Batteries have evolved a lot over time. The batteries our smart phones use today are not the same dumb batteries our older devices used. So before you tell someone to completely run down their battery before recharging, consider the following:
Myth 1. Charging your battery overnight destroys your battery
This is one of the misconceptions that has been going on for quite a while now. Unlike older batteries,
batteries and chargers today are designed to properly manage power and prevent overheating. Once the battery reaches 100%, the internal circuit breaks preventing further current from reaching the battery, and it only charges again once the battery charge drops below 100%. So if you are still wondering, charging your phone overnight is not dangerous.
This is one of the misconceptions that has been going on for quite a while now. Unlike older batteries,
batteries and chargers today are designed to properly manage power and prevent overheating. Once the battery reaches 100%, the internal circuit breaks preventing further current from reaching the battery, and it only charges again once the battery charge drops below 100%. So if you are still wondering, charging your phone overnight is not dangerous.
Myth 2. Use only the official brand charger for your phone
Really!!! This one comes as a result of marketing techniques. Phone chargers simply do the job of transferring current to your phone. What you should pay attention to should be the amperage and voltage of the charger. Make sure it matches that for your phone. Most chargers are rated 5volts and 700mA. So even those off-branded chargers you find in stores will do just fine. Caution still has to be taken though, when purchasing a charger; avoid those very cheap chargers so as not to give your phone a hard time. Most of such are counterfeits and won't serve their purpose right.
Myth 3. Using your phone while it is on charge is dangerous
Guys please!!! Enough already. Those very concerned moms will tell you this a lot. This myth is alive up till date not because of any real evidence but because of fear of consequences that are said to follow. Some people say that using the phone while it is charging can lead to electrocution, explosion, even death, but all this is nothing but a myth. There is no real danger in using your smart phone while it is plugged in.
Guys please!!! Enough already. Those very concerned moms will tell you this a lot. This myth is alive up till date not because of any real evidence but because of fear of consequences that are said to follow. Some people say that using the phone while it is charging can lead to electrocution, explosion, even death, but all this is nothing but a myth. There is no real danger in using your smart phone while it is plugged in.
Myth 4. Disabling services like Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and location services drastically increases battery life
That used to be good advice back in the days, but not now. Smartphones have become even smarter in handling such. It is true that it increases battery life, but very little; about 30 minutes within a span of 24hours, not worth the trouble. These services are not as “blood thirsty” as they used to be.
Myth 5. Always charge battery to the full and completely discharge it before recharging
This myth must have come from the fact that older nickel cadmium and nickel-metal hydride batteries were “dumb” and would “forget” their capacity and not be able to fully charge so one had to completely discharge them before recharging. Lithium-ion batteries used by our smart phones today count charges differently, so you don’t need to worry about discharging it completely. You can charge your lithium-ion battery whenever you want. Lithium-ion batteries work in charge cycles. You complete one charge cycle when you’ve used an amount of charge that equals 100% of your battery’s capacity, not necessarily at once. You could use, say 60%, fully charge the battery and then 40%. That makes it one charge cycle. It is worth mentioning that the total capacity of these batteries gradually reduces with every charge cycle. They can retain about 80% of their original capacity after about 1500 charge cycles.
This myth must have come from the fact that older nickel cadmium and nickel-metal hydride batteries were “dumb” and would “forget” their capacity and not be able to fully charge so one had to completely discharge them before recharging. Lithium-ion batteries used by our smart phones today count charges differently, so you don’t need to worry about discharging it completely. You can charge your lithium-ion battery whenever you want. Lithium-ion batteries work in charge cycles. You complete one charge cycle when you’ve used an amount of charge that equals 100% of your battery’s capacity, not necessarily at once. You could use, say 60%, fully charge the battery and then 40%. That makes it one charge cycle. It is worth mentioning that the total capacity of these batteries gradually reduces with every charge cycle. They can retain about 80% of their original capacity after about 1500 charge cycles.
Please leave a comment if you have any questions or anything to add.
Interesting piece! Thanks
ReplyDeleteOkay, most of what is on this blog is true but for the explosion thing, if batteries of smart phones don’t explode during charging, what happened to the s7, because there were several instances of explosion during charging
ReplyDeleteAbout the S7, the cause of the explosions was a manufacturing problem as we are about to see. Their batteries came from two suppliers. Samsung SDI and Amparex Technology Limited.
DeleteIn the case of batteries sourced from Samsung SDI, there wasn’t enough room between the heat-sealed protective pouch around the battery and its internals. In the worst cases, that caused electrodes inside each battery to crimp, weaken the separator between the electrodes, and cause short circuiting.
In the case of batteries sourced from Amperex Technology Limited, some cells were missing insulation tape, and some batteries had sharp protrusions inside the cell that led to damage to the separator between the anode and cathode. The batteries also had thin separators in general, which increased the risks of separator damage and short circuiting. Source:http://www.wired.com
So the explosions in the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 were results of a manufacturing problem. Hope that helps.