Hardware Best charging practises for 3DS?

[Wizerzak]

As I use my 3DS quite a lot, and it is nearly always turned on (albeit on idle) I am interested to know how / when I should charge the 3DS in order to get the most out of the battery life.

I've heard before that you should completely drain the battery before charging again, then I've also heard that fully draining will break the battery, then I've also heard that it doesn't matter and that the battery will last exactly the same amount of time whatever you do with it.

One thing I have noticed about Nintendo products (might be the same with every electric device though) is that when you charge them, even if they are turned on, once it has reached it's maximum it will stop charging, even though the plug is still in the system. However if you unplug it and plug it back in again the charging light will show for another 5 minutes before turning off again (this time reduces with each unplug / plug in). Is this a bad thing to do? I remember doing it with my DS Lite when I was younger until the light only showed for half a second.

One last thing, I know changing back-light settings etc. will affect how long the battery lasts on each charge, but does this also affect the battery's overall life?

Thanks,
Wizzerzak.

 

[trumpet-205]

3DS uses Lithium-based battery. So the concept of "you should completely drain the battery before charging again" will actually reduce battery life.

Lithium-based battery is best at keeping it fully charged whenever possible.

 

[pmk010]

Keeping your 3DS on power saving mode and with a low backlight will make the battery last longer.

 

[CrimzonEyed]

as @trumpet-205 said.

Use the charging stand since it charges your ds as soon the battery get's lowerd compared to directly plug the cable.

Read those two links for some more information, No really, Read it and learn.

I looked up a lot of this stuff when I needed to increase my android phone battery life.

http://batteryuniver...based_batteries
http://batteryuniver...to_charge_table

 

[Wizerzak]

^So does that mean I can't put the 3DS into sleep mode while charging it?

^I guess that's what I was doing with my DS Lite. :L

 

[CrimzonEyed]

^So does that mean I can't put the 3DS into sleep mode while charging it?

^I guess that's what I was doing with my DS Lite. :L

I don't think sleep mode will cause that many/if any mini-cycles.
The 3DS charging cradle/stand or whatever it's called stop charging your 3DS when the battery is 100%.
When the battery have fallen to 80-70% or sometimes 60% it starts to charge again. (this is nothing I can prove just what I noticed with my own 3DS)

Though when you have 20-40 % battery left it's always best to turn it off while charging.

It's also good to once a month let the battery drain empty. (if the 3DS have smart battery, and I think it does because without it I don't think it would be able to show how much battery % it's left)

 

[Ryupower]

what i been doing is keeping my 3ds in sleep mode and on the 3ds charger cradle, when i am not using it
it working fine for me, i do not use the 3ds that long in one sitting any way

if you want to use the spotpass and auto-download (also for Nintendo video updates)
it may bne ok to keep the 3ds in sleep mode

 

[Parasite X]

If you want to know my opinion about getting the most out of your 3DS' battery then hear is my answer you should get a slim charger case for 3DS and get 2 power plus batterys and open/replase the battery in the case and in your 3DS and as result you'll get more than double the batterylife and you'll be able to take it with you and spend hours on your 3DS.

 

[Wizerzak]

If you want to know my opinion about getting the most out of your 3DS' battery then hear is my answer you should get a slim charger case for 3DS and get 2 power plus batterys and open/replase the battery in the case and in your 3DS and as result you'll get more than double the batterylife and you'll be able to take it with you and spend hours on your 3DS.

The problem isn't really how long the battery lasts in each use, but how long the battery will last before it starts failing / not charging fully.

 

[CrimzonEyed]

Bah why buy a extra battery when you have this:
http://www.thinkgeek.com/product/ceca/#tabs

 

[Rizsparky]

Bah why buy a extra battery when you have this:
http://www.thinkgeek...duct/ceca/#tabs

That is extremely overpriced, you can purchase a external charger for like $20.

 

[CrimzonEyed]

Bah why buy a extra battery when you have this:
http://www.thinkgeek...duct/ceca/#tabs

That is extremely overpriced, you can purchase a external charger for like $20.

I got a clone of that one for about 20$

 

[Parasite X]

The 3DS battery last up to 2 to 5 hours with 3D on 5 hours with 3D off and 8 hours with regular DS games with power save mode off the battery only last 3 hours if you use power save mode the is about 20% longer on brightness level 1 but I still have to that my method works better for me but thats just opinion but you should probably charge your before 5 hours end but guss it really depends on what level of brightness you have it set to.

 

[broitsak]

Im completely fine with how the battery works.It lasts long enough for me to play.

 

[ferret7463]

Here is a question about the battery and the DS2? ( A little off topic) Does the Co-Processor in the DS2 keep drawing power from the battery even if you have it closed and on stand by? If it does, then this could wear the card faster?

 

[chicodiesel]

Here is a question about the battery and the DS2? ( A little off topic) Does the Co-Processor in the DS2 keep drawing power from the battery even if you have it closed and on stand by? If it does, then this could wear the card faster?

It does for me. Having the DS2 inserted while the 3ds is in standby mode definitely drains the battery. It would only last a few hours before it goes completely dead. Without having the DS2 inserted, my 3ds would last between 2 to 4 days on standby mode.