24th
Charge Your Cell Phone Every Day!
I have heard this myth way too often: “Charging your cellphone every day will reduce the life of the battery.” This is only true of Nickel-Cadmium (NiCd) and Nickel-Metal Hydride (NiMH) batteries, which are OLD. You’ll still find them in ancient electronic devices, but not ones manfactured today. These batteries had a “memory” and so had to be entirely discharged before recharging in order to maintain proper, extended battery life. Apparently this characteristic didn’t circulate (or become popular enough) until AFTER Lithium-Ion batteries came out, and so the myth was attached to these new batteries (Lithium-Ion (Li-Ion) and Li-Ion Polymer).
I was in a Verizon store the other day and the representative I was speaking with told me that my charging habits could damage my phone. Actually, the reverse is true. You see, with Lithium-Ion batteries, life is determined by the number of full-discharges the phone experiences. Basically, if you discharge your Lithium-Ion battery too many times, it will STOP charging altogether or not hold a charge.
Better safe than sorry, I charge my phone every night. Why risk a potential discharge when leaving it charged while not in use doesn’t harm its life.
While it’s more than likely that most of your portable electronics are using Lithium-Ion batteries, it’d be a good idea to double-check. The battery type should be listed right on the battery itself.
Source (but there are others): http://www.knowledgebase-script.com/demo/article-527.html
