Charging Batteries Isn't That Hard

Confused about how, and how often, to recharge your gadgets' batteries? It's not as big a deal as some people make it out to be. Read on, and I'll dispose of the clutter.

Myths, Urban Legends, and Truths

Some people consider a failure to practice good "battery hygiene" to be akin to neglecting your teeth.  You may have heard some of this advice about how to get the most out of your newest gadget's rechargeable batteries:

• Always run your battery almost dead before you recharge it
• Never just partially charge your battery
• Never let your battery run all the way down
• Never overcharge your battery
• Always unplug your charger as soon as your battery is full
• Run your battery way down and recharge if fully once a month
• Charge your battery whenever you can
• Remove your laptop battery pack if you are using your laptop on AC power

The Short Answer: You can ignore all but the last two of those rules.  And it won't make that much difference if you ignore those, too.

A Closer Look: Not All Batteries Are The Same

Over the years, electrochemical scientists have given us an assortment of rechargeable battery technologies.  Popular ones have names like:

• Lead Acid
• Nickel Cadmium
• Nickel Metal Hydride
• Lithium Ion (and Lithium Polymer)

Lead-acid batteries are cheap and reliable.  You've got one in your (gasoline fueled) car.  But

Welcome, and About the Author

Hello, and welcome to my blog.  My name is Joe Levy.  Family lore has it that the first complete sentence out of my mouth was "How does it work?".  I've spent my life answering that question, and doing interesting and useful things with technology.  I've been a computer programmer since childhood, and I'm an Electrical Engineer by training.  Nowadays, I work to bridge the gap between the people who build products, and the people who use them.  I believe that the most successful products hide the technology from their users, but those folks who make the effort to understand a little about the technology can make better use of it.

Talking to people, I find a lot of misconceptions about how things work, and a lot of adherence to obsolete truths, or just plain myths and urban legends.  I'll be exploring these as best as I can, and show how knowing what's really going on can make your life a little easier, better, or at least save you a bit of money.