How often do you BUMP? ;-)

[L_Boogie820]

Lolol, OK I laughed.


Anyhow, after reading through forums and Googling what exactly bump charging is and how to do it, I did it this morning for the first time ever and MAN what a difference. I couldn't be happier. 4 hours off the charger with moderate text, liveprofile, and browser use(dolphin browser HD), I'm at 80% battery. How often do you bump charge the battery? Once a week? Month? I don't want to fry the battery either.

 

[Chance]

I do it everyday.

 

[Cyber Warrior]

I did mine once so far... good question though. I also don't want to fry my battery.

 

[L_Boogie820]

I do it everyday.

I would think once a week would be good. Idk

 

[angiebugg]

Daily. When I wake light is green I pull it off the charger and check email and a few other things then I simply plug it back in and light is amber and wait till green. I do this once or twice in the morn and it makes a huge difference throughout the day. I don't bother powering off and on, I just plug in.

Works well and got used to the routine with my Dinc.

 

[Rem]

Daily. When I wake light is green I pull it off the charger and check email and a few other things then I simply plug it back in and light is amber and wait till green. I do this once or twice in the morn and it makes a huge difference throughout the day. I don't bother powering off and on, I just plug in.

Works well and got used to the routine with my Dinc.

I got into this habit with my Incredible as well. The first full day I had my TB I did the long bump charge method but now I just do a quick bump while getting ready for work in the morning.

 

[TeckSupport05]

I calibrated my battery when I first got the phone, and never bumped. Today, I bumped for the first time on the TB, and believe it or not, I had pretty bad battery life. Usually it lasted at least the whole day, today it went to 60% in 3 hours.

 

[shaddix]

I use one of these. Amazon.com: 3GJUICE'S LUNCHBOX: LIMITED EDITION rechargable battery WITH BUILT IN CABLES for Android, Blackberry, LG, Kindle, MiFi, Motorola, Samsung , Sony Ericsson: Electronics

 

[EggoEspada]

I use one of these. Amazon.com: 3GJUICE'S LUNCHBOX: LIMITED EDITION rechargable battery WITH BUILT IN CABLES for Android, Blackberry, LG, Kindle, MiFi, Motorola, Samsung , Sony Ericsson: Electronics

How does it work? I'm going to Washington DC next week, so I want to make sure my Thunderbolt lasts.

 

[TreyDaPrince]

Never, I keep a charger by me =)

 

[cplayer2]

what exactly is bump charging on the thunderbolt? long bump? quick bump?

 

[blueyzfr6]

A couple bumps a week keeps it on its toes.

 

[mischiefse7en]

I have never done that, and don't plan to honestly.

 

[Mike_is_Mike]

I would think once a week would be good. Idk

Why once a week?

 

[Mike_is_Mike]

I calibrated my battery when I first got the phone, and never bumped. Today, I bumped for the first time on the TB, and believe it or not, I had pretty bad battery life. Usually it lasted at least the whole day, today it went to 60% in 3 hours.

OK, I believe it not.

BTW - What is calibrating the battery?

 

[TeckSupport05]

OK, I believe it not.

BTW - What is calibrating the battery?

When you FIRST get a phone, you let the phone die completely. While its off, charge it till its fully charged. Then use it till it dies again, and complete this process 3-5 cycles.
the battery has a memory cell in it, and this lets it know when its really dead, and when its really alive, so this way it will maintain itself the longest, as well as last as long as it can

 

[dutchbrown]

A little background on battery "calibration"...

You aren't actually calibrating the battery, you are calibrating the phone measurement of the battery capacity. Rechargeable batteries have a very flat voltage curve, so devices can't determine the amount of battery level left by virtue of the voltage (i.e. voltage at 80% charge is very close to voltage at 20%). So devices monitor the amount of battery they display by measuring the amount of current used through the day. However, in order to do this accurately a good power management algorithm will "learn" what the battery is really capable of. So when you first get a device it's set for a worse case battery decay... as you use it, it learns the extent of the battery capability... but this can ONLY happen if you reach the "cliff" of the voltage curve (i.e. let the phone drain completely a few times). The phone then recalibrates itself to your particular battery characteristics.

This is compared to alkaline batteries which have a fairly constant voltage drop as they drain and the device can use a typical alkaline voltage curve to calculate battery life.

Also, "bumping" a battery will recalibrate the top end of the curve and reset the 100% mark. When a phone is plugged in for a long time in order to protect the battery the charging circuit will cycle on and off. The majority of the time when you take if off the charger it has drooped slightly from true 100% charge. By reconnecting it activates the charge cycle again and then takes a few periodic measurements to determine if the battery is taking more charge. Periodic bumping probably does not damage the battery. Repeating the bumping in a short period of time will very likely overcharge the battery and can dramatically reduce it's life.

In other words, doing a bump charge or two every once in a while is probably good for the phone-battery calibration. Doing repeated bump charges in a row is probably very bad for the extended battery life.

Do whatever you will however, it's your phone. lol

 

[dutchbrown]

Oh, and Lithium Ion rechargeables do not really have a memory effect. When they are overcharged or overdrained they tend to lose their capacity for storage. Rechargeable memory (and the fallacy that you should most often drain your device fully prior to recharge) is a legacy of the NiCad rechargeables, and even then only occurred with repeated discharge to only a certain level.

The need to fully discharge a Lithium Ion battery is solely to calibrate the phone battery current use sensing algorithm (which it uses to "infer" battery %)

 

[fullmerdvm]

I got an excellent 5000mAh external battery from amazon for $42....love it. using same usb charging cord used with the phone. measures about 2"x3" and i keep it in my purse to charge on the go. works great, no extended battery bump, and no battery pull switch out with an extra battery....just plug in let it charge up and good to go...all while the external battery is still in my purse.

Amazon.com: New Trent ifuel IMP500 5000mAh External Battery pack and Charger for Apple iPhone 4 4G 3Gs 3G (AT&T and verizon), iPod Touch (1G 2G 3G 4G), Motorola Droid, HTC Android EVO, Blackberry, Kindle DX, Samsung EPIC, Samsung Galaxy Tablet, Samsu

 

[kesnik]

When you FIRST get a phone, you let the phone die completely. While its off, charge it till its fully charged. Then use it till it dies again, and complete this process 3-5 cycles.
the battery has a memory cell in it, and this lets it know when its really dead, and when its really alive, so this way it will maintain itself the longest, as well as last as long as it can

False - Its the phone that records the battery statistics

A little background on battery "calibration"...

You aren't actually calibrating the battery, you are calibrating the phone measurement of the battery capacity. Rechargeable batteries have a very flat voltage curve, so devices can't determine the amount of battery level left by virtue of the voltage (i.e. voltage at 80% charge is very close to voltage at 20%). So devices monitor the amount of battery they display by measuring the amount of current used through the day. However, in order to do this accurately a good power management algorithm will "learn" what the battery is really capable of. So when you first get a device it's set for a worse case battery decay... as you use it, it learns the extent of the battery capability... but this can ONLY happen if you reach the "cliff" of the voltage curve (i.e. let the phone drain completely a few times). The phone then recalibrates itself to your particular battery characteristics.

This is compared to alkaline batteries which have a fairly constant voltage drop as they drain and the device can use a typical alkaline voltage curve to calculate battery life.

Also, "bumping" a battery will recalibrate the top end of the curve and reset the 100% mark. When a phone is plugged in for a long time in order to protect the battery the charging circuit will cycle on and off. The majority of the time when you take if off the charger it has drooped slightly from true 100% charge. By reconnecting it activates the charge cycle again and then takes a few periodic measurements to determine if the battery is taking more charge. Periodic bumping probably does not damage the battery. Repeating the bumping in a short period of time will very likely overcharge the battery and can dramatically reduce it's life.

In other words, doing a bump charge or two every once in a while is probably good for the phone-battery calibration. Doing repeated bump charges in a row is probably very bad for the extended battery life.

Do whatever you will however, it's your phone. lol

All correct and very well written.....

When I wake up my Tbolt is green indicating the battery is charged but infact its some where between 90 - 100% charged. I unplug the phone and "bump" charge it until it reaches 100% again. Anything more than that is harming the battery in the long term.

Cycling the battery from a full charge to completly dead should be completed once or twice but after the phone learns the full range of the battery you are using you shouldn't let the phone discharge lower than 30% if you can help it. After the phone has seen your battery's capabilities you should charge the phone at every oppertunity. Charging your phone when the battery level is between 30% to 99% is always ok.

For thoes of you who think your battery life has improved..... it hasn't!!! Initially your phone was reporting the wrong battery level information because it wasn't calibrated (the phone doesn't know so its giving you a worst case scenario making you think the battery is dead after 4 hours). After many charging cycles have been completed the phone can give you more accurate information about the state of the battery.

-Kesnik