1. This is the best tip to give your mobile phone battery a longer life. Keep the battery healthy by fully charging and then fully discharging it at least once every two to three weeks. Exceptions to the rule are Li-Ion batteries, which do not suffer from the memory effect. Do not leave the battery dormant for long periods of
time.
2. Always use a battery charger, which is by the same manufacturer as your phone, it
gives it more life. It also helps if you overcharge your battery now and then.
3. Keep the Batteries Clean – It’s a good idea to clean dirty battery contacts with a
cotton swab and alcohol. This helps maintain a good connection between the battery and
the portable device.
4. Do not leave your cell phone near any source of heat, a common place being the
dashboard of your car, as extreme heat may affect the battery. The battery also operates
better at room temperature, vis-à-vis extreme cold.
5. The vibrator mode of your cell phone consumes more battery, so when not needed, use
the ring-tone mode.
6. Battery Storage – If you don’t plan on using the battery for a month or more, store
it in a clean, dry, cool place away from heat and metal objects. Batteries tend to
de-charge when not in use, so make sure you charge them again before using. The
performance of any cell phone battery, however, no matter how properly cared for,
usually diminishes after about a year. It is better to get your battery replaced then.
7. One needs to discharge and recharge a new battery at least 2-4 times for it to reach
it’s maximum rated capacity, as most of these new batteries, are not charged. An
overnight charge or 12 hours, is a good enough time for your battery. An indication
could be the battery getting warm to the touch. When charging the battery for the first
time, the device may indicate that charging is complete after just 10 or 15 minutes.
This is normal with rechargeable batteries. New batteries are hard for the device to
charge; they have never been fully charged and not “broken in.” Sometimes the device’s
charger will stop charging a new battery before it is fully charged. If this happens,
remove the battery from the device and then reinsert it. The charge cycle should begin
again.
8. A partially discharged battery at times does not fully discharges before recharging.
It sort of “forgets” to do so. This is what is the memory effect. For e.g. if you fully
charge your battery and then use only 50% of its capacity before the next recharge,
eventually the battery will become unaware of its extra 50% capacity, which has remained
unused. The battery will remain functional, but only at 50% of its original capacity. To
deal with this, always fully discharge your battery, before recharging it. This can be
done by, unplugging the device’s AC adapter and letting the device run on the battery
until it ceases to function. This will help your battery remain healthy.
9. These are ratings on every battery. Milliamp-hours or (mAH), is one-thousandth of an
amp-hour (1AH = 1000mAH). The voltage of the new battery should always match the voltage
of your original unless the batteries are different chemistries. NiMH and Li-Ion
batteries have different voltage ratings, even if they’re for the same device.
10. Battery run-time is difficult to determine. Actual battery running time depends upon
the power demands made by the mobile phone. The use of the screen, the device and other
accessories results in an additional drain upon the battery, effectively reducing its
running time. The total run-time of the battery is also dependent upon the design of the mobile phone.