Correct Way to Charge an iPod? 107
JAHA wonders: "I've seen two schools of thought regarding the proper method for charging an ipod so as to maximize the lifetime of the battery: let the iPod completely drain before re-charging; or keep the iPod completely charged as often as possible (i.e. leave it charging while you listen to it if you can). There doesn't seem to be any official word from Apple on their website, so I was hoping the smart people here could clear it up for me." For those looking for a definitive resource on the proper care and feeding of your iPod batteries, try this site.
keep it topped up (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Discharge Batteries (Score:4, Interesting)
I know my Neuros works that way.
fine if kept charged (Score:1, Interesting)
Re:Discharge Batteries (Score:5, Interesting)
However, what MAY affect things is that I've noticed a great deal of iPods left connected to a mac do get very very hot.
One feature of a Lithium Ion battery is they age - and after around 3 years nearly every one made will be dead, it's just part of their chemistry. Heat drastically speeds up the ageing process in them, and I've no doubt that those iPods left connected and hot are killing their batteries.
I don't know what's causing it, whether it's a software bug that keeps the HD spinning, or an overcharging bug, or they're being used as a HD constantly, for an hour or more at a time, but that heat is damaging to battery life.
http://www.buchmann.ca/ has good lay-readable info about various battery technologies and their characteristics.
Re:Excellent battery resource... (Score:4, Interesting)
Don't fuss about it. Battery life is limited. (Score:5, Interesting)
I believe the great unstated truth is that rechargeable batteries just plain have a limited life.
In fact, the lifetime on any one particular cell seems to be subject to a great deal of variation. For about ten years I tried to power all my AA, C, and D-cell-powered devices from rechargeable Nicads, and even when usage and recharging patterns were similar, some batteries _bought at the same time in the package_ might died after a year and a half, while others would be going strong after four years. I suspect this variation is one reason why manufacturers are so vague about lifetimes, and also contributes to peoples' superstitions (as they try to correlate the random behavior of individual cells with what they did to them.)
People who try to share rechargeable devices tend to bully each other and try to impose their personal superstitions about it ("I TOLD you not to keep it on the charger, Mabel!"), and companies who do not wish to replace dead batteries certainly are inclined to reinforce this. If I were a support person and someone phoned me with a battery issue, I would certainly suggest that they discharge the battery fully and recharge it. Why not? It would get them off the phone, and it MIGHT work, and when they called back to say it didn't it would be someone else's problem.
As for leaving batteries in the charger, at some point you have to assume that the people who make the batteries and the charger know what they're doing, and that the charger is smart enough not to deliver life-threatening quantities of charge to a fully charged battery. Certainly this should be true in these days where the chargers and batteries have microchips in them.
So I say, don't kick yourself over it. Accept the fact that rechargeable batteries are a) damn expensive, and b) only last a couple of years. Yes, it sucks, but lots of things do.
"Rechargeable" batteries sound as if they should last forever. So did "permanent needles" (ha! anyone else remember THOSE?), permanent waves, and permanent-press clothing.