Overcharging?

[altjx]

No problem. There is only one thing I still suggest you add to your repertoire. Doing a "training" of the meter every 2-3 months. At the end of a day, power the phone off (press and hold the power button, then select "Power off"). Next, plug in the stock charger and cable. Allow the phone to boot to "charge only" mode. Let it charge for about 3 hours (until the animated battery says 100%). Now, power the phone on normally and user until you get the low battery warning at 15%. Finally perform the power off charge again. Once completed you'll be good for another 3 months.

Sent from my DROID RAZR MAXX using Xparent ICS Tapatalk 2 using Google voice to text translation. Please excuse any minor spelling, punctuation, capitalization or grammatical errors.

Sounds good

 

[Rogus]

Now, power the phone on normally and user until you get the low battery warning at 15%.

I apologize if I've missed the answer to this question in the many posts I've read about battery charging, but why is 15% the magic number? For example why not 10%?

 

[jackiescivic]

If I remember reading his post correctly, Fox said that the lower it goes below 15%, the more chance you have of it not accepting the charge. I very well could be incorrect though

 

[FoxKat]

I apologize if I've missed the answer to this question in the many posts I've read about battery charging, but why is 15% the magic number? For example why not 10%?

If I remember reading his post correctly, Fox said that the lower it goes below 15%, the more chance you have of it not accepting the charge. I very well could be incorrect though

Rogus, the phone's charging system is set up to recognize 15% as the reserve tank, so to speak. It's related to the way a Lithium Ion Polymer battery's voltage decreases during use. All batteries have what's known as a discharge curve, essentially a plotting of the voltage of the battery at given time intervals while being used, a load as it is called (think of you carrying a 20 lb bag of potatoes as a load and the extra energy you would expend carrying it), in this case the load is the phone's cellular radios (1X, 3G, 4G)
, WIFI, Bluetooth, GPS, apps, etc.

A fully charged LIPO battery will have a voltage of somewhere between about 3.9 and 4.2 Volts, depending on how recent charging was completed (voltage will drop slowly after completion of charge as the battery balances itself out). While being used the voltage will also drop but LIPO batteries don't decrease in voltage at an even rate through it's discharge cycle. It's the three unique curves (rates of decrease) that indicate the battery is in the top 20%, middle 60%, our bottom 20% of usable capacity. The top and bottom portions see increased voltage level change during discharge whereas the middle 60% displays a slower, more gradual voltage decrease with the same load.

It's the middle section that causes the meter to become confused about the charge levels since even though current is being used up, the voltages aren't dropping as quickly as they do in the top and bottom ranges. So the meter uses the sudden increase in voltage drops that happen within the last 20% of usable charge to determine when the battery is approaching complete discharge, and at 15% of usable capacity is when the meter sets the low battery flag.

And yes, jackiescivic, there is risk of the battery becoming unresponsive at levels approaching 0% of usable capacity, but those risks are minimal if the meter is calibrated properly. However, those whose phones have become unresponsive after a discharge to 0% of usable capacity were victims of the meter errors I've tried so hard to help everyone understand how to avoid.

Sent from my DROID RAZR MAXX using Xparent ICS Tapatalk 2 using Google voice to text translation. Please excuse any minor spelling, punctuation, capitalization or grammatical errors.

 

[cereal killer]

moved to new forum

 

[parkschr]

I was wondering if it is ok to use other motorola chargers with the MAXX. The one it comes with is too short of a wire. I need something longer. There are several other travel chargers by motorola. Will they work or harm my battery. I only want the best for my battery!

 

[TisMyDroid]

I was wondering if it is ok to use other motorola chargers with the MAXX. The one it comes with is too short of a wire. I need something longer. There are several other travel chargers by motorola. Will they work or harm my battery. I only want the best for my battery!

Most other chargers will work but there may be some (especially cheaper ones) that will make the phone act possessed while plugged in. If this happens make note to never use that charger. The stock charger that came with phone is the best. Some charge cables are only for charging others are also for data (to connect to pc) and some will charge slower than others. I too hate the short cable that came with the Maxx.

Sent from my DROID RAZR Maxx using Droid Forums

 

[FoxKat]

He ^^ is one of my disciples, and he's living up to every expectation! :biggrin:

 

[JohnnytheK]

By the way Foxkat, don't tell the Boy Scouts I work with about that "torch like, extremely high temperature flame" thing. It might give them ideas.

Maybe not so much, I've seen the after affects of Li-ion battery committing suicide and it's not pretty.

Sent by my new Droid Razr Maxx

 

[Natey2]

Now, don't panic since as jkaod explained, the phone knows this and once the battery reaches about 90% of full, the charging system reduces the charge rate to a "trickle" and will continue to gently "top off" the battery to 100% - the maximum recommended charge.

Yes! +1
Proof: http://www.droidforums.net/forum/showthread.php?p=1312534

Sent from my unrooted DroidX using Tapatalk

 

[peterjhon12]

useful information...please tell me something about small battery back-up devices ?

 

[Quick]

Recently installed a number of battery monitor apps and they are reporting that my Droid 4 is charging to 4.35 volts at full charge. This can't be good for a Li-Ion battery life (polymer of not).
This seems to be backed up on the internet (heh, it has to be true).

My speculations (assuming the reported voltage is correct):

Overcharging in this fashion will result in some additional capacity between charges -- at the cost of reduced battery life. Probably resulting in something like 300 - 500 charge cycles?
If I were to only charge to 90% I might double or triple the usable life of the battery.

Motorola and the ISPs design to criteria. Some of the heavily weighted ones will be:
Form factor -- thinner, lighter, ...
Duty cycle -- phone designed to cover average user's ownership. What's that? Something like a year? maybe 2?
Run on Battery for some acceptable amount of time -- work day? 8 hours? 12 hours? 16 hours?

Given that, overcharging the battery may be by design. Thinner/lighter/smaller battery that still operates the particular device under normal usage for an accpetable amount of time between charges and has a usable lifetime covering the average user's length of ownership.

I keep my phones for a long time. Kyocera 7135 - 4 or 5 years, Treo - 6 years, ... I expect to keep my Droid 4 a similar amount of time (maybe ). So I'm thinking if I only charge to 90% I may double or triple the usable life of the non-removeable battery in it.

Anything to this?