"Overcharging" Battery?

[coredump]

I was wondering if the iPaq/cradle/charger is smart enough to stop charging once the maximum charge has been achieved. I'm concerned that the battery might deteriorate quicker if left in the cradle for extended periods of time (e.g. left in the cradle in the night, every day). Would the battery be overcharged? Perhaps I am overreacting. I like to take really good care of my stuff (*pats 2215*). Thanks.

[Dave Beauvais]

Lithium Ion (LiIon) and Lithium Polymer batteries are "smart," meaning they contain circuitry that interacts with the charging system to monitor voltage and amperage to prevent over-charging. Some even monitor the temperature of the battery to prevent damage from overheating. As long as you charge the battery using the correct equipment — such as the cradle — you should have nothing at all to be concerned about.

[karol_ki]

The same thing with leaving in cradle for month? (ex. i need to go smwhr but can't take pda...) What should i do?leave in cradle or leave on desk and let it discharged...(data lost)

[Dave Beauvais]

Unused, I honestly have no idea how long a fully-charged Pocket PC will last. Since I use my Pocket PC many times every day, its charge gets topped off whenever I get a chance to plug it in. I'm going to assume you were asking more of a hypothetical question, but where would you be going for so long that you'd be unable to bring your iPAQ with you? :) Given the choice, I would leave the iPAQ charging for the month rather than leaving it unplugged. You risk far more damage to the battery by allowing it to fully discharge than by leaving it plugged into the charger.

LiIon batteries can be damaged by being completely discharged, so they also have a safety mechanism of sorts which disconnects them when their charge falls below a factory-defined level. This has the unfortunate side-effect of not letting you use your device, but it gives the battery some "buffer" energy to prevent it from discharging completely until you can recharge it.

Once the safety cutoff kicks in, if the battery is not recharged it will continue to slowly discharge itself over time as all batteries tend to do. I left a LiIon battery attached to an old laptop for about four months without it being used or plugged in, and it destroyed the battery. In that case, in four months it discharged to the point that it would no longer accept a usable charge. (i.e., after a full charge, it will power the laptop for approximately three seconds before dying again.)

[karol_ki]

I'm talking about holidays..:D I often go to camp or anything like that in forest (no elektricity:P),cause i like survival stuff:P And i can't make batteries for pda from potatoes :D (need to leave all stuff at home:/)

[tanalasta]

Generally, if you keep the pda on a charger/cradle (they're interchangable) then it automatically makes sure that the charge is constantly kept full. Thus they may intermittently charge or top up the battery or trickle charge the device as it discharges itself automatically. In normal use however, it won't seriously overcharge the battery (which also causes major damage). And if you're listening to mp3's or doing intensive gaming then its actually better than draining your battery to zero in about an hour flat...

As a rule of thumb, lithium ion batteries like to be topped up and don't suffer from memory effect so i'd recommend charging it whenever it gets below 30% or so (or whenever you know its not gonna last the next day). Batteries last about 2 years or so of regular use after which you'll probably have to get a new one.

However, I probably wouldn't leave it on the charger for a week non-stop (some mobile phone manuals recommend the same thing) just to be on the safe side. As for how long you can leave it without a charger? If you use it regularly, then a day or two max. Otherwise you might get a couple of weeks... but i wouldn't bring it camping! all that dirt, dust and water isn't nice for your pocketpc! :wink:

[karol_ki]

i know! and this is the reason i want to leave it on cradle at home or wherever else:D

[Steven Cedrone]

Make sure you do a backup. Leave it in the cradle, charging. If you come back and the battery is trashed:

A) Let us know about it. :wink:
B) Be thankful your device has user replaceable batteries!

Steve

[GoldKey]

I'm talking about holidays..:D I often go to camp or anything like that in forest (no elektricity:P),cause i like survival stuff:P And i can't make batteries for pda from potatoes :D (need to leave all stuff at home:/)

You may want to check out the iSun solar charger.

[karol_ki]

Asus doesn't have repleacesable battery :(...but i hope service can do that...
And solar batteries are too expensive:)

[coredump]

Cool. Thanks for the help.

[GoldKey]

Asus doesn't have repleacesable battery :(...but i hope service can do that...
And solar batteries are too expensive:)

Check Ebay for the iSun, there was a guy there a while back selling a bunch of them in his Ebay store for pretty cheap (around $20 I think).

[Steven Cedrone]

Asus doesn't have repleacesable battery :(...but i hope service can do that...
And solar batteries are too expensive:)

Sorry about that...

We were talking about a 22xx and that bled into your problem with your Asus...

Steve

[PetiteFlower]

I took my pocket pc camping with me for a week, left it in my tent and used it to read and play games before I went to sleep. It was great! I brought an extra battery and had to switch to the extra after day 6 or 7 out of 10 I think.

[Kati Compton]

My battery was fully discharged after a week with light use on 2 of the earlier days.