[solos60]

Do most people use the Playbook Charging Pod for charging only or is it OK to simply dock your Playbook in the Pod when you are not using it.

[jivegirl14]

Do most people use the Playbook Charging Pod for charging only or is it OK to simply dock your Playbook in the Pod when you are not using it.

It really depends. I haven't found any problems with docking it when I am not using it, for example: Overnight I always dock my Playbook on the Charging Pod, it gets a full charge for the following day. During the day it's with me even when not in use. If it doesn't need charging I don't dock it, if it does - which is rare, but has happened - I just put it on the Rapid Charger for a few minutes. I could just as easily dock it.

[Chaddface]

The PB will cut off the charge when it reaches full. That said, I wouldn't leave it on the dock for days or weeks but I don't think over night or a day here and there will do any harm. If just left on the dock indefinitely the battery will be continually topped off. I don't think that is the best thing for these batteries. Someone with a better understanding of li-ion batteries may refute that statement.

[cntrydncr223]

I put mine on the dock all night every night and leave it off during waking hours.

[Gleth]

Mine stays on the charging pod whenever I am home, unless it's being used as I sit on the sofa. It runs happily all day unplugged apart from that.

[peter9477]

The charger is actually disconnected from the battery once the battery is full, and the pod would then supply the power for the PlayBook operation while the battery would sit basically unused (i.e. with no load on it).

[kerry6]

think of it as a laptop. If plugged in it's happy working and charging. once the battery is fully charged, the icon changes and it runs as if it were plugged in. But just like a laptop, you do not want to keep it plugged in for days, you would eventually shorten the life expectancy of the battery.

[Chaddface]

The charger is actually disconnected from the battery once the battery is full, and the pod would then supply the power for the PlayBook operation while the battery would sit basically unused (i.e. with no load on it).

Peter,
Do you know at what voltage the charger would apply a top off charge? With no load the full charge voltage must remain for a long time.

[RoseBud68]

Mine go on just before I hit the sack then off in the am.

[BB_Phoenix]

Mine hits the charging dock whenever I put it down. Just a habit and I always know where it is. Also better for the battery to do little charges then big deep charges all the time.

[JeffyPooh]

To maximize Li-ion battery life, keep the battery charge level at about 70% charge, and keep the PlayBook in the fridge at all times.

You may find it inconvenient to use your PlayBook while it's in the fridge, but it's a small price to pay to help preserve the 2011-era gadget to show to your great grandchildren...

[peter9477]

Do you know at what voltage the charger would apply a top off charge? With no load the full charge voltage must remain for a long time.

That's a great question, and one I'm hoping to answer some day soon. :-)

As soon as I wrote that post, I realized we just didn't know this yet. I then placed my second (development) tablet on the rapid charger and will leave it there for a few days, or a week, or two if it takes that long.

Since the charger will be supplying (per my theory) all the power, the battery will basically not be used at all. If true, it should drain only at the same rate as it would drain if the PlayBook were completely off. I measured that a month ago and concluded it would take approximately one year (probably +/- 30% error on that) for 100% charge to be completely drained.

That means I *may* see some decrease in the battery voltage, or a drop in the charge, some time in the next week or two.

It's also quite possible, and even likely, that the software includes support for some degree of "trickle charging". There's actually evidence to that effect, though I've never seen it kick in yet so I haven't been able to prove it. If this occurs, there's an excellent chance Battery Guru will record some events in the log indicating this has occurred, and then I'll see it in the export file.

(Keywords to help me find this post later: PlayBook full battery trickle charge rapid charger. I hate not finding certain past posts...)

[jpoulin587]

I have one of the charging docks next to my bed and I use my playbook as a nightstand clock. The problem is the dock does not consistently connect and charge so sometimes I wake up with a dead (or nearly dead) playbook. I threw the dock in the trash. I also have 2 of the rapid chargers, with the magnetic connector. These work great and I use them instead.

[peter9477]

jpoulin587, that's a well known issue. RIM (or whoever they hired) screwed up big time on one small aspect of the design, allowing a minor variation during production to result in an effectively useless product in some cases.

Technically it's fixable, provided you can handle a soldering iron and can wash the potato peelings off the dock before starting the repair... I fixed mine and it works great now, but unfortunately that solution is not easily accessible to everyone.

[peter9477]

As soon as I wrote that post, I realized we just didn't know this yet. I then placed my second (development) tablet on the rapid charger and will leave it there for a few days, or a week, or two if it takes that long.

Since the charger will be supplying (per my theory) all the power, the battery will basically not be used at all. If true, it should drain only at the same rate as it would drain if the PlayBook were completely off. I measured that a month ago and concluded it would take approximately one year (probably +/- 30% error on that) for 100% charge to be completely drained.

That means I *may* see some decrease in the battery voltage, or a drop in the charge, some time in the next week or two.

It's also quite possible, and even likely, that the software includes support for some degree of "trickle charging". There's actually evidence to that effect, though I've never seen it kick in yet so I haven't been able to prove it. If this occurs, there's an excellent chance Battery Guru will record some events in the log indicating this has occurred, and then I'll see it in the export file.

Somewhat interesting (to me) results came from this little experiment.

I had it on the charger without interruption for 18 days. There's no indication that it ever topped up the battery, or did anything other than sit and use power directly from the charger. I think the battery was basically disconnected the entire time. I didn't do much with it, but many nights ran my White Noise app on it all night, next to my bed.

Here's a graph showing battery voltage over time. An initial quite rapid (but small) drop at the beginning, just after I took it off the charger, following by a long, steady, very very slow decline.

Attachment 106634

At the rate shown there, it would take approximately four more years to drop to 0% (3.4V) if it never actually tried topping it up. I'm fairly sure it would top up eventually, but I wasn't willing to wait the possibly-months-long time it might need before it reached whatever voltage it waits for before it does that.

My conclusion: it should be absolutely safe, harmless, no problem at all to leave the PlayBook on the charger indefinitely, because once it's charged up the battery is disconnected from the charger and effectively not used at all.

[FF22]

Besides, talking to yourself, very interesting.

This seems different from one of my laptops which has been steadily connected to a charger and now does not seem to have much reserve if I remove it.