Why should you never charge a battery to full?

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For that matter what is it with batteries that make them so fickle?

You can’t charge them to full, but at the same time you can’t let them die, but at the same time you should wait for them to die before you charge since constant charging is bad, but at the same time not charging enough is also bad like what’s the real deal with batteries T_T

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18 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

They aren’t that fickle; a lot of the advice around charging and battery maintenance is extreme — it caters to people who are trying to _optimize_ the longevity of their batteries. But it shouldn’t be a concern for most people.

It’s a bit like trying to optimize everything about your diet: that only makes sense for people already performing at a very high level — for most people, “eat food, not too much, a decent variety” is good enough.

Batteries work on chemistry; applying power to a rechargeable battery sort of “reverses” the reaction that lets you draw power from it. What batteries don’t like is extremes — avoid extreme heat or cold, and extreme states of charge or discharge on a regular basis, and you’ll be fine. The charge controller takes care of everything else for you. Unless you have particular need to optimize the longevity or performance of a battery, you don’t have to worry about anything beyond that.

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