Stop Worrying About Your Battery

Hi Net Neighbors!

I am back today with another Quick Tip, this time focused on your devices’ batteries. Over the years I’ve met many a fine soul who was fearful of harming the battery in their phone or their computer. Today I am going to invoke a powerful piece of advice from none other than Douglas Adams, “Don’t Worry.”

Now you may be thinking, “But Mr. John, I’ve heard that we need to be careful with our batteries. That’s why I don’t charge mine until it’s almost dead.” If this is you, that’s okay. A lot of people think the same. But like Mr. Adams said, it’s time to stop worrying about your batteries.

Many of the fears we carry surrounding batteries date back to when many devices ran on NiMH, and NiCd batteries. These had ‘memory’ problems where if you charged it wrong the battery would remember where you were. So if you plugged it in at 90% you might only be able to use 90% of your battery. This is no longer true. Instead we use Lithium Ion batteries which do not have a memory problem. So if you are in your car, and you’re going to be there for a bit, then plug in your phone.

But what about Overcharging the battery? Won’t that hurt it?

Nope! You can’t Overcharge your battery. Do you know what happens when your battery is still plugged in and hits 100%? If you guessed it stops charging you would be correct. The computers governing your battery automatically stop charging and switches to run off the power cord. So plug it in, leave it over night, let it sit on your desk. It’s fine.