Your cell phone charging habbits

[wndrstrck]

I just got the hardware to measure current drain on appliances. I aim to settle the debate about whether cellphone chargers draw phantom current or not, once and for all.

Wait, what, I missed the fact that there is a debate. Oh wait that's cuz there isn't one. It has been stated a couple of times that current drain on today's cell phone chargers are non-existant. 

[jerseydevil]

I charge my phone every night.  The battery doesn't quite have the longevity it once did, and I do use the phone a lot during the day.  The charger is plugged into a power strip, which gets turned off in the morning when I leave for work, when I remember that is..... During the mess of Hurricane Sandy and its aftermath, I was carrying my charger with me, and charging up the phone every chance I got.  Checking the web on the phone was the only way I could keep abreast of what was happening, and texts were the only communication that worked regularly.  It was vital to keep that battery full!

[Landrew]

I just got the hardware to measure current drain on appliances. I aim to settle the debate about whether cellphone chargers draw phantom current or not, once and for all.

I've tested several of the power bricks around here, and none of them use a single milliamp of power when you disconnect the device from the charger.

[legtu]

i charge mine whenever i can. if i anticipate that the phone's gonna get used a lot, i'll bring the external/emergency charger along.

[Grant Lamontagne]

I just got the hardware to measure current drain on appliances. I aim to settle the debate about whether cellphone chargers draw phantom current or not, once and for all.

I've tested several of the power bricks around here, and none of them use a single milliamp of power when you disconnect the device from the charger.

Myth busted!

Thanks for that- I don't know a milliamp from a millipede so it's nice to have it laid out plainly.

Actually I do know the difference between a milliamp and a millipede, but only because I inexplicably know a fair bit about millipedes...

Def

[Landrew]

I don't think it would be right to leave the impression that all electronic devices don't consume power when they aren't being used. 

The older type transformer (non-solid state) power supplies used to consume power continuously in their primary windings while plugged in, even when not providing power, and this was evidenced by feeling warm to the touch.

Televisions, for many years have used a warming circuit which consumed power to allow the TV to turn on more quickly, instead of warming up each time.  More recently, some devices run microprocessors continuously, monitor conditions, and even transfer data.  This, I think, is the true meaning of "Phantom Power."

[N_N_R]

I've just plugged in my Nokia 5530 to charge.. it had only one level of the battery left.. Did the same with a new, but older model, Samsung G ... whatever... a much simpler phone. It had 2 levels, but I decided to get the job done for both... we'll see how long it takes them both to discharge again I mainly use the Nokia, though.

[JAfromMn]

I charge every night and sometimes on lunch if needed.

[Landrew]

I did read somewhere that its best not to keep topping it up all the time, just let it run down before charging, and it seemed to be from a credible source.  Sorry, I can't find the source right now.

However, a quick Google search reveals that just about every possible answer to the question is floating around on the net.  Some say when you go back to your phone provider with a bad battery, they will blame you for charging it wrong, no matter what you do, and the only solution is to shell out the cash for a new battery.

I think most people know by now that there's really no wrong way to charge your phone, whether you leave it plugged in most of the time, or let it run down before recharging.  The circuitry is so advanced, that it gives the battery the appropriate charge, no matter the condition.  I usually plug my phone in whenever I get a chance, whether its in the car, at the office, or at home, and I get 1.5 to 2 years out of the battery is down to about 50% of the capacity of when it was new, and that's fine with me. 

[N_N_R]

I think most people know by now that there's really no wrong way to charge your phone, whether you leave it plugged in most of the time, or let it run down before recharging.  The circuitry is so advanced, that it gives the battery the appropriate charge, no matter the condition.  I usually plug my phone in whenever I get a chance, whether its in the car, at the office, or at home, and I get

This is about right, I guess. Everything's so advanced nowadays that may be batteries have some maximum minimum to last for and work properly without the owner having taken good care of them. And let's say it works properly for about 2 years without being taken good care of and then the battery's capacity & power & everything starts dropping ... Most people will find this normal, I guess. But may be if during these two years the owner has been charging the phone properly and followed the battery-advice found online or in the manual, they'd have increased the "proper battery life" to over 2 years, like 3 or 4 or so ...

I have an over 7-year-old Samsung X640 which I gave to my mother and she's been using for the last 2 years. As you see it's an old phone and it still lasts without charging for about 2 days when we talk more. That's unbelievable. I do'nt remember how I used to charge it, though. But when I get a new phone, I tend to read the specifications about how exactly to charge it either in the manual or online.

[dks]

It depends on the batteries.

LiIon batteries respond differently to top up charging than NiMh and NiCd ones.

LiIon ones should last longer if topped up frequently. There is a "sweet" spot.
There is a certain number of times you can recharge a battery, before it stops holding enough charge. However if you recharge it often, before it loses a lot of charge the number of possible recharges goes up.
So the "sweet" spot is the perfect combination between charging too soon thus utilising very little of the battery but getting more recharge cycles and utilising the whole battery, by using it up every time, but getting fewer recharge cycles from it.

There are a few types of LiIons by the way...

I think I posted a link before for LOTS of battery information.

NiCd and NiMh like to be fully discharged at some times, depending on various factors... end of boring people.

[Landrew]

Since Lithium Ion batteries came out on power tools, I have seen a few cases where the batteries became useless after a year or two.  I'm hoping this wouldn't be the case with a flashlight, as my POU for having one is to have it readily available over potentially long periods of time. The 5 or 10 year shelf life of an alkaline battery seems best suited for this purpose, along with easy availability, and the low power consumption of LEDs.

[Landrew]

Since Lithium Ion batteries came out on power tools, I have seen a few cases where the batteries became useless after a year or two.  I'm hoping this wouldn't be the case with a flashlight, as my POU for having one is to have it readily available over potentially long periods of time. The 5 or 10 year shelf life of an alkaline battery seems best suited for this purpose, along with easy availability, and less of a need for high-capacity batteries, due to the low power consumption of LEDs.

Not sure what happened here, but please disregard this post. It doesn't seem to be deleteable.

[dks]

you do not have to tell us twice. 

Check the batteryuniversity site. very good.

[stealth007s]

you do not have to tell us twice. 

Check the batteryuniversity site. very good.

 

[N_N_R]

Okay, so I've just counted.. my Nokia's battery lasted for 110hrs and is soon to be charged (when the last but one level gets depleted and there's one left). The older model Samsung has its battery half way down... so it's also lasted for 110hrs, but has more charge left. Well, I use the Nokia's cool applications far more and the Samsung mainly for talks..

[Landrew]

Okay, so I've just counted.. my Nokia's battery lasted for 110hrs and is soon to be charged (when the last but one level gets depleted and there's one left). The older model Samsung has its battery half way down... so it's also lasted for 110hrs, but has more charge left. Well, I use the Nokia's cool applications far more and the Samsung mainly for talks..

After about 8 months, of owning an HTC Desire I was getting less than a day on the battery, with most of the updating turned off.  I bought a new battery about 6 months ago, and I am already seeing a loss of capacity.  This is why I'm not a fan of lithium ion batteries in flashlights.

[Nhoj]

Anyone try one of those iphone cases with a separate battery in them? They claim to double the battery run time.

[Landrew]

Anyone try one of those iphone cases with a separate battery in them? They claim to double the battery run time.

I'm sure they work fine, but they would have to be heavier by at least the weight of the extra battery.  Not really necessary unless you have a need to carry your phone for a period of time beyond its normal maximum battery life.  Hard to imagine such a scenario, unless you are away from charging power for days at a time.

[stealth007s]

Anyone try one of those iphone cases with a separate battery in them? They claim to double the battery run time.

I owned the Mophie Juice Pack Air, Plus and Pro. The Plus and Pro both double the battery on the iPhone. I'm waiting on the new one to be released for the iPhone 5.