How to care for second battery

[skatanic000]

I bought a second battery with external charger.

I was wondering, if I charge it and keep it in my wallet, will it keep that charge for a while? I don't think I will be needing both batteries every day, so it may sit dormant in my wallet for a week at a time. Should I still charge it every night or does that hurt it? Should I rotate the batteries?

I do not know how to properly care for a battery.

 

[vader4633]

I rarely use the charger and change the battery when it depletes. I charge the other battery in the external charger. One battery usually lasts me a work day of use.

 

[skatanic000]

Why, does the charger damage the battery? I pretty much always have it on charger because I don't wanna get stuck without charge after work

 

[jtfishbein]

Why, does the charger damage the battery? I pretty much always have it on charger because I don't wanna get stuck without charge after work

If you constantly keep it charged the battery heats up, and bc the batteries are forms of lithium they get pretty hot and eventually unstable. This means it will swell up sometimes when it has been overcharged. Also, by constantly charging it, it will diminish the life of the battery a lot. FYI, for anyone with a spare, do not let it completely die from just sitting there in a drawer bc it will just about kill the battery completely.


This was all very common at my old job. I worked at a store that essentially only sold batteries for anything and everything you could possibly think of.

 

[dbpaddler]

Overcharge? When the light on my charger goes from pink to blue, it's no longer charging. How does it then overcharge? If it's in my phone it stops charging at 100% and won't keep charging unless I unplug and replug. If I'm not mistaken overcharge potection is built in to most things nowadays. If not we'd have small explosions all over the world when someone forgets about their battery.

 

[boomerbubba]

I bought a second battery with external charger.

I was wondering, if I charge it and keep it in my wallet, will it keep that charge for a while? I don't think I will be needing both batteries every day, so it may sit dormant in my wallet for a week at a time. Should I still charge it every night or does that hurt it? Should I rotate the batteries?

Certainly protect the copper leads of the battery. You don't want to short it. I would worry about deforming pressure in a wallet, depending on which pocket you carry it in. Also, cooler is better than warmer. The worst place to store a battery is inside a hot car parked in the sun. I would probably keep a spare in a plastic wrapper in an outside pocket.

Rotating the batteries does not seem a bad idea. I have been experimenting with that. (But I do wonder if this might confuse the calibration of the battery meter on the phone, especially if the second battery is non-OEM. That percentage meter is just an estimate, a non-linear calculation based on voltage and temperature sensors.)

For long-term storage of spare batteries, experts recommend keeping them at about 40%. Since the charge dissipates over time, that would mean occasional booster charges. But if the spare is in daily use, long-term storage is not much of a factor. Obviously, you would want such a spare to be full for it to be useful.

In general, I agree with your idea for carrying a spare if you need more juice during the day and are not near a charger. I would prefer that to the high-capacity aftermarket batteries from Seido that many users are waiting for, because those are bound to make the phone a lot thicker. The Epic is already more than thick enough for my taste.

 

[KC2UUZ]

Exactly! I would suggest rotating the batteries about once a week. DO NOT keep it in your wallet. If you somehow manage to crack the battery you'll be in for a nasty surprise. I'd protect the copper leads, and keep it someplace cool and dry. A Briefcase, or bag is always good. YES, overcharge protection is built into most devices today, just think of the sony laptops from a few years ago....

 

[bipoler#AC]

I just unplug the external charger once its green throw it in my bag and head out when my phone dies I open the cover switch out the batters and keep it going. I think thats why they made the external charge that way so it was easy for travel

 

[skatanic000]

Yea, but the external charger has that weird curl at the end of it that makes it awkward in my pocket. What is that for??

I am so bummed I can't keep it in my wallet. That was working perfectly. I guess front pant pocket? I do not carry a bag everywhere nor would I like to start.

 

[bipoler#AC]

O well I'm in school so it works for me in my bookbag lol and the curl in the charger actuall hangs to surtain surfaces like a clip for real

Sent from my SPH-D700 using Tapatalk

 

[Since9600]

I have been keeping spare phone batteries in my pockets for over a decade and have never had a problem.. I treat them like spare change.

 

[caliskimmer]

You can't overcharge batteries these days with high-end products like this. If I had a second battery, I'd store it in a safe place or at least wrap something around it like a microfiber cloth just to protect the copper leads.

 

[Since9600]

If I had a second battery, I'd store it in a safe place or at least wrap something around it like a microfiber cloth just to protect the copper leads.

I have been throwing spares in the same pocket as spare change since the Ericsson CA638.. Trust me you cannot really hurt the batteries, the plastic "cage" over the leads prevents you from ever short-circuiting or harming the battery unintentionally, wrapping it in cloth or anything is kinda over-kill...

 

[KC2UUZ]

I just unplug the external charger once its green throw it in my bag and head out when my phone dies I open the cover switch out the batters and keep it going. I think thats why they made the external charge that way so it was easy for travel

I think your right about that!

 

[KC2UUZ]

Yea, but the external charger has that weird curl at the end of it that makes it awkward in my pocket. What is that for??

I am so bummed I can't keep it in my wallet. That was working perfectly. I guess front pant pocket? I do not carry a bag everywhere nor would I like to start.

The Idea is to keep the copper contacts safe, and away from conductive materials. A little painters tape over them might work. I guess you can keep it in your wallet if your not sitting on your wallet too much. Just be careful.

 

[aclays]

There are only two things you need to worry about with lithium ion batteries.

1. Make sure it never gets super hot

2. Make sure it never completely loses it's charge.



If you take heed of those two, then you can do whatever you want. A lithium ion battery has a fixed life basically. After a couple years it'll be down to say 70% of its maximum capacity whether you use it or not.

 

[dchawk81]

I keep two spares in my denim jeans' coin pocket.

 

[HeyBeerManTX]

I've been going through 1-2 batteries PER DAY on average use lately. I carry my second battery in the back pocket of my jeans and simply make sure I'm not sitting directly on the battery. Prior to inserting the 2nd battery, I do usually blow on the contacts to remove any lint or other foreign material. I do the same when I insert the 1st battery into the stand-alone charger.

To add to the questioning, I'm waiting on the Seidio Rugged Case in Sapphire Blue, and I'm concerned with durability of the case and/or phone damage from constantly removing the back case to switch batteries. Am I assuming the worst, or is it something that I should be concerned with?

I'm also toying with the idea of getting the Zagg Sparq2.0 in lieu of constantly switching batteries. Any thoughts or experiences with it?

 

[That70sGAdawg]

The "curl" on the end of the extra battery charger is a stand for your phone. When you are charging the phone (extra battery is charged), you can plug in the charger to the phone while it sits in the stand like a "clock radio"(if you open the keyboard to make it thinner). Cool design I think. For $34 this accessory is a deal!

 

[HeyBeerManTX]

The "curl" on the end of the extra battery charger is a stand for your phone. When you are charging the phone (extra battery is charged), you can plug in the charger to the phone while it sits in the stand like a "clock radio"(if you open the keyboard to make it thinner). Cool design I think. For $34 this accessory is a deal!

That is what the curl is intended for, except that the Epic is too thick to fit in it while in a closed position, as you said.

If this charger had a usb port on it so that you wouldn't have to have two plugs to charge both, it would be pretty sweet.