Seeking advice on mobile-phone charging.

[Peter Jason]

I have a powered hub connected to the computer.

One of the sockets on this hub is a "charging port" designed to rapid
charge.

Is it safer to stay with the usual slower charging, and does this
"rapid charging" shorten the mobile battery life?

P

[Nikolaj Lazic]

Dana Tue, 16 Nov 2021 10:48:10 +1100, Peter Jason <p...@jostle.com> napis'o:

It affects battery life. But sometimes you need faster charging.

[Peter Jason]

Thought so. I'll go back to slow method, with the fast charge as a
back up.

[nospam]

In article <h8s5pgd6uv3td5gt2...@4ax.com>, Peter Jason

<p...@jostle.com> wrote:

> Is it safer to stay with the usual slower charging,

slightly.

> and does this
> "rapid charging" shorten the mobile battery life?

it does, but not enough to matter.

[Theo]

Battery life is affected by three things:

1. Excess heat generated during charging
2. Leaving batteries 'full' for an extended time
3. Deep discharge

#1 you can test by feeling your phone as it charges. If it gets much above
40C then there might be an impact on battery life.

#2 isn't affected by fast charging, merely by keeping your phone at 100% for
too long. Some phones have a setting where they will try to guess when you
remove your phone from the charger - eg if you plug in your phone at night
and always wake up at 7am, it'll slow charge to 80% overnight and then do
the top 20% from maybe 5 to 6am.

#3 is prevented by a cutoff circuit - ie when the phone says '0%' the cutoff
circuit activates but there's still some actual capacity remaining (might
be 5-10% reserve capacity).

However, most 'fast charging' isn't really that fast. Phones are shipping
with 30/40/50W chargers these days. A USB port that gives you 10W instead
of 2.5W isn't really 'fast' on that scale.

Theo