Can you leave your phone charging all night??

From the very moment, the mobile phones became part of our lives, humanity pursues the problem of charging. We have become so much dependent on the electronics, that the thought itself about the sacrifting battery causes panic. To remain without communication in the middle of the working day, lose one after and contacts, and navigator, and access to the network is not horror?

Many put a smartphone for charging before bedtime and calmly sleep all night, knowing that in the morning the indicator will show 100%. But users who are accustomed to carefully treat technique, such an approach causes a bunch of questions: is it not harmful to leave the phone connected to the outlet when he has already charged? Will it lead to an explosion of a battery or reduce its service life? Is it possible to somehow extend battery life? On the Internet there are many dubious rumors on the Internet.

What is the truth? Let's learn from experts.

How is a mobile battery?

Today, lithium-ionic batches are used in mobile devices. They are two electrodes. One of them is graphite, another - lithium-cobalt oxide. Between them, liquid electrolyte, which allows lithium ions to move between the electrodes. When the smartphone connects to the charger, the ions begin to move from a positively charged electrode (lithium-cobalt oxide) to adversely charged (graphite). When discharge, the movement goes in the opposite direction.

Speaking of battery life, incorrectly use the concepts of "month" or "year". The same battery can serve one person for several years, and only six months. It all depends on the intensity of operation, that is, how often the battery has to be charged.

Therefore, the battery life is measured by non-familiar temporal units, and the discharge cycles. One cycle implies full capacity consumption - from 100% to 0%. In practice, it is rarely obtained: usually one day is spent part of the charge, for example, 60%, then the smartphone spends the night at charging, and the next day it is used another 40% until the cycle is completed. The battery of the smartphone is calculated on 500-600 such cycles, after which the degradation process becomes a noticeable.

Degradation is a phenomenon in which the battery loses the ability to hold the charge, that is, its actual capacity decreases. For example, after 500 cycles of the charge-discharge battery , the iPhone will save only 80% of its original capacity: it was 2,200 mAh, and 2240 remains. Make such a change in the work of the smartphone is very difficult.

Degradation is a normal phenomenon. It is impossible to stop it, but you can slow down. Any battery over time loses its properties, however, how quickly this process will occur depends on many factors. If with the battery it takes care of the battery, the signs of reducing its capacity will not disturb you for a very long time.

What affects the battery life?

"The life expectancy of the battery largely depends on the growth of resistance inside it, - explains Professor of the Faculty of Energy Yang Shao Horn from Massachusetts Technological Institute. - Permanent maintenance of charge at a high level increases the rate of so-called parasitic reactions, which leads to an increase in the voltage inside the battery. "

The same applies to complete discharge. This phenomenon accelerates internal chemical reactions, which causes the battery item to degrade faster. However, the charge and discharge processes are far from the only thing that affects the battery life.

"There are other factors - resembles Shao Horn. - For example, high temperature. She also speeds up parasitic processes. "

Excess heat leads to the destruction of liquid electrolyte. Another factor negatively affecting the battery life is charging speed. Fast charge is a popular and very popular characteristic. Today, when choosing a smartphone, many buyers are interested in whether it supports some of the standards of a quick charge, and prefer the device in which such an option is.

"If you do not delve into the details, then the essence is: the faster the charging process goes, the faster the battery is wearing," says Shao Horn. Nevertheless, the professor notes that this problem more degrees electric vehicles and hybrids, which requires much more electricity to work than smartphones.

Can I leave a smartphone on charging for the whole night?

Smartphone at that and smartphone (smart - smart): It is able to determine the moment when the battery charge reaches the maximum value, and stop the feed Current. Similarly, it turns off when the lower limit is reached.

"Element of the Power cannot be dissolved or redesigned," explains the Senior Researcher of the Arong National Laboratory of the United States (Chicago) Daniel Abraham in an interview with Digital Trends.

Special controllers protrude as current limiters: they define the upper and lower battery charge thresholds. In other words, their task is to prevent a dangerous situation when the current is fed more than the battery is able to accommodate, and do not give the battery discharge in zero.

So if you leave the smartphone connected to the outlet overnight, it is unlikely that it will seriously affect the operation of the battery, because when the maximum charge level is achieved, it will simply stop charging. But when the charge drops below 100%, charging will resume. The worst here is that night charging prolongs the time at which the battery is fully charged, and this potentially accelerates its degradation. The degree of such harm is difficult to assess, since manufacturers are implemented in different ways to control the power supply and use various equipment.

"The quality of the materials used also affects the operation of the battery and its service life, the abraham emphasizes. "The proportion is true here - how much pay, you get so much."

Apple, Samsung and other major manufacturers offer their recommendations to extend battery life, but it does not say any of them directly: you can or can not leave a smartphone on charging all night. Employees of Digital Trends appealed to Apple and Samsung with a request to clarify this question, but have not yet received an answer.

How to charge your smartphone correctly?

If you charge the smartphone as less as possible, you can delay the signs of degradation, and the battery will last longer.

Most experts agree that it is best to maintain the charge level ranging from 20 to 80%. A pair of short-term recharging during the day bring less harm than one long night. As for the QUICK CHARGE technology and the like, this function makes sense to resort as less as possible.

What errors we do when charging your smartphone and how to avoid them?

Try to prevent overheating. Do not throw the smartphone on the dashboard in the car, where it can spill under the rays of the sun. To reduce the iphone overheating risk, Apple recommends removing the case at the time of charging. Samsung warns that "the full discharge of the battery reduces its service life," and advises to maintain the charge level above 20%.

Use the phone when it is charging, it is not worth it, because in this case it will warm up much. If the smartphone had to be charged to the night, first disconnect it to reduce the load on the battery.

Quality accessories are the key to secure charging

Prefer the charger and cables that walked to the smartphone. If they are lost or failed, acquire branded from the same manufacturer.

It is possible that it will be no cheap purchase, but it is definitely worth it. A more economical alternative can be accessories from third-party manufacturers that have passed the Samsung or Apple certification. If you are going to buy a "non-" charger, make a choice in favor of famous brands.

Before purchase, make sure that the charger and the cable have the desired characteristics. To do this, you need to know the strength of the current and the power of charging your smartphone.

Remember: The cheaper accessory, the greater the risks. Budget products often do not comply with security criteria, and the consequences of their use may be sad. Last case: In September, a teenage girl died in Kazakhstan. She fell asleep, listening to music on a smartphone, which at that time was charged. By morning the battery exploded. What exactly was the cause - a poor-quality accessory, not properly organized charging or something else is unknown, but this tragedy once again reminds that electricity is not a toy, but the rules of operation are written in order to be observed.

Conclusion

As you can see, put the phone to charge for the whole night - very undesirable. But the reality is that it is not always possible to recharge the smartphone during the day. Risks of long-term night charging can be reduced at two conditions: you use the original charger and do not allow overheating of the gadget.

Remember the following rules:

• Always use official chargers and cables or their certified Alternatives from famous brands.
• Do not let the smartphone overheat (leaving it to charge for the night, remove the case, do not put under the pillow, do not cover the blanket).
• Try to keep the charge in the range of 20-80%.
• Avoid complete discharge.
• Use fast charging when there is a real need.
• Limit the use of the smartphone when it is charging (at least do not start graphically demanding applications).