How to Quickly Charge a Cell Phone Battery

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By JParkside
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Quickly Charge a Cell Phone Battery

When charging a cell phone battery, there are a few things you must know first in order to protect the battery and still get the fastest charge possible. First, the type of battery is important. In this article I will discuss a few different types of cell phone batteries, and other important specs like temperature ranges during charging, and time length of the charge. Second, and probably the most important is the charger. You will learn enough about charger details to decide things like current, and the voltage that you will want to look for in a charger in order to efficiently charge your cell phone battery without damaging it.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

1)A cell phone with one of the these types of batteries:
a)NiCad (nickel-cadmium battery)
b)NiMH (Nickel-metal hydride battery)
c)LiIon (Lithium-ion battery)
2)A charger designed specifically for the battery and speed you wish.

Step 1

First, let's discuss NiCad batteries.

This battery type is the oldest of the three. NiCad is prone to having reduced charge capacity when not fully drained before charging several times.

A Rapid Charger will generally charge your battery in 3 to 6 hours, but there are better chargers that will charge the battery even faster. The Nickel Cadmium battery will charge at full energy during the first 70% percent of the charge. There are chargers that use a current that is many times larger than the C-rating (a scale for charging and discharging of units) for that device. So the first 70% of the battery can be charged during the first few minutes. After this the battery will not accept the same amount of charge, gradually decreasing the speed of the charge as the temperature and pressure of the battery increases.

Fast charges with best results can be accomplished around 104 Fahrenheit.

This decrease of the charge is called trickle charge, and should be between .055C +- .005C.
Step 2

Secondly, we will discuss Ni-MH batteries.

This type is not as memory error prone, and life is slightly increased when compared to NiCad. Every few months, discharge the battery all the way. This type of battery should be charged quickly. Charge between one to three hours depending on the type of charger used. Do not leave on the charger after charging is complete, as it could be causing memory damage. You can charge this type of battery at a rate around 1c as long as you monitor the temperature. Temperature for a fast charge should be around 104 Fahrenheit.
Step 3

Thirdly, let's discuss Li-Ion batteries.

This battery costs a little more than the previous two, but it's charge also lasts much longer. Lithium ion batteries are much more stable than most cell phone batteries. There aren't many short cuts to charging these batteries. You can try increasing the current, but this will not really speed things up for you. The charge will typically take about 3 hours to complete for these types of batteries. There are chargers that claim to accomplish this faster, but can end up costing you more charge time during the topping stage. Discharging is also something that occurs very often, but there are also advanced chargers that can assist with remedying this issue.
In order to conduct the charge without causing damage, keep the current constant, around .4c +/- .25c. Also keep temperature between 32 - 104 degrees Fahrenheit. Check the battery's manufacturer specifications to find the maximum voltages to be used when charging.

Comments

we73131 said

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on 5/21/2009 All newer cell phones should come with the lithium ion batteries. One of your best bets is to buy a spare battery to carry when needed or swap out when you get stuck unexpectedly dead :). Watch out for resellers online pushing OEM batteries. These are usually fakes or used batteries. Purchase from quality resellers that sell the battery in a sealed retail package. Some recommended retailers include http://www.newegg.com, http://www.cellbatterystore.com or your local bestbuy. I learned this the hard way. I purchased 2 batteries online from a guy in hong kong for $6 each. Both lasted less than 18 hours a piece (no talking, just standbuy).I finally shelled out $30 and got a decent battery.