charging phone overnight bad for battery?

[scuba561]

I always ASSume you should remove the phone from the charger after the battery is fully charged, so I do not charge the phone overnight. This means as soon as I get up in the morning, I need to plug it in so it will be fully charged by the time I leave the house.

Do I really need to worry about the phone being plugged in for 8-10 hours? Will it harm the battery in any way?

 

[tk-093]

I've been plugging my smartphone in at night for years... never any issues. Old school WinMo's, Droids, iPhones, Galaxy 3's.... no issues. It suprises me when I read about people leaving them unplugged at night.

 

[davidnc]

Do I really need to worry about the phone being plugged in for 8-10 hours? Will it harm the battery in any way?

Short answer is nope. It wont harm battery.

 

[mesocyclonic]

The phone stops charging at 100% in order to not harm the battery and then goes through charge/discharge cycles to maintain charge near 100%.

More info: Your Smartphone is Lying to You

 

[EvilMonkey]

No, it's not bad for it at all. Here's a thread for you: http://forums.androidcentral.com/samsung-galaxy-s-iii/196848-overcharging.html

In that thread, I link to this article about how modern phone charging works, which is worth a read: http://phandroid.com/2010/12/25/you...is-lying-to-you-and-its-not-such-a-bad-thing/

 

[Technified]

I let my phone charge overnight every night. That charge gets me through my work day.

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Android Central Forums

 

[dj hidroid]

I was debating the same thing and last night I charged my phone and waited till the led turned green. I had a text but when turned the screen on there was a little icon that said please unplug your charger. I'm wondering if Samsung is on to something. If overcharging doesn't do it any harm why would that notification even be built in. There was also a little icon on the far right that looked like a battery melting. Next time I see it I'll post a screen shot.

 

[Gordo1603]

I've been plugging my smartphone in at night for years... never any issues. Old school WinMo's, Droids, iPhones, Galaxy 3's.... no issues. It suprises me when I read about people leaving them unplugged at night.

Same here!

GSIII on VZW

 

[mesocyclonic]

I was debating the same thing and last night I charged my phone and waited till the led turned green. I had a text but when turned the screen on there was a little icon that said please unplug your charger. I'm wondering if Samsung is on to something. If overcharging doesn't do it any harm why would that notification even be built in. There was also a little icon on the far right that looked like a battery melting. Next time I see it I'll post a screen shot.

The icon and message is your phone's way of saying "I'm done charging" and nothing more. The only real negative effect of leaving the phone plugged in is that you are wasting a little electricity-the phone has stopped charging at this point so that it doesn't wear down the battery.

 

[glassygurl]

i've heard that before a while back. but techies these day tells me that the batteries that come out now are more advanced so it doesn't matter.

 

[ibcop]

Plug that sucker in and unplug it when you get up.

 

[didiwags]

I have always charged my phones overnight and never had issues! It won't harm your battery!

 

[androiduser9203884]

in my opinion it WILL damage your battery, i may not be 100% right, but, anyone into hobbies like airsoft and RC, will know that batteries are no magical wonders of technology, they're sensitive items that requires cautious handling, All types of batteries present potential fume, heat, and bursting hazards, lipoly battery even requires its own balance charger so that it won't be damaged from charging and ensure it won't bloat up or burst into flames(bursting hazard), unlike phones, batteries from such hobbies usually have no indicator if they're full, so hobbyist keep track of the time they charge their batteries, there's no actual formula, but, a good estimate would be 1 hour of charging per mAH on a 1000mah rate of charge, since galaxy s3 has a 2100mah, it would require only a little more than 2 hours of charging using a wall charger,

a laptop battery uses the same li-ion battery as the phones, but will take damage and lose battery life if you leave them plugged in if the battery is already full, that's why those who know how to keep their laptop's battery in good condition will take out the battery and keep the laptop running on direct power from the outlet if the laptop will be plugged in for hours of work or play,

also, the notifications of the battery being full and needs to be unplugged is their for a reason other than you wasting electricity, i think cellphone companies care very little for your electrical bills than their reputation of defective batteries or exploding phones

 

[EldoradoSan]

Exploding phones? Seriously? I plugged my Droid X in for the whole night both years I used it. When I got my S3 last week the X was keeping just as good a charge as the first day I used it. Its 2012 and these aren't high output RC batteries.

 

[DarkSorrow]

I charge mine at night with no issues either.

 

[worwig]

a good estimate would be 1 hour of charging per mAH on a 1000mah rate of charge, since galaxy s3 has a 2100mah, it would require only a little more than 2 hours of charging using a wall charger,

Sorry, but you are very wrong on many levels.

First, the phone charges at multiple rates. If it believes it is on a USB port, as some chargers indicate, It pulls about 300ma. max. If it believe it is on an AC charger, it pulls about 800ma max. So a full charge takes over 7 hours or over 2.5 hours. It depends.

Second, this is one of the smartest phones on the planet. It has magnetic sensors, G sensors, two cameras, voice band radios, LTE radios, WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS and Glonass. And you think it can't monitor the battery voltage? Wrong. It monitors the battery voltage and tapers the charge. It does not overcharge, and is smart enough to prevent an undercharge. When the battery reaches 100%, it shuts down. There is no reason to not let the SMART phone do this job for you.

Third, the battery pack itself has safety electronics in it. Look at the battery, it has a CE mark on it because it has to be tested due to the active electronics in it (I do this testing on occasion). This electronics in the battery itself prevents over charging and under discharging, plus it limits the current.

Fourth, you are comparing this battery to one used in hobbies like RC. I happen to fly electric RC helicopters and planes. Yes, charging those batteries requires a lot of care. RC batteries are raw batteries with no protection, not limiting electronics. The chargers I use are smart chargers. The batteries can be placed on charge and left for extended periods. I generally don't, simply because I use them immediately after they are charged. The load, planes, helicopters, etc, can easily over drain the battery, making the battery a hazard to recharge. Raw batteries like this should ALWAYS be handled with great care. The smartphones with removeable batteries have at least TWO levels of protection to prevent these issues. (note that a device with a none removeable battery may only have protection on the main board so may not be quite as safe). But in the end, you can not compare a raw hobby battery like RC, to a smartphone.

Fifth, the main reason the manuals tell you to unplug the charger when the battery is charged, is to save a fraction of a watt of electricity. Again, my lab also does Energy Star testing. Saving a fraction of a watt over long periods of time adds up. This is the goal they are chasing, and one of the things we test for.

Sixth, Samsung has sold over 20 MILLION SIIIs alone. There are hundreds of millions of LiIon powered smart phones out there. If just a tiny fraction, say 0.001% of them exploded and burned when left plugged in, there would be THOUSANDS of homes burned down by now. Someone would notice this. It hasn't happened yet (though Apple had a few poorly designed laptops that actually did about 6 years ago).

Sorry, but you missed the mark on this. Plug them in over night and don't worry. If you are that paranoid, you had better get a metal box and place it outdoors and only charge it outdoors sealed in the box. Me, my devices have been charging on the night stand beside me over night for about 15 years.

 

[worwig]

a laptop battery uses the same li-ion battery as the phones, but will take damage and lose battery life if you leave them plugged in if the battery is already full, that's why those who know how to keep their laptop's battery in good condition will take out the battery and keep the laptop running on direct power from the outlet if the laptop will be plugged in for hours of work or play,

You also missed the point on this one.
Laptops can be left plugged in full time. In fact, the laptop I am using has been basically plugged in since 2006 or 2007. The battery in it still lasts about 45 minutes, which is about all it ever did even new.
The reason that they recommend removing the battery after it reaches a full charge, is because the heat from the processor board is not good for the battery life. This is true. You always want to avoid heat with Lithium batteries. Avoid leaving the phone or laptop in the car in the summer heat, and keep laptops as cool as you can (or remove the battery).

But it has nothing to do with over charging them. Again, these removeable battery packs have protection, and the laptop has the smarts to protect and not over charge the battery (unless you had an Apple about 6 years back, that was recalled)

Me, I leave my laptop plugged in with the battery in place 100% of the time, for convenience. No harm to the battery in over 6 years now.

 

[fragologist]

No, been doing it for years. Never had an issue.

 

[Karim Nageeb]

hay a have a galaxy y duos and my brother plays a looot with it so i have to charge it about two times\day is this harmful ?????? pls replay .