Li-Ion battery life

I have red that every li-ion battery (Smartphone, tablet, notebook, etc.) is better mantained if kept costantly in the range of 20%-80% of its maximum capacity.

It seems that doing this the wasting is far more slow than doing full charge/discharge cycles.

And, in particular:
- never charge fully (100%)
- never discharge fully (under 10%)

What about this topic ?

 

From my extended life on this planet, since the dinosaurs roamed the earth, my take on it:

Main reasons batteries lose charge capacity:
1. time, regardless of charge level
2. drain and recharge (that's what they're made for too)
3. heat

I've always used my laptops plugged in at 100%, and have lost only about 5% charge capacity after a year, and that's with maybe a dozen or so full discharge/recharge cycles a year. From what I've read, a full discharge/recharge cycle can be from 100% to 0% or from 100% to 90% ten times, or from 80% to 60% five times, or any variation like that, etc. Most batteries supposedly have 500 recharge cycles before they reach 50% charge capacity. 100% capacity puts a little more stress on the battery, but it's not that significant compared with what just time, battery use (discharge/recharge), and most importantly heat.

You may gain a couple extra months by keeping capacity level between 20%-80% but nothing significant. Leaving your laptop in a hot car will do significantly more damage to the cells than anything else. Plus I also like a full battery when I use my laptop on battery so I can get maximum time out of it if needed. I'd rather have that extra hour battery life if I need it than wishing I had it charged to 100%.

It also isn't a bad idea once or twice a year to do a discharge to 5% to recalibrate the battery so it's more accurate. I wouldn't go below 5% though.

My $0.02.

 

the calibration is adviced at least one time every two months but charging at 100% is really considered stressing (particularly on tablets & smartphones)

Sent from Nexus 7 with Tapatalk

 

Dost hurt much at all to full charge but on the discharge of any cycle is where you can get problems. Most people tend to run their batteries down enough for their phone or laptop to shutdown which weakens the cells and can cause failure. In practice keeping a battery above 40% for lead acid (off grid solar system) is best for life of each battery/cell. For lithium batteries at least try to maintain them above 20-30% and keep them from getting to hot or allowing them to cool too quickly. Cold weather can kill batteries silently just as quickly as heat.