Are you tired of your phone and gadget batteries working well for maybe a year and then getting really bad? Does it seem that other peoples batteries last for years on end but for some reason yours don't? Well im happy to share with you the simple 'secrets' of how to change all that and have your batteries last much much longer than they have before!
This past two months i have really been studying batteries! Im currently making a DIY li-ion powerwall for my off-grid life.. and to do it i have spent a LOT of time researching and learning about batteries! What makes them happy, what makes them die faster? How should you treat them to give them a long life?
I don’t know about you but the main reason i have had to ditch most of my devices, gadgets and tools is because the battery died and they are so expensive that its better to get a new device! That is of course what the manufacturers want, and these days instructions seem to have gone out of the window! No one tell us how to look after our devices any more, and there is also a lot of conflicting and old information that applied to old nickel-cadmium batteries that do not apply anymore. If you do know the actually rules to live by you can extend the lifetime of your batteries from 3 years to 6 or more years.. and that is a huge difference for just making some simple changes to the way you treat them. I hope you find this information useful and that it can save you a lot of money in the future!
1. Charging. Don't Charge until full! Keep It Between 40 and 80 Percent Charge
Most of us are used to plugging in a charger to our phone or laptop and letting it charge to 100% full. That is just normal right?! Well it may be normal but it is one of the quickest ways to drastically shorten the life of a battery. When you charge a battery to full, that last 20% hurts the battery much more than the previous 80%. It's complex chemistry in a battery, and charging to full counts a a full cycle.. of which there may be as few as 400. Therefore when you charge your devices make sure you just get used to stopping at around 80% and then unplug it. Some laptops include this as an option in the settings, but you have to know about it to try.. so its worth googling if your laptop supports it.. Samsung, Sony and Think-pad do.. and i believe apple are releasing this as an option in the latest update to their OS. For most laptops you should unplug them at around 80% and then use them down to 40% to keep the battery happy!
Another tip on charging is that charging slowly is better than fast charging.. if you have the time. I use fast charging when i need to, but otherwise i use a normal 2.1Amp slow charger. This is usually the charger you got with your device as fast charging is not normally standard.
2 Discharging. Don't go to 0%
The same applies to using your batteries as it does to charging them. When you use your devices don’t wait until they battery is dead. There is normally no need to do this, especially with laptops and phones. Most cars have charging facilities and you can always top up a phone whilst you are on the move. I carry a power-bank with me so i can keep mine topped up wherever I am. Keeping your device between 40 and 80 percent is advisable, and letting it get to 0% is a small tragedy. It’s not just reaching zero that hurts, but having to charge it to full hurts it doubly so.
The only time you need to let a battery discharge completely is when you install a new battery in laptop, and it's for the sake of the device, not the battery. There is no "memory effect" to reset in lithium-ion batteries,. SO when you get a new phone or laptop you should drain it completely to calibrate the battery gauge. This is a very small hit to battery longevity, but it gives your device a better estimate of its battery life and percentage remaining over a very long time, and prevents unexpected shut-downs and false readings.
3. Temperature. Not too hot!
Another sure way to drastically shorten the lifespan of a batter is temperature! There’s a few points to make on this!
1. Don't let your device get too hot!
If you have a phone then don’t leave it in the sun whilst you are in the car.. or leave it on your dashboard or on the seat. If you have a laptop then don’t use it on your lap! If you do then make sure you have a firm base that allows good cooling. IN fact don’t put your laptop on any soft material like your bed sheets and use it. Always put something firm underneath it. If you live in a hot area then its well worth investing in a laptop cooler that has fans that will keep your machine cool at all times.
2. Try to wait before charging or using after charging.
If you have been using a device a lot and the battery dies it can often be quite hot. This is especially true of higher power devices and tools such as drills, e-bikes, Dyson hoover etc. When you drive high power machines the batteries get very hot! Once the battery has run out it will take some time for it to cool down. Some chargers check this and will help to cool the battery down before it starts the charge but that is very rare. TO protect your battery from unnecessary damage you should feel it and if it feels warm then wait or put it somewhere cool before charging. Once it is charged it will also get warm or even hot, and it is a good idea to also wait until it has cooled down until you use it.
You may not be able to do this every time, but if you follow the rules most of the time it will make a massive difference to the life of your battery!
If you want to understand this non-technically.. imagine that power is food and You are the battery! You don’t want to eat until you are absolutely stuffed. It makes you tired and its not very good for you.. It shortens your life if you eat too much! Likewise you don’t want to wait until you are starving hungry to eat... Not eating for days puts a big stress son our body and we get weak and again will not be healthy.
I hope this helps! I have kept this short and sweet without too much 'technical goofery' so that you can all understand the most important points. Its taken me years to figure all this out because i always heard contradicting information.. so i really hope this clears things up for you. If you know about these things and have any more points please do share them with us in the comments!
Thanks for stopping by!
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Great advice, I'm amazed this isn't more widespread!
thanks.. i know isnt it.. no one is told this vital stuff really.. and we know why dont we!
I've always been a little obsessive about not leaving my stuff on charge when it's on full, but always charged to full, typically, I'd just assumed modern batteries can handle it!
Maybe some can - my ipad is pretty good at holding a charge still and it's more than 3 years old. Not so my phone, and that's only six months old!
yeah some devices take care of it for you.. it depends how often you cycle it.. ipads tend to go for DAYS where as the phone is always one day.. so that can be a 5x or more cycles.. im real careful with my phone.. its already getting bad.. especially with the heat.. the thing almost dies in the car when the sun is out..
I have an ‘old’ phone and will be giving this a go, although it’s possibly too late this time!
welll.. maybe a bit but whatever you do now will help it last longer than it would
Might seem like nerdy stuff, but this is actually important eco-knowledge. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks SO much this is an absolute FEAST of good information @eco-alex . I was glad that most of my habits are ticking boxes here - there will occasionally be a dilemma when one just can’t stick to the rules .. lol .. but that’s life. sent you a friend request btw
My laptop gets so hot, I often put ice packs underneath it to cool it off. It's kinda crazy!
Thank you! None of these tips are difficult to do, so I will be implementing them as of now. !BBH
Because this is such an awesome post, here is a BBH Tip for you.
. Keep up the fantastic work
Really good information @eco-alex. It is too bad that MFG does not engineer the devices to balance charging. I have been aware of the ways to efficiently charge your devices, but battery-operated yard and home tools rarely have an indicator of charge level. Still very good advice and nice use of previous content to a new audience.
Thank you! Glad u stopped by and found this useful! Its one of those things that benefits manufacturers when we buy new tech just because the battery is finished.. they have no incentive to tell us this ..
Great tips. I usually plug my phone in and come back and it is charged. It would take me actually paying attention to do it this way which means changing my habits. I wonder if it is worth it for a cell phone. But then again I have a inexpensive model. I can see how it might be more important with higher end devices and expensive batteries.
Thanks for the great post
yes,, true it does mean changing habits..
maybe its not worth it for a cheap phone.. hard to say really.. for me i just charge in the morning rather than leave it all night. and then stop it at 80 or 90 %..
thanks for the commment!
Thanks for the tips. This should help a lot of people.