[Njtechdiv] charging the battery advice

[Jane Degenshein]

Received from John Dehmer and I posted it here for our tekkie list:

https://www.techadvisor.co.uk/how-to/mobile-phone/charge-phone-properly-3619623/


How to Properly Charge a Phone Battery
Simon Jary
 Image: iStock
Why is it that your phone's battery seems to get worse over time? At first 
it might have power to spare as you snuggle into bed at the end of the 
night, but as time goes on you find your battery is just half-full by 
lunchtime.

Partly it's because your use of the phone - the apps you install, the junk 
you collect, the customisations you make, and the more and more 
notifications you receive - puts more strain on the battery. (Read our tips 
on how to extend battery life.)

But the other thing to consider is that phone batteries do degrade over 
time, which means they are increasingly incapable of holding the same amount 
of power. While they should have a lifespan of between three- and five 
years, or between 500- and 1000 charging cycles, a five-year-old phone 
battery is never going to keep going as long as a brand-new battery.

However, armed with our tips for best battery care practice, you can 
maintain your smartphone battery health much longer.

When should I charge my phone?
The golden rule is to keep your battery topped up somewhere between 50- and 
90% most of the time. So top it up when it drops below 50%, but unplug it 
before it hits 100%. For this reason you might want to reconsider leaving it 
plugged in overnight.

Giving your phone a full recharge is not fatal for a phone battery, and it 
seems almost counter-intuitive not to do so, but giving it a full recharge 
every time you charge it will shorten its lifespan.

Likewise, at the other end of the scale, avoid allowing your phone battery 
to get below 20%.

Should I charge my phone battery to 100%?
No, or at least not every time you charge it. Experts recommend that you do 
a full zero to 100 percent battery recharge (a "charge cycle") once a month. 
This recalibrates the battery, which is a bit like restarting your computer.

Also see: Best power banks

Should I charge my phone overnight?
Not as a rule, since you want to avoid charging them to 100% too often, and 
won't want to have to keep one eye open for when that time is near.

However, most modern smartphones are clever enough to stop charging when 
full, so there isn't a huge risk in leaving your phone charging overnight.

If you are leaving it plugged in for a long period of time, removing the 
case can prevent it over-heating.

Will fast-charging damage my phone?
Most new smartphones support fast-charging, yet often come with a 
lower-specced charger in the box. The most common fast-charging standard is 
Qualcomm's Quick Charge, but phone makers often have their own alternative 
to this (which is often faster still).

These phones have special code usually located in a chip known as the Power 
Management IC (PMIC) that communicates with the charger you are using and 
requests that it send power at a higher voltage.

While fast-charging itself will not harm your phone's battery, which is 
built to support it, the heat generated from that charging likely will 
affect its lifespan. So a quick top-up with a fast charger is unlikely to 
hurt your phone, but prolonged and regular fast-charging might mean the 
battery doesn't last quite as long as it would were you to use a slower 
charger. So it's on you to balance the advantages of faster charging with 
the convenience of quickly topping up your phone before you dash out the 
door.

In the same way that phone batteries don't like extreme heat, they also 
don't like the cold. So it goes without saying that you should avoid leaving 
your phone in a hot car, on the beach, next to the oven, out in the snow or, 
erm, in the freezer.

Can I use any phone charger?
Where possible use the charger that came with your phone, as it is sure to 
have the correct rating. Or make sure that a third-party charger is approved 
by your phone's manufacturer. Cheap alternatives from Amazon or eBay may 
harm your phone, and there have been several reported cases of cheap 
chargers actually catching on fire.

That said, your phone should draw only the power that it needs from a USB 
charger.

Also see: Best USB chargers for your phone

Battery memory effect: Fact or fiction?
The battery memory effect concerns batteries that are regularly charged 
between 20- and 80% and suggests that the phone might somehow 'forget' that 
extra 40% you routinely ignore.

Lithium batteries do not suffer the battery memory effect, though older 
nickel-based (NiMH and NiCd) batteries do.

Storing battery tips
Don’t leave a lithium battery lying around too long at 0% - if you're not 
using it for a while, leave it with around 50% charge.

You'll find the battery will drain between 5- and 10% each month, and if you 
let it discharge completely it might become incapable of holding a charge at 
all.





Keep Smiling,
Janie Degenshein
Happiness isn't having what you want, but wanting what you already have!
Facilitator of ECHO (Eyes Closed Hearts Open)
state affiliate board member
President of the senior division of the National Federation of the Blind of 
New Jersey
President of the Technology division of the National federation of the Blind 
of New Jersey
NFBNJ Newsline co-ordinator
jdegen16 at comcast.net
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://nfbnet.org/pipermail/njtechdiv_nfbnet.org/attachments/20190428/ef82a18d/attachment.html>