Passport Battery and cold weather

Hi all,

So we've had some very cold weather recently in Western Canada and it's stuck around for a while.

Trying to keep busy and active during Covid hasn't been the easiest but I'm trying. I took my older Passport SE on a few longer walks in the cold. I kept the phone out of direct cold for the most part but both times it got fairly cold and the battery died very quickly upon use.

The phone is now losing battery power fairly quickly on basic things like calls and texts, maybe 30+% an hour but also seems to be charging quicker??

I'm going to just keep the phone in normal temps going forward but did I do any battery damage? Does it just need a few days to re calibrate or normalize?

It's not the end of the world if the battery dies quicker, I just need to watch it and at the end of the day, the device is older. I'm planning on waiting for this Onward MOBILITY device but would be open to buying a battery for replacement if it got to that level.

Any tips? Or I'm I just an idiot taking a piece of electronic equipment to the point where Celsius and F ALMOST meet?

Historically I've been a moron anything Blackberry related , including the stock!

Posted via CB10

If your Passport is your only or primary phone, I'd be planning on buying a battery as no one knows when (if?) a device from Onward Mobility ever goes beyond marketing hype.

AFAIK, high temperatures can degrade Li-ion batteries but low temperatures only affect charging and operation, i.e. the chemical reactions that produce electricity won't happen as expected when in extreme cold (-20). I don't think one or two walks in the cold would cause a sudden loss of capacity... however... if I applied experiences with other common materials like glass, then perhaps a sudden change from extreme cold to room temperature "might" have an adverse effect.

If it's losing 30% per hour, there might be an app draining it. I can't help but ask (because I recently started watching "The IT crowd")... Did you try turning it off and on again? Device monitor has a nice CPU usage graph you could look at to see if there's something causing the drain. If the phone is running warm when you notice the drain, then whatever app you're using is the cause.

I share your line of thinking/hoping that a few charge cycles will re-calibrate the battery. With this in mind, try to keep the Passport cool while it is charging. Charging li-ion batteries from very low percentage isn't recommended, but for the purposes of calibration, try charging and draining 25% sections once or twice and then keep recharging it when it gets to 90% or 80% for the next little while to see if it helps.

Good luck.

Originally Posted by curves2000

Hi all,

So we've had some very cold weather recently in Western Canada and it's stuck around for a while.

Trying to keep busy and active during Covid hasn't been the easiest but I'm trying. I took my older Passport SE on a few longer walks in the cold. I kept the phone out of direct cold for the most part but both times it got fairly cold and the battery died very quickly upon use.

The phone is now losing battery power fairly quickly on basic things like calls and texts, maybe 30+% an hour but also seems to be charging quicker??

I'm going to just keep the phone in normal temps going forward but did I do any battery damage? Does it just need a few days to re calibrate or normalize?

It's not the end of the world if the battery dies quicker, I just need to watch it and at the end of the day, the device is older. I'm planning on waiting for this Onward MOBILITY device but would be open to buying a battery for replacement if it got to that level.

Any tips? Or I'm I just an idiot taking a piece of electronic equipment to the point where Celsius and F ALMOST meet?

Historically I've been a moron anything Blackberry related , including the stock!

Posted via CB10

If you are still on the original battery, you very likely need a new one (or a new device). That battery is now very old and chilling it down did not help matters. It was more than likely on it's way out anyway.

I will say that up until this cold snap and my walk in the woods, the battery performance was decent on the device. A full day charge for a moderate day was more than likely.

A busy day on the phone and it needed a charge but that's not a concern.

We will see how the next few days go and I'll see what happens.

Any additional tips are appreciated and thanks for all the support!

Posted via CB10

I will second that you should try and allow battery to drain down till 20% and charges it upto 90% for couple of cycles.
Replacement is not a problem with after market batteries but you may not like the end results unless you source a genuine one but that again is iffy since battery has been sitting on shelf for nearly 4 years now.
I replaced display unit of my OG Passport bought in January 2015 and during teardown I thought I might replace the battery as well. My Passport was giving a decent 36 hour backup on genuine battery but the cheap Chinese battery is not lasting a minute beyond 24 hours. I have kept my genuine battery around. Horses for courses.

Posted via CB10