Charging - just after buying

kraggy

Hi guys,

Just wondering. Getting an iphone this evening and wondering how I should charge it?

Should I use the bit of battery that's in it and then give it a full charge? Or, should I charge it immediately on receiving the phone?

Also, day to day, how should I charge it? Is it always good to run it down and then charge it full whack or just do that once per month?

Finally, how long does it take to get to full charge from empty?

Thanks.

DubDJ

kraggy wrote: »

Hi guys,

Just wondering. Getting an iphone this evening and wondering how I should charge it?

Should I use the bit of battery that's in it and then give it a full charge? Or, should I charge it immediately on receiving the phone?

Also, day to day, how should I charge it? Is it always good to run it down and then charge it full whack or just do that once per month?

Finally, how long does it take to get to full charge from empty?

Thanks.

Not too sure about some of the other questions but i've always been told that once you buy a new phone you always leave it in charging straight away and leave it for a few hours. Something to do with improving battery life. It might be a loada hocus pocus but it's what a lot of phone shops will recommend.

Daniel S

I could be wrong, but I think it is: use it until it dies, then charge it fully and don't touch it until it is at 100%.

seamus

DubDJ wrote: »

Not too sure about some of the other questions but i've always been told that once you buy a new phone you always leave it in charging straight away and leave it for a few hours. Something to do with improving battery life. It might be a loada hocus pocus but it's what a lot of phone shops will recommend.

That used to be true for older phones, but not for any phones made in the last 4/5 years.

There is no need to charge the phone for an extra long period of time when you first receive it and also no need to fully discharge it and recharge it. Modern phones can be recharged as needed, they don't need any particularly special care.

Some people go through a process of "calibrating" the battery every so often by discharging it and recharging it fully, but this only affects the software by resetting it. It doesn't affect the battery, and doesn't need to be done more than once a year.

You should get at least a day out of an iPhone's battery under normal usage - 30 minutes of calls, an hour of surfing, an hour of music and maybe an hour of gaming. My battery is typically 10-20% gone at the end of the day, which involves checking a few emails, maybe 5 minutes of phone calls, 30 minutes of web and an hour of gaming in total.

kirving

Apparently, it's not the number of charging cycles that causes a lithuim battery to wear over time, but the level at which the battery is charged.


You're best off not letting it totally run out or charge it fully, to help with longevity. This is totally impractical though, and by the time you realise the battery isn't as good as it used to be, the phone will already be out of date.

Best off not worrying about it and do what's easiest for you.


http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/gadgets/tools/science-of-battery-life-in-electronics?click=main_sr

coylemj

Kevin Irving wrote: »

You're best off not letting it totally run out or charge it fully, to help with longevity.

This is true but it's only an issue if you're using a unintelligent device like a motor or torch where it will run the battery down to zero and damage it. Intelligent devices like phones and satnavs will recognise when the voltage is down to a level below which it's not safe to go and will shut down to protect the battery.

I'm not sure what happens with Lithium batteries but Ni-Mh batteries will go into polarity reversal if they are run down too low and at that stage they are permanently fecked.

kraggy

Mmm..

Conflicting opinions, just as I read on the internet.

There seems to be a debate about this hence my asking. Some comments on the net suggest that whatever battery there is when the phone is purchased, it should be run down and fully charged to 100%. Others say that it shouldn't be run down.

I'd personally go with the former the more I think about it. Surely an iphone is smart enough to close all apps and shut down safely when it goes down to a certain battery level?

mad muffin

The phone already comes with around 90% battery charge also before you can use it you need to activate it through iTunes. So as soon as you hook it up to the usb port it will start charging.

seamus

coylemj wrote: »

I'm not sure what happens with Lithium batteries

Li-Ion batteries are bricked if they are completely run down, they can't be recharged again. All devices using them, manage the battery with software to turn everything off below a certain threshold.

There are two known ways to improve the life of Li-Ion batteries:
1. Keep the device charged between 30 and 60%
2. Minimise how often you recharge the battery

Every recharge cycle for a Li-Ion battery results in deposits inside the battery which inhibit recharging. More recharging == more deposits == diminished capacity. Likewise, keeping a Li-Ion battery charged 100% will result in a 20% drop in capacity per year.

The kicker of course is that in order to minimise the number of recharge cycles, you should charge it fully each time. This in itself will diminish the capacity of the battery. If you run at 30-60% all the time, then you will find yourself constantly worrying about running out of power, and charging more often.
Damned if you do, damned if you don't. In reality, just charge the battery as needed. You will get a decent capacity out of it for 2-4 years, after which it will be in decline.

barryd09

is the app Battery Doctor Pro any use for "repairing" batteries?By repairing I mean that the app claims to carry out battery maintenance,the reviews are pretty good on it,just wondering has anyone used it??