[PlatinumEstates]

I got a new replacement for my Bold cause I couldn't stand the scratches.

I was told by someone once that I should let the battery charge for 24 hrs straight before using. Does anyone know if this is true, and why that is the case?

Perhaps it can explain why other Bold users can use their BB for more than one day straight without recharge.

Thanks.

[cellinator]

I didn't do that. My battery was at 50% when installed at the ATT store! I ran with that for a while and then did a full charge to 100%. I've been fine ever since.

[olaf_d]

There can be settings changed that improve battery life. The main one is reducing the brightness of the screen to less than 100 (usually around 60). As for overcharging the battery, it won't let itself. this is why plugging it in overnight does not harm it. It charges in far less than 8 hours and just keeps topping itself off until unplugged. I wouldn't worry about putting it on the charger for 24 hours.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[davliew]

As this is because our Batt is lithium batt. Out from the box, the battery has never been fully charged. We are always adviced that we fully charge a battery a first time before even thinking of using it. It is said that if we do not do this it, the life span of the battery will shorten. I am sure there is a scientific explanation for this.

Aint no Professor thought. All these while have been following this universal rule with all my batts in the past and now, no probs at all

[GMJeff]

The old Nickel Cadmium batteries had to be charged completely, or they would suffer a "memory".

The Lithium Ion batteries do not require a discharge/full charge cycle like the NiCd batteries did. There is no memory effect on the Lithium batteries. They also incorporate a small charging circuit in the battery, and as stated previously, they will stop taking power when they are full. They then go into a low power trickle charge mode that keeps the battery topped off.

It does take a few days of charge cycles though, to properly condition the batteries. Once they are at optimal performance, you should see noticable differences in uptime.

Also, heat can cause Lithium Ion batteries to slowly lose some of their charge capacity and performance.

If you are not seeing any increase in the capacity of your battery over the course of a week or two, you could have a faulty battery or charger. The charger becoming hot alone would possibly tell me that it could be pushing too much power through it, or there is some kind of fault in the charger unit itself.

Try a different outlet also, and see if the heating problem occurs.

[singsong]

Lithium-ion batteries do not need priming as nickel-based batteries do. The 1st charge is no different to the 5th or the 100th charge. Stickers instructing to charge the battery for 8 hours or more for the first time are clearly a leftover from the nickel battery days.

Unlike nickel and lead-based batteries, a new lithium-ion pack does not need cycling through charging and discharging as some believe it does. Priming will make little difference because the maximum capacity of lithium-ion is available right from the beginning regardless of what charge level it's in. A full discharge doesn't improve the capacity of a faded pack, either. However, a full discharge/charge will reset the digital circuit of a 'smart' battery to improve the state-of-charge estimation.

It is not recommended to charge for a prolonged period of time beyond what's necessary to fully charge the battery.

Also, overcharging causes the cell to heat up. If left unattended, the cell could vent with flame.
Commercial lithium ion packs often contain a protection circuits that limit the charge voltage to a fraction higher than the voltage threshold of the charger. Temperature sensing feature usually disconnects the charge if the cell temperature approaches 90�C (194�F), and a mechanical pressure switch on many cells permanently interrupt the current path if a safe pressure threshold is exceeded.

Extreme low voltage is not good and therefore, the safety circuit is designed to cut off the current path if the battery is inadvertently discharged below 2.50V/cell. At this voltage, most circuits render the battery unserviceable and a recharge on a regular charger is not possible. Therefore, you should be careful not to use just any charger just because the connector fits your phone!

The bottom line is, that you don't need to prime the Li-ion batteries other than for the purpose of increasing the accuracy of the battery level indication and you should not be continuously charging the battery as it can potentially subject the battery to high temperature of the phone that is not good for the life of the battery. Just charge as you need only as long as you need to charge the battery! Avoid subjecting the battery to a high temperature for a sustained period of time, like leaving the phone inside the car on a hot sunny day, as it can damage the battery and shorten its life, it not explode first.

I also highly recommend that you upgrade your OS to .190 level as it does do a better job of managing the battery.
Reducing the brightness of the screen to below 50% is highly recommended as well to protect your eyes and to preserve the battery longer. I keep my phone between 10~40%, Timeout in 20 seconds, Auto-Dim off, Keyboard/Trackball sound off, LED coverage light off and Wifi-on all the time and can get two days of usage out of my phone readily, even with constant emails and SMS messages and 30~60 min of talk time usage of the phone throughout the day.

[UberJew]

I didn't let the battery completely drain and now I think I'm paying for it with a 5 hour battery life

[Rumur]

I didn't let the battery completely drain and now I think I'm paying for it with a 5 hour battery life

Hold down on your alt key and press the back button to the right of the trackball and see what is running in the background. Some apps will continue running if you don't close them properly and cause battery drain. That may help you.

[we3za]

I got a new replacement for my Bold cause I couldn't stand the scratches.

I was told by someone once that I should let the battery charge for 24 hrs straight before using. Does anyone know if this is true, and why that is the case?

Perhaps it can explain why other Bold users can use their BB for more than one day straight without recharge.

Thanks.

that was not true mate,

as most of mobile phone nowadays using Lithium Ion cell,

it doesnt really matter,

the older generation battery (Nimh) need to get charge for 12 hours at the beginning

i knew it from my friend that studying chemical engineering

[anseltmchs]

good info. i always debate on whether to charge me phone before i used it or use it immediately