How a phone battery works. Scheme for creating pulsating currents

Any modern gadget, be it a cell phone, tablet, laptop, camera, video camera, or other smart digital device, contains lithium accumulator battery.

If you are interested in replacing the battery for your phone, smartphone, tablet, laptop and other gadgets at a service in Moscow, write to the chat on this site or call, we are happy to help.

Page where you can ask a question about replacing the battery:

How to properly charge and discharge the battery in a phone, tablet or other gadget?

When buying any device, or a battery for it, you can often hear from sellers: “discharge completely and charge completely” - this is a misconception!
In fact, it is necessary to immediately charge the battery when purchasing, and not allow a complete discharge of 1%, and the fact that you have not completely discharged and not fully charged the battery is not so scary.
Lithium-ion batteries do not like to be completely discharged. Internal chemistry is squeezed out to the last percent, and this is bad. It is best not to allow the battery to discharge below 10%.

Is it possible to buy and install a reinforced battery for an iPhone, Samsung or other touchscreen phone where is the battery hidden inside the phone?

You often come across a reinforced battery with a shiny or golden outer sticker on Chinese websites for various models iPhone, where they write that the battery has almost twice the capacity and lasts twice as long - all this is a deception and a scam of money! The fact is that if a lithium battery has twice the capacity, it must be twice as large, and it is not realistic to fit such a battery inside an ultra-thin modern gadget. Don't trust sellers of reinforced batteries. The maximum you can knowingly overpay for, if you make the right choice, is to find a high-quality original battery, or a high-quality battery with a good warranty. Let's say the German company Craftmann produces really high-quality and expensive batteries and gives them a 1-year warranty.

Is it possible to leave a phone, tablet, etc. for charging at night?

Of course you can! And if it was harmful to your device, you would notice a warning in the instructions, but you don't usually see that in the instructions. The vast majority of battery gadgets have a smart board, the circuit of which monitors the charge level, current level and temperature. If you close the battery, the protection will work; if you charge the battery all night, or even a day, the system will make sure that when it is fully charged at 100%, charging stops. If, during charging, the temperature exceeds the norm for any reason, smart system can also pause the charge, and perhaps an inscription will appear on the gadget’s screen indicating that the temperature has been exceeded and that the device needs to be cooled.

If you chew on the battery, it will last a little longer without recharging.

This funny misconception forces experimenters to chew on batteries, not suspecting that the old “old-fashioned” scheme will not work with modern batteries, which are made using a completely different technology; moreover, these experimenters risk damaging the battery in this way, as a result of which the battery may suddenly ignite or even explode.

How many years does the battery last in a phone, tablet or other device?

As practice shows, on phones such as the iPhone, the battery lasts for two years, and after this time, after the start of sales of new smartphones, customers are increasingly turning to the service to replace the battery, complaining that the battery began to quickly discharge and charge. This indicates that the battery has lost capacity, and only replacing it can fix it. Presumably, the average iPhone battery is designed to last 1000 recharge cycles.

Is it safe to charge a phone, tablet, etc. in a car/vehicle?

The first urge to think about safety was already when the first car chargers, on phones such as Nokia. Then there were cases where the seller sold an AZU (car charger), and, a few days later, the client came to complain that this charger burned/broke the phone. In fact, even the most original AZU is not one hundred percent insured against the impulse that occurs when starting the engine from the car key. This is when the power surge occurs and this is when your phone should be unplugged from the charger. Remember this, and advise everyone you know to avoid charging the phone when starting the car with the key. Often such an impulse disables a phone or tablet to the point of such a breakdown as a burnt-out power controller, or even worse, a burnt-out processor, where not every technician can handle such a repair, and in some models it’s not even possible to repair it.

What charge must be in the battery for the gadget to start?

To start any device (phone, tablet, player, etc.), the voltage on the battery must be at least 3.6 Volts, this is for those gadgets whose battery with a maximum charge shows 4.2 Volts. Yes, there are exceptions for some devices. Let's say, as practice shows, headphones can work with a much smaller charge, and there are phones and tablets that consume more than one ampere at startup, then the gadget will try to start, but the voltage "dip" due to high consumption may be such that the device will immediately turn off.
Therefore, it is better to charge with a reserve, for inclusion - from 3.7 Volts and above.

How much does it cost to change the battery on a phone, tablet, laptop?

The cost of replacing a battery depends on several factors:

• Difficulty of replacement - quickly removable batteries are much cheaper to replace than built-in ones, where you have to pay the technician for all his risks when disassembling the device.
• Quality and manufacturer - there are companies specializing in batteries that produce a large assortment of high-quality batteries and provide a guarantee of up to one year, such as Craftmann, popular in Russia.
• Warranty period - regular Chinese batteries are guaranteed for two weeks, branded ones - up to one year. If a workshop provides a guarantee of one month or more, it takes on the risks, usually this is compensated by the double cost of replacing the battery.
• Battery capacity - the larger the battery capacity, the larger and more expensive it is. It's simple - a larger battery can holds more chemicals and takes longer to charge and discharge longer. Let’s say batteries for phones are cheaper than for tablet computers.

Take care of your device and keep its charge at least 10%.

This article is devoted to batteries used as batteries in cell phones. However, the general performance characteristics also apply to batteries used in other equipment.

There are many myths, rumors, and mistakes regarding batteries. One of the most common of them is that in order to increase the service life of batteries, they must be periodically discharged completely. In fact, for modern batteries, this is the approach of their end.

Let's look at this in more detail.

Types of batteries.

Modern technology uses batteries based on various chemical reactions. Let's look at some of them:

Batteries used as cell phone batteries:

• Nickel-cadmium (NiCd) (nickel cadmium)
• Nickel metal hydride (NiMH)
• Lithium-ion (lithium ion)

Other types of batteries (for example, SLA - Sealed lead acid, sealed lead-acid batteries) will not be considered in this article, because They are practically not used in modern cell phones.

Lithium polymer (Li-Pol) batteries will not be considered due to their low prevalence and lack of their exact characteristics, which are, in principle, comparable with the characteristics of other lithium-based batteries. This type of battery is gaining popularity due to its non-criticality to the shape of the final battery.

Nickel-cadmium (NiCd) batteries.

Specifications:

Advantages: Low cost, high recovery probability, operation in a wide temperature range, fast charging.

Flaws: High degree of self-discharge, “memory” effect, large size, toxicity if improperly disposed of.

General information: The battery must be supplied completely discharged. The battery should not be left in the charger for a significant period of time (more than 2 days), because this degrades its performance. To avoid the “memory” effect, it is recommended to completely discharge the battery before charging (according to at least once a week). A nickel-cadmium battery can be recovered from the formed crystals with a probability of about 60%.

Specifics of use in a mobile phone: The battery is more efficient when used in high discharge mode, i.e. if you talk a lot, this is the preferred discharge mode.

Nickel-metal hydride (NiMH) batteries.

Specifications:

Advantages: Low cost, slight memory effect, high capacity, low toxicity.

Flaws: High degree of self-discharge, low number of charge/discharge cycles, more complex (and expensive) charging device (compared to NiCd).

General information: The battery must be supplied completely discharged. The battery should not be left in the charger for a significant period of time (more than 2 days), because this degrades its performance. The "memory" effect is not significant, but it is recommended to use this type batteries, like NiCd (completely discharge the battery before charging (at least once a week). NiMH batteries are difficult to restore. The probability is about 15 percent.

Specifics of use in a mobile phone: The battery is more efficient when used in a constant weak (about 1/2 - 1/3 of the nameplate) discharge mode, and therefore is optimal when the phone is often in standby mode. However, partially this property compensated high degree self-discharge. Many cell phone manufacturers (including NOKIA, which I respect) indicate in their instructions that these batteries do not have a “memory” effect. Be skeptical about these statements - this is a marketing ploy, which is based on the fact that in comparison with NiCd batteries, this effect is less pronounced.

Lithium-ion (Li-Ion) batteries.

Specifications:

Advantages: High capacity, no “memory” effect, small dimensions, a large number of charge/discharge cycles.

Flaws: High cost, rapid aging (after 1.5 - 2 years the battery may become unusable) regardless of the intensity of use, potential danger during use (the first models of these batteries often exploded when charging).

General information: The battery must be supplied 80-90% charged. The battery can (and should, if not in use) remain in the charger for a significant period of time. These batteries cannot be restored (don’t trust the “craftsmen”).

Specifics of use in a mobile phone: Battery efficient during intensive use cell phone. For its service life (about a year), it will be optimal in comparison with nickel-based batteries.

"Memory" effect.

Occurs in nickel-based batteries and is a consequence of incomplete charging. The part of the battery that is not discharged “dies” (crystalline compounds are formed).
To avoid this effect It is recommended to fully discharge the battery before charging. For this purpose, there are special charging devices that completely discharge the battery before the charge cycle. It is highly recommended to purchase a charger with this operating algorithm. The ideal is to discharge/charge in a special analyzer. But due to its high cost, it is rarely an “interior element” of a room. regular user cell phone ;-).
If it is not possible to charge the battery on a special charger, then you need to completely discharge the battery in your phone before charging (for example, by calling toll free number subscriber service Bee line. The time during which you wait for the operator’s response will be enough to “finish off” the dead battery ;-). Some operator companies have a special service phone for these purposes.

Charging methods.

It is necessary to distinguish between methods of charging batteries:

1. Fast charging - usually done by the phone itself using network adapter supplied in the kit (the phone is responsible for charging, the “cord” is just a converter/stabilizer). Charging is carried out with an increased current, its efficiency is lower than standard. Gives a time gain, it is recommended to use only when necessary.

2. Standard charging- produced by a special charger. The charging process is carried out with the optimal current for this battery, the duration and efficiency of charging is higher than “fast”. Often combined with the process of preliminary complete discharge of the battery.

This information is only relevant for nickel-based batteries. Lithium batteries are not critical to the charging method (of course, it is necessary that charging is carried out in accordance with the manufacturer's requirements. It is entirely acceptable to charge only in the phone).

Use original chargers.

Service.

You can, of course, use the battery to its fullest, without worrying about “some kind of memory effect,” etc. But its service life will be noticeably preserved.
If you are not one of the “new Russians who don’t care” then:

1. Store the battery in a cool place (you can also store it in the refrigerator, but only in sealed packaging).
2. Avoid using the battery in extreme temperatures.
3. Clean the battery contacts from oxides formed on them.
4. Before using the new battery, fully charge it. Do not trust the indications of primitive chargers(including those built into the phone) - charge the battery during this period for 2-3 hours longer than necessary according to the charger indicators. Ideally - this procedure carried out on a specialized analyzer.
5. Buy only branded chargers. This is the case when the stingy pays twice. Cheap devices often do not correspond to the declared characteristics, and often even use simplified charging/discharging algorithms. Because When charging batteries, the stability of the charge parameters is critical (when charging nickel-based batteries, the charge current is constant, while acid and lithium batteries have a constant voltage), then a malfunctioning device can significantly shorten the life of your battery.

WARNING: Quite often, in addition to the phone, a careless seller also gives a Chinese variation on the theme of “car charger”. I categorically do not recommend using them - there are quite a few facts of battery damage by them, especially for modern low-voltage batteries (for example Nokia 61**, 3210, etc.). If you use such a device with activated engineering functions (Nokia Net Monitor, 20 - 23), you can check for yourself whether the power adapter provides normal voltage.

6. If possible, periodically service your Ni** battery in a specialized service center - its service life will be extended by restoring its original properties using special analyzers.
7. Do not use batteries for other purposes.
8. Do not discharge batteries using makeshift methods (light bulb, etc.)

Used batteries.

It is not recommended to purchase such batteries either separately or as part of a cell phone kit. It is not possible to reliably determine the degree of wear (in the case of nickel) or “old age” (lithium) batteries without the appropriate equipment.
One piece of advice - if you have experience using a given brand of battery and know its approximate time full charge- You can try to charge it after discharging it. The greater the deviations in charging time from a new battery, the worse the battery is (especially critical if the battery is charged (according to the charger indication) too quickly - a sure sign of its unsuitability. It will discharge with the same “agility”).

Purchasing refurbished NiCd batteries from companies that specialize in this is quite appropriate. Request a full battery test.

So.

Currently, the choice consists of almost two types of batteries - NiMH and Li-Ion. With the same capacity, it is worth deciding which is preferable - low price and theoretically longer service life (NiMH), or simpler maintenance and longer service life under intensive use (LiIon, also true for LiPol).
Nickel-cadmium batteries are now practically not used in new phone models, where their metal hydride counterparts have taken their place.
If you have a phone with an obsolete NiCd battery, then don’t be upset - in some respects they are superior to NiMH with proper maintenance.

The battery is an important element of a mobile device, as it supplies it with electrical energy. Replacing the battery is an important step and the importance of this event should not be neglected.
1. The first thing you need to do is make sure that your battery is really faulty (believe me, the device can quickly discharge not only because of the battery). To do this, take the battery to a service center so that they can check the basic technical parameters of the battery using special equipment. The main parameters of a battery are capacity and internal resistance. If the battery capacity is less than 70% of the nominal capacity or the internal resistance is more than 400 mlOhm, then the battery must be replaced. If in service center If there is no such special device, then you can rule out a malfunction of the phone by checking its power consumption, in different modes connecting the phone to laboratory block supply, which is probably available in any service center.
2. Once you have confirmed that your battery is faulty, it is time to choose the right battery for your device. This is where the fun begins.
Currently, a large number of Chinese fakes, which are difficult to distinguish from original batteries. It is important to emphasize that most little-known manufacturers reduce the nominal capacity of batteries. Let's compare the nominal capacity of those on the market original batteries. For comparison, let's take the most common types of batteries: BP-5X, BP-5M, BL-5F and BST-33.

BATTERY MODEL	COPY	ORIGINAL
	850 mAh	900 mAh	1000 mAh
BL-5F	650 mAh	950 mAh	1000 mAh
BP-5M	600 mAh	900 mAh	900 mAh
BL-5X	500 mAh	600 mAh	700 mAh

What determines the battery life:

1. from the battery capacity
2. on the duration of telephone conversations
3. depending on the operator’s network parameters
4. depending on the ambient temperature

Mobile batteries - a course for a young soldier

Statistics say that a modern man shaves on average 150 to 200 times per year. Guess what both men and women do with the same frequency?
No, not what you think - they charge your mobile phone!
About once every two or three days we go to “feed the mobile phone,” but what and how they eat is a separate matter. Theoretically, a mobile phone can be powered by a regular battery, but only cameras can compete with the modern appetites of phones, so a rechargeable battery is required for a phone. Translated from Latin, the word “accumulator” means nothing more than “collector.” Thanks to the ability to transform electrical energy into a chemical reaction, and then back - converting “chemistry” into electricity, we get a power element such as a battery at the output. The notorious chemical reaction is unremarkable - it would be possible to charge one electrode positively and the other negatively. The purpose of this article is not an abstract on physics, but an attempt to talk about batteries in such a way that anyone reading would not be subject to doubts, speculation and other fears when purchasing and using these power sources.

For mobile phones(and others portable devices) historically four types of batteries were used depending on the tandems of the two used in them chemical elements: nickel-cadmium (NiCd & NiCad), nickel-metal hydride (NiMH, mistakenly called nickel-magnesium), lithium-ion (LiIon), lithium-polymer (LiPol). For the average user, it is enough to know two main technical characteristics of batteries: capacity and number of recharge cycles. Battery capacity is the amount of energy a fully charged battery has. It is measured in ampere-hour (Ah), that is, the time at which the battery will work at a current of 1 Ampere. Mobile devices operate at much lower currents, with the prefix “miles” and, accordingly, the capacity is usually indicated in milliampere-hours (mAh). To put it in very simple words, the capacity of the battery can be compared to the capacity of the gas tank in a car. If the gas tank holds 10 liters of fuel, then a moped could travel about 200 km without refueling, and a truck... well, at best, 30-50 km. With the same success, we can give examples regarding mobile phones. The battery capacity usually does not correspond to the nominal (indicated) capacity, but fluctuates between 80-110%. So, for example, a capacity of 700 mAh can actually have both 560 and 770 mAh. The conclusions are quite simple. A cheap device at the “call and send SMS” level at this volume can last a week without recharging, and a “monster” with two SIM cards and a 4-inch screen, with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth always on – for a day. Remember the joke where the subscriber complained to the operator that he was already used to them stealing his battery charge? In principle, the subscriber is right. Not only technical characteristics can affect the amount of time without recharging. The quality of network coverage also plays an important role. Once in an area where it is very weak signal from the station, the phone begins to become more “attached” to the signal and, accordingly, absorbs more energy. A very extreme case occurs when traveling with the Internet connection turned on and music playing (well, what else can you do to entertain yourself on the road?) – constant search base stations, screen backlighting and working with headphones will “sentence” your battery to very short-term operation. A characteristic “disease” of batteries is self-discharge. Self-discharge is a permanent thing for all types of batteries, and it can be characterized by the amount of charge lost as a percentage. It is known that in the first day after charging the battery loses the amount of energy most quickly, and a little more slowly in the remaining time, so in comparative analyzes indicate self-discharge per day and per month. This is caused by redox processes that occur spontaneously, but they are directly affected by the ambient temperature and at a temperature of 100°C, self-discharge may well double. This is certainly not a reason to store your phone in the freezer. The effect is not so strong that it would significantly affect the battery life. Despite the fact that the founders of battery production were Europeans, Japan, China and South Korea. Over the years of production, each type of battery has managed to show what it can do. And the first was cadmium. Nickel-cadmium batteries, of course, do not consist only of nickel and cadmium. The anode here is nickel oxide hydrate, and the cathode is cadmium oxide hydrate, but the battery contains both lithium and graphite. A characteristic feature of this type of battery is that it takes a long time to charge, but it discharges quickly. Due to the fact that such batteries have very low internal resistance, they do not heat up even when charging high current. But when it charges, it heats up sensitively enough for the charger to sense it and turn off the charging process. A very compelling argument, especially in those days when electronic charge controllers were unheard of. Even though it is customary to criticize such batteries for being inconvenient to use, they still have some advantages. For example, they are weakly sensitive to short circuits (a plus for those who like to drown their phones), are explosion-proof, and do not deteriorate so quickly when overcharged. It is better to overcharge such batteries than to undercharge them. The main disadvantage, in addition to the sensitive dimensions, is the so-called “memory effect”. The “memory effect” manifests itself in the loss of battery capacity during its operation. This happens because a battery that is not completely discharged remembers its previous state, and the remaining unused energy is no longer given to you.

The most interesting thing is that the user “kills” the battery with his own hands under the dictation of the phone. Another electrical layer appears in the electrochemical system of the battery - with a voltage decrease of 0.1V. The voltage monitor in the phone understands this as a discharge and reports that, in its opinion, the battery is bad. After all, in fact, the energy intensity remains the same and, perhaps, in another phone (dramatically different) the battery would have gained new life. But the phone stubbornly proves that it needs to be charged again and again, thus adding more and more “problem layers”. Ni-Cd must be completely discharged. You can be guaranteed to lose 50% of the capacity, and in the worst case, only 30% of the nominal capacity will remain. Despite this “Oh!”, the Ni-Cad battery is a hard worker, it maintains the battery voltage “until the last” and only when the energy is completely exhausted does the voltage drop. Although this effect would be useful to you mainly when using cassette music players and in flashlights. In temperature mode, such batteries can operate in the temperature range from -15 to +40°C, and can even be charged at negative temperatures. They are inexpensive and can withstand 1000 recharge cycles. This is an unpretentious, stern worker who has a descendant - Ni-MH. The fact is that Ni-Cd is never small and capacious, and in order to avoid the battery being the size of the phone itself, we had to look for a replacement. Another fact about the toxicity of the batteries themselves has spurred researchers and scientists to more fruitful work to find and develop a replacement. This is how the nickel-metal hydride battery was born. Structurally, instead of cadmium, they used a series of metal alloys that can absorb hydrogen. The same nickel hydroxide turns into oxyhydride during charging, donating hydrogen to the alloys of the negative electrode. The alloy was specially selected in such a way that the heat balance was maintained during the reaction. Did not work out. Metal hydride batteries get hot, even if the laundry is drying on them. The battery turned out to be capacious and compact, with almost no memory effect. At first, they even thought that there was no effect as such, but they were wrong. To be honest, the descendant of Ni-Cd turned out to be defective: the recharge cycle was reduced to 500 times, it took longer to charge, but self-discharge occurred one and a half to two times faster than that of the “ancestor”. But with the advent of Ni-MH, we got the concept of “boosting” a battery. In order for the charge and capacity to reach full strength, such a battery had to be discharged and charged several times (2-5) “from A to Z”.

Despite the nickel family of batteries, lithium-based batteries (Li-Ion and Li-Pol) predominate today. Everything is clear with lithium - it is the most chemically active metal. One kilogram of lithium can store 3860 ampere-hours (for comparison, zinc - 260 Ah). Strictly speaking, the whole problem of creating lithium batteries and was that lithium is too active. The melting point is 180°C and during chemical reactions characteristic of oxidation, such a battery explodes with very tragic consequences. Thus, in Japan, an exploding battery in a mobile phone burned several people. Therefore, unstable metallic lithium was embedded in a graphite shell or shells made of other metals were used. Just as in his time, Nobel came up with the idea of ​​coking nitroglycerin, thereby creating dynamite. That is, Li-Ion batteries do not use the interaction of two metals as an energy converter (as in Ni-Cd, Ni-MH batteries), but lithium ions “wrapped” in a safe graphite shell or lithium cobalt oxide. There is no memory effect in such batteries, they are very energy-intensive and lightweight, self-discharge is only 2-5% of the initial charge, they charge quickly (1000 mAh in 4 hours), the operating temperature range is from -25 to + 60°C - everything is good... But , as always, there is a “fly in the ointment” here too. To ensure safety and durability, each battery pack must be equipped with electrical diagram control to limit the peak voltage of each cell during charging and prevent the cell voltage from dropping below an acceptable level when discharged. In simple words it can be displayed like this. This is a bicycle vehicle, a fighter plane is also a vehicle, but to control the second one you need to have high level education, skills and responsibility. Each such “pilot” is “sewn” into a mobile device, which does not make it cheaper, but you can’t do without it. We compared Ni-Cd packages with a hard worker, and Ni-MH with its defective descendant. Li-Ion can be compared to a military aviation pilot. It also has a “descendant” - a Li-Pol battery. The essence of a lithium polymer battery is that the cathode is separated from the anode composite material– polymer partition. As a result, the battery, with the same volumes, not only added 22% capacity (the housing is no longer needed), but was also able to acquire intricate shapes. In general, the characteristics remained the same. Caring for any battery is quite simple: do not overheat, do not overcool and use certified chargers. And in general, read the instruction manual - it is good for your health. Any mobile device manufacturer tries to make the charger as suitable as possible this type battery A lot of time is spent testing all battery charging modes and checking the quality of the components from which the charger is made. In general, he tries his best, and the original charger is worth the money, because it uses high-quality electronic components and was applied skilled labor. However, there are a huge number of chargers on the market from unknown manufacturers, assembled “on the knee” from garbage. Remember that when you insert a cheap illiquid device into a 220 V outlet, you do not risk an undercharged battery, you do not risk a damaged device. You risk burning your house, burning yourself, and losing people close to you.

The battery is an integral part of a mobile phone, which ensures its autonomous operation. How often you need to use the charger will depend on the correct use of the battery, as well as the capabilities of your phone.

Types of batteries

There are three main types of batteries used in mobile phones: nickel-cadmium, lithium-ion and lithium-polymer. In fact, there are more of them, but the remaining species have not become widespread, so we will leave them outside the scope of this article.

Nickel-cadmium batteries were once very popular, but today they are almost abandoned due to their harmful effects on the environment and a number of other disadvantages. Modern mobile phones do not use them, unless you find such a battery in some very old model. At one time, their widespread distribution was due to their low cost, but otherwise they had a number of negative qualities: rapid self-discharge, low capacity-to-physical size ratio, and strong heating during operation. Nickel-cadmium batteries have a so-called “memory effect”, due to which they have to be regularly charged and completely discharged several cycles in a row. This effect manifests itself when they begin to recharge a battery that has not yet been completely drained. This leaves a charge that cannot be used, and as a result the time is reduced battery life devices. On average, nickel-cadmium batteries require more than 1000 charge-discharge cycles.

Lithium-ion batteries are the most widely used in modern mobile devices. They are more durable and less harmful to the environment than nickel-cadmium, and at the same time have a much higher energy density: despite their modest physical dimensions, they have a relatively high capacity. They do not have a “memory effect”, they are characterized by low speed self-discharge. The disadvantages of this type of battery include aging (even if they are not used for their intended purpose), so it is not recommended to buy them for future use. Better yet, pay attention to the production date when purchasing a new lithium-ion battery. This type of battery does not require any special maintenance, but if stored correctly (in a charged state) and operated in accordance with temperature regime it will last much longer. On average, lithium-ion batteries typically last from 500 to 1000 charge-discharge cycles.

Lithium polymer batteries are an improvement on lithium-ion batteries, but are cheaper. They are characterized by high energy density, slow self-discharge, and are even more environmentally friendly. Like lithium-ion batteries, they are characterized by gradual aging. For lithium polymer batteries on average, 500 to 600 charge-discharge cycles are typical.

Features of battery operation

The following reasons can shorten the life of most batteries or completely render them unusable:

• non-compliance with operating rules (hypothermia, overheating, moisture ingress);
• physical damage to the contact group;
• opening the battery yourself at home;
• frequent falls and blows;
• recharging the battery with the phone turned on;
• replacing the battery with the phone on;
• regular long-term recharging (more than a day when switched on);
• long-term storage without operation.

Any of the three types of batteries considered loses its capacity over time and must be replaced after 2-3 years of constant use. This is a normal process - you shouldn’t blame manufacturers for a low-quality product, which often lasts much less than the mobile phone itself. If there is a need for replacement, you should choose more expensive branded batteries rather than cheap counterfeits, since the savings in this case can be very dubious.

You should also be aware that the battery life of your device can be significantly affected by the location of the base stations. mobile operator. The further away the station, the more energy is required to receive the signal and the faster the battery will need to be recharged.

Selecting a phone depending on battery capacity

Today you can find phones on sale that are equipped with batteries with a capacity of 800 to 1500 mAh. There are phone models with battery capacities outside this range, but they are rather the exception to the rule.

When buying a phone and preliminary calculating its battery life, you should correctly assess the capabilities of the mobile device as a whole. The fact is that not every phone or smartphone with a battery capacity of 1300-1500 mAh will work for weeks on end, everything can be just the opposite. The manufacturer usually indicates in the device specifications not only the battery capacity, but also the battery life during continuous phone calls and in standby mode. In the first case it is usually 5-8 hours, in the second - about two weeks. But these are dry numbers for extreme cases - in fact, we understand that no one will talk for hours or just look at the phone day and night. That's why real time the phone's performance will depend on its technical characteristics and battery capacity, and not on any one factor.

Typically, the simpler the phone, the longer it can work without recharging. The bulk of “long-lasting” phones are typical all-in-one PCs that have a very ordinary screen up to 2 inches diagonal and do not require constant use of wireless communications ( Bluetooth modules, Wi-Fi, GPS, etc.). The battery capacity for most of these devices is small (up to 1000 mAh), but the absence of energy-intensive functions and modules under moderate load allows you to recharge it approximately once every 5-7 days. By moderate load we mean daily calls for 30-50 minutes, 2-3 sent/received messages, 1-2 pictures taken with the camera, about half an hour of work with additional applications(browser, organizer, audio player).

Today, mobile phones and smartphones with touch screens are very popular. They are modern and convenient, but cannot work for a long time without recharging. Large touch screens (and most often they have 3-4 inches diagonally) are very energy-intensive, and the hardware platform places a significant load (if we're talking about about a smartphone). In addition, touchphones are most often used for checking email, getting directions, transferring data, viewing multimedia content - all these features additionally “eat up” a fair share of battery capacity. With rare exceptions, the operating schedule for smartphones with touch screens is as follows: work during the day, recharge in the evening.

Cell phones become obsolete very quickly (probably even faster than computers), and it often turns out that replacing an old battery in a phone is problematic. They are simply not produced, and therefore high-quality batteries are not on sale (Chinese handicrafts in homemade plastic bags do not count - there is no point in buying them, they usually do not hold a charge for a long time). It's a shame to throw away a perfectly good phone that you're very used to.

If you know how to hold a soldering iron in your hands a little, you can simply solve this problem. This is possible because the energy carrier in all mobile phone batteries is the same technology - it is almost always Li-Ion(lithium-ion) or Li-Polymer(lithium polymer) cell with a voltage of 3.6 — 3.7 Volt. The only difference is in the dimensions of the battery, the location and number of contacts on it. Buy any (I emphasize ANY) battery from another modern phone, approximately suitable in size, and then you just need to pull out the energy carrier from there and transfer it to the body of the old battery. Further, for simplicity, I will call the assembly of the case, controller and electrical element a “battery” or “battery”, and electrical element inside the battery - “energy carrier”, or “element”, or “can”. The battery was replaced for a Siemens ME45 phone.

So, the process of restoring an old battery consists of several simple steps:

Step 1. Open your phone and take it out old battery, determine its type and capacity. For my Siemens ME45 it was a Li-Ion battery with a capacity of 840 mAh, a voltage of 3.7 volts, see photo.

The most important thing is to determine battery type(Li-Ion or Li-Polymer). The fact is that the charge mode and the design of the battery controller (special electronic circuit, ensuring the correct charge). Li-Polymer batteries are afraid of overcharging, so I would not advise you to replace the Li-Ion element in an old battery with Li-Polymer.

Note. In terms of voltage, Li-Ion and Li-Polymer are almost the same. Li-Polymer has lower internal resistance and higher energy capacity than Li-Ion with the same size and weight, so Li-Polymer batteries are used in aircraft modeling to power power plants. The disadvantage of Li-Polymer is that it is afraid of overcharging (it swells and can explode). Never leave a charging Li-Polymer battery unattended, and use only chargers specifically designed for Li-Polymer to charge it!

Step 2. Now it’s worth disassembling the old battery and familiarizing yourself with the contents. The filling is not very complicated - the case contains a controller (a small scarf) and an energy carrier - a weighty rectangle with two contacts. The controller contacts go outside, and an energy carrier is connected to it inside.

The controller board is visible from below, and the external battery contacts are in the background, in this photo at the bottom left.

The energy carrier is raised and visible rear end external contacts, as well as the “-“ bus (to the left, in the center) and the “+“ energy bus (to the right), soldered to the controller.

This is a top view of the controller. The power buses from the element are soldered on this side (in the photo it is already sealed off). Big eight-legged chip 9926A is a field-effect transistor that serves as a key, and a small 6-legged little thing 521A most likely a specialized chip (I was unable to find its description) that measures the voltage of the element and determines the logic of the controller (controls the field-effect transistor and the process of charging the element).

View of the controller board from the “bottom”; external contacts are soldered on this side.

Step 3. Go to the store, show the seller your old battery and ask to sell the same one. The seller, of course, says that sorry, there are no such batteries. Then you ask him to show all the battery models he has, and select the one that matches the type (for example, if your old battery was Li-Ion, then you need to look for a Li-Ion battery too) and has a capacity that suits you ( measured in milliamps/hours). The larger the capacity, the better. With voltage everything is simpler, you can’t go wrong here - all batteries have one jar inside with a voltage of 3.6 .. 3.7 volts. Also pay attention to the quality of packaging and the release time of the battery; the fresher the battery, the better - it will last longer. Change only Li-Ion to Li-Ion and Li-Polymer to Li-Polymer!

Step 4. Disassemble carefully new battery, separate the element from the controller. If possible, try to unsolder it - this will make it easier to connect the element to the old controller. I couldn’t unsolder it (the joint was filled with compound), and I just had to tear it off. After this procedure, two contacts should stick out from the element - plus and minus, which must be tinned and then soldered to the old controller. Attention! Do not reverse the polarity and do not accidentally short-circuit the element contacts during soldering.

At this step I had to face a small problem - the positive contact of the element was made of aluminum and flatly refused to be serviced. In addition, it was very delicate (essentially thick foil) and could come off with any careless movement. I had to figure out how to make a reliable contact for him. The old socket came to the rescue DIP microcircuits - 2 contacts from it were just suitable for this purpose. They were springy and connected well to the element contact, see photos.

The energy carrier is visible here; the controller has already been torn off from it. On the left is a negative contact; we managed to irradiate it. On the right is a positive aluminum contact and contacts from the socket, prepared for connection. In order for the cell to fit into the battery case, I had to slightly squeeze it on the sides. This operation must be done very carefully - under no circumstances should you break the seal of the battery (especially for Li-Polymer).

The socket contacts are mounted on the element contact.

Then I secured the contacts with a thin tinned core from the MGTF wire and soldered it lightly for reliability, trying to put as little rosin as possible (so that it did not get between the contact of the element and the contacts of the socket).

Almost finished battery. Soft blue spacers (I took shock-absorbing washers from an old CD-ROM) are needed to ensure that the element does not dangle in the battery case. All you have to do is close the lid and the process is complete. I did not glue the lid, but simply wrapped it with 2 layers of tape.

“Old guy” with a new battery - everything is fine!

This is all that remains of the “donor” - a label and a broken controller.