Do charge cycles work? (Draining to 0% before recharge)

[remedemic]

Some tell me that draining the battery to zero and recharging (cycles) increases the battery life significantly. Do they really? If so, how do I properly do it, and how many times should I do it?

 

[FoxKat]

Some tell me that draining the battery to zero and recharging (cycles) increases the battery life significantly. Do they really? If so, how do I properly do it, and how many times should I do it?

In a word, NO. research Lithium Ion batteries and you'll find the truth.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using DroidForums

 

[Deron]

We've had discussions like the before on the forums. From what I have read in news articles (not posts in forums), there does not appear to be any evidence for "training" the battery like you suggested. The phone manuals don't mention this. There is nothing about the Android system itself that requires special battery calibration. From what I've read, lithium ion batteries do not require it. Just use your phone the way you like and charge it whenever is convenient for you.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk

 

[djspy]

Motorola did have a how to train your battery for the droid 1. It said to drain the phone the plug in to the wall charger and once it charges leave it plugged in for an additional 2 hours. It said to repeat this 2 times.

 

[BanditRider]

The discharge/charge cycle "trains" the battery meter; not the battery. It just makes the meter more accurate. So it knows where 0% is and 100%.

 

[FoxKat]

We've had discussions like the before on the forums. From what I have read in news articles (not posts in forums), there does not appear to be any evidence for "training" the battery like you suggested. The phone manuals don't mention this. There is nothing about the Android system itself that requires special battery calibration. From what I've read, lithium ion batteries do not require it. Just use your phone the way you like and charge it whenever is convenient for you.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk

Again, Deron is spot on. The battery design actually performs better with multiple partial charges throughout the day, rather than pump and dump. It's a characteristic of the chemistry/engineering.

Here's a short clip from the Battery University website, which says it all, but If you really want to learn more, go to Charging Lithium-Ion Batteries.

Simple Guidelines for Charging Lithium-based Batteries

• A portable device should be turned off while charging. This allows the battery to reach the threshold voltage unhindered and reflects the correct saturation current responsible to terminate the charge. A parasitic load confuses the charger. (**This most likely doesn't apply to the Droid RAZR or for that matter most, if not all smart phones of today. They have circuitry to send power to the battery, and then run on the charger to prevent the parasitic load situation. Still, if you pwer off and charge to 100%, there's no doubting a full charge.)
• Charge at a moderate temperature. Do not charge below freezing.
• Lithium-ion does not need to be fully charged; a partial charge is better. (**This is confirmed on many fronts)
• Chargers use different methods for “ready” indication. The light signal may not always indicate a full charge.
• Discontinue using charger and/or battery if the battery gets excessively warm.
• Before prolonged storage, apply some charge to bring the pack to about half charge.
• Over-discharged batteries can be “boosted” to life again. Discard pack if the voltage does not rise to a normal level within a minute while on boost.

 

[FoxKat]

The discharge/charge cycle "trains" the battery meter; not the battery. It just makes the meter more accurate. So it knows where 0% is and 100%.

This sounds credible. Either way, it's not necessary since it's not the battery meter that makes the decision when to shut down the phone, it's the charging circuitry.