The TRUTH about the iPod BATTERY and CHARGING

[DarkJC]

Yeah, my battery meter when playing likes to go down to 1/4, then up to 1/2, then down to 1/3. It's so unreliable, I only look at it to see if I have battery left. If it says I don't, I've got about another hour or two to get it in a charger.

[SouthsideIrish]

You will notice that it goes down when the drive is spinning, than once the drive has stopped it will go back up again. Still I agree with you that this is not what I want to see from my battery meter.

Bill McNair

[legofreak769]

i charge my battery every night when i go to sleep so every day it will be fully charged. i have it pluged into the electrical outlet by my bed so i can listen to music before i go to sleep. when i wake up it is fully charged. then i'll bring it downstairs and plug it into the computer and the battery begins to charge again????????

is it a glitch or is there a problem with my ipod, or is it just normal with the stupid batteries ipod gives.

oh yeah and if it helps i got it at the begining of december, so i havn't had it too long, and it's a 3gen 20g

[legofreak769]

oh yeah i use it in the dock

[SpideyPod]

The iPod charges in "cycles"

Disconnecting from the adapter, or dock, and then plugging it back in will kick off the charge cycle once more. It is not a bug or a problem but designed behavior.

[Blank]

Originally posted by SpideyPod
The iPod charges in "cycles"

Disconnecting from the adapter, or dock, and then plugging it back in will kick off the charge cycle once more. It is not a bug or a problem but designed behavior.

True with second generation, but not with third...

[M.S]

Originally posted by Mountain Man
For the record, the nicad "memory effect" is an urban legend.

That's not strictly true. NiCd batteries in fact do suffer from a memory effect, which was discovered by NASA. In order for true memory effect to occur, the batteries must be repeatedly discharged to a consistent level each time. NASA fixed their problem by adding a randomizing factor, so the discharge would vary from cycle to cycle, which eliminated the problem.

True memory effect is very uncommon in consumer uses, people tend to charge early, late, etc.

There are a number of other issues with NiCads which people do run into, and which they often call memory effect. That is the urban legend.

Here's a reference, there are others.

[DanC]

Lucky enough to get a 40GB from Santa but having real problems charging it from the Dock via Firewire connected to an Imac. Left it charging overnight and this morning the battery was flat as a pancake - have resorted to using the power adaptor.

Saw vague reference in manual to some Macs not charging in sleep mode - any idea which ones?

Thanks

[ginalee]

Yup, when your computer goes to sleep the ipod will not charge. Try charging from the AC adaptor and you will see...

[saqib]

yeah some pc/macs when they go onto sleep mode they shut down power to external devices aswell.

[porque]

so its Ok to leave it plugged in after its charged? my iTrip takes alot of the battery life so can I charge it and leave it connected to the power for about 1 hour or so after its charged?

[saqib]

Originally posted by porque
so its Ok to leave it plugged in after its charged?

for the 4th time yes its fine.

This is on Page 1, and no one has argued it, apart from Mountain man who has clouded the issue.

have a look:

Originally posted by saqib
i've found this:

Much attention is focused to avoid over-charging and over-discharging. Commercial lithium ion packs contain a protection circuits that limit the charge voltage to 4.30V/cell, 0.10 volts higher than the voltage threshold of the charger. Temperature sensing disconnects the charge if the cell temperature approaches 90?C (194?F), and a mechanical pressure switch on many cells permanently interrupt the current path if a safe pressure threshold is exceeded. Exceptions are made on some spinel (manganese) packs containing one or two small cells.

buried in this article: Charging lithium-based batteries

which goes on to support the idea that there is no harm done by charging a lithium ion battery for longer than the quoted time.

also this is also a direct quote from another page on the above site:

Should I charge my battery partially or fully?
Does not matter. Charging in stages is acceptable. Full charge termination occurs by reading the voltage level and charge current. Charging a full battery is safe and does not cause harm.

[SlaughterMU02]

Investors, please look into making a battery last 10-15 hours, then you would rule the marketshare!!!!!

[alecteefer]

Okay, so after reading about all this battery stuff, I decided I might like to invest in the iPod AppleCare. One problem: I live in FL, and AppleCare is not available to FL consumers. What the heck is that???? Any legal eagles out there know why this is so?

Also, since my Dad bought me my iPod as a Christmas gift in TX, could I have him buy me AppleCare, even though I'll be using it in FL?

[ginalee]

So after months and months of procrastinating I finally did the ultimate battery test today at while at work.

My "Magic 100" playlist was good for 7 hours and I figured it won't last that long anyway so I let it play continually. Boy was it hard to resist the temptation to touch the ipod during these long hours

I had long suspected that it would last only for 5 to 6 hours as some have posted here in frustration.

Surprise, surprise - ipod played for 7 hours, then since the playlist was done I switched to another and it played for another 45 min.

So the verdict: my iPod passed the battery test with flying colours!!