Learn what kills Lithium-Ion and Polymer Batteries Prematurely.
Episode #12-49 released on August 21, 2022
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Laptop batteries, and most others, use Lithium-Ion cells. Lithium-Ion batteries are great as they perform better than older generation batteries, because they do not exhibit many of the issues such as memory which afflicted former batteries. You used to have to completely discharge recharge batteries before recharging them, and it took a really long time to recharge them. Eventually you might give up and charge them before they completely discharged and effectively shortened the amount of life the battery had. Do this enough times and the battery would stop working. While the issue is not exactly the same for Lithium-Ion and Lithium-Polymer batteries, we do have similar issues that can destroy Lithium-Ion and Polymer batteries, and fairly quickly, too.
The first issue with Lithium-Ion and Polymer batteries is related to completely discharging them. Do not do this. In fact, better to avoid going below 40 percent before charging. Completely discharging a battery like this introduces a cycle into it, and all batteries have limited cycles. Your typical cellphone will not survive more than 300 days if you completely discharge it every single time.
The second issue, completely charging your battery. It is suggested to avoid going over 80 percent. Batteries do charge more quickly and safely up to 50 percent, however, beyond that the battery does have a harder time accepting a charge. This actually causes the battery to heat up significantly. Because of this, device manufactures actually reduce current flow to charge Lithium-Ion and Polymer batteries to avoid the heat issue.
Heat destroys lithium-Ion and Polymer batteries. This is why manufactures reduce current to them to avoid over-heating and fire issues that can be caused by charging Lithium-Ion and Polymer batteries. Heat is such an issue, that, that alone, can severely reduce the life expectancy of a battery significantly. This can be an issue for cases that trap too much of the heat wearing down the battery faster, too.
Physical damage is, also, a big issue, while it is more common to drop phones and tablets, you can damage a laptop by dropping it, and in all cases, physical damage to case can damage battery, which can affect battery life, cause a fire, or rarely, the battery can explode.
In the case of laptops, and most electronics, if they are heavily used as portable devices, it is likely that the person places them on surfaces that do not transfer heat well, the user discharges and fully recharges the battery frequently, sometimes a few times a day, and the end result would be a battery that suddenly and seemingly goes from being fully healthy to losing a lot of its capacity all at once. And, if it was dropped, this will likely happen even faster. A device that may last a few years usually, may only last a few months, if all issues are exploited at once.
Host : Steve Smith | Music : | Editor : Steve Smith | Producer : Zed Axis Dot Net