I just got a new cell phone from Verizon recently. Within the 1st week, I noticed that the battery was not holding a charge at all! Literally I could have a 15 minute conversation and it would die. I took the phone to Verizon today and they told me that I had overcharged the battery. I told them that that's impossible as all new phones (within the past few years) have systems built in to specifically keep the battery from being overcharged. They still maintained that the battery was overcharged and I can't leave the phone plugged in overnight. I countered that that was the dumbest and the biggest lie I have ever been told by someone selling me an electronic product. They gave me a new battery and told me not to overcharge it again. If the user was at fault, why would they give me a new battery?
Since when can you "overcharge" a cell phone battery? Who is right?
2006-12-07 15:14:16 · 13 answers · asked by reveal_the_truth1 2 in Consumer Electronics ➔ Cell Phones & Plans
Verizon may be correct on their position, depending on the type of cell phone battery that you have. If your cell phone has a Lithium Ion Battery, it is possible to overcharge the battery, and damage the battery, to the point that the battery needs to be replaced. The first three times you charge this type of battery, you should fully charge it overnight, and allow it to fully discharge before recharging the battery. This is called a conditioning cycle, and it can extend the life of your Lithium Ion Battery. Overcharging of a Lithium Ion Battery is defined as consistently charging your cell phone batter for more than 24 hours at a time which can ultimately damage the battery.
If you have an NiMH Battery, Nickel Metal Hydride Battery, it is also possible to damage the battery by overcharging the battery. Much like the Lithium Ion Battery, the NiMH Battery can benefit from undergoing a conditioning cycle, however it is a lot different than the conditioning cycle that a Lithium Ion Battery goes through. The conditioning cycle of an NiMH Battery consists of fully discharging the battery once in every 5 charges, and then fully recharging the battery. For the first three charging cycles, you should fully charge the battery overnight and fully discharge the battery before recharging it. Much like Lithium Ion Batteries, NiMH Batteries can be overcharged which can cause damage to the battery. Overcharging this type of battery occurs when you consistently charge the battery for a period of time longer than 24 hours at a time.
The NiMH Batteries work off of something called a memory effect, which determines the batteries performance. Generally the memory effect will lessen and eventually fail if you "abuse" the cell phone battery. If you constantly only partially discharge your cell phone battery before recharging it, the memory effect forgets that there is usable space on the battery to allow it to discharge all the way down. This is when battery life is shortened, performance is weakened, and eventually the battery gives up working all together. NiMH Batteries are the only type of battery besides NiCd Batteries (which are rarely used in cell phones anymore) that suffer from this memory effect problem. You can lessen this effect by putting your NiMH Battery through the conditioning cycle on a regular basis.
Verizon has excellent customer service, and they have been ranked many times by Consumer Reports as the top cell phone service provider when it comes to keeping their customers happy. Many cell phone users do not know about overcharging a cell phone battery, until they have a problem with their battery not holding a charge, then they tend to research to find out the problem. Verizon warned you of overcharging, replaced the battery, figuring that you were an uninformed consumer. They should be commended on their excellent customer service in this case. When they could have said it was your fault, buy a new battery.
2006-12-07 15:49:06 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
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2016-08-06 17:54:55 · answer #2 · answered by Irene 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
you cannot do that, you are correct about the OC chip being integrated into the phone. In fact my old Nokia 252 (around 2000) even had the technology..
The phone's battery should have been Li-On, which has no memory, so the frequency of charge does not matter.. so if anyone tries to tell you that, they are either wrong or using a really old phone..
Let me guess, the phone was an LG.. LG battery's are known for this (every LG i had ended up needing a new battery within a few months). LG for some reason goes through a crappy distributor and the battery's tend to swell and when they do that they stop functioning properly.
2006-12-07 15:22:33 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Sounds like you charged it too frequently. If you continually charge the phone without letting the battery die completely it causes a memory effect and the battery will not hold a charge. If you have 1/2 , 3/4 or even 1/4 charge do not plug it in. Use it til it goes dead or almost goes dead and then recharge it. Its the best way to prolong battery life.
2006-12-07 15:19:27 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
I charge my phone over night every night.....sometimes for days with no problem......car chargers however can do damage to your battery, but they don't tell you that.......car charges are designed for a quick charge to get you up and running again, not for hours at a time....
Your in the right..........sounds like the counter guy is getting "peopled out" How would like to have a job where people crab at you all day being either right or wrong and having a manager tell you to blame the customers for everything to cut loses.
Its good you got your new battery......it was the right thing
good luck
2006-12-07 15:23:17 · answer #5 · answered by Patrick 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
my cell phone does it and it is a year old. the easiest way to check it is to run the battery all the way down and recharge it. than the battery should hold a long charge.
I do not understand it but it works for me. I only charge my phone about once or twice a week.
2006-12-07 15:17:14 · answer #6 · answered by G L 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
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2017-03-04 23:54:16 · answer #7 · answered by Kiera 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I have verizon and every night i plug mine in overnight. I have had the same phone with the same battery for over a year. They are full of it. Get your money back and switch providers.
2006-12-07 15:18:57 · answer #8 · answered by andrew_alyssa1 1 · 1⤊ 2⤋
They just wanted to see if you would be dumb enough to pay for it! I'm glad you didn't! I leave my battery charging overnight almost every night! (i'm a talker) It still works.. God forbid...They admit they sold you a defect.... It's bad enough they're sooo expensive... Just for that they shoulda gave you two batteries...
You're right..they suck!!
2006-12-07 15:18:19 · answer #9 · answered by law-inspired 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
when my phone messed up they said I got the battery wet.
what a bunch of liars, living off commission.
2006-12-08 01:12:52 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋