Pandora Batter - Life Span (Charge/cycle = %)

[kingoddball]

Speaking of Pandora's power (Previous Thread - Solar Vest)

I'm just wondering how good it is at keeping its full potential or if I should order a 2nd battery and leave it in a closet?

Whats the expectancy out of the battery? Charge/cycle life span?

My iPhone is around 18 months old, battery is lucky to last 12 hours (with minimal use). It WAS great.

On the packaging it says "around 400 cycles and it will retain 80% of original power"
The iPhone's battery is a crock of Shit! It did not hold 80% of its original power after 400 Cycles.. It's Piss!

What is the Pandora's and will LEAVING it on the charger for extended periods of time (days - weeks I'm talking) damage or decrease its life?

I'll probably forget it in the garage whist it's on charge or use it on the AC adapter.

 

[slygamer]

I like my fish in Pandora batter.

 

[mali]

You shouldn't buy a second battery, as it will degrade even when not in use. Buy a new one when you need it.
Number of cycles and life expectancy should be similar to other LiPo batteries.
Leaving it on the charger won't damage the battery.

 

[urjaman]

Leaving it on the charger won't damage the battery.

Not exactly, but at 100% charge level and at 25C the battery will (after 1 year) have 80% of its original capacity left, compared to if left at 40% charge level and at 0C (fridge..) it will have 98% left:
http://www.batteryuniversity.com/print-partone-19.htm

 

[mali]

I just wanted to give real-life oriented info without touching the extremes. Battery care threads tend to get out of hand/proportion pretty quickly, resulting in scared newbies that can't sleep anymore, because they have to stay awake to rip out the plug when the device is fully charged

Exaggeratedly speaking

I wonder why people still worry about battery life/care with that gigantomanic battery the Pandora has got.

I don't care at all about my devices' batteries any more(except avoiding excessive discharge or overheating by leaving the device in the sun or car in summer).
Heat is what kills batteries. And deep discharge.

 

[urjaman]

I just wanted to give real-life oriented info without touching the extremes. Battery care threads tend to get out of hand/proportion pretty quickly, resulting in scared newbies that can't sleep anymore, because they have to stay awake to rip out the plug when the device is fully charged

Exaggeratedly speaking

Oh, I was just saying that if you (for some reason, better get them when you need, not before) have an extra li-ion battery and wanted it to be stored for a long time, leaving it on a charger all the time is not the best solution.

Obviously, if you use the pandora then its not a problem to leave it charging overnight (because you'll want it 100% the next day anyways)...
just use it like your cell phone (battery-wise).

 

[fearofshorts]

Really, with the Pandora's battery life, would you really notice %20 less anyway? I mean, are you really going to be using (not leaving on idle) a system for 8 hours a day?

But even if you go on holiday and have no acess to a powerpoint for a few days (!!!), 8 hours should still be enough. Plus you could save even more power by buying and using the tv-out cables whenever possible (turning off the pretty but power-hungry screen).

 

[WhiteBat]

Plus you could save even more power by buying and using the tv-out cables whenever possible (turning off the pretty but power-hungry screen).

yes but if you have access to a tv to use those cables, then you probably have access to a powerpoint.

 

[Tor]

I don't think feeding the TV is a no-power action either though.

 

[Yoyobuae]

I just wanted to give real-life oriented info without touching the extremes. Battery care threads tend to get out of hand/proportion pretty quickly, resulting in scared newbies that can't sleep anymore, because they have to stay awake to rip out the plug when the device is fully charged

Exaggeratedly speaking

No need to do that. Unlike most battery powered devices, with Pandora we will have control over the battery charging circuit/software. For example, an app/script could be used to set what's the maximum charge level before the charging circuit disconnects (to avoid 100%, who needs 8+ hours of Pandora'ing on their day to day life?). Personally, I would like to set it at 60% or 70% max charge most of the time, and only do 100% if I need to.

I wonder why people still worry about battery life/care with that gigantomanic battery the Pandora has got.

Because 80% after a year might not seem so bad, but how about 60% after a couple years?, 40%? 20%? Its only matter of time until the battery becomes unusable, no matter the size. I'd like to keep Pandora going for as long as I can.

 

[mali]

80% after a year is hugely unrealistic for Pandora. The discharge current is pretty low relative to the capacity and it has a smart charging circuit like any other device. Also because of the large capacity you will often run on one charge for a couple of days/weeks compared to other devices you charge daily.

My latest device is 4 months old, runs 16h a day half charging, half on battery, no shutdown/hibernation, always in standby when not in use and still has 0% wear.

 

[may88]

Leaving it on the charger won't damage the battery.

Not exactly, but at 100% charge level and at 25C the battery will (after 1 year) have 80% of its original capacity left, compared to if left at 40% charge level and at 0C (fridge..) it will have 98% left:
http://www.batteryuniversity.com/print-partone-19.htm

Great - Just cleaned out the fridge to make space. Best I write a long Best-Before-Date on it else the wife will through it out.

One catch. I bought a 2nd battery as an alternate power source not as a spare. So when I've been in the field (not picked which field yet) for some 10 hours then I'd need to take the fridge with me and really long power cable for that, only for the 2nd battery to last a further 4 hours. But as I've got to lug the fridge home before dark, I guess it'll work out okay.

 

[droneb]

confirmed:

pandora's 2nd Battery pack will come in a box (already unveiled)
that is filled with a nice dose of Nitrogen.

 

[spaceballs3000]

I remember reading post on the battery for the Pandora have already been made, i.e. labeled, contacts soldered, etc.. So I'm assuming they already bought all the batteries some time ago.

So as time progresses, the battery capacity will drop, hope they ship soon.

 

[cosurgi]

I remember that poisonedv posted a table showing relation between temperature and battery degradation after 4 years. IIRC the conclusion was that the best is to store extra battery in refrigerator (at -4 C or such?) charged at only 40%.

The best if EvilDragon would put a basic "Battery handling chapter" in the pandora manual. There he will say:

• at what temeperature to store the unused battery
• what amount of charge to use for storing the unused battery
• whether to recharge the used battery rather when it goes down to 0% or 10%, or whether to recharge it frequently, even if it's 95% full.
• whether to be careful to not interrupt charging until it reaches 100%, or whether it's better to rarely charge to 100%
• whether charge-cycles from 100% down to 0% and back to 100% are necessary, and if yes - how often

 

[WizardStan]

I remember reading post on the battery for the Pandora have already been made, i.e. labeled, contacts soldered, etc.. So I'm assuming they already bought all the batteries some time ago.

So as time progresses, the battery capacity will drop, hope they ship soon.

We can only hope that they're being stored in a cold room.

 

[spaceballs3000]

I remember reading post on the battery for the Pandora have already been made, i.e. labeled, contacts soldered, etc.. So I'm assuming they already bought all the batteries some time ago.

So as time progresses, the battery capacity will drop, hope they ship soon.

We can only hope that they're being stored in a cold room.

someone should let them know, might be good idea.

 

[pelrun]

I wouldn't worry much; battery capacity doesn't drop *that* much in storage (and never fear, OP won't be storing them on a car dashboard in the sun.) The Pandora will be an especially good place for the battery too - since it doesn't get anywhere near as hot as a laptop, the batteries will last far, far longer.

I'm still using my 2000mAh zaurus batteries many years after I first got them, have been fairly rough with them, and they're nowhere near dead yet.

 

[spaceballs3000]

I wouldn't worry much; battery capacity doesn't drop *that* much in storage (and never fear, OP won't be storing them on a car dashboard in the sun.) The Pandora will be an especially good place for the battery too - since it doesn't get anywhere near as hot as a laptop, the batteries will last far, far longer.

I'm still using my 2000mAh zaurus batteries many years after I first got them, have been fairly rough with them, and they're nowhere near dead yet.

The zaurus could have a really low current draw (i.e. lower than Pandora) thus effects of internal resistance aren't as noticed due to battery getting old. I've seen certain batteries die within a year, to some that lasting +4 years pretty well, i.e. they were used in low current draw application, and the Depth of Discharge DOD was shallow. It's all depends on how it gets used.

 

[Izomiac]

With the Pandora's battery life & function most people could easily make due with 50% of the battery life, so 25-75% charge, which would only degrade about 5% per year. So it'd last for a decade or two before you'd notice. Given that this has been discussed several times there should be sufficient interest that an intelligent battery controller will be written (it ought to ship by default IMHO).

For lithium ion batteries, refrigerated storage at 40% charge is the best, staying at 0% charge for any length of time is the worst, and staying at 100% charge in elevated temperatures is the next worse (e.g. laptop on desk or cell phone in pocket).