halved.
There is no rating for battery life or capacity at 4.44V since this is well above the accepted maximum charged voltage and risks spontaneous combustion.
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So basically, our fast charger is killing off our battery? How can we change our charger software?
And what is the received wisdom on these settings:
* Disable HW overlays
* Force GPU rendering
@DarthJabba9 A long, long time ago, in the land of Froyo there was an elf called....... Anyway, these "tweaks" are mindlessly applied long since the original perceived need has passed. Still have 100% effectiveness in placebo strength so serve a need in the community
Ha! Another placebo! So why have they kept these in the developer options ?
@jajk I had absolutely no clue out phones could overcharge the battery like that. Like @DarthJabba9 said, is there a way to change our charging software?
Thank you very much.
I have been reading these days that some of you are starting to replace the battery of the Axon 7 after 1.5-2 years. This is something we all have experienced with phones, laptops, wireless devices, etc. About 2 years ago I researched on batteries and finally discovered how to avoid the degradation in Lithium-Ion batteries. I have applied it to my Dell XPS 13 Laptop and my Axon 7 with excellent results. Due to the recent proliferation of battery replacement I think this guide can be useful to extend the useful life of your battery.
Battery wear is something that can be reduced to almost nothing with proper charging habits. But there are some urban legends out there completely false. Lets review all them:
Do NEVER charge it over 90%: TRUE. The battery wears a lot when charging the last 10%. actually charging up to 90% takes about 10% of a degradation cycle while the last 10% takes 90% of the degradation cycle. Charging to 90%, only this trick, can reduce the wear of your battery to 1/10 or even more if you stop at 80%. I use to stop at 84%.
Do NEVER drain your battery completely: TRUE. The high current required to pull the energy stored in the battery when the level is so low requires more time per energy unit and that initial 10% wears the battery excessively. So taking care of that will save your battery too. I use to set low battery mode at 15% but I always avoid being so low. Please note that leaving the battery drained for too long can make it impossible to charge. IMPORTANT: If you are not going to use a device for some time, leave battery between 40-70%, not more, not less. If you do not do that, you can have an ugly surprise in case you need it again.
Quick Charge is bad for batteries: FALSE. It is actually the opposite. QC is a lot healthier since the battery is not heated for a long time. Heat is a problem too for the battery. So, try to avoid old charging units as possible and use only QC 3.0 chargers for car and home as much as possible.
Short charging sessions damage the battery: FALSE. A number of small charging sessions in the healthy region between 20-80% battery level is healthier than a long session for several reasons, the most important is that the battery temperature never rises that much.
I have been doing this in my devices and my Axon 7 retains the same energy storage as new after 18 months of healthy charging habits. These advises are also applicable to laptops and any other device using a Li-ion battery. As you can see, leaving your phone plugged at night will kill your battery very quickly the same way a laptop battery wears quickly when left plugged. I am lucky my Dell XPS 13 has a battery control software/firmware that allows charging to stop at a desired value automatically so I can have it plugged without actually charging. I was looking for a similar solution for the Axon 7 and I found it some time ago.
It was very annoying being on top of the device taking care of the battery level when charging. There are some apps out there that monitors the battery level while charging and signal an alarm when the desired maximum charge level is reached. But we are lucky!!!! The latest Custom Oreo Kernels for the Axon 7 support the charging_enable switch and we can use now Battery Charge Limit App to modify the max battery value. Two main values can be set, the max allowed charge and the recharge level. The first one is the most interesting since the charging will stop at that level. I have 84% set here but any value between 80%-90% is safe and healthy for your battery. The second value tells the system to avoid starting a charging session if the value is still above the second threshold. It is designed to avoid rapid charge/discharge sessions. Usually a value between 4-8% under the max value is safe and healthy. I have this second value set to 79%.
With this daemon your battery will never reach 100% and with it you will avoid excessive battery degradation. It worked for me so I hope you could benefit of it too. On the other side, just avoid drain your battery too much and do not fear short charging sessions during your car commuting time or while in the shower, etc... These little tricks sum and you will save the money and damages in your unit replacing a battery you probably could have avoided with proper battery care.
Cheers!!!!
Some are not false urban legends at all. On the contrary I see lots of false claims with no source evidence.
Limiting by percentage still allows the battery voltage to reach higher shorter lifespan voltage. See that limit apps thread for discussion on limiting by voltage through Tasker instead. Further do you know what voltage that percentage idles at? It varies by device implementation setup.
Here's some information on voltage level health.
"Additionally, when the cathode voltage rises past 4.2 V, the electrolyte begins to oxidize (and ultimately decompose). This effectively limits present-day lithium-ion batteries to a maximum voltage of 4.35 V with the understanding that the “bad stuff” begins to occur past 4.0 V, and becomes unsafe past 4.35 V."
https://qnovo.com/why-battery-vendors-are-hitting-the-wall
Got a reliable source for quick charge not harming battery life? I've only seen marketing material and such claims repeated but not any research or scientific sources.
Sent from my ZTE Axon 7 using XDA Labs
Infy_AsiX said:
Some are not false urban legends at all. On the contrary I see lots of false claims with no source evidence.
Limiting by percentage still allows the battery voltage to reach higher shorter lifespan voltage. See that limit apps thread for discussion on limiting by voltage through Tasker instead. Further do you know what voltage that percentage idles at? It varies by device implementation setup.
Here's some information on voltage level health.
"Additionally, when the cathode voltage rises past 4.2 V, the electrolyte begins to oxidize (and ultimately decompose). This effectively limits present-day lithium-ion batteries to a maximum voltage of 4.35 V with the understanding that the “bad stuff” begins to occur past 4.0 V, and becomes unsafe past 4.35 V."
https://qnovo.com/why-battery-vendors-are-hitting-the-wall
Got a reliable source for quick charge not harming battery life? I've only seen marketing material and such claims repeated but not any research or scientific sources.
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Thanks for the info. However it is not easy to control the voltage of the cathode and the OP guide tries to use the available tools.
If you never fully charge how would you know if it's capacity is still near maximum?
I've kind of followed this idea for a while now ..
I always charge to a full 100% but never let the battery go completely flat ...
My Moto G is still running the same battery from new ...
My Axon 7 running Oreo is getting 4 days before it needs to be charged at normal usage..(recharge @ 15%) at the end of day 4
I get 6 days in standby
Oki said:
Quick Charge is bad for batteries: FALSE
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Click to collapse
I switched to old weaker chargers (0.5 - 1.0 amp) as there's almost no noticeable heat at all while charging, and I've found this extends the battery life as well. If any/all heat is bad, then aren't short bursts of high heat (3.0 amp QC) worse than long periods of little/no heat (0.5 - 1.0 amp) ?
Sure...
Most all of those "tips" are hogwash.
Modern day charging is handled by the phone. If there's something that hacked that algorithm in my phone, then so be it. :fingers-crossed:
Few years ago I did some research on Lithium-Ion batteries (which behave differently from other kind of batteries, such as lead acid ones for example) and I second all the conclusions by OP. If you are interested on the matter and to understand how batteries work, check this site: https://batteryuniversity.com/learn/ the explanations are crystal clear.
Disclaimer: I have no whatsoever association with the website.