Safe to charge phone every night?

[OzRob]

Charging your phone every night will not damage its battery. I have a rule of not charging if my phone is over 50%, though.

Lithium Ion and Lithium Polymer batteries perform at their best and last longest if they charged regularly, and suffer absolutely no ill effects if charged from more than 50%. So your rule is actually not useful in any way and serves no purpose.

 

[boovish]

YOU WILL NEVER DAMAGE THE BATTERY BY LEAVING IT ON THE CHARGER AT NIGHT! My 822 always went on the charger every night even thought it still had about 85% left. I still use that same battery, and the problems I've had with battery life was because of WP8 updates.

 

[PxuLL]

Any phone which has a Li-on battery which is Lithium ion battery will survive overnight charging or charging the phone back up from 50%. Old phones without Lithium ion battery's need to be wasted then recharged to not damage the battery.

 

[fdalbor]

While it is true that frequent charging will not harm the battery it is also true that a battery has a finite number of charges before it starts to lose its ability to hold a full charge. As to how many charges that is depends on a great deal of factors. I have heard its about 350/400, but its the one reason I only purchase phones that have removeable batteries. I had a old Nokia 6010 that I used for 7 years with the same battery, still have it. Still works; but the battery does not last very long any more. What can you expect after 7 years?

 

[OzRob]

While it is true that frequent charging will not harm the battery it is also true that a battery has a finite number of charges before it starts to lose its ability to hold a full charge. As to how many charges that is depends on a great deal of factors. I have heard its about 350/400, but its the one reason I only purchase phones that have removeable batteries. I had a old Nokia 6010 that I used for 7 years with the same battery, still have it. Still works; but the battery does not last very long any more. What can you expect after 7 years?

With Li-Ion and Li-polymer batteries it's not the number of charges that limits the life of the battery, but the total time spent charging. Therefore, charging twice from 75% is roughly equivalent to charging once from 50%. So charging more often doesn't tend to shorten the lifespan of the battery (unlike NiCad or NiMH batteries, where each charge cycle regardless of duration caused a degree of degradation).

And before anyone asks, no, charging overnight does not degrade the battery any more that charging to 100% and then disconnecting the charger. Li batteries can't be 'trickle' charged, so the charging circuitry simply stops charging when the battery reaches 100%.

 

[metalchick719]

Lithium Ion and Lithium Polymer batteries perform at their best and last longest if they charged regularly, and suffer absolutely no ill effects if charged from more than 50%. So your rule is actually not useful in any way and serves no purpose.

Well, it serves a purpose for me, so you're wrong. Also, no reason to get nasty. I simply answered the OP's question and then tossed in my own personal preference when it comes to charging MY phone, which I think I have a right to in MY post.

 

[Jack Larson1]

Yep, both physical wire chargers and wireless chargers are safe at night. I even charge my 920 On my jbl power up speakers overnight, its totally fine.there is a video of the results of someone's GS4 burnt charging after it started smoldering though

 

[anon(8150199)]

That is correct. Topping off the battery regularly is best.

Hey, my habit is to use my L920 to 40% and charge it back to 80% (charging it once a day), how long will it last?
P.S.: It's very hot here!

 

[OzRob]

Hey, my habit is to use my L920 to 40% and charge it back to 80% (charging it once a day), how long will it last?
P.S.: It's very hot here!

Why don't you charge it to 100%? As to how long it will last (I'm assuming you mean before the battery degrades to the point of not being usable any more), that's really dependent on the quality of the particular battery batch yours was made from - at least a couple of years, though, and most likely more.

 

[anon(8150199)]

Why don't you charge it to 100%? As to how long it will last (I'm assuming you mean before the battery degrades to the point of not being usable any more), that's really dependent on the quality of the particular battery batch yours was made from - at least a couple of years, though, and most likely more.

I say so cuz I'm not sure if outside temperature (it's 40?C high in March and April) can reduce batteries' longevity

 

[Pete]

Modern batteries don't need to be conditioned, and don't require special care.

Just charge them up whenever convenient.

 

[justwar88]

I totally agree.. They don't really need any special care. Let people charge there phone however they want to. There really is no right or wrong answer.

 

[Kimberly McPherson]

Way cool! Thanks for that lesson. I love 2 learn stuff like that!

 

[LTTG]

Thanks for the tips guys!

 

[GizmoEV]

Modern batteries don't need to be conditioned, and don't require special care.

Actually they do. After the conditioning at the manufacturer the way you finish conditioning them is below.

Just charge them up whenever convenient.

And I'm not just trying to be funny. Just use them and charge when you need to. That conditions them. Li batteries continually change throughout their life for a plethora of reasons. Keeping them from the extremes means you get more total energy delivered.

Some basic thinks to keep in mind:

1. Don't charge if the phone battery is much below 0 degrees Celsius. Lithium plating occurs which reduces the available Li for charge shuttling which lower capacity.

2. Besides avoiding high temperatures in general, avoid charging at high temperatures. Someone asked about 40 deg C. If you must charge at that temperature, charge for as short of a time as possible. This means use the 1.3A charger that came with the phone rather than the wireless charger or another slower charger. It is the length of time charging at high temperature that does the most damage. This is one reason why Nissan didn't expect to have the issues with the LEAFs in hot climates. Their tests didn't slow charge the battery like many of the owners did.

3. Don't discharge your phone until it shuts off very often. Even once/month is excessive. If it seems like your phone doesn't have as much battery life as it used to then try it but don't over do it. The only purpose of discharging until the phone shuts off is to calibrate the battery monitoring circuitry. Since most of the phone batteries have a relatively steep drop in voltage from full to empty the circuitry can estimate state of charge reasonably well with voltage. (This isn't the case with LiFePO4 type cells which are not used in phones and laptops.)

4. Charging to 100% and holding there does shorten the life of the battery but it isn't really a huge amount. Most people wouldn't even be able to tell the difference. I have phones over 4 years old and they still have a respectable battery life. I charge mine every night. If I could program it to only charge to 95% I would but that option hasn't been given us so I don't worry about it. I also never worry about getting a phone with a replaceable battery. They last so long that it doesn't matter any more.

On a side note: partially charging/discharging NiCd batteries doesn't damage them. What it does do is fool the charge circuitry into thinking that they have reduced capacity because the voltage takes a sudden drop around the point that they usually get recharged at. If the circuitry had the smarts it would allow a deep discharge which would recover all of the capacity. A similar thing happens with NiMH batteries. I have done this many times over the years and gained all the capacity back in line with what they would have if they had been discharged completely each time.

 

[OzRob]

I say so cuz I'm not sure if outside temperature (it's 40?C high in March and April) can reduce batteries' longevity

Heat of the degree you're talking about doesn't really have any affect on batteries. Extreme cold is much more of a problem as it slows down the chemical process within the battery. So you don't need to worry about 40C temps. Just charge your phone normally. You're not making last longer by only charging it to 80%.

 

[anon(8150199)]

Heat of the degree you're talking about doesn't really have any affect on batteries. Extreme cold is much more of a problem as it slows down the chemical process within the battery. So you don't need to worry about 40C temps. Just charge your phone normally. You're not making last longer by only charging it to 80%.

ha, it already discharges faster than when it was cold!

 

[final_fantasy781]

I usually make sure my phone is about do die before I charge it. My parents and siblings charge their phone when ever they get a chance, so their devices never last the day.

 

[OzRob]

ha, it already discharges faster than when it was cold!

Look, technically there are many factors that influence battery longevity, and heat is certainly one of them. But the value of the hoops you jump through to prolong battery longevity really comes down to practicality and what you're prepared to put up with.

Yes, you can be careful not to charge your battery if the ambient temperature is over 30C. Yes, you can limit maximum charge to under 90% when the temperature is above 30C. And yes, there are a number of other things you can do to try to prolong battery longevity. All of these things do technically make a small difference. But ultimately, all things being equal, you're not talking about dramatic differences over the 'normal' operating life of a mobile phone. Whether you take all care or no care with the phone battery, you're still likely to get several years life out of it.

I'm of the opinion that the inconvenience of micromanaging the phone (and I also live in an area where temps regularly get above 40C) outweighs the benefits it brings - the technology in today's phones and batteries has progressed to the point where much of the rigmarole we used to go through is no longer necessary. But if you're comfortable only charging to 80% when it's hot and you're diligent about it, then go for it. You will probably eke out a couple more months from your battery over it's several year lifespan, and that may be worth it for you. I suspect, though, that the majority of people will have upgrade their phones long before then.

 

[OzRob]

I usually make sure my phone is about do die before I charge it. My parents and siblings charge their phone when ever they get a chance, so their devices never last the day.

I'm not sure I see the correlation. Are you saying that because they charge their phones more often they get less battery life? From a technical perspective, that's not true (unless they have very old phones with NiCad batteries). I suspect their lack of longevity has more to do with phone usage and the particular phone they have, rather than their charging patterns.