Cellphone battery life
Terry Terry
instructions say that the phone will withstand temperatures to -10C
and will hold a charge for 10 days.
They lie.
Because I only use my phone for emergencies, I left my phone in my car
for two nights. The temperature came near freezing, but did not drop
to freezing.
The phone battery died.
I took it back. The girl at the counter said that all phones are like
that. Don't leave the phone in the car. Is she telling the truth or
should I insist on another phone?
Al Bundy
Maybe the battery was bad or not fully charged. Since you only use it
for emergencies, presumably outgoing calls, why not remove or
disconnect the battery when not in use. It should keep it's charge for
weeks or months. I have a couple in a drawer here and I charge them
every 2-3 months, but they are still plenty live enough to make a call
even then. I am speaking about lithium-ion batteries. NI-CAD or NMH
won't hold a charge as long as they have a shorter shelf life.
Terry Terry
How would taking out the battery extend its life?
I am thinking that the battery is bad and I should be able to exchange
it for another phone. I had that in mind when I returned it to the
store, but the girl at the counter said that was typical operation.
Jeff
> On Jan 16, 5:28 pm, Al Bundy <MSfort...@mcpmail.com> wrote:
>> Terry Terry wrote:
>>> I have a Tracfone. I bought it for emergencies a month ago. The
>>> instructions say that the phone will withstand temperatures to -10C
>>> and will hold a charge for 10 days.
>>> They lie.
>>> Because I only use my phone for emergencies, I left my phone in my car
>>> for two nights. The temperature came near freezing, but did not drop
>>> to freezing.
>>> The phone battery died.
>>> I took it back. The girl at the counter said that all phones are like
>>> that. Don't leave the phone in the car. Is she telling the truth or
>>> should I insist on another phone?
>> Maybe the battery was bad or not fully charged. Since you only use it
>> for emergencies, presumably outgoing calls, why not remove or
>> disconnect the battery when not in use. It should keep it's charge for
>> weeks or months. I have a couple in a drawer here and I charge them
>> every 2-3 months, but they are still plenty live enough to make a call
>> even then. I am speaking about lithium-ion batteries. NI-CAD or NMH
>> won't hold a charge as long as they have a shorter shelf life.
>
> How would taking out the battery extend its life?
At least turn the phone off. But even with the phone off it is still
drawing some power, that switch is a software switch not a hardware
switch like your home light switches.
>
> I am thinking that the battery is bad and I should be able to exchange
> it for another phone. I had that in mind when I returned it to the
> store, but the girl at the counter said that was typical operation.
I'm thinking you did this awkwardly by starting a complaint about the
phone, hence putting the counter girl in confrontation mode.
It's always easier if you ask people to help you. Just tell her the
phone died and you don't know why, what can we do about it. Don't go
into why can't it stand the cold, don't even mention that.
I have similar problems when my girlfriend tries to take something
back, she complains and they refuse. Now she gets me to do it and there
are no problems. People will go out of their way to help if they want
to, otherwise you are by the book.
Jeff
Terry Terry
I don't think that is what happened. I have started shopping at Radio
Shack again. I quit for shopping there for a very long time because I
bought my first IBM compatible machine there. Anyway.....I know the
salesperson.
I could have insisted for an exchange and got one. I wasn't
complaining. I just told her what happened. I also think she told
the truth to me when she said that if I got another one it would do
the same thing.
I just wanted to hear from other cell phone users that may treat their
phones the same way. I want to leave my phone in my car when I am
away from home and not have it in my pocket. I know most people keep
their phone handy even if they don't plan to get any calls. I know I
will not be getting any calls, because I haven't given out my phone
number. I don't consider being out of bread an emergency.
The only thing I care to spend a dollar a min to call would be 911 or
a tow truck.
Jeff
I'm confused. It sounded to me that the battery died and that was it.
Has the battery recharged?
All batteries have much less capacity at lower temperatures. It's a
chemical reaction and it's temperature dependant. That's why they rate
car batteries in cold cranking amps.
If the battery is dead, dead, dead, get a new one. If it just needed
to be recharged or warmed up, then that's normal.
Jeff
Terry Terry
No it is not dead. It charged backup fine.
The instructions lead me to believe I could leave the phone in the car
for 10 days at 10C.
I take if from other replies that this is not the intended use for the
phone.
Jeff
Why don't you invest in a car charger or one of those emergency
cellphone batteries? Nothing wrong with keeping the phone charged up in
the car. It is possible to let a LiIon battery become so discharged that
it won't recharge. In general batteries last longer if they are kept up.
Jeff
Terry Terry
Yeah, that is a good idea. Even in the worst case scenario I would
think a car battery would have enough charge to make a phone call.
I could let the phone battery die and still be able to use the adapter
in the car to make a phone call.
Jeff
A weak car battery will certainly run a cell phone. But there are other
things that *could* happen that might keep you from getting any voltage.
Other trouble scenarios are more likely, but disconnected battery
cables and blown fuses happen. Just so you know. Actually
bad battery connections are fairly common, though usually they give
enough power to run accessories.
Jeff
Stormin Mormon
--
Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
www.lds.org
.
"Jeff" <jeff@spam_me_not.com> wrote in message
news:13p3cji...@corp.supernews.com...
Stormin Mormon
--
Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
www.lds.org
.
"Terry Terry" <kilo...@charter.net> wrote in message
news:61befbd0-6b8f-440d...@i29g2000prf.googlegroups.com...
Slightly Graying Wolf
"Terry Terry" <metsp...@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:8a0e7af7-9eb6-48d4...@i7g2000prf.googlegroups.com...
Some cell phones use more battery power if they are left on and loose
connection (or are have a poor connection) to an affiliated cell tower. They
switch into a hyper search mode trying to re-establish a connection to the/a
network (or a stronger connection).
It is possible your phone in its storage place is entering this mode and
rapidly depleting the batteries charge (my wife's cell would do this at work
until she switched carriers to one that had better coverage).
Turning it off should work.
Slightly Graying Wolf
"Slightly Graying Wolf" <send_trash_...@RECYCLEhotmail.com> wrote in
message news:5ELlj.2139$lw.792@pd7urf1no...
(after thought)
Check to make sure your phone (if Bluetooth compatible) has the Bluetooth
turned off. A phone with the Bluetooth turned on will kill a battery much
faster as it is constantly searching for a Bluetooth connection.
Terry
You could be on to something.
Where the car was parked is in an area not near a tower. I can't even
get service in the house.
I plan to get a car charger to be safe, and just keep it in my pocket
until I do. I didn't really think turning the phone off before was
necessary, but I will turn it off next time I plan on leaving it in
the car.
Thanks all
SMS
> I just wanted to hear from other cell phone users that may treat their
> phones the same way. I want to leave my phone in my car when I am
> away from home and not have it in my pocket. I know most people keep
> their phone handy even if they don't plan to get any calls. I know I
> will not be getting any calls, because I haven't given out my phone
> number. I don't consider being out of bread an emergency.
>
> The only thing I care to spend a dollar a min to call would be 911 or
> a tow truck.
Let's start with the first issue. If you don't plan on getting any
calls, then you shouldn't have gone with Tracfone, you should have gone
with ARN. As low as 25ยข/minute with a two year expiration. Oh, and 911
calls don't get charged, you can use any cell phone, even one that isn't
activated, to call 911.
Even if you wanted to occasionally receive calls, Tracfone is one of the
most expensive prepaid companies.
See "http://prepaiduswireless.com/".
As to the battery, Li-Ion batteries do extremely well in cold weather
(unlike NiMH) so the temperature wasn't the problem. If the phone was
on, two days of standby isn't unreasonable depending if it's CDMA or
GSM, and whether it was able to get a good signal or not. If it has AMPS
capability (doubtful on current Tracfone models) and was in AMPS mode,
it would last only a very short time.
It probably does have a marginal battery, as most of the prepaid phones
are designed to be very cheap. They may intentionally be using marginal
batteries in these phones.