Re: Save your gadgets' battery life! Memory effect debunked. Charge it properly.
lipos are fool proof, di tulad ng nimh at nicd. add to that na ang ginagamit lang ng cellphones ay 1-cell lipos.. so fool proof talaga.. no need to deal with balancers. in my hobby, we deal with lipos all the time and never kami nakakasira ng lipo kasi madali lang talaga maintenance di tulad ng nimh at nicd.
a bloated lipo means it's dead, or near the end of its lifespan. replace it asap or risk fire and spending more than a replacement battery. and never use your devices while charging. sa cellphones di gaano common, pero sa laptops (or ipads too) marami gumagamit habang naka charge yung device. this is one of the biggest reasons kung bakit mabilis masira yung lipo. so as much as possible, turn off your device while charging. pede naman mag charge ng lipo kahit may laman pa without much damage to the batteries. sa gabi na lang kayo mag charge while sleeping, turn it off then leave it charging until you wake up.
also don't fully drain your lipos. sa nicd (and to NiMHs to some extent) lang ginagawa yun. lipos have a minimum keeping/storing voltage which 3.7~3.8v per cell. so pag lowbat na ang cellphone mo, patayin then charge your lipos. as I said, 1-cell lang naman ang cellphones (di pa ako nakakakita ng 2-cell lipo for cellphones), so no need to get bothered with balancers.
lastly, hindi affected by memory effect ang lipo.. pero totoo yun memory effect. NiCDs suffer the most, followed by NiMH then last ang LiPo with little to no "memory effect". so sa lipo, kahit charge ka lang ng charge ok lang.. di siya mabilis mag degrade tulad ng NiCd.
TL,DR:
- Don't fully drain your lipos, Charge whenever you're 'low-bat'
- As much as possible, don't use your device while charging
- LiPos don't suffer from memory effect
- Don't take chances with bloated lipos, replace it asap.
- As much as possible, charge lang when lowbat, then let it fully charged. Masama rin na putol ang charging pag lagi ng ngyayari.
sa hobby namin a lipo is considered good if it remains normal (hindi bloated) after a year. sa cellphones 2 or so years can be considered a long lifespan. I bought my 5800XM Jan '09, and until now yung original battery pa rin ang gamit ko, flat and hindi lumobo.