Recharging Mp3 players.

[ZiggyFlavel]

Everytime i recharge my mp3 player. Only 80 percent of it is recharged.
Can somone tell me what the problem is with my mp3 player.
Also when i connect my mp3 player to my computer it recharges is that good for my mp3 player?

My Mp3 Player
Model: SC85051B
Firmware version: ACT_V3.5.35
Device Name: S1 Mp3 Player
Productor: Wilson Co. Ltd.

[tadad1]

ZiggyFlavel, I would not put to much faith in the battery meter. You should be getting anywhere from 5 - 7 hours music playtime from your player depending on the mAh rating of your battery, the higher the mAh rating the longer it should last.

Most of these player use Liquid Polymer batteries and they actually prefer lots of top up charges rather than drain and full charge, drain and full charge which puts more stress on the battery and will shorten it's life.

[ZiggyFlavel]

So the life of my mp3 player is shortened?
Is there a way to change the battery.

[tadad1]

ZiggyFlavel,

Battery weakening does not happen quickly.

Every time you recharge a battery it loses a very very very small amount of it's holding capacity. So if your battery runs for 5 hours on a full charge when new in 12 months time it will only hold enough charge to run for 4 hours. In 2 years 2 hours until eventually it will not hold a charge at all, this is normal.

With Lithium Polymer batteries if you always fully discharge the battery and then fully recharge it all the time you stress the battery and speed up the process and your battery will lose power quicker so for instance if you can expect 2 years reasonable use from your battery you may only get 18 months. If you recharge often and do top ups the battery is stressed less and you will get the maximun life from it.

At the moment if you let your player charge for 4-5 hours set your LCD to turn off at 10sec, how long can you play music for till your battery is flat?

I noticed that there are new batteries for nano clones on eBay here but you would have to solder it on to your player as unlike the Nano it does not have a connector

[HymenBuster]

hey tadad1, my battery has 500 mAh, how does that compare to other plyrs? so far my battery is good and last a long time.

o and i saw something b4 like editing ur firmware or something to get better battery life but i cant find it anymore. maybe u could shed some light on that? all i can remember was editing something to 1.5v...alkaline?

thx

[ZiggyFlavel]

Yah thats the battery i need. I don't have a saudering tool though
Is there any stores in Canada that sell these batteries?

[tadad1]

HymenBuster, Most nano clones have a 200-250 mAh battery so 500mAh is quite high for a chiPod. Power usage changes from player to player based on things like screen type, volume setting, headphones etc. But as an example I have a player that had a 230mAh battery and would give me between 6 - 7 hours continuous music playtime. I replaced the battery with a 400 mAh one which was the largest one I could fit in the player even after removing the speaker and it now plays music continuosly for 10 -11 hours.

I have tested the 1.5v setting theory on 5 different players firstly setting them all to the 3.6v setting and giving them all a 4 hour charge and then running them till flat and then setting them to 1.5v and repeating the test and found no great difference in play times of each player. There was a 15 to 20 minute difference in 2 of them but this could be due to slightly different charging times.
I did however run 2 of them at the 1.2v setting and found a loss of about an hour on both players.

[ZiggyFlavel]

In the my instruction book it says to only recharge the battery when the battery is low. I always recharge when the battery is low.

[tadad1]

That is true for batteries like NiCad and NiMH but not for Lithium Batteries

Here is an exert from The Lithium Ion Battery WIKI

Guidelines for prolonging Li-ion battery life
This article includes how-to sections and may need to be edited to encyclopedic style. The how-to sections may qualify to be moved to Wikibooks.


Please improve the article by removing or rewriting the how-to sections, or discuss the issue on the talk page.
Unlike NiCad batteries, lithium-ion batteries should be charged early and often. However, if they are not used for a longer time, they should be brought to a charge level of around 40%. Lithium-ion batteries should never be "deep-cycled" like NiCd batteries. Li-ion batteries should be kept cool. Ideally they are stored in a refrigerator. Aging will take its toll much faster at high temperatures. The high temperatures found in cars cause lithium-ion batteries to degrade rapidly.
Lithium-ion batteries should never be depleted to empty (0%).
According to one book[6], lithium ion batteries should not be frozen. Note that most lithium-ion battery electrolytes freeze at approximately −40 °C, which is much colder than the lowest temperature reached by most household freezers.
Li-ion batteries should be bought only when needed, because the aging process begins as soon as the battery is manufactured. [citation needed]
When using a notebook computer running from fixed line power over extended periods, the battery can be removed and stored in a cool place so that it is not affected by the heat produced by the computer. [citation needed] (However, a notebook computer's battery prevents sudden loss of the data in memory during power failures and brownouts. Reasonable alternatives are the use of an older lithium ion battery or an external uninterruptible power supply.)

The full document can be viewed HERE

[HymenBuster]

wow tadad1 u r a lot of help and i thank u. thx for that article on lithium batteries now i understand it more.

thx mr. know-it-all

*edit: uh 1 more question, how long do ui need to charge a plyr and how do u know when its done? bc i bein chargin my plyr for 2 and a half hours now and then battery lvl icon still moving.