Extended battery and Battery Left

[aaf709]

I had the extended battery on my OG Droid and the system wasn't geared for it. Like others, I used the Battery Left app to read the mV. It would be charged at 4200 mv and be dead near 3500 mv. Has anyone done this with the extended battery of the Bionic, and if so, what would be good reading?

 

[yiannis]

I don't have an answer to your post, it's more like I'm having similar trouble.

I got my extended battery on Thursday (9/15), charged it fully and was happy with the performance on Friday. Over the weekend I fully charged it with the OG Droid charger and it did not work as well as it did on Friday. After being told that both the OG Droid and the Bionic charger cables are rated at the same 850 mAh, I decided to root so as to perform the battery calibration.

So as I started charging the phone, I looked at both the circle widget % (which should be based on the original battery file) and the mV at the battery calibrator software.

And here is where it got weird:

Battery calibrator showed 100%, 4200 mV (max allowed) while the circle widget showed 86% and remained at that for ~10 minutes while charging.

After rebooting my phone the calibrator showed 100%, 4200 mV and then 90%. At that time the green indicator showed a full battery but also the lightning sign (that it is still being charged. After rebooting again I saw 93% on the widget and then 95% all without any changes in the displayed value of the calibration.

So then I went ahead and performed the calibration judging that there's something wrong with the widget and that the phone (green battery indicator at the top right and the battery calibrator software are unlikely to be wrong and that the widget was reading the wrong battery.

Yet immediately after I unplug the phone the battery voltage shows 100%, 4119 mV. That mV is consistent with the 95% circle battery widget not the 100%. Problem is the phone will simply not charge more. The widget is stuck at 95% for a while and I cannot get to 100% (on the widget) and 4200 mV on the battery calibrator.

Any ideas?

 

[Speeding Wheels]

have you tried using the brick and cable that came with the Bionic?

 

[yiannis]

have you tried using the brick and cable that came with the Bionic?

Yes that is the one I'm using now. The battery voltage indicated at the Battery Calibrator app varies, while the circle widget, the battery calibrator and the inbuilt green bar on the top right show 100%/fully charged.

EDIT: the circle widget decided to show 99% now.

 

[Speeding Wheels]

My circle widget always shows 99% when I pull the charger off the phone.. I ASSume it's just a glitch in the app.
personally, ever since I started using the brick/cable that came with the Bionic my phone has been lasting MUCH longer on each charge. On extended battery for several days now and got nearly 37 hours on my last full charge with typical usage.
I'm 17 hours into my current charge and at 59% remaining.

 

[yiannis]

Here's what the author of battery calibrator wrote in a n email:

Drain the battery. (not fully)
Install current widget. Set the update time interval to 60sec, place the widget to the home screen and check the log when it shows 100%When the log says 0mA to the charging current that means that your phone is fully charged. Then clikc calibrate, plug out, and use it normally

I assume that means:

1) Drain the battery (not fully)
2) Install current widget. Set the update time interval to 60sec, place the widget to the home screen.
3) Plug it in install the widget
4) When you toggle the remaining battery %, the mV and the "data" on the top part of the widget, check the battery % when it reaches 100%
5) Then check the widget's log (under data or by sending the widget to the home screen again) for the mA value.
6) When it is at 0 mA click calibrate, plug out and use normally.

 

[yiannis]

Battery monitor widget shows the mA when charging (green) and when discharging red). The charge starts trickling down at 4 mA and stays at -3 mA for 20+ min, at -2 mA for 25+ min and at -1mA for 40+ min. Plots graphs and gives estimates of life based on previous usage.

I calibrated at -1 mA.

mV is not an accurate indicator of charge. Instead use the green mA number to know that it's still charging. The circle battery widget is also accurate, before and after calibration.

I should report that all this hassle has not helped my battery, just my confidence in what the OS shows to me.