You have received an important phone call on your mobile and you have found that its battery is about to drain. Either you need take out power banks (if you have carried along with you) or need to search for charging points. You think that just a few hours back it has been charged and why it requires charging again. Many of us might have undergone this kind of situations. Batteries are the lifeline of any electronic devices like laptops, mobile phones etc. and hence, for us as well.
When the above situation arises, many of us start doubting on quality of battery that the manufacturer provides us. However, we must keep in mind that life expectancy of the battery also depends on usage. In portable devices, Lithium-ion batteries are commonly used.
Here I am giving some of the tips, which will improve the battery life:
Tip #1: Avoid deep discharging cycles of the battery.
Deep discharge cycles minimize battery lifespan. The reason is, a fully discharged battery sucks in more current than usual for charging and causes overheating of internal cells of the battery. Put your device in the charger when the battery is about 20% charged so that the current required in mAmps to charge the battery would be under safe range.
Tip #2: Avoid the overcharging of the battery.
Remove charger immediately after the battery is fully charged. Batteries kept under charger even if it is fully charged has to bear the trickling current. Trickling charging current means, a constant current is being fed to the battery to keep it charged which drifts the voltage upward. For lithium batteries, trickle charging current is not at all suitable. The batteries even bulge out a little due to this overcharging current.
Tip #3: Use the correct charger for your battery.
Amperage on the charger can differ. Make sure that you are always using the right charger. Charging battery with the wrong amperage can reduce the life of the battery or even sometimes damages the battery.
Tip #4: Complete discharge-charge cycles of the battery.
One complete discharge-charge cycle means, discharging from 100% to 20% (depth of discharge can also be 10%, 30% or even 50%) and then back to 100%. Some users have a habit of charging battery frequently even the charge level of the battery is 80% or 70%. During charging, the positively charged lithium-ion travels from the cathode to anode through an electrolyte solution. Putting battery for charging with already having 80% charge makes clumps of ions on the electrode. This reduces the life of the battery. Hence, frequent shallow discharge-charge cycles should be avoided.
Tip #5: Avoid expose to high temperature.
Charging the battery when the temperature is between 20 degree Celsius to 25 degrees is more suitable. Do not leave the battery in car during hot summer and cold winter as it reduces the capacity of the battery.
Tip #6: Avoid fast charging of the batteries.
Fast chargers generally use constant current charging method to charge battery quickly. In this method, there is always the risk of crossing the voltage limit specified for charging the battery by the manufacturer. In addition to this, the temperature increases the further damage the battery. All these factors may reduce the life of the battery. Hence, it is recommended not to use fast chargers, as it may not be suitable for your battery cell.
- “Fast charge in Lithium-Ion Batteries for Portable Applications”, IEEE.
- “Power Management in Battery Powered Handheld Portable Application”, Mobile System Technology Workshop 2015, IEEE.
- “Handbook of Batteries” – David Linden, Thomas Reddy, Third Edition, McGraw Hill Publication.
- “BU-409, Charging Lithium-Ion, Battery University.
- “BU-501, Basics about Discharging, Battery University.
- “Lithium-Ion Batteries – Getting the most from Smart Technologies” – White Paper, Hewlett Packard.
- “Lithium Primary Battery Characteristics” – White Paper, Panasonic.
- Images Courtesy – Pixabay.
Krunal Shah is a passionate educator and career-counsellor with experience as an Entrepreneur. Currently, he is working as Director of Subodh Tech Private Limited, where he is involved in providing job-oriented training and Engineering Consultancy.