Epic and Battery Meter Readings

[bevorules]

Hey guys,

I have discovered a way to squeeze a little bit more life out of the Epic.

I always charge the phone overnight with the standard 700 ma wall charger. Usually I turn it off before charging, but sometimes I leave it on. When I wake up, the LED is blue, but my Battery Gauge Widget indicates that I only have a 97 or 98% charge.

Next, I drive 30 minutes to work while streaming Slacker Radio over 3G. My Epic is plugged into my 950 ma Motorola car charger.

When I get to work, the LED is blue again. Except, my battery gauge is now at 100%. This indication seems legitimate -- the battery level counts down from 100 at its normal rate.

Anybody else notice this? For reference, I have a launch day Epic. I have NOT updated to the Froyo leak; I'm still using firmware version DI18.

 

[ragnarokx]

After my Epic says it's charged, if I want it to read 100% I usually have to unplug and replug it in, then let it give the fully charged message again.

 

[Chris Kerrigan]

Most software/hardware combinations are designed to let the battery drain a couple percentage points after a full charge in order to prevent an overcharge which could potentially do damage. But I agree with the plugging it back in for a short period of time to bring it back up to 100%. I usually just use my car charger for this.

 

[bevorules]

I've read that some other phones benefit from this technique (known as 'bump charging'), but I could never make it work with the standard Epic wall charger.

 

[sndplace]

I can't do it with the wall charger either but i can do it by pluging it into the usb port of my PC. But after awhile with the phone , I'm able to last and average of 18hrs that I'm fine with the 97% charge. With the froyo update I'm getting less time now though.

 

[Donmeister85]

Yeah, I noticed that too. Not a terribly a big deal, but there's something about fully charged where I'd like to read 100%. So I'll give this a try.

 

[Robcy]

Extremely annoying to not get 100% from a phone you just unplugged. My work around is this. I purchased 2 additional batteries, and a wall charger ($10). When the installed battery is low, I put in a new one, and it always starts at 100%. I only use the battery wall charger, and never plug in my phone.

They are the cheap EBay ones, and they last just as long as the original.

 

[heymista]

Extremely annoying to not get 100% from a phone you just unplugged. My work around is this. I purchased 2 additional batteries, and a wall charger ($10). When the installed battery is low, I put in a new one, and it always starts at 100%. I only use the battery wall charger, and never plug in my phone.

They are the cheap EBay ones, and they last just as long as the original.

I also bought oem slot charger and spare battery and noticed slot charger will allow it to charge to 100 percent.

 

[carraser891]

What is wrong with Epic's battery indicator????

I charged it overnight, used it during the day (regular usage, browsed a couple of times, text messaged, facebook) and at about midnight the battery reads that its about half full. Then when i turn the phone off and plug it in to charge, the battery says that its about a quarter full?? what is going on here?

 

[ragnarokx]

The battery meter can become inaccurate if you don't let it completely discharge every once and a while. Try letting the phone die and then charging back to 100% without unplugging it.

 

[cbpagent72]

The battery meter can become inaccurate if you don't let it completely discharge every once and a while. Try letting the phone die and then charging back to 100% without unplugging it.

I have heard that is not good (to the point of damaging) to fully discharge a lithium-ion battery pack like you could with the NIMH or Ni-Cad batteries.

 

[ragnarokx]

By completely discharge, I mean run your phone until it shuts itself off. It won't let you 100% discharge it, it shuts down before that point.