I’ve just had my second phone die from a swollen battery. The first was a Moto G and this latest was a Nexus 6P. They were backup phones that I kept plugged in at all times. LESSON LEARNED!
I now have my backup phone and my two main tablets plugged into smart plugs. I currently have them set for on for 12 hours and off for 12 hours. Do I need to cycle them through more often?
I also have a Pixelbook but I cannot find any instances of swollen battery in Pixelbook so I’m just keeping it plugged in and not worrying about it.
I kept my Nexus 6P plugged in all the time too, and two winter’s ago it stopped working right in the cold. Now I get about 45s on battery before it shuts off. I think the reports of boot loops with that phone were also tied to battery issues. If you’re American Susan, I think you may be eligible for class action money, but I was not because I’m not American.
Battery drain isn’t the problem in my case. It still charges and the battery lasts nearly as long as when it was new. But the screen is also gradually lifting off the phone… sigh. But, thanks for the suggestion.
in modern hardware the battery IS the power supply and voltage hub, so it wont make much difference (to the number of cycles) leaving it plugged in or drain 50%, some say draining is actually better because it offloads the power(current) and surges frm a external port like a pwr cord are better absorbed.
i had lion batteries gone swollen on me plugged in and when recharged so its just a fault in the internals itself that makes it go haywire.
A lot depends on how ready-to-go those backups have to be. Summarising other info I’ve seen on the web, it seems to be:
Batteries are consumables that only last so many charge cycles;
Letting them discharge below 20% or charge above 80% kills them quicker;
Leave devices turned off when not in use.
I’ve no way of knowing if that’s all true, but if it is then the best way might be, charge to 80%, turn off. Turn on once a week to check the charge, when it’s below 30% charge to 80% and disconnect / turn off.
My experience of battery swelling has been with devices that were charged after being left discharged for a long time, but your experience suggests that fully charged is just as bad.
Yea sounds like the phone is a write off, sad day another 6p bites the dust as that was always one of my favorite android phones when it was being updated and up till then htc one phones were always pieces of art
I miss the days of laptops with removable batteries. I NEVER use the battery on a laptop - it is always plugged in. So, I would always take the battery out on various laptops over the years. Now, you cannot do that. I know the argument is to fit MORE battery in a phone or a laptop by not having removable batteries. However - I DO think they do this now to speed up the process where ya HAVE to buy a new device.
Now, I occasionally drain the battery on laptops. I try not to leave them ALWAYS plugged in (on laptops with non removable batteries)