Overcharging iPhone 5 battery?

Greetings! I recognize that this is an old thread. Likewise, I understand from the posts that it's not possible to overcharge an iPhone 5 because they have SMART Lithium technology batteries. I accept that as truth, because people who know much more about these things than I do have said as much in this thread.

That said I am on my third iPhone 5. It currently doesn't have a sim card. I use it purely as a bedside alarm clock. It spends most of its life in a charging stand on my nightstand where it's easy for me to see at night. I am on my third iPhone 5 because:

The first one's battery expanded, pushing the glass away from the backlight, and eventually making it very hard to press and engage the home button. I took it to the Genius Bar and they swapped the iPhone for free because the expanding battery is a known issue.

The second one's battery expanded. Again, I took it to the Genius Bar. This time they are charging me for a replacement battery because it has been too long since I bought the original iPhone 5.

What I am wondering is what, if anything, I can do to prevent the battery from expanding in this third iPhone 5 aside from simply not using it. Not using it, or allowing it to completely lose charge overnight by not plugging it in would make it useless as an alarm clock.

Any thoughts from you wise folks?

renarde3 wrote:

What I am wondering is what, if anything, I can do to prevent the battery from expanding in this third iPhone 5 aside from simply not using it. Not using it, or allowing it to completely lose charge overnight by not plugging it in would make it useless as an alarm clock.

The short answer is you don't. Swelling is what often happens to lithium ion batteries as they age. Batteries are a consumable. They don't last forever. I'd suggest you make sure that you use either genuine apple cables and adapters or ones that are "Made for iPhone" certified.

I actually also use my old iPhone 5 as an alarm and have a belkin charging stand on my bedside table. I leave it on the stand through the weekdays and take it off to run on the battery over the weekend. As long as the battery sees some regular discharge/charge cycling weekly or monthly, it can last a long time. The worst thing you can do is leave it either plugged in endlessly for weeks at a time, or sitting shutdown and idle for weeks at a time. Lithium cells last longest when modestly used regularly over time.

But eventually, ever lithium battery (every chemical battery for that matter) dies. Lithium's are prone to swelling when very old and decayed.

Thank you too Michael for your quick response and good suggestion. I bet we have the same Belkin charging stand. Do you also use Nightstand Central for your alarm app?

As you suggested, when I get the replacement iPhone 5 I'll let it run down over the weekend and hope that extends its life.

You cannot over charge the battery.

must96 wrote:

.. leave it charging all night ...

Many people do with No adverse effects.

For proper maintenance of a lithium-based battery, it’s important to keep the electrons in it moving occasionally. Be sure to go through at least one charge cycle per month (charging the battery to 100% and then completely running it down).

From here > http://www.apple.com/batteries/iphone.html

must96 wrote:

so u mean that it is okay to leave it charging at night

thnx

Yes it is safe to leave the iPhone charger connected all night--providing, of course, that you don't take a lightning strike or other electrical circuit anomaly that can actually damage the charger/iPhone during the night 😀

The iOS charging circuits will actually stop the charging process and let the battery discharge a little bit from time to time. Apparently this helps in battery life.

I'm sorry but no, you are all wrong. Let me explain why:

Overheating any battery degrades it. The battery will heat up while being left on charge and this WILL degrade it.

Thus, unless you are leaving your phone in a cool room, it will will heat up overnight and it will slowly damage it. This is most noticeable with laptop batteries. Furthermore, when you overcharge a battery and it keeps discharging a little and recharging you are continually cycling your battery and this DOES degrade your battery. Consider your battery like an oiled machine. That machine is garanteed to run for x amount of cycles, just like a hard drive is or any other thing. Every time you charge your battery you are degrading it, leaving it plugged in so it is continually recharging and decharging is shortening it's life span.

Take the samsung laptops for example. They have built in a function that allows you to stop your battery from charging over 80%, this is because if you leave it plugged in you will degrade your battery. By capping it off at 80% they have a greater time to slowly overcharge and slowly decharge the battery. This means they are using substantially less charging cycles than they would be if it was capped at 100%.

You guys should not be giving out advice. Might I also point out that since I was playing a lot of games while charging my phone and letting it get hot I have noticed a substantial decrease in my battery life even when not playing games anymore. This proves my point.

Mumbolian wrote:

I'm sorry but no, you are all wrong. ...

We are not.

Mumbolian wrote:

...

.... The battery will heat up while being left on charge ...

Once the battery is Fully Charged... the Charging process ceases.

Mumbolian wrote:

...

Thus, unless you are leaving your phone in a cool room, it will will heat up overnight and it will slowly damage it. ...

Not true. See above...

Mumbolian wrote:

...Might I also point out that since I was playing a lot of games while charging my phone and letting it get hot I have noticed a substantial decrease in my battery life even when not playing games anymore. This proves my point.

That proves nothing in regard to leaving the iPhone on charge overnight.

Believe what you want. It stops and continually restarts it. If you actually knew how batteries worked you'd understand why it's better to avoid it.

<Edited By Host>

Can You Overcharge Your iPhone Battery?

Apple products use lithium batteries, which are rechargeable, so you can plug your device in and let it charge for multiple uses. The lithium battery uses a trickle charge at the end of charging, so you don't need to worry about overcharging your battery by leaving the phone plugged in once it has reached a full charge.

Lithium Batteries

Lithium batteries like the type in your iPhone are different from nickel batteries. Phones that use nickel batteries are particular about how the phone must be charged, and often the phone must be fully discharged to preserve battery life. Nickel battery phones are also prone to overcharging. With a lithium battery in your iPhone, you don't need to worry about when to plug your phone in to charge, and you can charge the phone at any point without damaging the battery capacity.

Type of Charging

Apple's iPhone uses two types of charging when you plug in your phone. For the first two hours that the phone is plugged in, the battery charges quickly so that it reaches 80 percent of the capacity, and your phone retains that charge if you need to use it immediately. If you leave the phone on the charger, the battery continues to charge at a trickle charge, which uses just a small amount of charge to continue charging up the battery until it is fully charged.

Charging Icons

Your phone tells you when it has finished charging, by switching the icon from a charging icon to a charged icon. The charging icon looks similar to a lightening bolt, while the icon that displays when the phone is fully charged looks like a plug. Leaving the phone plugged in once the charged icon is present won't overcharge the battery; the battery stops accepting the charge.

Battery Life

While overcharging is not a concern, you must still be aware that the iPhone battery has a limited lifespan. After 400 charges, the phone holds a charge of only 80 percent of the battery's capacity. A charge is counted as a full discharge and recharge, so partial charges over a period of days can add up to one charge cycle. If your battery is no longer holding a charge, you may need to take the phone to an Apple service provider for a new battery.

http://www.ehow.com/info_8608403_can-overcharge-iphone-battery.html

No you cannot overcharge your battery.

Ok, who is right? Overcharge helps or not??? one says "not" another one says "yes"! That's confuse!! On BATTERY DOCTOR they ask to be carefully as to overchargings, but i always heard that this is normal, and doesnt make bad for the iphone's battery. But i never have 100% sure! Someone help us! Thanks

You can not overcharge an iPhone battery.

Felipeptx wrote:

Ok, who is right? Overcharge helps or not??? one says "not" another one says "yes"! That's confuse!! On BATTERY DOCTOR they ask to be carefully as to overchargings, but i always heard that this is normal, and doesnt make bad for the iphone's battery. But i never have 100% sure! Someone help us! Thanks

Battery Doctor is not really a very reliable source.