Help Keeping battery on charger when not in use?

[jack58]

When I'm not using my phone at home or at night while sleeping, I have my Note II on the charger even if it is nearly fully charged. I do this because some program slowly drains the battery over time.

Question is, does it hurt the battery if I keep it plugged to the charger even it it is charged.

What programs drain the battery when not in use? Email? Or?

 

[JunBringer]

What programs drain the battery when not in use? Email? Or?

This depends on what apps you have set up to notify you etc. Email, facebook, twitter etc can all use battery life if you have notifications on.

 

[jack58]

....

 

[jack58]

This depends on what apps you have set up to notify you etc. Email, facebook, twitter etc can all use battery life if you have notifications on.

I only have text to notify me. However GPS is turned on. Weather app is on. Would those drain the battery too?

 

[JunBringer]

GPS shouldn't unless an app is using it, which is rare and should show up in the notification bar if it's being used. A weather app or widget will probably be refreshing itself in the background so that you have current conditions, so I'd say yes.

 

[jack58]

OK, how about my second question:

Does it hurt the battery if I keep it plugged to the charger even it it is charged.

 

[Nightfall]

OK, how about my second question:

Does it hurt the battery if I keep it plugged to the charger even it it is charged.

I don't think it does. Even if it does, then buy a new battery at the end of every year. You can get a good battery off ebay for about $10. I do the same thing you do. I put my phone on the charger a lot. When I am at work and listening to pandora, its on the charger. If I am at home and sleeping, its on the charger. If I am talking on it a long time, then its on the charger.

I don't have any battery issues, but I replace the battery every year or so.

 

[phonedroid]

OK, how about my second question:

Does it hurt the battery if I keep it plugged to the charger even if it is charged.

I've kept previous cell phones on the charger most of the time and the batteries have had adequate endurance for years but that doesn't answer the question. Here is some writing on the topic that seems authoritative.Charging Lithium-Ion Batteries

What that seems to say is that an Li battery will last much longer if it's topped off at less than 100%. On my work days starting off at 85% would get me through my daily routine without trouble. It would be nice and probably possible for the phone to have a user adjustable charging circuit that would stop the charging at a lower % selected by the user. I would use that feature most days of the week if it was available. Then, when I expected to need all the battery possible I would top off the battery to 100% occaisionally.

The N2 does allow the user to see the voltage of the battery. The percent of battery charge appears to be derived from voltage. There is an app called battery spy that logs that value so it can be seen over time.

The GPS uses a signicant amount of power and should only be running when you need it for navigation and then you are probably in the car where there should be a charger.

 

[TheOtherBill]

OK, how about my second question:

Does it hurt the battery if I keep it plugged to the charger even it it is charged.

No. The phone stops charging the battery once it is full.

 

[Wiley_11]

Here is a nice easy and informative chart for how to charge.

Frequetly Asked Questions on How to Charge Batteries


[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Control discharge. Each cycle wears the battery down by a small amount. A partial discharge before charge is better than a full discharge. Apply a deliberate full discharge only to calibrate a smart battery and to prevent “memory” on a nickel-based pack.[/FONT]

 

[ScandaLeX]

OK, how about my second question:

Does it hurt the battery if I keep it plugged to the charger even it it is charged.

Tech has advanced so much that there's no harm in leaving it plugged in.
If you'd like to not plug in it religiously every night, enable power save mode.
Actually you can keep power save enabled 24/7 and you'll notice a your battery will last you even longer throughout the day.

 

[phonedroid]

No. The phone stops charging the battery once it is full.

That's true but the battery prefers to be resting at a lower voltage, meaning lower % of charge, OTBE. In theory there could be a user selectable charging control on the phone. I have charging available at home, in the car, and at work. I don't need much battery endurance on those days and would set charging to stop at a value lower than 100% if I could. It doesn't take long to top off a battery from 85% to 100%. People who use their phones hard and long most days will charge to 100% every day and may be replace batteries a bit more often. Another option is the 6200 mah Hyperion battery, which seems to perform well if you don't mind the extra weight and size on the phone. I save the big battery for days outdoors when charging might be hard to find.

 

[ScandaLeX]

That's true but the battery prefers to be resting at a lower voltage, meaning lower % of charge, OTBE. In theory there could be a user selectable charging control on the phone. I have charging available at home, in the car, and at work. I don't need much battery endurance on those days and would set charging to stop at a value lower than 100% if I could. It doesn't take long to top off a battery from 85% to 100%. People who use their phones hard and long most days will charge to 100% every day and may be replace batteries a bit more often. Another option is the 6200 mah Hyperion battery, which seems to perform well if you don't mind the extra weight and size on the phone. I save the big battery for days outdoors when charging might be hard to find.

I have 3. Haven't placed my phone on a charger; not even in a car in so long. It's nice not having the need to be tethered to a cord.

 

[lcneed]

From experience, it doesn't hurt to leave it plugged in after it is fully charged. As long as you are draining the battery every week or so. But if you leave it on the charger all the time (usually you don't with a phone, but many do it for laptop), then after a year or 2 you will find the battery cannot hold a charge for long. Many of my work laptops do this. When it was new, it hold a charge for 3 to 4 hours. After 2 years of docking station usage, the battery won't last for more than 1 hour.

But the thing is... the Note II battery is so cheap to replace. So whatever you want with it! BTW, I have an old iPhone that I left on dock to play Pandora and now it cannot hold a charge for more than 10 minutes.

 

[jack58]

That seems to be the best solution. Have an Extra Battery.
Then don't use that particular batter to have on the charger all the time.
Use a backup only.

 

[ScandaLeX]

That seems to be the best solution. Have an Extra Battery.
Then don't use that particular batter to have on the charger all the time.
Use a backup only.

Why only use a spare battery as a backup? That sort of defeats the purpose of having an additional battery.

 

[jack58]

Why only use a spare battery as a backup? That sort of defeats the purpose of having an additional battery.

It was said that if the battery is constantly kept on the charger, it will wear out quicker. So one I keep charged all the time and will only use the other in emergencies when the other one runs out. This way one battery will remain fairly new.

Of course that could change...

 

[catpowrd]

I leave a laptop and a Note 2 plugged in and turned on in my vehicle 24/7 and I have had problems with laptop batteries dying within a year or so without ever being run on the battery. I have never had any problems with phone batteries dying in a year or so. I trade phones about once a year and batteries always seemed to still work. Is the charging circuit different?