How to make lithium-ion batteries last for years

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	TOP STORY How to make lithium-ion batteries last for years
	By Fred Langa The lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries used in most of today’s tablets, smartphones, and portable PCs require very different care and feeding than with the nickel-cadmium (Ni-Cd) and nickel-metal-hydride (Ni-MH) batteries used in earlier devices. In fact, proper care of a Li-ion battery can result in as much as 15 times longer service life than with an improperly cared-for battery. Here’s how to make sure that your expensive Li-ion batteries last as long as possible in all your portable devices.

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The full text of this column is posted at windowssecrets.com/top-story/how-to-make-lithium-ion-batteries-last-for-years (paid content, opens in a new window/tab).

Columnists typically cannot reply to comments here, but do incorporate the best tips into future columns.[/td]

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Nice article. The conclusion is that batteryies and their charging is rocket science and that you’re dependent on how the OEM has designer the charger and the Phone.

My Nokia Lumia 1520 consumes a lot and has a large battery. It ofter runs hot with GPS in a car. I have the OEM charger and wireless car charger. Incidentally the car charger is not capable of giving the juice needed when running GPS and perhaps streaming internat audio at the same time. So mayb I should stop useing the phone in the car: big negative.

But I guess the tricky quastion es to know how well my OEM did his job with the charger : Id’ suppose a company like Nokia, Sony Ericsson, Samsung and Apple did quite a good job, but does the OEM charger
– have a suitable reaction when I connect it longer than needed, like change to some support mode ?
– privilige/optimize for fast charging or long battery life – or both
– have securite not to generate a fire if you leave it plugged in with or without the phone charging by the way

This is sure something I’d like to know for my OEM and it could have an impact on the choice of my next phone.

P.S. The issue is present also with good old car batteries, which also evolve. A company called CTEK claim to have the best charges in the world
(such modesty is normally a trait of US companies). Thes chargers have 8 different modes between which the switch automatically and they even
recondition batteries. Having a little intelligence in a Phone charger would probably add about 10$ to it’s price. Is this a Kickstarte idea?

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Incidentally the car charger is not capable of giving the juice needed when running GPS and perhaps streaming internat audio at the same time

You need a more powerful charger. This won’t adversely affect your phone unless the charger produces poorly regulated voltage.

cheers, Paul

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The “charger” that comes with your phone is normally just a USB port that produces 5 volts at some current. The actual charger is inside the phone. A lithium-ion battery is very sensitive to overcharging, and the way that the end of charging is detected is usually that the battery voltage goes DOWN a bit when it is at full charge. At this point a well-designed charger will shut off and stop charging the battery until some of the charge has been depleted. So a cheap generic USB supply might not provide enough power for a fast charge, or if it puts out the wrong voltage, it might damage the phone. It won’t do anything to harm the battery, since that is protected by the charger circuit in the phone. The same is not true for things like power tools where there is a separate charger that needs to be matched to the battery.

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…especially in tips 2 and 4.

First off, what you connect to the device such as a phone is technically NOT the charger, even though it is often called that. It is a power supply. The actual charger is the combination of electronics and software in the device, and in the battery itself.

Indeed, each Li-Ion battery has its own controller that makes sure that most of the “bad things” such as overcharging, deep-discharging and charging too fast that the author mentions simply can’t happen. Lithium is a very volatile and dangerous element so that the protective electronics is mandatory. Normally the battery also has a temperature fuse that will (permanently) trip if it becomes too hot. Either the author’s battery didn’t have it, or the overheating wasn’t severe enough to trip it but (over time) enough to allow the gases to develop.

Now what seems to fuel the misconception about “chargers” is the fact that the device electronics can have different charging modes depending on what the connected power can provide, normally low-current charging up to 500 mA (“USB”) when connected to a PC or a weak power supply and high-current charging up to 1-2 Amps (“AC”) when connected to the OEM power supply. Some manufacturer have implemented even faster charging, called “fast”, “turbo” or “quick” by tuning their own OEM power supplies and built-in charger and battery electronics. It’s all safe, but yes, faster charging will generate more heat and age the battery faster, that much is true, so slow and steady charging is best when you have the time or can use spare batteries.

Also, more recent Ni-MH batteries have LSD (low self-discharge) technology which is great.

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Some manufacturer have implemented even faster charging, called “fast”, “turbo” or “quick” by tuning their own OEM power supplies and built-in charger and battery electronics. It’s all safe, but yes, faster charging will generate more heat and age the battery faster, that much is true, so slow and steady charging is best when you have the time or can use spare batteries.

Does this apply to Qualcomm’s Quick Charge? My phone is compatible with it, so I got one of the chargers, but now I’m thinking that was a bad idea, at least for regular charging?

Also, is there any good way to distinguish a “quality” home/car charger from crappy ones?

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Amazon sells a neat device that tests chargers (the power source part) and USB cables for performance.

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Does this apply to Qualcomm’s Quick Charge? My phone is compatible with it, so I got one of the chargers, but now I’m thinking that was a bad idea, at least for regular charging?

I would hope that they have optimized their algorithm so that you get most of the benefit, meaning to get you going faster, with minimum adverse effect which is premature aging. I would use it and personally would love to have faster charging available to me when I am in a bind. Also, Doug said it worked fine for him.

Also, is there any good way to distinguish a “quality” home/car charger from crappy ones?

Yes there are indicators. First, if it looks crappy/flimsy/cheap, it probably is. Second, the rated output current should be greater than 1000 mA. Most crappy ones are rated exactly that, or at least claim it on their sticker or print. What you need here depends on your device, but I would go for at least 2 Amps (= 2000 mA). Third, if you have an Android device that is compatible with it, there is a nifty app called “Ampere” that tells you the charging current. You should be under 75% battery when using it, and of course plugged in. If you get a current at or not much above 500 mA even with a good quality USB cable (try your phone manufacturer’s OEM cable first), you can throw away the “charger” or use it for those times when you can let it charge 12+ hours. With a good “charger” it should be above 1000 mA or at least not much under. If Ampere doesn’t work with your device there are meters that go in between the charger and the phone to tell you the charging current. Type in “USB power meter” “USB current tester” or similar in your favourite search engine or online auction house and you will find them. I used to build my own, but now there are many models, and cheaply available.

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Christian is correct. Qualcom Quick Charge 2 is a charging SYSTEM that requires the device (see the list on their web site, such as my Samsung Galaxy 4, and Amazon Fire) to have a specific Qualcom processor and associated hardware and software, and a specific Qualcom QC2 compliant power source. In general he is right about slow being better than fast, but I have used the QC2 for two years on my Galaxy and experienced no degradation in the battery’s performance.

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The best performance test is “does it charge my device in a reasonable time”.

The only measure of charger quality is price, but it’s a very poor measuring stick – unless you have specialized test gear, of course.

cheers, Paul

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The Amazon-sold device is a simple lost cost “specialized test gear” that works well for me in gauging the charger and cable performance, but of course professional lab gear would be much better.

I don’t find price to be a decent measure of price of most anything, it includes product advertising and manufacturer recognition–Bose and Monster being classic examples (not of chargers of course).

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Bose and Monster being classic examples

Bose is the classic triumph of advertising over ability, and as advertising is not cheap…

cheers, Paul

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Yes–my QC2 charging system definitely increases the charging speed–faster at first and then gradually slowing down as the battery charge approaches maximum capacity.

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I have a iphone 4s (0ld but very functional). The battery life seems to be holding steady although I have noticed it does not hold a charge as long as it did when new. This article informed me of several items I had not known such as no need to let the battery get down to nearly zero before recharging (I always thought batteries had a ‘memory’ and needed to discharge nearly complete to maintain a longer life). I have also kept the phone relatively cool over the years. One question I have, however is the use of the phone as GPS. I typically connect the phone to its OEM charger in the car and set it in a cradle. This cradle is setting in front of the a/c vent giving a nice cooling effect to the phone however the phone then is at 100% for sometimes several hours. Can this reduce the life of the battery? So far, all is well but since I plan on keeping this phone for a while longer I am wondering if I should stop this ‘constant charging’ practice?

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I have a iphone 4s (0ld but very functional). The battery life seems to be holding steady although I have noticed it does not hold a charge as long as it did when new. This article informed me of several items I had not known such as no need to let the battery get down to nearly zero before recharging (I always thought batteries had a ‘memory’ and needed to discharge nearly complete to maintain a longer life). I have also kept the phone relatively cool over the years. One question I have, however is the use of the phone as GPS. I typically connect the phone to its OEM charger in the car and set it in a cradle. This cradle is setting in front of the a/c vent giving a nice cooling effect to the phone however the phone then is at 100% for sometimes several hours. Can this reduce the life of the battery? So far, all is well but since I plan on keeping this phone for a while longer I am wondering if I should stop this ‘constant charging’ practice?

iPhone 4s? You seem to want to keep your old, trustworthy devices alive for a much longer time than average, and I totally respect that!
Regarding your battery, this sounds much more like regular, not excessive aging. Li-Ion batteries always degrade over time, even with the most careful use. If you are handy, I would just replace the battery for under $30 – you get everything you need for this online. Or, there are many shops (local and remote) that will do that for you. Prices will vary a lot though, so it pays off to shop around.
Oh, and no, keeping your phone at 100% doesn’t hurt the battery, the built-in electronics will make sure of that.

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Because I am insane, I have recorded the labeled outputs of all my power cords (“chargers”, not). The range is significant. This suggests to me that the internal charging circuits vary greatly.
The power cord to recharge my Logitech “mini boom” Bluetooth speaker delivers the least juice: .1 amp and 5.15 volts = .515 Watts
My not-new iPad wants the most from its power cord: 2.1 amps and 5.1 volts = 10.7 Watts.
I have fun imagining the results if I ever mixed the two up….
My old Blackberry needed only 3.5 Watts, but my new HTC wants 5.
All the variation in the list is explained by different current needs; almost all the supplies produce 5 volts (the outliers are 4.9 and 5.15).
Lately, new devices come with no power supply at all. My old Kindle had one (.85A @ 4.9V) and my new Kindle only had a USB cable. I guess they don’t care what power supply I use?

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The power cord to recharge my Logitech “mini boom” Bluetooth speaker delivers the least juice: .1 amp and 5.15 volts = .515 Watts
My not-new iPad wants the most from its power cord: 2.1 amps and 5.1 volts = 10.7 Watts.
I have fun imagining the results if I ever mixed the two up….

You can happily mix them up and your devices won’t care. The thing that matters is output voltage and both are the same, give or take. Current (amps) is required to power the device and charge the battery. If you only want to charge the battery then almost any current will work given enough time.

Also, your charging cable matters. There are two main specs, Apple and Android/Windows Phone. Both will work interchangeably, but the Apple spec limits the amount of power draw on WP and Android devices to 500ma, no matter what

Cables do not limit the power, they are just wires, the charger limits the power. A cheap cable may have poor connections or very thin wires, which will be an issue with high drain devices, GPS units etc. Again, the test is does it charge my device.

cheers, Paul

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I am wondering if I should stop this ‘constant charging’ practice?

Nope, the internal charging circuit will manage it for you.

cheers, Paul

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I’ve been using my previous (model?) and current (1520) Nokia phones in the same way. This may be off topic but I couldn’t find a cradle that would stick to the dashboard of my Ford Edge in such a way as to be useful as a navigation device and within reach of the cord from the OEM charger.

My “redneck” solution was a strip of Velcro on the dashboard and the back of the phone. The adhesive on the Velcro has to be stronger than the Velcro’s in remaining stuck to itself; it might need a chisel to take it off my dash or my phone.

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Yes, the piece was written by a software guy, and not run by a hardware guy first. The biggest errors concern all the stuff about charging. Meltdowns and fires almost always occur during charge. Electric RC plane (read “drone”) batt charging at meetups is usually required to be in fire proof/explosion proof bags! Yes, charging of LiPo batts is completely under control of the device and the external DC supply is usually irrelevant in well engineered devices. Still, you will have “best luck” using a standard USB in a computer, which is always limited to 500 ma. All remarks about overcharging are simply incorrect. All LiPo chargers completely cease charge at precisely 4.20 volts/cell, and that termination voltage is always not user adjustable. To illustrate, lowering the cutoff voltage from 4.20v to 4.15v will double the typical 300 charge cycles of a LiPo batt., but reduce cell charge capacity only 7%. Don’t worry about excessive discharge, as all well engineered devices always do this automatically.

Since I have been thru the hassle of replacing LiPo batts in my iPhones (about $25 at iFixit dot com), I manually cut off charge at about 90% to increase batt life. I find that my iPhones consistently charge at 1.1-1.2 minutes/% of charge. So, seeing the phone showing 50% charge, I would check at (90%-50%) x 1.1 or about 45 minutes, set a kitchen timer, and kill charge myself when I see about 90% on the phone. If I find charge reading 100%, no biggie, it’s really taken care of. The admonition to never leave devices charging is simply wrong. LiPo chargers never “trickle charge” as has been done in all older chemistries.

As was noted, do not charge a hot device and do not leave any heavily working device in full sun. Otherwise, the user actually has very little battery management control of devices with LiPo batteries.

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Typical phones rely on the built-in charging tech in the battery to get to the minimum charge necessary to boot the OS.
With Windows Phones, the phone only stays off until there is enough charge for the OS to boot, which then takes over the charging logic.
You can leave it plugged in forever, basically, as the charging is turned off once a certain range is met. I expect all modern phones and devices of sufficient quality work this way.

Yes, cheap power supplies are bad. That doesn’t mean that there aren’t very good non-OEM generics out there as good or better that the OEM ones. Monoprice.com usually has good ones.

Also, your charging cable matters. There are two main specs, Apple and Android/Windows Phone. Both will work interchangeably, but the Apple spec limits the amount of power draw on WP and Android devices to 500ma, no matter what. (If I remember correctly, the Android/WP spec has the data lines shorted in the USB cable). Several of us bought ammeters to test and verify this.

GPS and navigation software on all phones and OS’s uses a ton of power. If you must also play music from your phone, use a cable; much less power use and much better audio quality. For car navigation use, make sure that you are using the correct one. You’ll only get 500ma from 2watt car charger if you are using a data cable with an Android or Windows Phone. That’s not enough for the GPS and other sensors.

I use a wireless charger for my Nokia 1020. Once the battery is charged, the charger stops charging — it checks occasionally, but mostly its off. Yes, it’s less efficient, but if you plug and unplug the micro-usb socket in the phone frequently, it wears out/breaks.

RickH

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With Windows Phones, the phone only stays off until there is enough charge for the OS to boot, which then takes over the charging logic. You can leave it plugged in forever, basically, as the charging is turned off once a certain range is met. I expect all modern phones and devices of sufficient quality work this way.RickH

Thank you particularly for these two lines. My long-established habit has been to plug my Windows Phone in just before (sometimes long after) turning off my bedside light. Those two lines make me feel less guilty.

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Tip 6. Don’t use your device in a case. The case is a thermal insulator and everything, battery and electronics, warms up faster and gets hotter. In the case of a phone you might have to decide whether dropping the phone or overheating the battery is a greater danger. When I found that my phone got ten to twelve degrees hotter with a case than without I decided yo get rid of the case.

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Thanks for this article, very timely for me, having just driven to south of France with a new samsung tab s tablet with copilot sat nav app on the dashboard. Worked well, but copilot plus gps seems to suck life out the battery faster than the car charger can deal with. Had to switch off on the long autoroute stretches to let it cool down. Copilot also just posted a bog article: http://blog.copilotgps.com/uk/2015/07/14/beat-the-heat-save-your-devices-from-overheating-2/?utm_source=CoPilot&utm_campaign=430c603d4e-Summer2015_EU_UK&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_f7ca639a64-430c603d4e-205394325.
Their simple tip that didn’t occur to me, take the device out of its cover.
Thanks also to all the forum contributors, haven’t digested all yet, but I see somebody already mentioned this tip

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LOVED this article!! I am a long-time Windows Secrets subscriber (previously I was a LangaList subscriber that followed Fred here), and this is the 1st time I was motivated to post. I’ll be bookmarking this conversation, and would love to read columns about associated themes, like laptop battery best practices (maybe someone could touch on MacBooks?) and what smart phones the columnists and why. Thanks for the knowledge!

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Thanks Fred. It has been at least 3 years since I read through Battery University for tips on prolonging battery life and proper care. I knew things had improved.

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Good, comprehensive article, Fred. I’ve always fussed over my rechargeable batteries. One interesting note though: I distinctly recall an article on the Apple web site that recommends a deep discharge once a month to keep your battery healthy and able to hold a full charge. I thought that was kind of strange, given the nature of Li-Ion cells. I just checked again though and can no longer find any mention of this on their site. Maybe someone woke up!

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Interesting article Fred but I have a different story with my Samsung S4 Mini which I have had for more than a year. I usually charge it when charge drops to 10-15% and usually connect to a powerpoint using the Samsung charger. I don’t use the phone a lot and usually average about 30 hours between charges.

But occasionally I forget and the battery runs down and the phone shuts off. When this happens and I recharge it I get about 50-55 hours, nearly double. This is not a one off occurrence, it happens every time.

I don’t deliberately use the phone until it shuts down as I have read previously that it is not good for the battery, but how do you explain this.

EDIT: Let it shut down again, recharged it and now it’s gone 3 days with 28% left.

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I have an 18 month old Nexus 5 running Android 5.1.1.

Lately, I have been running into intermittent problems where the battery power will be at something like 20-60% and I will be reading something or listening to music. Suddenly, the phone will shut off with ZERO battery charge left. I have to plug-in the charger to reboot the phone. Then the phone will recharge fairly quickly, like 100% in maybe 40 minutes using the manufacturer AC/USB adaptor.

Is my battery going bad? Or is there possibly a short that cause the battery to drain suddenly? Or?

Any ideas?

Thanks!

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Sudden loss and very fast charge are usually symptoms of a failed battery, but it could also be the phone. Are you able to take the battery out? If so you could try a replacement or have yours tested.

cheers, Paul

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Nexus 5 does not have a user replaceable battery (although there are videos on how to open the case and change the battery).

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While I didn’t click on all of Fred’s links in his article, I’ve found that this article has helped with laptop batteries when I’ve posted it.

http://batterycare.net/en/guide.html

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