Help with iPod charging ritual?

[mkrishnan]

I've seen a thousand posts that almost answer this question, and then not quite, and I can't find any that do, so sorry if it's a repeat, but...

1) The firewire port always charges the thing during sync, and there isn't a way, AFAIK, to turn this off.

2) Charging it to full takes a lot longer than my iBook is typically on for, and it does not charge from the FW port of a sleeping computer

so, when in the charge cycle is it best to sync? I tried syncing just before I recharged, and the one time I did this, the charging indicator never went to charged, even though it was charged. More recently, I do it right after recharging.

Is there a way that's a lot better for the battery than others?

Thanks!

 

[Chip NoVaMac]

I know what you mean with #1. I am a new iPod'er. And I hate to have to wait till makes sense to sync because I want to maximize the battery life. The only way I see around it is to buy the USB cables.

 

[Rincewind42]

I own a PowerBook, and whenever I connect my iPod it charges the entire time. I have auto-sync on and just let it go. You should have also gotten a wall adapter that will let you plug it into the wall to charge so if your computer doesn't stay on for long you can always charge with that.

Since the iPod uses Lithium Ion, to maximize the battery the best choice is to charge it to full from about a half charge. Avoid draining the battery (unlike NiCad/NiMH). You may not get a full charge if your battery is already nearly full when you plug it in - this is a good thing because the other thing that deteriorates a Lithium Ion battery is short-charge cycles (charge from 99% => 100%, drain to 99%, repeat...). This happened to the old battery in my previous PowerBook and it was not a pretty sight (from 3-4 hours on charge to <15 min!)

And yes, the battery lasts longer than 18 months - mine is up to 19 and still kicking and I don't follow half the advice I just gave .

 

[mkrishnan]

Thanks for the help -- I think I'm worrying about nothing.

But I have found differing advice on Li-Ion and deep discharge. I've found my cell phones work best when used that way -- disch to ~10%, recharge to 100%, etc.

Anyway, thanks again.

 

[IndyGopher]

I don't know about the second and third generation iPods, but the first generation did not have Lithium Ion batteries. They had Lithium Polymer batteries, and at their introduction Steve Jobs made note of the fact that their batteries were even more advanced than the ones used in their laptops. Dunno how that affects your advice on charging cycles.

 

[RBMaraman]

My advice would be to not charge the iPod while it's plugged into your computer.

It is my understanding that the hard drive of the iPod continues to spin while it is plugged into a computer, and I believe I've heard that this continuous spinning can have negative impacts on the iPods life.

I only charge my iPod using the AC Adaptor that plugs directly into an electrical outlet.

 

[Rincewind42]

Originally posted by RBMaraman
My advice would be to not charge the iPod while it's plugged into your computer.

It is my understanding that the hard drive of the iPod continues to spin while it is plugged into a computer, and I believe I've heard that this continuous spinning can have negative impacts on the iPods life.

I only charge my iPod using the AC Adaptor that plugs directly into an electrical outlet.

The HD should only spin if your set to use FW disk mode, and if your computer is not set to sleep hard drives. Personally I've left my iPod connected all night and it spun down shortly afterward.

 

[Rincewind42]

Originally posted by IndyGopher
I don't know about the second and third generation iPods, but the first generation did not have Lithium Ion batteries. They had Lithium Polymer batteries, and at their introduction Steve Jobs made note of the fact that their batteries were even more advanced than the ones used in their laptops. Dunno how that affects your advice on charging cycles.

I'm pretty certain it's the same - from the last time I read about this it has to do with the chemistry of Lithium in general rather than a specific type of lithium battery.

 

[RBMaraman]

Originally posted by Rincewind42
The HD should only spin if your set to use FW disk mode, and if your computer is not set to sleep hard drives. Personally I've left my iPod connected all night and it spun down shortly afterward.

Thanks, Rincewind42, for clearing that up. I wondered what the settings had to be for the HDD to stop spinning.

Personally, I'll still continue to only charge my iPod with the wall plug.

 

[mkrishnan]

Originally posted by Rincewind42
I'm pretty certain it's the same - from the last time I read about this it has to do with the chemistry of Lithium in general rather than a specific type of lithium battery.

Some of the websites definitely give the same advice for all lithium batteries and others not....

But FWIW, at the iPod battery faq, it says:

"The iPod uses a lithium ion battery. The first and second generation ("non-dockable") iPods use a Sony UP325385 A4H 3.7V 1230mAh lithium ion polymer battery. The third generation ("dockable") iPods use a 3.7V 850mAh lithium ion battery."