Battery Care...

Unkno

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Jun 16, 2005
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Well, I have read many articles on battery care on Lithium ion type batteries. All of the articles say to never fully discharge Li-ion batteries. Here's the question: many articles state that for the initial charge (new battery and it is fully discharged) requires 2 or 3 times of fully charging (12/14 hours) then fully discharging but does this also apply to Li-ion batteries even though it is stated to never fully discharge?
 

QuantumPion

Diamond Member
Jun 27, 2005
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I've never read anywhere that said to fully discharge a li-ion battery at any time, other then to fix a confused charge meter which isn't that great of an idea to begin with.
 

Jiggz

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Mar 10, 2001
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Here a caption from the makers of Li-Io batteries. "Although lithium-ion is memory-free in terms of performance deterioration, batteries with fuel gauges exhibit what engineers refer to as "digital memory". Here is the reason: Short discharges with subsequent recharges do not provide the periodic calibration needed to synchronize the fuel gauge with the battery's state-of-charge. A deliberate full discharge and recharge every 30 charges corrects this problem. Letting the battery run down to the cut-off point in the equipment will do this. If ignored, the fuel gauge will become increasingly less accurate."
 

Unkno

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Jun 16, 2005
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Originally posted by: Jiggz
Here a caption from the makers of Li-Io batteries. "Although lithium-ion is memory-free in terms of performance deterioration, batteries with fuel gauges exhibit what engineers refer to as "digital memory". Here is the reason: Short discharges with subsequent recharges do not provide the periodic calibration needed to synchronize the fuel gauge with the battery's state-of-charge. A deliberate full discharge and recharge every 30 charges corrects this problem. Letting the battery run down to the cut-off point in the equipment will do this. If ignored, the fuel gauge will become increasingly less accurate."


hmmm, interesting...does this mean that you should do a full discharge every once in a while? Do you know if you have to fully discharge for the initial charge?
 

Jiggz

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Mar 10, 2001
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No you do not need to. Just like mentioned previously, after fulling charging the battery it does not require to be fully discharge. You're only required to conduct a fully discharge to re-calibrate the battery charge indicator. But the battery itself does not need it.
 

Unkno

Golden Member
Jun 16, 2005
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Originally posted by: Jiggz
No you do not need to. Just like mentioned previously, after fulling charging the battery it does not require to be fully discharge. You're only required to conduct a fully discharge to re-calibrate the battery charge indicator. But the battery itself does not need it.

wow thanks, i just have one last question...would over charging and/or constantly charging the battery (even when it's at like 75%) degrade the battery?
 

GalvanizedYankee

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Oct 27, 2003
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I just got my first digi-cam, a Canon G-6. While carefully reading the instructions,
it was stated quite clearly, that the Li-ion battery is good for 300 full charging cycles.
It went on to state that it was wise to let the battery be used fairly well before recharging,
because it did not matter if it was 25% or 90% discharged The battery is only good for 300 charges. It is never a good idea to fully discharge a rechargable battery. This is even true of your car.
I realize this is a camera but it uses a Li-ion battery. The same may be true.


Galvanized
 

Jiggz

Diamond Member
Mar 10, 2001
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No it doesn't. Most chargers have logic ckt's on them that will stop charging the battery after it reaches about 90-95%. How can you tell if your charger auto stops, it should be written. If it is not and you kept your battery on charge for hours and the battery becomes real hot, then the charger does not have an auto stop charge feature.