06 Feb Do You Believe These Battery Charging Myths?

Your batteries are much more important to your bottom line than you think!

The batteries that power your mobile devices are critical to the success of your operations. Batteries that fail mid-shift cause unpredictable, costly interruptions and impair the productivity of your workforce.

Fortunately, there is a simple and effective procedure that improves the performance and productivity of your mobile workforce‟s operations, while also lowering your costs: Battery Management.

Extending Battery Life through Proper Battery Management

Rechargeable lithium-ion batteries exhibit superior capacity and runtime characteristics compared to older battery technologies. Therefore, they are the most widely-used type in critical mobile device operations. Your lithium-ion batteries are a valuable asset that must be properly managed for optimum performance. This battery management guide pertains to lithium-ion batteries.

Like all batteries, lithium-ion batteries lose some of their capacity over time. However, there are specific strategies that end users can employ to make sure they get the longest life out of their batteries. By properly maintaining, charging, and storing your batteries, and adjusting your device‟s power-consumption settings to maximize the time between battery charges, you can make sure that your batteries last a full shift and can be utilized for up to 24 months before replacement.

“When should I recharge my battery?”

Most people recharge their batteries at the end of their shift, and this is fine, especially for lithium- ion batteries. But….there‟s a lot of conflicting information out there, so let‟s tackle that as it relates to best battery management practices:

Myths about Battery Charging

Avoid charging the battery unless it’ s fully drained

False: Waiting for the battery to be fully drained of energy before recharge does nothing to improve performance, waiting does not help it regain any lost capacity or conserve battery life, nor does waiting do anything to reduce the cost or time of the next recharge. Lithium-ion batteries can be charged at any time without any negative effects. There is no need to wait until the battery is flat to charge it back up to full capacity.

Lithium-ion batteries suffer from “memory effect”

False: Lithium-ion chemistry has no memory effect within its performance cycle. There is no false capacity step within the discharge process that prevents the battery from discharging further. It does not matter if the battery discharge regime was continuous, sporadic, or to varying depths. Capacity out of the product is not limited by any internal chemical process (as is the case, unfortunately, with Nickel chemistry).

Charging speed will reduce the life cycle of a lithium-ion battery

False: Within reason—and always per manufacturer‟s specification— slow, quick or fast charging of Lithium cells will not damage nor decrease overall cycle life of the product. Only the total amount of usage (full charge and discharge cycles over time) reduces the battery‟s life (in conjunction with the environment temperature, depth of discharge, impedance growth and other factors).

I should remove the battery pack from the charger to prolong its life

False: Lithium-ion chemistry chargers terminate the charge voltage at the appropriate point, so no excess or damaging energy is flowing into the battery pack. The charger must cycle back on before energy again flows into the battery pack. The battery pack is not being charged due to termination and therefore cycle life is unaffected. So, bottom line: leave the charger plugged into the wall, leave the battery in the charger. There is no detrimental effect to the pack.

I must charge my Lithium-ion battery fully for 24 hrs before I can use it the first time

False: Lithium-ion battery packs do not require any long term charging for first use. After a normal charge (per manufacturer‟s recommendations), the product is ready for use. Remember, most Lithium-based products are shipped with roughly 35% residual charge level. So your initial charge will bring the product from the residual “shipping” charge level to full charge without any “long‟ first time charge regime.

Find Out If You Qualify For a Battery Management Program

Call us at 1-800-281-3056 today to find out if you qualify for our Battery Management Program that can save you thousands of dollars each year by optimizing your battery life.

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