Impact on the Battery from constant charging

[YYK]

i've noticed that in my daily habits that my iphone is, more often than not, on a charger, no matter where i am.

when i'm at work, it's charging via USB on my work laptop
the same when i'm at home and on the computer
otherwise it'll be charging on my bedside while i sleep

i doubt that i am alone in this, regardless of whether it's an iphone, blackberry or other mobile device

and i wonder, would there be a negative impact on the battery from this?

somatically i feel that this somehow disrupts the charging process as it never drops below say 50% and will somehow reduce the lifespan of the battery

logic dictates that this is silly but i just can't shake that feeling if you know what i mean

thoughts?

[FB008]

might be worth checking apple's battery guide here, it's fairly spot on.

provided your devices aren't always plugged to the wall 24/7, you'll be fine. as long as you let them discharge somewhat to keep the electrons flowing, the more frequently you charge them the better. don't let them discharge fully all the time, in fact that will actually reduce the lifespan of the batteries.

That train of thought was only good for NiCD or NiMH batteries IIRC, but someone can correct me if i'm wrong.

oh and this article is a good read as to how batteries work, and goes into a bit of detail about different battery types.

[led_blind]

Originally Posted by FB008

might be worth checking apple's battery guide here, it's fairly spot on.

provided your devices aren't always plugged to the wall 24/7, you'll be fine. as long as you let them discharge somewhat to keep the electrons flowing, the more frequently you charge them the better. don't let them discharge fully all the time, in fact that will actually reduce the lifespan of the batteries.

That train of thought was only good for NiCD or NiMH batteries IIRC, but someone can correct me if i'm wrong.

oh and this article is a good read as to how batteries work, and goes into a bit of detail about different battery types.

Prety much spot on there. Ni-Cad needed full cycles to maintain capacity and internal resistance. Ni-Mh were much more tolerant to partial charges but still benifit from full cycles. Both chemistrys can be somewhat repaired by actually discharging well below the .9v per cell cut off and using a special reforming charge.

Li-on is different... it has no memory effect, will last much longer if only charged to 80% capacity and discharged to 20%. If you over charge a li-on by 10% (or discharge) you reduce its life by at least 50% etc... Li-ons are the best way to go but need special concideration re charging. Also, to get the max capacity manufacturers make sure they charge all the way to 4.2v and discharge down to 2.8..... this will only give you 200-500 cycles. Sacrafice 10-15% of this capacity and not your cell last at least 1000 cycles

hope it helps

edit:didnt answer the question... do'h. For storage its reccomended to leave a Li-on cell at about 3.6v or roughly 50% capacity for max life. 2 cells, one 100% and 50% charge left for 12 months will result in minimal loss in capacity for the 50% cell, the 100% charged cell will lose roughly 10%

[YYK]

Originally Posted by led_blind

Li-on is different... it has no memory effect, will last much longer if only charged to 80% capacity and discharged to 20%. If you over charge a li-on by 10% (or discharge) you reduce its life by at least 50% etc... Li-ons are the best way to go but need special concideration re charging. Also, to get the max capacity manufacturers make sure they charge all the way to 4.2v and discharge down to 2.8..... this will only give you 200-500 cycles. Sacrafice 10-15% of this capacity and not your cell last at least 1000 cycles

a lot of that went above my head but lets see if i have this right. i have an iphone which as a li-ion battery which has no memory effect

yes?

but if i over charge it then i reduce the life of it? does over charging mean keeping it plugged in and at 100% for most of it's life? if so, i should be just plugging it in when it dips to around 70%?