****ing batteries, how do they work?

August 18, 2010 11:42 AM

Questions about priming a new battery to maximize its efficiency.

I just bought an extended battery for my cellphone and I want to prime it. Here's my current plan...

1. Install battery. Don't turn on phone.
2. Charge battery to full, and then keep charging at least two hours after.
3. Unplug phone, turn it on and use normally as battery drains.
4. Ignore low battery warnings, keep using until phone shuts itself off (battery is completely drained).
5. Put back on charger, repeat from step 2 four times, for a total of five full-to-empty cycles.

After that I'm going to resume my regular schedule of putting it on the charger overnight — whether it's empty or not — because I want a full battery when I leave the house in the morning and it's a big hassle to carry the charger cable around everywhere. I have some questions about this plan...

• How much benefit am I really going to see from this routine?
• How much benefit am I missing out on by charging nightly after the primer phase?
• Are five cycles enough to break in the battery, or should I do more?
• I assume it's better that the phone stay off while charging, but is that true? Or can I use the phone while charging with no negative effects on the priming?
• Does the charging need to be uninterrupted or can I move the charger from one power source to another in the middle?

If it's relevant, this is the battery in question. I don't have a cradle charger either, what I'm using is the USB cable, either plugged into my computer or using the AC adapter that came with it.

posted by The Winsome Parker Lewis to Technology (5 answers total)

Best answer: Looking at that product page it says that's a Lithium battery. Here's a Battery University article on maximizing the life of your battery.
posted by msbutah at 11:53 AM on August 18, 2010 [1 favorite]

I'm afraid your plan doesn't make much sense for a lipo battery - fully charge it when you get it and then just charge it as usual. The page msbutah linked to suggests a full discharge every 30 cycles help the battery controller keep track of how the battery is doing - it won't really hurt, but I wouldn't bother personally (the rest of the page reads like good advice though).

Your battery should arrive around 40% charged already, and on most devices it won't hurt to use it while it's charging or change chargers during the initial charge.
posted by samj at 2:30 PM on August 18, 2010

Response by poster: Interesting! Thanks for the tips! Is that Battery University article still valid then? It's about four years old and suggest the technology changes every six months or so. I guess the basic principles haven't changed, though?
posted by The Winsome Parker Lewis at 2:39 PM on August 18, 2010

Yeah my understanding of LIon batteries is that they haven't changed much in technology over the last few years - just gotten smaller and more efficient. I wouldn't bother much with the complete discharging. If it's your phone it's bound to happen often enough as it is (at least with me). LIon batteries are great because they have no memory, so you don't have to do the full up and down dance like you used to have to do with NiMH ones.
posted by msbutah at 8:46 PM on August 18, 2010

Response by poster: Excellent. It's funny, I've never tried to care for a battery until now, after years of being told how important it is. Looks like I waited so long, it no longer matters. Thanks! :-)
posted by The Winsome Parker Lewis at 8:03 AM on August 19, 2010