Have you ever experienced this? Your phone’s battery cover got bent because it was plugged in to charge the night before, and the swollen battery underneath it pushed it out of shape.
Many of us do the same thing to ensure our phones are fully charged at the beginning of the day.
Speaking of long-term charging, your tablet or work laptop is probably plugged into the wall all the time for convenience, even if the battery is still full.
We don’t think much about how we charge our devices until something terrible happens, like when our phone battery gets too big or, even worse, a fire starts because we left our mobility device (PMD) to charge overnight.
Then you start to wonder if it’s safe to charge something overnight. Can you charge too much? Is it okay to leave a device charging all day, even if you’re not sleeping? Well, our daily things might not be suitable for our machines. Find out by reading on.
Interestingly, the battery only stays at 100% all night long. A Time article says that it will drop a little because the gadget uses some power to keep running in the background. When the battery’s capacity goes down, the charger kicks in and charges it back up to 100%, called “trickle charging.”
So, what’s all the fuss about? First of all, according to the Battery University website, the lithium-ion battery that powers your phone or laptop doesn’t like to be fully charged. The high voltage puts a fully charged battery under a lot of stress.
Also, as soon as you start charging a lithium-ion battery, its capacity (its ability to hold a charge) starts to go down, and it keeps going down. Every time you charge your phone, you do minor damage to the battery. This is also mentioned on online support pages like Apple’s, which say that the battery’s power decreases after a certain amount of time charging.
As long as lithium-ion batteries power them, this also works for home appliances, from expensive vacuum cleaners to cheap electric toothbrushes. Â
Table of Contents
What if I Accidentally Overcharge My Devices?
Devices cannot be overcharged. According to Christopher Lee says the lithium-ion battery’s BMS (Battery Management System) stops charging when it’s complete.
The BMS’s battery, circuitry, and other components ensure the battery receives the proper voltage and current for some time. Thus, you cannot overcharge your phone or vacuum it.
What about rare lithium-ion battery swelling like mine? Overcharging? According to PC Mag, the condition occurs when battery materials deteriorate or are damaged over time.
The damaged battery’s uncontrolled energy flow while charging causes heat and gas to build up.
Should I Unplug All Chargers Before Bed?
It is often safe to charge your electronic gadgets overnight since the battery’s built-in management system (BMS) is not inferior, malfunctioning, or tampered with, as may be the case with batteries that come from questionable origins. Other factors that can cause these rechargeables to short-circuit include the battery overheating. At the same time, it is being charged or used on a charger incompatible with the battery.
What Is the Best Battery Percentage for My Smartphone
If there is still 80% juice left in the device, do not connect it to charge it. Keep in mind that lithium-ion batteries despise being forced to carry total charges. But it would be best if you didn’t allow it to sink lower than twenty percent either; the battery will need a high voltage to get its chargeback, reducing its capacity.
Maintaining the battery percentage within that range is the “sweet spot” for optimizing charging time without significantly impacting the battery’s capacity.
Does Overnight Charging Consume More Energy?
The amount of power consumed while trickle charging is extremely little and inconsequential. The additional cost of the electricity bill is less than a few percent of the total cost of the electricity bill.
Can I Keep Using My Smartphone While It Is Charging?
You can, but it could be a better idea because it could cause the temperature inside the battery to rise. A thermal management system in the BMS can control the temperature of lithium-ion batteries, usually between 20°C and 40°C.
If you use your phone while it’s charging, that can raise the temperature of your device above that range.
Now, we really hope that you’ve picked up some new information! It is wise to err on the side of caution rather than admit defeat, as the saying goes.
