false "charge" status

[mekos]

Last evening after limited use my droid showed that the charge in my battery had diminished to the point of it being "red" and suggested that I connect it to the charger. I did not have the charger at work so I merely shut the phone off. About an hour or so later I thought I would turn it back on and check to see if I had any missed calls or messages. When the phone rebooted it showed that it was about completely charged ! and remained that way the rest of the night. Is it common for the battery to regain a charge after " resting" ?

 

[640k]

it is not common. it's not even possible. did you check teh status to see how long the phone had been on the battery?

i'd monitor your phone for odd behavior. maybe even consider leaving it charged for 24hrs.

 

[mekos]

Thanks 640, I know it is logically impossible for a battery to recharge itself, when I returned home, and did connect it to the charger, it read at 70% charge. I think something else is wrong, possibly with the battery monitor itself. Don't get me wrong its not a real problem, if thats all that is required is a reboot of the phone, just wondering if anyone else has had similar issues.

 

[640k]

it probably just needs to reset. that's why i suggested 24hrs on the cord.

 

[JackT]

My Droid just did this last night too. However, I plugged it in to charge and the battery instantly jumped back up showing that it was at 60% charge. I chalked it up to something going wrong with the battery monitoring application.

 

[mikes]

It's a good idea with lithium technology batteries to occasionally (maybe once a month) discharge them completely (not just until you get a warning, but until the device shuts off), then do a full recharge. Li batteries have a very flat discharge curve, so their remaining capacity can't be accurately judged by the voltage they're putting out. Battery packs have processors in them which keep track of how much current has gone in/out, and use that to estimate the remaining charge. Doing a full discharge/recharge cycle resets their memory so they can more accurately estimate remaining capacity.

The same thing should be done with a new device, to calibrate the "fuel gauge."

References: How to prolong lithium-based batteries
Charging lithium-ion batteries

 

[ness180]

This happened to my Droid when I was at work two days ago. I knew my right away something was up because I charged the phone just the night before. Simply turned my phone off and then back on and everything was back to normal, showing my battery still had 50% left.

 

[crspang]

It's a good idea with lithium technology batteries to occasionally (maybe once a month) discharge them completely (not just until you get a warning, but until the device shuts off), then do a full recharge. Li batteries have a very flat discharge curve, so their remaining capacity can't be accurately judged by the voltage they're putting out. Battery packs have processors in them which keep track of how much current has gone in/out, and use that to estimate the remaining charge. Doing a full discharge/recharge cycle resets their memory so they can more accurately estimate remaining capacity.

The same thing should be done with a new device, to calibrate the "fuel gauge."

References: How to prolong lithium-based batteries
Charging lithium-ion batteries

Agreed....I use this method for my laptop and my Droid.

 

[Big Cam]

It's a good idea with lithium technology batteries to occasionally (maybe once a month) discharge them completely (not just until you get a warning, but until the device shuts off), then do a full recharge. Li batteries have a very flat discharge curve, so their remaining capacity can't be accurately judged by the voltage they're putting out. Battery packs have processors in them which keep track of how much current has gone in/out, and use that to estimate the remaining charge. Doing a full discharge/recharge cycle resets their memory so they can more accurately estimate remaining capacity.

The same thing should be done with a new device, to calibrate the "fuel gauge."

References: How to prolong lithium-based batteries
Charging lithium-ion batteries

Wow, I just spent about 10 minutes reading both of those and they answer questions that have been asked so many times on this board.

 

[cereal killer]

Happened to me as well once. A simple powercycle and it registered correct charge.

I consider this normal since these devices are essentially mini-computers.

As you see a lot of people in this thread experienced the same thing, including myself, so it's safe to say many more saw this as well.

*It's SOP nothing to worry about......

*unless it's happening daily of course*

 

[robjective]

This just happened to me today. I put my phone on the cradle every night and then take it off every morning. I know that by lunchtime, I will be around 70 or 80% and usually end up around 60% at the end of the day. Today at lunch, it said I had 5%. I put it on the cradle for a few minutes and when I took it off, the battery was at 60%.

Apparently, a glitch. I'll buy the re-calibration story.