Hacking Does constant charging damage battery life?

[Fel]

I'm wondering, will it damage my battery life if I'll be charging it at home whenever I'm playing it at the same time? Or not? It says in the instruction booklet battery life will be 70% of what it used to be after 500 recharges...

 

[basher11]

nope. it just takes longer to charge. and charging about 500 times decreases the battery's life.

 

[Fel]

but if it's constantly charging whenever it's on, doesn't that ocunt into it's 500 recharge limit?

 

[Overlord Nadrian]

Don't worry, with 500 times approx they mean fully recharge, and if it's constantly in the charger, why would you care about the battery life anyway?

 

[Atashi]

I read somewhere that the Lithium-Ion batteries that are popular in today's electronics work better when they are frequently topped up. If you completely drain a li-on battery dead before each recharge, supposedly this shortens its lifespan quicker.

This is directly opposite of what the older NiCd or MiMH batteries preferred, which was to be fully exhausted before they were recharged. The older batteries developed 'memory' where if they were only used partway before recharging, eventually they'd lose the full capacity and only work for a shorter duration.

As always, YMMV, I haven't put this to any kind of testing, just repeating what I've read. So in other words, it should not cause any harm if you keep the battery topped up / recharge it daily / keep it plugged in while using it. (Also, the charging circuitry in the DS is supposed to stop charging once the battery is full, so it can't be 'overcharged'.)

Cheers!

 

[Fel]

Okay, thanks!

It's charging time!

@Hoverlord: Because I will be also playing it when away from home, but not that much...

 

[Rydian]

http://www.apple.com/batteries/

You can also find this standard battery technology in many other devices. Apple batteries share the characteristics common to lithium-based technology in other devices.

QUOTEA charge cycle means using all of the battery’s power, but that doesn’t necessarily mean a single charge. For instance, you could listen to your iPod for a few hours one day, using half its power, and then recharge it fully. If you did the same thing the next day, it would count as one charge cycle, not two, so you may take several days to complete a cycle. Each time you complete a charge cycle, it diminishes battery capacity slightly, but you can put notebook, iPod, and iPhone batteries through many charge cycles before they will only hold 80% of original battery capacity.

So yeah, it's fine.

 

[Fel]

Okay, thanks!

 

[Rayder]

Essentially, a lithium-ion battery should last about 3-5 years. You can be as careful as you want to make it last as long as possible, but in 3-5 years, the battery should be replaced anyway. The chemicals in them break down over time, whether you use it or not.

I've also read that if you know you won't be using the battery for awhile, that it should be stored at roughly 40% power to attempt to make it last as long as possible. Running a lithium-ion until the DS shuts off is not good either. As soon as the indicator suggests a low battery (red light), get it on the charger BEFORE your DS shuts off on you, or at least power down the DS manually and don't use it again until you have it on the charger.

 

[Overlord Nadrian]

As soon as the indicator suggests a low battery (red light), get it on the charger BEFORE your DS shuts off on you, or at least power down the DS manually and don't use it again until you have it on the charger.

I did that (let it run completely out of power and try turning it on several times before charging) with my Sansa Fuze, which had approximately 25 hours of battery life. After only a few months of use, this has diminished to 8 hours. It sucks. And I can't swap the battery. Ugh.