Charging

[Banished Angel]

Is it bad for the phone to let it charge overnight (5-8) hours? I've heard this debate for years back to feature phone and flip phones, but I never got a definitive answer. I always let my Evo charge overnight.

 

[Brian706]

I've always let mine charge overnight. In fact it pretty much keep mine on a charger all the time and remove it when I have to. Lithium Ion batteries are meant to charge as often as wanted. Some people argue that but I've never had a problem.

 

[ENVi3]

Some people say you should unplug it as soon as it hits 100%. Some people say that once you hit 100% your phone just discharges and charges between 95%-100% on its own while it's plugged in anyway, so you don't really have to worry about unplugging at 100%. I don't really think there's a clear definite answer, just do what works best for you.

 

[OverByter]

In years past with nickel technology it wasn't advisable because of the memory effect but with Li-ion batteries it doesn't matter at all.

 

[Banished Angel]

Overnight it is. I love waking up to a full battery.

 

[Leslie Ann]

Nihms would sit and trickle charge to stay topped up, ours don't.

Disconnecting at 100% is also incorrect, that last percentage point can take much longer to actually fill.


Little trick,
When you wake up, while still plugged in, reboot your phone. This clears the memory and restarts charging to give you a fresh top up. This should give you about 5-10% extra battery for the day.


While charging your phone heats up, this lowers the battery capacity. When peaked the charging stops and it begins to discharge. It will only restart when it reaches a certain point (95-98% or so). After sitting overnight, it not only discharged but also cooled. A restart flushes memory and restarts the charging.

 

[softtech]

Nihms would sit and trickle charge to stay topped up, ours don't.

Disconnecting at 100% is also incorrect, that last percentage point can take much longer to actually fill.


Little trick,
When you wake up, while still plugged in, reboot your phone. This clears the memory and restarts charging to give you a fresh top up. This should give you about 5-10% extra battery for the day.


While charging your phone heats up, this lowers the battery capacity. When peaked the charging stops and it begins to discharge. It will only restart when it reaches a certain point (95-98% or so). After sitting overnight, it not only discharged but also cooled. A restart flushes memory and restarts the charging.

Do you have a source for this advice? I've never heard anyone say this and was wondering if this was just based on your own experience or if you have something approximating an "official" source.

 

[Leslie Ann]

Do you have a source for this advice? I've never heard anyone say this and was wondering if this was just based on your own experience or if you have something approximating an "official" source.

It's just a simple top up once the battery has cooled, so I'm not sure exactly what part you are doubting.

It is pretty easy to see your phone immediately start charging again as soon as it reboots and it's well known batteries hate heat. It's also well documented that you shouldn't trickle charge lithium batteries, so phones don't do this by default.


At any rate, HTC has put out similar instructions. Here is someone discussing it:
http://androidforums.com/htc-evo-v-4g/563196-battery-charging-time.html#post4507560

 

[softtech]

It's just a simple top up once the battery has cooled, so I'm not sure exactly what part you are doubting.

If there's one thing I've learned based on our interactions it's to not ever doubt you. I wanted to know if this was empirical and based on your own experiences (which I would rate quite high as you are an honest observer) or if you are relying on someone else (which would get discounted some). I was hoping you would tell me that you had measured this or otherwise confirmed it on your own rather than reporting generally accepted wisdom that's been unchallenged.