Best way to maximise your handheld's battery

[figgler]

What's the official word on how to keep your Gameboy, DS or PSP's battery running optimally. Usually I go by the rule of letting it drain completely, then recharging it completely, thinking this will keep the battery lasting longer and holiding a better charge per use. Is this true though. What are the best practises for this sort of thing?

[shadow460]

NiCd and NiMH batteries must be drained once in a while, NiCd more so than NiMH. I use two sets of NiMH rechargeable batteries in my color Gameboy. I don't recharge a set until they're completely dead. When they die, I switch sets and charge the dead ones up when I get home. If you get into the habit of not draining them at all, part of the battery will short out, reducing its capacity dramatically.

 

I'm not sure what works best for Li-Ion batteries, and I know Nintendo uses those in their newer portables.

Edited March 23, 2006 by shadow460

[Harry_Dodgson]

The Apple site states to run a Li-Ion completely down once a month. I think that is to keep the charge circuit calibrated (as every time you use a Li-Ion battery, you lose some capacity).

 

Otherwise, just use it as you feel like. I keep my iPod on the charger whenever I'm not using it since you can't really turn it all the way off. My portable DVD player has a Li-Ion battery and I leave it disconnected when I'm not using it and it hardly loses any charge even with a month or two between uses.

[sega saturn x]

I charge my DS whenever it needs it and even after just long play sessions. The I pod on the other hand gets charged whenever I'm not using it since the battery life is so poor.

[JB]

The Apple site states to run a Li-Ion completely down once a month. I think that is to keep the charge circuit calibrated (as every time you use a Li-Ion battery, you lose some capacity).

*shudders*

 

 

Do you know why LiIon batteries ship with a partial charge?

It's because they should NEVER EVER EVER EVER EVER be fully discharged.

A single full discharge HALVES the battery's life expectancy. Which is only about 10 years from manufacture to start with.

 

 

If a LiIon pack gets low, PUT IT ON THE CHARGER.

[Atariboy]

Then why doesn't Nintendo state this for the DS and GBA SP's?

[128bytes]

What's the official word on how to keep your Gameboy, DS or PSP's battery running optimally. Usually I go by the rule of letting it drain completely, then recharging it completely, thinking this will keep the battery lasting longer and holiding a better charge per use. Is this true though. What are the best practises for this sort of thing?

 

I'd say, and I'm not being flippant, that Nintendo's "official word" is to charge it as soon as possible after you see the dreaded "red LED". That way you're not fully draining your Li-on battery. My understanding as well is that lithium ion batteries should usually not run down, but I also believe Apple is right when they say a deep discharge - but NOT a full discharge!!! (see step 3 of the thinkpad instructions below - it says 3%, not 0%) should be done once a month or so.

 

Here's the instructions on maximizing li-on batteries from my IBM ThinkPad:

 

Tips for Maximizing Your Battery Life

Your ThinkPad battery is a "Consumable" product that decreases in performance over time. However, there are several things that you can do to improve the performance and life of your battery.

 

Here are some tips to help maximize your battery life:

 

1. If your battery is left out of the system for a long period of time without charging, or if the system is not plugged in for several months, it will take longer to charge.

 

 

2. Make sure that you are using the correct AC adapter for your ThinkPad model. Using the incorrect adapter will prevent the battery from charging fully, and will cause the battery meter to display incorrect battery information.

Using the proper AC adapter

 

3. Recondition your battery by letting your battery run to less than 3% at least once a month. Reconditioning the battery can restore some of your battery capacity.

Reconditioning The Battery

 

4. If you primarily use your computer with the AC adapter attached and only infrequently use battery power, you can increase the lifespan of the battery by changing the charge thresholds.

Changing Battery Charge Thresholds

 

5. When the computer uses a large amount of electricity from the battery (for example, for intensive calculations or high-end graphics applications), the temperature of the battery and the computer may rise. In this case, the battery might automatically stop charging to so that the battery operates at a level that ensures comfortable usage and normal battery life. If the battery has stopped charging, it might not start charging immediately when you plug in the AC adapter or it may take more time to completely charge. When the battery is restored to its normal temperature, the battery will start to recharge.

 

6. Do not place your battery or your ThinkPad in a high temperature environment, such as a car on a hot day.

 

7. Battery performance will be temporarily degraded if the battery is used in a cold environment.

 

8. When you store your battery outside of your ThinkPad Computer, store it with a charge of less than 50% to reduce the battery wear.

[Ze_ro]

This might be a stupid question, since I don't know a whole lot about batteries... but after I bought my GP2X, I picked up a set of NiMH batteries and a charger. If I run the batteries dead while playing on the GP2X, I can usually stick them into my GBA and still get several hours of life out of them... I assume this is because the GP2X has much higher power requirements than the GBA, which can survive on the relatively low current the batteries have left.

 

So if I'm supposed to drain NiMH's completely before recharging, then what am I supposed to do here? Obviously they're not fully discharged when I take them out of the GP2X, so if I just cycle them between the GP2X and the charger, am I gradually killing them or what? The charger I have has no option to discharge the batteries, unless it does so automatically without me knowing...

 

--Zero

[Harry_Dodgson]

As far as (current) NiMH batteries go, let them set around for a month and they'll self-discharge themselves to near zero. I saw a pre-release for a new type of NiMH battery that is supposed to overcome this limitation.

[GrizzLee]

The Apple site states to run a Li-Ion completely down once a month. I think that is to keep the charge circuit calibrated (as every time you use a Li-Ion battery, you lose some capacity).

*shudders*

 

 

Do you know why LiIon batteries ship with a partial charge?

It's because they should NEVER EVER EVER EVER EVER be fully discharged.

A single full discharge HALVES the battery's life expectancy. Which is only about 10 years from manufacture to start with.

 

 

If a LiIon pack gets low, PUT IT ON THE CHARGER.

 

 

I'm not sure about the accuracy of the above statements. However, it has been my experience in working with hybrid vehicles, that LiION batteries should not be drained. The max life of battery power for LiION batteries can be affected by letting them drain completely (I am not sure about the severity). They do not have the memory effects that plagued NiMH or the others. Batteries for these things are cheap anymore. I wouldn't think it would be an issue to replace on an annual basis.

 

-Lee

[okto]

The Apple site states to run a Li-Ion completely down once a month. I think that is to keep the charge circuit calibrated (as every time you use a Li-Ion battery, you lose some capacity).

*shudders*

 

 

Do you know why LiIon batteries ship with a partial charge?

It's because they should NEVER EVER EVER EVER EVER be fully discharged.

A single full discharge HALVES the battery's life expectancy. Which is only about 10 years from manufacture to start with.

 

 

If a LiIon pack gets low, PUT IT ON THE CHARGER.

 

I was wondering if anyone knew that. I think that with modern devices it's not a problem, because they have charge controllers that won't let you actually discharge the cells all the way. On the Apple battery packs, it's not an issue of discharging the cells, it's just that the chip in the pack needs to recalibrate itself to the cells' new discharge curves (due to the cell deterioration you mentioned). With the DS and PSP, I think charging them whenever you can/need/want to is fine, since they don't have 'intelligent' battery packs.

[figgler]

With the DS and PSP, I think charging them whenever you can/need/want to is fine, since they don't have 'intelligent' battery packs.

 

So does it really make little difference then? So long as it doesn't drain absolutely completely, then it should last ten years regardless of when it's charged?

[okto]

Ten years might be a bit long. But who is going to be using a DS in ten years anyway.

[Jess Ragan]

Most of us, probably! This is ATARI Age, and I doubt we've been spending much time playing recent Atari "hits" like Mark Ecko or Enter The Matrix.

 

JR

[darklord1977]

Then why doesn't Nintendo state this for the DS and GBA SP's?

they dont want you to know about it..