Charging your Maxx

[Pacersfan316]

I just wanted to see how others charge this phone because ive been researching and some say to let the battery drain completely then some say to never to do that. I usually just wait to hit about 20 10% and then charge it while the phone is still on...read somewhere you should only charge when the phone is off. Charging takes forever on this phone haha

How do you guys charge this beast of a phone?!

 

[DocsDad]

I just wanted to see how others charge this phone because ive been researching and some say to let the battery drain completely then some say to never to do that. I usually just wait to hit about 20 10% and then charge it while the phone is still on...read somewhere you should only charge when the phone is off. Charging takes forever on this phone haha

How do you guys charge this beast of a phone?!

I charge whenever its convenient and always when on. I never drain down completely as there are no memory issues with these batteries. You can calibrate the battery sensor by draining to about 15-20% once per month. I have yet to worry about it though.

 

[cece5702]

As a habit I charge my phone every night. I like to start my day on a full charge. So far so good!

Sent from my DROID RAZR MAXX

 

[FoxKat]

I charge whenever its convenient and always when on. I never drain down completely as there are no memory issues with these batteries. You can calibrate the battery sensor by draining to about 15-20% once per month. I have yet to worry about it though.

As a habit I charge my phone every night. I like to start my day on a full charge. So far so good!

Sent from my DROID RAZR MAXX

Both are right and will result in a good user experience for them given their individual usage patterns. There is a wealth of information on the web about Lithium Ion Polymer batteries and their characteristics both while charging and as well discharging and much can be learned about these amazing power vessels. In particular, www.batteryuniversity.com has perhaps irrefutibly the most encompassing and clinically verifiable information for these batteries. There is everthing from the laypersons' explanations all the way to the highly technical reasoning behind the whys and why nots.

As a general rule, DocsDad is correct, no memory problem as there was in Nickel Cadmium batteries and to a lesser extend, Nickel Metal Hydride batteries (Memory: Myth or Fact? – Battery University), no reason to "drain" the battery, and no real good reason to "calibrate" the power meter or "wipe" the meter's stats. If you allow the phone to reach the level where it says "low battery", which is I believe 15% on an infrequent basis, you've done all that is necessary for the meter to know where the bottom threshold is. Then if you charge infrequently to 100% with the phone OFF, you will give the meter the opposite information it needs to most accurately gauge the levels throughout the day.

It's true that these batteries actually prefer multiple shorter charges throughout the day rather than one long charge followed by one long drain cycle, so after performing the above once in every few weeks if at all, you can charge and discharge in short, medium or long cycles without concern. If you don't let the phone's battery dip much below 15% (and never if at all possible to 0% where the phone shuts down on its own), you really have no worries about the long-term effects.

 

[FoxKat]

I just wanted to see how others charge this phone because ive been researching and some say to let the battery drain completely then some say to never to do that. I usually just wait to hit about 20 10% and then charge it while the phone is still on...read somewhere you should only charge when the phone is off. Charging takes forever on this phone haha

How do you guys charge this beast of a phone?!

Lithium-ion is a very clean system and does not need formatting when new, nor does it require the level of maintenance that nickel-based batteries do. The first charge is no different than the fifth or the 50th. Formatting makes little difference because the maximum capacity is available right from the beginning. Nor does a full discharge improve the capacity once faded. In most cases, a low capacity signals the end of life. A discharge/charge may be beneficial for calibrating a “smart” battery, but this service only addresses the digital part of the pack and does nothing to improve the electrochemical battery. Instructions to charge a new battery for eight hours are seen as “old school” from the nickel battery days.

​

Ref: How to Prime Batteries – Battery University (a guide for manufacturers preparing them for installation, and not for the end-user).

 

[thaDroidz]

The stock battery percentage will actually read 100% kinda early.. (found this out by testing 2x battery app)
I noticed the phone shows 100% but 2x was only 96%. So once its reaches 100 let it stay for another half hour or so, to reach MAXXimum capacity.

----posted maxx'ed out----

 

[cbreze]

I plug it in everynite no matter where it's at. Always start the day with 100% charge and never have any worries as it stays juiced all day.

 

[FoxKat]

The stock battery percentage will actually read 100% kinda early.. (found this out by testing 2x battery app)
I noticed the phone shows 100% but 2x was only 96%. So once its reaches 100 let it stay for another half hour or so, to reach MAXXimum capacity.

----posted maxx'ed out----

This is very close to what BatteryUniversity says. Based on their description, since Lithium Ion batteries can not accept a continuous trickle charge once they've reached their maximum voltage - usually set at about 4.2V (which applies to Lithium Ion Polymer batteries as well), the charging circuitry is designed to shut charging off completely to prevent an overcharge and shorten the life of the battery as well as to reduce the risk of even worse consequences such as overheating and possible self-destruction (catastrophic failure). This is evidenced by the fact that the lightning bolt on the battery will disappear once the battery has reached a full charge.

Once that charge level is reached, the stock meter will show 100%. Now, what happens from here is where it gets interesting. If the phone is OFF, in all liklihood the next time you power it up, it'll still have nearly 100%, if not 100% charge. However if you are like most people, you will charge the phone while it's powered on. This is what leads to incorrect meter readings, and incomplete charging cycles. Since the phone will be drawing current and may actually have some services running that will do such things as check email, sync your Facebook and LinkedIn accounts, etc., even while you are sleeping, it will be drawing current at varying rates.

The charging circuitry is looking for two things to happen that signify it has reached nearly a 100% charge. First it's looking for the voltage to level out at 4.2V (or very close to that for most LI/LIPO batteries). Then as it's approaching a full charge the current draw by the battery will exhibit a signature drop in the rate of current it's pulling. This is when the charging circuit says..."The battery is almost full and I need to reduce the charging rate to top off and once done, interrupt the charging completely). It then charges at a much lower rate for the last few percent of charge until it shuts down the charging circuitry.

If the phone happens to pull power and make it look like the battery has been pulling more in the charge process, and then the phone suddenly stops pulling so much (like immediately after an email or Facebook update for instance), the charging circuitry could mistake that sudden drop in current draw for the signature that normally identifies the battery is essentially full. This could cause the charger to shut down far too soon and leave you with a battery that is only charged as much as perhaps 80-90%, however the meter will incorrectly display 100% until it has had enough time to adjust for the increased consumption once the phone is being used. This is one reason why many people complain their battery apparently "drops" 10% within minutes of being removed from the charger. Truth is, it was not full to begin with but the meter believed it was.

The second possibility is that it did manage to fully charge, and then the charging circuitry shuts down. Now the phone is using power but the battery is not being replenished until it decreases to about 90% of full, at which time the charging circuitry kicks in again and boosts it back to 100%. This is done to protect and extend the life of the battery, since studies show the longer the battery is held at 4.2 volts the shorter its lifespan overall. So by letting it hit 4.2V, but then shutting down charging and allowing it to decrease slowly to maybe 4.05V, it extends the battery's life and only reduces the available charge by no more than 10% at any given time. So if you pull it off at 92%, but it shows 100%, then you use it for 5 or 10 minutes (using about 2%), it seems as though it's suddenly "dropped by 10% in less than 10 minutes"!

This top-off to 100% and slow discharge to 90% cycle can happen several times over the course of a night's sleep. During this time, the meter will continue to show 100%, since it only moves in 10% increments. So when you pick it up and unplug it, you think you have 100%, BUT may only actually have 92%, and the other 8% was used up by the phone during the last period of no-charging. This relates to your example above. But in your example where the phone said 100% and 2X showed 96%, leaving it on for an additional half hour may actually allow it to continue to deplete the most recent top-off cycle and by the time the half-hour has passed not only is it not 100%, but could be 91%! Unless you happen to remove it right at the end of a top-off cycle, you will not be assured a 100% charge.

In that situation, it will not begin the top-off charging again until it reaches 90%, so if you pulled off at 92%, or 2% too early, the result is you have 92% of the battery's capacity in charge for the day. The only ways to assure you have 100% charge are to either charge with the phone powered off, or monitor its charging process and when it reaches 100%, remove it from the charger immediately.

 

[FoxKat]

I plug it in everynite no matter where it's at. Always start the day with 100% charge and never have any worries as it stays juiced all day.

This is what the manufacturer hopes you will do. Who really cares if their phone has 100% or 97% but shows 100%? The real question is, did it last as long throughout the day as you needed it to? Do you carry a spare charger or portable battery booster? Do you have a computer to connect to with the USB cable to boost it for part of the day? Do you have a car adapter or better yet - car dock that has charging capability for the commute to and from work/friends/dinner/parents/etc.?

In other words, do you require 100% to get you through the day or not? Battery University says if you are approaching 0% by the end of the day, and you can't supplement the charge, then you need a bigger battery - plain and simple. So the MAXX may be an absolute necessity for you. For me, the RAZR works fine since I supplement the charge several times throughout the day. I never go to 0% (something you should avoid as well), and rarely get to 15%.

 

[cece5702]

I plug it in everynite no matter where it's at. Always start the day with 100% charge and never have any worries as it stays juiced all day.

I do the exact same thing with mine!

Sent from my DROID RAZR MAXX

 

[wkayl]

Mine is in and out of the car dock 10 or more times a day. Then plugged in every night with wall charger. Never turned off.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using DroidForums

 

[rlarson_mn]

I charge my phone every night and in an off condition. I never know how intense my 'phone day' is going to be. If I spend a lot of time in a wifi area then my readings never get below 50%. If I spend a lot of my day on the go utilizing Verizon's network then my day ends with between 30-20% remaining. I have never been able to kill my Razr Maxx. It's a great phone that will be made even better with ICS when ever that upgrade comes.

 

[coolbreeze704]

shorter charges[/B] throughout the day rather than one long charge followed by one long drain cycle, so after performing the above once in every few weeks if at all, you can charge and discharge in short, medium or long cycles without concern. If you don't let the phone's battery dip much below 15% (and never if at all possible to 0% where the phone shuts down on its own), you really have no worries about the long-term effects.

I only need to charge my Maxx one a month.

 

[cece5702]

Once a month? What kind of Maxx do you have? Do you use the phone at all? Lol.....

I only need to charge my Maxx one a month.

 

[coolbreeze704]

Once a month? What kind of Maxx do you have? Do you use the phone at all? Lol.....

I stream NFL Access 24/7 while talking to on the phone all day with 4G. Oh yeah enjoy playing my music all night too. Helps me sleep.