Battery care, once and for all - "Snake oil" or worthwhile procedure

[Mike_47]

Both my battery app and Norelco electric shaver manual recommend discharging the battery in use to 20% about once per month... then charging up. Is this worthwhile or just like "snake oil" Thanks...

 

[Krolt]

I think it recalibrates the software. Mine runs down to almost nothing on my last day off, when I'm at work it usually gets charged each night at around 50 %

 

[corpgator]

Snake oil. That was the procedure for nickel cadmium batteries. Lithium ion batteries need no such conditioning. Don't over discharge them and never let them fully discharge.

Five tips for extending lithium-ion battery life - TechRepublic

 

[Captainbob767]

I find that burning incense while the battery is charging, and drinking a scotch on the rocks at the same time seems to help just as well.

 

[Mike_47]

Fantastic! My drink is vodka and orange juice. Batteries love good vibes )

 

[sMt73]

Add whipped Vodka to that sir. You will thank me later.

 

[Old Stoneface]

Both my battery app and Norelco electric shaver manual recommend discharging the battery in use to 20% about once per month... then charging up. Is this worthwhile or just like "snake oil" Thanks...

It's worthwhile--not for the "health" of the battery, but for the run-time calibration of the electronics it drives. As the battery ages, its run-time decreases. By occasionally running the device down until it shuts off on its own, the device's run-time is recalibrated.

 

[someguy01234]

With lithium ion, It's actually bad for battery if you discharge it all the way too much, ideally never let it go too low.

 

[frenziedfemale]

With lithium ion, It's actually bad for battery if you discharge it all the way too much, ideally never let it go too low.

I believe the N4 is a LiPo battery but regardless..heed this advice. A huge portion of the Red Light Of Death issues happened when people let their phones discharge to zero. It really is not advised.

 

[Old Stoneface]

Ideally the device won't let it discharge to zero, but will shut down before it gets that far. And you do have to let it discharge to shutdown, occasionally, so the electronics know how much capacity the battery has.

My runtime just "magically" increased by about 20% by doing that. I had been consistently at 75-80% by the end of the workday. It started dropping, heading down to 60% or less, in the same time, last week. Looking at the consumers: There wasn't anything excessive going on. So I let it die, let it stay off for a couple hours, charged it back up, all in one go, and now it's back to 75-80% at the end of the workday.