Develop Bugs

Can I recharge the battery every day?

There are lots of myths regarding lithium batteries.. some say you are not supposed to overcharge it (charge it only when it's running out)
Some say it doesn't matter since lithium can be recharged as much as you want and it won't deteroriate the battery's life.
Which one? Can I recharge my Touch Pro 2 every night before I go to bed and leave it until morning? or should I do it when it's running out to preserve the battery's life?

You should keep the device on A/C power as much as possible. So, it's fine to charge daily overnight. Every once in a while, you should let the battery run all the way out before recharging. What this will do is keep your battery meter reading accurate. If you don't do this, eventually, your device will "think" it has more juice than it actually does.

Check this:
http://www.batteryuniversity.com/parttwo-34.htm

Ah thanks
So to cut the story short, recharge it as much as you can and prevent the battery ever from being run out

Nahhh, not fully true. Somewhere else on the site of batteryuniversity it sais that completely discharging the battery will reset it's memmory. This is usefull after a lot of charges and discharges (in the beginning, I think they already did this (you may hope).
(the memmory helps the battery know where his power is storaged and how much power the battery has left. But doing this frequent speeds up the battery 's lenght of life

In my experience
Enjoy your device and charge battery when needed/desired
Use it normal
Batteries have a duration of 3-4 years aprox, no matter if you charge it every night or leave it till it´s empty...
When battery fails you buy another one and so on
Just my opinion,

My experience with the battery life on my touch pro 2 is that I will keep the phone usually docked in my cradle on my desk when working so it's always on charge. When I use my battery I wait till it's about 40-30% drained and will stick it on the cradle again.
When I'm in my bed ready to sleep, I use the normal charger and leave it on charge over night.
Still experimenting though.

ilabstudios said:
My experience with the battery life on my touch pro 2 is that I will keep the phone usually docked in my cradle on my desk when working so it's always on charge. When I use my battery I wait till it's about 40-30% drained and will stick it on the cradle again.
When I'm in my bed ready to sleep, I use the normal charger and leave it on charge over night.
Still experimenting though.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do you have a cradle for your Rhodium ? Where did you get it ?

Check my battery thread, it will tell you pretty much everything about li-ion batteries and taking care of them
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=519673

quarintus said:
Nahhh, not fully true. Somewhere else on the site of batteryuniversity it sais that completely discharging the battery will reset it's memmory. This is usefull after a lot of charges and discharges (in the beginning, I think they already did this (you may hope).
(the memmory helps the battery know where his power is storaged and how much power the battery has left. But doing this frequent speeds up the battery 's lenght of life
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmm, first of all Li-ion batteries have NO MEMORY unlike NiCd batteries. You probably refer to resetting the reading gauge - which is related to device's capability of getting accurate reading rather than battery itself. It is recommended to let the device die once a month and give it a full charge to "recalibrate" phone's battery meter (not the battery).
But you should avoid hitting 100% battery mark as well as going bellow 30% as much as possible.

from my experience as a phone shop owner and owner of many many phones i always advise my customers and friends as follows:
1st charge 10-12 hrs. allow battery to fully discharge
2nd charge at least 8 hrs
after 2nd charge you can charge and use as you want. the initial 2 charges kick start everything and starts your battery cycle on good stead
never had any complaints!

Another thing, is it bad to use your device whilst plugged in?

danmb said:
Another thing, is it bad to use your device whilst plugged in?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
its ok to do that as it will run off ac power while plugged in

danmb said:
Another thing, is it bad to use your device whilst plugged in?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The battery should be as cold as possible when charged. So if you are using the phone the battery power drains and is charged at the same time. Therefore it gets warmer than without.
Best for the battery is to be charged when the device is switched off completely.
I wouldn't consider that much of a problem, because you have bought the device to use it and not to live in fear that you treat the battery right

when plugged into USB and playing a game on my TP2 I got the message the device is using too much power, and it drained the battery even though recharging via USB. No problems when using AC adapter though.

Used my XDA Orbit 2 for 2 years now, and mostly charged at free will. Battery is still fine, so no special charging rules for me...
I noticed though, that charging over USB takes quite some time while charging over AC cable is done within an hour or so. When looking at my AC it has 5 Watts of output power, while the USB only has 2.5. That would explain your issue with the battery running out even when having the USB cable plugged in.

StealthNet said:
Do you have a cradle for your Rhodium ? Where did you get it ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
http://www.htcaccessorystore.com/uk/p_htc_item.aspx?i=179339

[HOWTO] Battery meter accuracy

I noticed something about the battery meter.
If you power on your phone when the charger is plugged in, the battery meter shows a higher value.
If you power on your phone when no charger is connected, the battery meter shows a lower value.
And these values stay for as long as your phone is not rebooted. My guess is, the value without charger plugged in (lower value) is more accurate.
So, if you want to make your battery meter more accurate, try this:
- Disconnect your phone from the charger
- Power off the phone
- Power on the phone again (phone must be disconnected from charger)
- After phone has booted into Android, plug the phone into USB/charger to charge it again
If you could try this out and see if the observation is always true, then maybe we should make this procedure standard to get a more accurate battery meter reading.

So this may have caused the fact that my phone keeps telling me, while charging, the battery is fully charged however it says 95% as soons as its unplugged

Power off the phone and connect charger while it's off, wait for the 100% sign on the fully green battery, then unplug the cord and connect it again, you can do this a couple of times. And resetting the battery stats should also help in some way.

opica said:
Power off the phone and connect charger while it's off, wait for the 100% sign on the fully green battery, then unplug the cord and connect it again, you can do this a couple of times. And resetting the battery stats should also help in some way.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What I'm suggesting is a bit different.
Power off phone.
Power on phone again, without plugging anything in.
After phone has booted, plug in charger.
EDIT: I notice this difference in battery meter reading tends to happen only with the *real* charger, and not when connect to a USB port on a PC.

That is right hardcore. This also refers to post-flashing boot.
I always disconnect device as soon as flashing procedure completes.

hardcore said:
I noticed something about the battery meter.
If you power on your phone when the USB charger/cable is plugged in, the battery meter shows a higher value.
If you power on your phone when no USB charger/cable is connected, the battery meter shows a lower value.
And these values stay for as long as your phone is not rebooted. My guess is, the value without USB plugged in (lower value) is more accurate.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey,
Heres whats happening:
Lithium-ion batteries dont like it when you charge them while full. It wears them down. So to preserve batterylife it charges untill full, then stops charging completely. When it droppes down to far, it'll charge again for a bit. The phone will show full, in reality it'll be a little less. When you unplug it will drop down quickly to a more precise value. Bump-charging (disconnect, reconnect charger) works, however you are wearing the batterylife down. Could be you dont care, so it'll be youre own choice.
Older phones do not do this. They charge till full, then trickle power continuesly so it'll always be full when disconnected.
Hope this helps.

weirder said:
Hey,
Heres whats happening:
Lithium-ion batteries dont like it when you charge them while full. It wears them down. So to preserve batterylife it charges untill full, then stops charging completely. When it droppes down to far, it'll charge again for a bit. The phone will show full, in reality it'll be a little less. When you unplug it will drop down quickly to a more precise value. Bump-charging (disconnect, reconnect charger) works, however you are wearing the batterylife down. Could be you dont care, so it'll be youre own choice.
Older phones do not do this. They charge till full, then trickle power continuesly so it'll always be full when disconnected.
Hope this helps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not talking about the usual Li-ion full-charge effects. Also it may not be true that other phones don't do this. For sure, many laptops do this - after the battery charges to 100%, they won't charge the battery until it decreases to a certain level, say 95%.
I'm referring to the difference in battery meter reading if u boot the phone while connected to the wall charger, vs booting the phone when it's disconnected from the charger.

What you say is right, I am used to power OFF my phone & charge it at night, & when I get up, switch it ON while still plugged in. I must make it a point to remove the cable before I switch ON.

I noticed this many months ago and it persists even after flashing many different firmwares. It actually comes in handy some times. For instance when my battery is running low and i need to step out i simply plug in the charger, power off then power back on. Phone instantly jumps 30% or so. But generally i tend to power on without the charger attached so as not to stuff up the battery stats.
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA App

Anyway this behavior is not correct.
Samsung changed recently battery drivers in JPX sources and the problem is still persistent. I suspect it might be related to wrong battery voltage measuring point (hardware design flaw? although most problems with sgs are/were software related) or result misinterpretation.
Or their Q/A team is so clueless that they didnt notice that.

hardcore said:
EDIT: I notice this difference in battery meter reading tends to happen only with the *real* charger, and not when connect to a USB port on a PC.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I just tested this. 5% battery. Reboot with usb plugged in. 50%battery. The battery also seems to drain really fast after the reboot.
I am plugged in using original usb cable in a usb on the front panel of my pc...
Edit: im still plugged in and it's going down... i boot with usb at 50% leave it in and while charging the battery goes down... i left it in and now it's going 49...48...47 while charging... wtf lol
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA App

Lightarrow said:
I just tested this. 5% battery. Reboot with usb plugged in. 50%battery. The battery also seems to drain really fast after the reboot.
I am plugged in using original usb cable in a usb on the front panel of my pc...
Edit: im still plugged in and it's going down... i boot with usb at 50% leave it in and while charging the battery goes down... i left it in and now it's going 49...48...47 while charging... wtf lol
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My guess is this is because the actual level of the battery is 5%, and 'cause it's plugged in it's saying 50% for some strange reason. So really you're charging from 5% up to 50% (and eventually more, but that aside), and I think the phone is averaging between your actual battery level and the 50% every time you go up 1%? Just my guess.

johanaikema said:
My guess is this is because the actual level of the battery is 5%, and cause it's plugged in it's saying 50% for some strange reason. So really you're charging from 5% up to 50% (and eventually more, but that aside), and I think the phone is averaging between you're actual battery level and the 50% every time you go up 1%? Just my guess.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeay that is what im thinking too weird stuff.
@hardcore : just tried your suggestion. I shut down with the cable plugged in. Remove it. Reboot. But my battery is still at 47... ill try to go into cwm to see if that triggers something. Or maybe remove the battery and insert it again...
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA App

Ok. I tried this : removed my battery, waited 5 seconds, reput my battery, reboot all with charger unplugged. Battery went from 47 to 52. So this had no effect.
Then i shut down the phone, used 3br to get into recovery (cwm) did nothing except select reboot phone now and the phone rebooted, now 12% battery.
Btw using all tweaks in your kernel except tun.
Weird stuff...
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA App

noticed this months back too but didnt think much about it.
i just figured the software is reading the higher voltage during charge and reporting it wrong during boot.
*could be wrong
EDIT: and the diff is quite big, increase of 20-30%

hardcore said:
What I'm suggesting is a bit different.
Power off phone.
Power on phone again, without plugging anything in.
After phone has booted, plug in charger.
EDIT: I notice this difference in battery meter reading tends to happen only with the *real* charger, and not when connect to a USB port on a PC.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
what @weirder post is the true fact about the lithium ion charge process. your charging method is called bump charging. but that way of charging the juice wear off the battery life sooner than normal charging..

I've been checking out the battery meter source code, and I think the battery level is calculated *only* from the battery voltage. Which is quite inaccurate, compared to laptop batteries which keep track of the charge, etc.

hardcore said:
I've been checking out the battery meter source code, and I think the battery level is calculated *only* from the battery voltage. Which is quite inaccurate, compared to laptop batteries which keep track of the charge, etc.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This could be improved by using its temperature. Since the SoC is a function of temperature, charge history, and current evolution over the time.
[[]]

I tried the bump charging till the meter says 100% and right after unplugging from the charger the meter reads 98%. I let the battery drain up to 96% and connected my phone into a usb port of my PC and when the meter say its 100% charged, i disconnected the phone from the usb port and wallah...it stays at 100% charged and it has been at 100% even after 15 minutes...

I really don't recommend bump charging. You risk damaging your battery by overcharging. Or worse, making it blow up due to overcharging! I know it sounds paranoid but you never know...

Quick charge

Now I hesitated to post this until I was fairly sure.
So after about 8 trials over a few weeks and a 100% success rate, I think I can safely say this.
There is a way to quick charge your phone in 10~20 minutes from 0~10% to 75~90%.
I've a samsung vibrant, stock charger, stock battery, and nextgenv1.
(Not tried on other devices yet)
The trick is simple, when ur phones relatively low on power...
1) turn it off
2) plug into charger
3) wait at least 5 minutes
4) while still plugged in and charging, turn phone on
It should then be charged (not 100%, but 75~90% is usually what I get)
I've yet to test the time you charge vs final output charge, or the effects of starting at different charges.
Weird right? After asking my tech, physics, and biology teacher, the idea is that when the phone charges it fills in each battery cell with power, so while its doing the filling and you turn the phone on, all the cells open up so that a flush of energy can come in. Obviously this doesn't sound too good for the battery, so use this at your own peril. I'm just saying its been working every time, and no problems have come up thus far.
I dont go on here often so if this is already common knowledge, let me know and I'll delete this thread.
If not, try it out and see if it works!

Most phones come with single cell batteries.
The phone has a capacity/voltage map which it uses to work out how much juice is left in the cell, ie at xV it's y% full.
The battery is charged using approx 4.5V, so I'd imagine when you turn your phone on it's getting a false reading of the battery's voltage and that's why it's showing as charged more than it actually is.

use at your own peril indeed--theres gotta be some inaccuracies there

xaccers said:
Most phones come with single cell batteries.
The phone has a capacity/voltage map which it uses to work out how much juice is left in the cell, ie at xV it's y% full.
The battery is charged using approx 4.5V, so I'd imagine when you turn your phone on it's getting a false reading of the battery's voltage and that's why it's showing as charged more than it actually is.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yup, my thoughts exactly. But as it turns out, it lasts for the same amount of time as it usually would at that percentage. 1-2 days.

just get a 2A (2000 mAh) charger, and then you'll charge really fast
i use that in my car every day

So you're saying that letting the phone charge for 5 minutes gives at least 75% charge, then you unplug and run for 1-2 days?
That would take charging the battery with 15A which is 12C (the Vibrant's battery is 1250mAh isn't it?)
That'd be 13.5A down your usb lead from a PSU that should only have a 0.7A output.
I call shenanigans I'm afraid, your phone is fibbing to you

i'm pretty sure that quick charging your phone when it is not made to will decrease your overall battery life/ capacity.

xaccers said:
So you're saying that letting the phone charge for 5 minutes gives at least 75% charge, then you unplug and run for 1-2 days?
That would take charging the battery with 15A which is 12C (the Vibrant's battery is 1250mAh isn't it?)
That'd be 13.5A down your usb lead from a PSU that should only have a 0.7A output.
I call shenanigans I'm afraid, your phone is fibbing to you
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yup. 1500mah.
I'm just saying that's what the phone's saying ya know. I know next to nothing about battery output, storage, etc.
From 0% as in so drained it can't turn on, to plug in, to turn on while plugged in for a few seconds, it said 35%.
So phone's probably lying as u said, but have yet to test how long it lasts.
Theoretically, it should only lasts a few minutes right? Max of 10 minutes r so I'd imagine? (Yes, I'm asking for ur opinion)
Oh, and I use a live wallpaper too, on 24/7. Just a bit more power drain.
*update*
3 minutes later after I restarted it again, just to check if it was a complete dud reading.
Made mistake of not unplugging.
It's reading 51 percent now......6 minutes of charging.
-going to check how long this lasts.
^Least I know how to make my phone think its good^

i have a 1A charger in my car... gets my phone nice and hot and wont even charge my friends olllllddd android phone..

House3272 said:
Yup, my thoughts exactly. But as it turns out, it lasts for the same amount of time as it usually would at that percentage. 1-2 days.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Then obviously when it's reading 10% it's not actually that low. It's more likely that it's a mis-reading and is actually at ~80%. You run through your steps and in ten minutes you have an accurate reading of ~90%
No big mystery, batteries don't always report accurate information. Try flashing a different ROM, use another battery, try a battery calibration app. You'll soon start seeing different results.
Failing that, submit your findings to a Science Journal and wait for the $1m reward that comes with the Nobel Prize that is sure to follow!

DirkGently1 said:
Then obviously when it's reading 10% it's not actually that low. It's more likely that it's a mis-reading and is actually at ~80%. You run through your steps and in ten minutes you have an accurate reading of ~90%
No big mystery, batteries don't always report accurate information. Try flashing a different ROM, use another battery, try a battery calibration app. You'll soon start seeing different results.
Failing that, submit your findings to a Science Journal and wait for the $1m reward that comes with the Nobel Prize that is sure to follow!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
haha yeah! even Samsung still researching how to charge phone faster (trying to use new design battery) and his saying he found a loop hole around it? lol~
obviously not ~.~

As others have stated, the battery information is just probably inaccurate. You can recalibrate it by draining the battery completely and recharging to full.

Battery won't charge past 98%

I have now done three cycles now drained to 1% and put on charge over night when I unplug and check the phone it says 98% and drops 2-3% within 5 mins of use. But if I plug it back in it will then go back to 100%. Anyone else?

Martinp86 said:
I have now done three cycles now drained to 1% and put on charge over night when I unplug and check the phone it says 98% and drops 2-3% within 5 mins of use. But if I plug it back in it will then go back to 100%. Anyone else?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There have been threads about this already. Batteries, once charged fully, cannot 'keep charging', so they will stop charging until it is low enough to charge again.
This protects the battery from all sorts of nasty and evil things.

^ precisely. Batteries shouldn't be pegged at 100% and continue to be charged. The firmware lets it drain down then charge up again. You can just get 'unlucky' and unplug at a point where its discharging and at 98%.

I remember that happening with the Nexus S. I'm thinking it must be a Samsung thing. It's just one of those weird OEM things like, Motorola phones measuring the battery in 10% intervals.

All manufacturers charge their batteries this way but there are many ways to mask that process. People apparently want to see a fully charged phone when they plug it off the charger. They don't mind that their phone drops to something between 95% and 100% in a matter of minutes as long as it's "full" upon disconneting. Seems Google just displays the correct charge instead of pretending to be on 100%.

gokpog said:
All manufacturers charge their batteries this way but there are many ways to mask that process. People apparently want to see a fully charged phone when they plug it off the charger. They don't mind that their phone drops to something between 95% and 100% in a matter of minutes as long as it's "full" upon disconneting. Seems Google just displays the correct charge instead of pretending to be on 100%.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Pretty much. The G2 with stock firmware (and from what I remember with the Evo 4G w/ stock), HTC charges to 100%, discharges back to 90%, and charges back up again. etc.. The LED charge indicator turns green at 90% (so according to them, anything about 90% is a "full charge").
You can see this in regular use. There are days where my phone sits at 100% for hours, and others where it only takes an hour to tick down do 99%, even with the same usage. Just depends what "state" the battery is at when you pull it off charge in the morning.

Thanks guys im happy if its one of those oem quirks.

Martinp86 said:
Thanks guys im happy if its one of those oem quirks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If by "quirks" you mean honesty then yes.

Martinp86 said:
Thanks guys im happy if its one of those oem quirks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Its not a quirk, they're just trying to preserve your battery health.

How to do you charge your One X?

Just wondered how most people are charging there One X? Personally I always turn it off and allow it to charge until the light goes green. I've never charged it when it's still been turned on.

I've never switched off any of my android phone's whilst charging. What happens if you get a call? I also try to alternate between charging on my pc and the wall charger.

Maximus78 said:
I've never switched off any of my android phone's whilst charging. What happens if you get a call? I also try to alternate between charging on my pc and the wall charger.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah fair statement, I had thought about that. I wasn't sure if it was bad to say plug the phone in at 11pm until 7am (8 hours) charging whilst it being turned on? I assumed if it was going to be plugged in say for that long that you should turn it off.

I just plug it in - went to bed on 80% last night but fair enough I'd hardly used the phone all day (standby battery life is incredible)

EddyOS said:
I just plug it in - went to bed on 80% last night but fair enough I'd hardly used the phone all day (standby battery life is incredible)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So you stuck it on charge just to boost that extra 20% yeah? How come you didn't just leave it until it was low?
Should of asked if people would partially charge it or if they always ensure its fully charged.. Can't amend the poll now though.

I was thinking about trying that - might do that tonight and see how it lasts...

I plug it in to a usb cable

i charge my hox every night on the wall charger while turned on. even if it has 80% left. i am to afraid that my battery level goes under 20% (i heard that falling under that level can damage batteries).

N3m3515 said:
i charge my hox every night on the wall charger while turned on. even if it has 80% left. i am to afraid that my battery level goes under 20% (i heard that falling under that level can damage batteries).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Where did you hear that? Mines dropped to 14% before and I then turned it off and charged it and the battery still seems fine. Wasn't aware you could damage the battery if it got too low...

I killed my battery first 2 charges - never have in the past but thought I would this time

I have always charged with the phone on, all my phones since way back having an analogue Nokia mobile and never had any battery issues. Only time I have ever switched my phones off is if I was getting on a plane or the battery got really low and didn't want it to go completely flat.

Just plug it in whenever. Modern li-poly batteries doesn't have memory and charge cycle life is based on full charges.
Part charges actually increase life due to low % cycling

tsleng said:
Just plug it in whenever. Modern li-poly batteries doesn't have memory and charge cycle life is based on full charges.
Part charges actually increase life due to low % cycling
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Agreed.
One thing to note is that you should never let it completely drain the battery, the phone will switch itself off once the battery reaches critical level then it needs a charge. I'd recommend charging it when it reaches 5-15%.
Also I'd never leave it charging over night it interrupts the cycle, if I have to charge it over night I set an alarm to go of after a few hours and unplug it.

i have 3 or 4 charges from different makes-and only htc charges the quickest. the worst is usb cable and car charger. but due to usage i need to charge twice a day

Maximus78 said:
Also I'd never leave it charging over night it interrupts the cycle, if I have to charge it over night I set an alarm to go of after a few hours and unplug it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Dude...
I always charge overnight - purely for convenience really.
Can you explain the above to me? I'm not sure what you mean by it interupts the cycle?
How does it effect the battery ?
Thanks alot
Dean

tsleng said:
Just plug it in whenever. Modern li-poly batteries doesn't have memory and charge cycle life is based on full charges.
Part charges actually increase life due to low % cycling
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You are 100% right most modern phone battery’s don’t have memory any more so no need to worry about it, and no need to do full discharge and recharge cycles to maintain battery health, and if they do they normally tell you in warning labels or in instruction manuals, for example I recently bought a new shaver and it tells you to do a full discharge and then leave it on charge for at least 12 hours every 3 months to maintain battery life.

N3m3515 said:
i charge my hox every night on the wall charger while turned on. even if it has 80% left. i am to afraid that my battery level goes under 20% (i heard that falling under that level can damage batteries).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
batteries have safety features built in so don't worry. What for you looks like 0-1% left - what android is showing you, might be actually 10-20% as seen internally by the battery.
Also, I have completely discharged my phone once, I simply left it at 1% and waited until it shut off. Then I charged to 100%. From then on, I charge whenever I want, phone is always ON.

Ebay 2m cable (the HTC one's length is a joke).

I use a charging cable.
My friend sticks it next to his head and uses his brainwaves to charge it.
Both seem to work fine.
Im really sorry for this post. I could not resist.

You guys are ridiculous. Just plug the phone in and it charges.
Sent from my HTC One X using XDA Premium HD app