Fast Charging cable overnight ok?

[popkurn611]

If I plug my phone into the oem fast Charging cable every night around 1030pm, is it OK to leave it plugged in until 630am? I assume it stops the charging process once at 100%? But when I wake up my phone is 100%, it doesn't let it deplete at all, so must kick back on intermittently

 

[meyerweb#CB]

It'll stop charging at 100%. As the phone operates, and battery level drops a little bit, the charger will kick in again to bring it back up. Depending on your timing, you might catch it at 99%, or maybe even 98%, some morning.

 

[Kevin Harvell]

As with any other recent smartphone with quick charging capabilities, there should not be any issues.

What are your thoughts of the phone so far?

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[popkurn611]

As with any other recent smartphone with quick charging capabilities, there should not be any issues.

What are your thoughts of the phone so far?

Posted via the Android Central App

Absolutely love the phone. I have had Samsungs in the past and decided to go to the iPhone 6 Plus for a while. I don't miss it one bit. Had slightly better battery life, but I will give some of that up for the other pros of this phone. Holding the iPhone was like an unsteady brick in my hand. The ergonomics of the s7 edge is by far superior.

 

[lterry913]

I have turned smart charging off as I charge at night. It seemed the phone was pretty warm when I would take it if charger in A.M. and it kind of worried me. Any one else get this issue. I will save fast charge for when it's really needed.

 

[MartinMPL]

It should be OK, the phone is designed for fast charging and phones/batteries have management to make sure they stay in good health.

A little heat wouldn't normally worry me.

I'm pretty sure that if the phone couldn't handle overnight charging there would be some pretty big warnings on the box, or it would never be released at all!!!

 

[JimA]

I left my Note 4 on fast charge and charged it every night for almost two years. No problem. Doing the same with my s7e.

 

[LeoRex]

Technically speaking, peak level charging for extended periods can stress the LiPo cells and lead to reduced life of the battery. When you leave a fully charged phone on a charger for extended periods, it goes through a ton of little discharge/charge cycles, and LiPo cells really don't like that all that much when they are fully charged. When you look at how pros charge LiPo cells.... we're talking guys who's job (and maybe life) relies on having that device work.... those batteries are often charged on special chargers that keep the battery at an artificially low voltage (i.e. charge) level to avoid cell stress... maybe 90-95%. So they can sit there all day and night for who knows how long without going to pot.

If you want that LiPo battery to last as long as it can, charging to its highest possible level for the longest amount of time, you only need to do three simple things (in order of importance):

1) Avoid extreme heat... don't leave the sucker on your dash in the summer
2) Avoid constantly going through deep recharge cycles (100% to 5% back to 100%, etc)
3) When it is fully charged, take it off the charger

Now, having it sit overnight now and then, that probably won't be much of a problem. But I wouldn't make a habit of it.

 

[dpham00]

My preference has always been to charge over dinner, and top off a little bit before night time. I am near the charger most of the time but if there is a day when I am not near the charger then I will top off in the morning too. Also I will remove it once it charges to 95%. I try not to get it below 40%.

 

[Almeuit]

I usually charge before bed if needed. I just toss it on the wireless pad and pick it up as I walk into my room to sleep .

 

[MartinMPL]

Technically speaking, peak level charging for extended periods can stress the LiPo cells and lead to reduced life of the battery. When you leave a fully charged phone on a charger for extended periods, it goes through a ton of little discharge/charge cycles, and LiPo cells really don't like that all that much when they are fully charged. When you look at how pros charge LiPo cells.... we're talking guys who's job (and maybe life) relies on having that device work.... those batteries are often charged on special chargers that keep the battery at an artificially low voltage (i.e. charge) level to avoid cell stress... maybe 90-95%. So they can sit there all day and night for who knows how long without going to pot.

If you want that LiPo battery to last as long as it can, charging to its highest possible level for the longest amount of time, you only need to do three simple things (in order of importance):

1) Avoid extreme heat... don't leave the sucker on your dash in the summer
2) Avoid constantly going through deep recharge cycles (100% to 5% back to 100%, etc)
3) When it is fully charged, take it off the charger

Now, having it sit overnight now and then, that probably won't be much of a problem. But I wouldn't make a habit of it.

Maybe so for RC batteries and so on. But I would argue a phone is safe. The S7E will stop peak level charging rate at about 70% when it ramps down to conserve the battery. Once it's at 100% it stops and then "sips". Also bare in mind that 100% on the phone display may leave some in reserve anyway.

Every phone I've had I've charged over night and that includes some fast charge phones (Moto X Style, Nexus 5x and GS6E if that had it...).

Anyway, each to their own.

 

[meyerweb#CB]

I have turned smart charging off as I charge at night. It seemed the phone was pretty warm when I would take it if charger in A.M. and it kind of worried me. Any one else get this issue. I will save fast charge for when it's really needed.

You raise a valid point. With fast charge the battery will heat up more than with normal charging, and if you're charging it over night there's really no need for fast charge anyway.

 

[Rygots]

I plug my phone in right before I go to bed every night. I've done that for as long as I've had a cell phone. Now the charger I use for my phone isn't a fast charger, so it charges at the slower rate.

 

[LeoRex]

Maybe so for RC batteries and so on. But I would argue a phone is safe.

Well, we're talking about a few different things here... one is a safety issue... say leaving a non-protected battery on a 'dumb' charger where overcharging could lead to the thing going all 4th of July while it sits in the charger. But with a phone and a brick that wasn't plucked from a $1 bin at a bodega, there are a lot of safety features that eliminate the chance of the battery going nuclear. Like you said, it hits 100%, basically shuts off charging until it dips down a bit, then does a very mild charge to get back to full. But even that mild charge is stressful (not necessarily damaging mind you) on the actual cells when its done over and over. Letting it sit, fully charged, on a charger increases the likelihood that you will reduce the operational life of a battery.

Granted, you may very well never own the phone long enough for that degradation to make any difference... I am simply pointing out that while there are no safety issues with leaving your phone on the charger all night, the practice is, to some degree, bad for its longevity.

 

[MartinMPL]

Thanks man. Appreciate your thoughts. It's insight for people to make a decision anyway.

As a counter argument I am finding the S7E battery to be so stellar I'm not necessarily charging overnight all the time. If I'm busy at work or travelling by car a lot, the phone can get me through 2 days. I'm at 66% today at 730pm here in the UK so may not bother again tonight.

 

[hellosailor]

As Leo said, and every battery maker will tell you, fast charging shortens battery life. If you are charging overnight, you do not want fast charging, you are only killing your battery. Which is "sealed" in and not easily changed. $$.

But can anyone tell me, has Samsung finally gotten some brains about charging? My older model always used to go "Ding!" and LIGHT UP in the middle of the night, to make sure that I was awakened and reminded to unplug the charger to conserve electricity. No way to change that, either. Just Samsung being rude and inconsiderate, and obviously not aware that Americans often put their phones up for overnight charging--and expect not to have our sleep disturbed by it.

 

[LeoRex]

As Leo said, and every battery maker will tell you, fast charging shortens battery life. If you are charging overnight, you do not want fast charging, you are only killing your battery. Which is "sealed" in and not easily changed. $$.

OK.... I'll boil this down:

Provided there are no overheating problems, for whatever reason they may be, fast charging, in and of itself, is not going to put your battery into an early grave. Yes, it generates a little bit more heat than standard charging, but unless you are in a marathon Asphalt 8 session, making a full length feature film using 4K or sunning yourself in Death Valley, the added heat from FC shouldn't be an issue. If your phone IS getting hot... not warm.. HOT... then there may be some other issue that is presenting itself that you should address ASAP... because that's the sort of thing that's been catching people's pants on fire.

Even if fast charging is on, your phone isn't fast charging when it nears full capacity, and it certainly won't be fast charging if it's fully charged and sitting there... it isn't even charging at the 'standard' charging speed.

 

[hellosailor]

"Provided there are no overheating problems, for whatever reason they may be, fast charging, in and of itself, is not going to put your battery into an early grave."
Dunno, Leo. I've heard from battery makers (and charging system designers) that there is a physical difference in how the chemicals reform, and how crystals form in the battery, depending on how fast it is charged. So ignoring the fact that "fast charging" is, by industry definition, done at a higher temperature, there are real issues besides the heat. And the heat is considered to be a normal factor, and the shorter life is considered to be a normal and expected trade-off.
Same as it was with NiCad and NiMh cells, there's always a reason why the commercial-grade stuff uses "slow" chargers, that can normally be left on "forever" without doing any harm.
Then there are the chargers themselves. Even among brand name OEM chargers, some are smarter than others. Some throttle back, some disconnect, some just chew up batteries. Sometimes it is a difference in the battery pack too. Some phones can be put away for a month and still have a fully charged battery in them. Others will discharge their battery in a week or two, usually because there are internal components that allow some power drain even when the phone is off.

 

[puddlejumper32]

Verizon told me and my sister you're not supposed to leave your phone plugged in overnight. The rule of thumb is charge your phone to 80 % and deplete the phone to 20%. You're not really supposed to overcharge it because it destroys your battery faster.

 

[Golfdriver97]

Mod note: please keep the conversation civil.