What's up with battery?

[devsk]

So, the meter was showing 24% left. Then, five minutes later I pressed end and menu by mistake, trying to awaken the screen. It rebooted and came back with 70% left.

How is that possible? I haven't charged it since day before yesterday.

Am I going lose thise 70% really fast? This thing is not very reliable....:-(

[rynosaur]

When the battery cools down, it will re-up the life -- rebooting only exaggerated that effect. I can make my phone do that too. And yes, that 70% is essentially a "phantom charge", a calculation that will drop back close to what you had before (the twenties) once you load/heat the battery up again. This effect is not unique to the G1. I used to do with my Moto Timeport . . . keep pulling the battery when running out to keep recalculating and put off the inevitable shut-down.

[NetCom]

When the battery cools down, it will re-up the life -- rebooting only exaggerated that effect. I can make my phone do that too. And yes, that 70% is essentially a "phantom charge", a calculation that will drop back close to what you had before (the twenties) once you load/heat the battery up again. This effect is not unique to the G1. I used to do with my Moto Timeport . . . keep pulling the battery when running out to keep recalculating and put off the inevitable shut-down.

"When the battery cools down, it will re-up the life -- rebooting only exaggerated that effect"

Can you please explain more into details? Battery is rebooting the phone to do what now?

[devsk]

Actually, I did not do anything by mistake. When I saw 24%, it was already dead immediately after that. I pressed power button and it rebooted. Showed 70%, and I left it on desk went away for 10 minutes and it had died when I came back. Same thing, rebooted, showed like 43% and it turned itself off.

I think the meter reading is a fake. I have completely drained and fully recharged it overnight two or three times but its not "learning".

[rynosaur]

I think the meter reading is a fake. I have completely drained and fully recharged it overnight two or three times but its not "learning".

A factory reset will start the calibration procedure over again. Also, seems to me that the only true 100% charge the G1 gets is with the wall charger, at least with the phone on/sleep.

To answer your question, NetCom, the battery life meter uses more data than just mV. It uses battery temp and also has an internal calculation based on history. It's like fuel trim in a modern fuel injected car. It starts off with base settings in the computer, and once the A/F sensors kick in (among others), it starts to "learn" how much gas/air the engine really needs. Similarly, although everyone's G1 is programmed with preset battery drain curves, the phone learns how much drain, temp, and time affects the battery's real reserve.

Rebooting the phone allows a surface charge to build up; the battery recovers from constant power-on state. The charge programming sees the extra mV and/or decreased temps and gives you "credit" on your meter. Once you continue to load the battery, the charge meter sees the quick drop-off in MV and spike in temps and adjusts the meter accordingly.

[Steelers-Shaun]

Hey Ryan...the research i have done on these lith-ion batts has all said once the phone dies do NOT turn it back on without FULLY charging it. In other words running it COMPLETELY dead where you cant even turn the phone back on for a second is BAD for the battery. Agree?

[hondamx525]

If you do it often, yes, but it is necessary every 30 discharges or so to re-do that to get the meter correct.

[skesseks]

I fly electric model Helicopters that use Li-Po (lithium polymer -- Lithium Ion) batteries. If you discharge the cell (4.7 volts/cell) bellow a certain threshold (about 3.0 volts) the cell is effectively dead.

If you run it down below 3.0 volts, the battery will take a little charge but it will be mostly useless. So it is very true that you should not turn the phone back on once it has shut itself off due to low power.

Lithium Ion batteries don't require the full discharge, full recharge cycle that Ni-Cads do, you don't have to fully recharge the battery for the battery's sake. but to calibrate the phone.

On a safety note: li-ion batteries are dangerous. if you over charge (not easy but possible), short out, puncture, overheat or damage the battery it can explode or catch fire. and by catch fire, I mean the spitting pieces of 2300 degree burning lithium crap kind of fire. So treat them nicely. It is also possible to have li-ion batteries explode or burn when you over discharge them, but this is VERY unlikely.

anyway thanks for listening.