I know because of the internal battery it can’t only be charged a certain number of times before the life starts being lost. So is it best to use it until it’s about dead and then recharge it fully, or recharge it everytime after I’m done using it?
Charging the battery whenever you can will put less strain on it than always letting it discharge all the way, and then charging it back up.
Keep it around half-charged if you are not going to be using it for a while. And try to keep it cool, especially when charging - lithium batteries don’t take well to heat.
Over time, crystals build up in nickel-based batteries and prevent you from charging them completely, necessitating an inconvenient full discharge. But iPods use lithium-ion batteries, not nickel-based batteries. You can also recharge a lithium-ion battery whenever convenient, without the full charge or discharge cycle necessary to keep nickel-based batteries at peak performance.
You can charge all lithium-ion batteries a large but finite number of times, as defined by charge cycle. A charge cycle means using all of the battery’s power, but that doesn’t necessarily mean a single charge. For instance, you could listen to your iPod for a few hours one day, using half its power, and then recharge it fully. If you did the same thing again the next day, it would count in total as one charge cycle (two 50% charge depletions = one 100% depletion), not two charge cycles, so you may take several days to complete a cycle.
Another example would be if you took your 100% charged battery, used 10% of the charge, and then recharged it to 100%. If you did that ten days in a row, that would have the same wear on your iPod battery as if you took it from 100% down to zero and recharged it to 100%, all in the same day.
The moral of the story is: don’t be afraid to charge your iPod battery whenever it is convenient to you.
I’d use a Visa that gets you frequent flier miles.
Sweet, that’s exactly what I needed to know.
A follow-up question though: are there any ways to minimize the cycle? For example, would using it while it’s connected to the charger help at all?
I would not worry about it. That battery will probably outlast the iPod.
Yes. When the iPod is connected to the AC adapter, it should run on external power rather than the battery.
But you can’t do the same while connected to a PC’s USB port - the iPod’s controls are relinquished to the PC whenever it’s connected to a PC. (Though I think you can play the contents of the iPod through the PC’s speker, assuming the PC has iTunes.)
It you eject the ipod (via itunes or other means) but leave it plugged in you can listen to it.
Also, don’t worry about overcharging a lithium-ion battery by leaving it plugged into the A/C adaptor after it reaches 100% charge. It can’t hurt it, which is another difference from nickel-based batteries.
You can, indeed, overcharge a Li-Ion battery. They usually explode when you do, and is the reason a Li-ion battery should never be charged without the proper charging system. What really happens is the device stops charging when the battery is fully charged. Practically every battery-powered electronic device does this, regardless of battery technology. Basically, if it has a battery gauge, the device is capable of detecting a full battery and can be left plugged in indefinitely.
Straight from the horse’s mouth (i.e., from the Apple hardware engineer who worked on the battery for the original iPod): “Overcharging is good. The first time it is actually good to overcharge the battery.”
DAMN YOU & SUCH!
Beat me to it.
For my new MacBook laptop, should I use the nickel full discharge method or the iPod keep as fully charged as possible method?
The MacBook and MacBook Pro computers come with lithium polymer batteries. Lithium polymer is an implementation of the lithium ion battery chemistry. Lithium polymer still uses lithium ions to shuttle energy during charge and discharge.
You can recharge a lithium-ion battery whenever convenient, without the full charge or discharge cycle necessary to keep nickel-based batteries at peak performance.
Wait so looking at my handy iStat pro widget it tells me that I only have 305 cycles left- so does that mean I can only get another 305 full recharges out of my laptop before I have to by another battery?
That sucks, although it does say that my battery health is at 80% which indicates that it might last a while yet.
hmm…
OHH. I get it now. :smack:
I’d love to know more about what he meant. Perhaps he just meant leaving it plugged in until the charging indicator disappears, at which part the charge is complete and charging stops. An iPod charges to 80% capacity in about an hour, reaching full capacity about 3 hours later. A properly function Li-Ion system will not allow overcharge.
It’s generally known that actually overcharging Li-Ion batteries is bad:
http://www.smeter.net/daily-facts/3/fact27.php
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k5f0VCoFuFM for a visual demonstration
http://www.lxe.com/pdf/wp_Li-IonBatteries.pdf , end of page 3
Trying to charge a Lithium Ion battery with a universal charger - what setting? - Factual Questions - Straight Dope Message Board , where the importance of correct charging equipment was noted
Generally, it’s said that lithium-ion batteries can go about 400 cycles before losing 20% of their capacity. So, you have another 305 full cycles to go before you battery life is 80% of what it used to be.
I don’t know what “battery health” is, though. iStat Pro doesn’t show cycles remaining, it shows cycles accumulated - are you sure it isn’t saying your battery has already been through 305 cycles? In that case, the 80% might be an approximation of how much capacity your battery has left.
There’s no reason to buy another one, if the decreased life doesn’t bother you.
That must be a new feature. I have an older iPod that has gone through 2 replacement batteries already.
[QUOTE=Absolute]
iStat Pro doesn’t show cycles remaining, it shows cycles accumulated -/QUOTE]
Ah thank you, I thought that it was showing me how many I have left, as its the opposite my battery should last a while yet.
Cheers.