Accessories Yet another Seidio 3500 MAH question...

[monsterz3ro]

I'm starting off by saying I have read through about a dozen seidio 3500 threads and can't find the information I'm looking for, which is why I'm adding another question to the sea of seidio battery threads. My apologies, but I did look through before posting.

Ok, so I have the Seidio 3500 MAH battery for my HTC EVO on Sprint. I've had it for about 3 weeks now, and have had pretty good results. When I first received it I was charging it in the phone (and following the "leave it on for 8 hours" instructions, as well as subsequently trying other little tricks and gimmicks (unplug after green, plug back in, charge until green, unplug after green, over and over). I found that the battery was not lasting as long as anticipated (and not as long as others seemed to be experiencing) so after about a week and a half I bought the Seidio external charger, and have been using that (charging the battery on the charger itself- not inside the phone). I am still experiencing a drop-off of about 10 - 12% in the first hour. The battery does still last for about 2 or 2 1/2 days without a charge, however I am not at all a heavy user, and on the occasions that I have been using heavily the web browser, mp3 player, streaming video, etc, the battery drops off much faster.

I know that lithium ions do not have the "memory" that nickel-cadmiums do, however I can't help but feel as though I am not getting a proper charge, even using the external charger. I have tried leaving the battery on the external charger for hours after the charge light turns to green, and have tried pulling and using the battery immediately after the charge light turns green, and in either circumstance, I am losing 1/10th of my battery within an hour. I called Seidio, and spoke to a tech rep who said (this is a true story) "well is the battery lasting longer than the stock battery?" "well, yes" "ok then"...which did not leave me feeling as though I'd gotten particularly good service...

Anyway, I'm about to return this battery for a replacement from amazon, and I'm wondering if anyone has any tips/suggestions to try before I go ahead and replace it, and/or if anyone has any input on this situation, and/or if anyone has anything to recommend for how to proceed when I do receive the replacement, if I need to?

I have dreams of seeing the 100% battery indicator (like some of the people have mentioned on this forum)...any help?

 

[Rigmaster]

If you're getting 2 to 2.5 times battery life, don't worry about the meter readings. No battery lasts super long without manipulating use or settings.

 

[monsterz3ro]

Rigmaster, I've seen your responses on a lot of posts, so I'll ask you (since you seem very knowledgeable about batteries), should the battery be charging up to 4200 volts? Mine never seems to break 4103, even when I check it immediately after putting in the freshly-charged battery and powering on. Any insight? And in terms of the 10% drop-off, any clues as to why the meter is displaying this?

 

[Rigmaster]

The meter seems to be registering discharge not how much is in the battery. That's why I think these extended batteries show depletion initially but then stay at 80-90% for several hours. As to charge capacity, actual lab tests prove that almost no battery reaches full charge. Trust the battery and just charge for 4 hours when low.

 

[Alwishus]

I'm starting off by saying I have read through about a dozen seidio 3500 threads and can't find the information I'm looking for, which is why I'm adding another question to the sea of seidio battery threads. My apologies, but I did look through before posting.

Ok, so I have the Seidio 3500 MAH battery for my HTC EVO on Sprint. I've had it for about 3 weeks now, and have had pretty good results. When I first received it I was charging it in the phone (and following the "leave it on for 8 hours" instructions, as well as subsequently trying other little tricks and gimmicks (unplug after green, plug back in, charge until green, unplug after green, over and over). I found that the battery was not lasting as long as anticipated (and not as long as others seemed to be experiencing) so after about a week and a half I bought the Seidio external charger, and have been using that (charging the battery on the charger itself- not inside the phone). I am still experiencing a drop-off of about 10 - 12% in the first hour. The battery does still last for about 2 or 2 1/2 days without a charge, however I am not at all a heavy user, and on the occasions that I have been using heavily the web browser, mp3 player, streaming video, etc, the battery drops off much faster.

I know that lithium ions do not have the "memory" that nickel-cadmiums do, however I can't help but feel as though I am not getting a proper charge, even using the external charger. I have tried leaving the battery on the external charger for hours after the charge light turns to green, and have tried pulling and using the battery immediately after the charge light turns green, and in either circumstance, I am losing 1/10th of my battery within an hour. I called Seidio, and spoke to a tech rep who said (this is a true story) "well is the battery lasting longer than the stock battery?" "well, yes" "ok then"...which did not leave me feeling as though I'd gotten particularly good service...

Anyway, I'm about to return this battery for a replacement from amazon, and I'm wondering if anyone has any tips/suggestions to try before I go ahead and replace it, and/or if anyone has any input on this situation, and/or if anyone has anything to recommend for how to proceed when I do receive the replacement, if I need to?

I have dreams of seeing the 100% battery indicator (like some of the people have mentioned on this forum)...any help?

Due to all the discussions surrounding the 3500 batteries, I went and bought both the Seidio and the one listed by Gorilla Gadgets. I got my Seidio battery yesterday and put it in the external charger. I never left it in the phone to charge, so it's first charge went to the external charge. I left it in the charger for about 13 hours. The battery charge went green about 5 hours in, so it sat in the green state for approx 8.5 hours or so.

I installed the battery this morning at around 7:45a. My meter is currently at 97% ( 9a ) and my use has been light so far. Checked email, one phone call, but mostly idle with screen illuminated. I don't have any radios going except for wifi since I'm working from home today.

This is a drastic difference from the stock battery. I'm going to track the drop off with this battery against the battery sold by Gorilla Gadgets. My typical day of use drains my battery after about 8 hours on the 1500. All depends on how much surfing and angry birds I do.

I'll report back on my findings. Most likely, I'll create a new post as well.

 

[wallyy]

I recently bought the same battery, and only recently I've noticed a drop right when I unplugged it. But then as it was mentioned, it sits at 80-90% for quite sometime.

I have a question that could be related to this issue. I also emailed Seidio about this, still waiting for a response. PS: this could be a noob battery question.

Typically, I'm used to charging my phone every night right before I sleep. However, with the extended battery, battery life is at about 50% before I sleep. My question is, will it ruin the battery if I plug it in to charge overnight for 8-9 hours if it's at 50% of battery life? Do I have to wait until it drains so I can recharge it? Does it matter at all?

 

[Alwishus]

I recently bought the same battery, and only recently I've noticed a drop right when I unplugged it. But then as it was mentioned, it sits at 80-90% for quite sometime.

I have a question that could be related to this issue. I also emailed Seidio about this, still waiting for a response. PS: this could be a noob battery question.

Typically, I'm used to charging my phone every night right before I sleep. However, with the extended battery, battery life is at about 50% before I sleep. My question is, will it ruin the battery if I plug it in to charge overnight for 8-9 hours if it's at 50% of battery life? Do I have to wait until it drains so I can recharge it? Does it matter at all?

My understanding is that you should let the battery drop below 20% or less before you give it a full charge again. I'm guessing the lower the better.

Also, there's a whole process for charging your battery if you don't have a separate 'battery only' charger. If you charge your battery while in the phone, the phone's internals expect a 1500, not a 3500. Here's some info I mined from this site...hope it helps:

" IMPORTANT TIP ---> TO GET THE MOST LIFE between charges,

perform this sequence to "stretch" the battery capacity to its limit:

1-with phone turned on, charge it fully till green light comes up
---> note: you will be without phone service until next steps are finished, at most 1 hour
2-turn phone off while still plugged to charger (light will turn off briefly, then come back amber)
3-let it charge again till light turns green
4-unplug charger and wait for light to go off
5-then plug it again - light will be amber
6-let it charge again till light turns green
7-repeat 4-5-6 till green light comes up just a few seconds after plugging charger (time in 6 will be progressively shorter)
8-turn phone on
9-unplug charger
10-enjoy!

With this procedure my battery life went from a few hours on the original battery to SEVERAL DAYS on this new Acase (when also following next tips)

MORE TIPS to extend life:

turn off 4G - I live in a area with coverage and it still drains my battery.
use wifi wherever available
turn off GPS antenna if not in use.
be suspicious of badly design apps that can be battery hogs. "

 

[mecampo]

turn off 4G - I live in a area with coverage and it still drains my battery.
"

Make sure to reboot your phone once you are done using 4g (used it and then turned it off). if you dont reboot after using 4g it will still have retry attempts behind the scenes ... you can use alogcat (free from market) to see whats happening.

goodluck

 

[justjerry]

I know there are a bazillion threads about battery life, etc., so I thought I'd post here and see if anyone could help me out.

My EVO is brand new - got it at the beginning of Feb. The battery life is amazingly bad. After charging it all night, around 9am - 10 minutes after I unplug it and have it in my pocket on standby the battery goes down to 85%. This is with WiFi OFF, GPS OFF, 4G OFF.

After surfing the web, and making a couple phone calls about 4 hours later, my battery is down to about 45%. By 10PM it's down to 15% telling me it must be plugged in.

I am at a loss as to what to do to remedy this? I've read in other forums people telling people like me to turn off EVERYTHING - basically everything that makes the EVO the EVO - and what fun is that? There must be a better way?

Thanks in advance!
Jerry

 

[Alwishus]

I know there are a bazillion threads about battery life, etc., so I thought I'd post here and see if anyone could help me out.

My EVO is brand new - got it at the beginning of Feb. The battery life is amazingly bad. After charging it all night, around 9am - 10 minutes after I unplug it and have it in my pocket on standby the battery goes down to 85%. This is with WiFi OFF, GPS OFF, 4G OFF.

After surfing the web, and making a couple phone calls about 4 hours later, my battery is down to about 45%. By 10PM it's down to 15% telling me it must be plugged in.

I am at a loss as to what to do to remedy this? I've read in other forums people telling people like me to turn off EVERYTHING - basically everything that makes the EVO the EVO - and what fun is that? There must be a better way?

Thanks in advance!
Jerry

Jerry- I've only started using this Seidio battery today ( Amazon.com: Seidio Innocell 3500 mAh Extended-Life Battery for HTC EVO 4G (Black): Cell Phones & Accessories ). However, its showing surprising promise. I've been at it since 7:45a this morning and I still have 65% left(8:25p). If you can wait, I'll be posting stats on this battery as well as another battery I purchased from Gorilla Gadgets ( 3500MAH Evo Battery (Extended Life Battery) - GorillaGadgets.com ).

The gorilla battery is half the price of the Seidio, but Seidio is solid when it comes to reputation. Also, the case cover that comes with the Seidio is really nice and fits exceptionally well. I haven't tried the gorilla battery yet, so I can't post any results yet.

One more thing...I suggest purchasing an external battery charger ( seidioonline.com ). You'll never get the full charge on an extended battery without an external charger.

Hope this helps bud -jd

 

[justjerry]

Excellent thanks! I'll wait for your reviews!