Car Charger Overcharging the Battery?

[rlaurio]

A guy at Verizon was telling us that cell phone batteries should be charged every night, that they can't overcharge because the battery charger shuts itself off when the charge is full - but that using a car charger would decrease the life of the battery because car chargers don't have that shut-off feature.

So, what about my TX? Is it the same thing? Should I not use a car charger? And what about a travel charger that doesn't connect through the computer, but just plugs right into the wall?

[SGosnell]

The shutoff is on the battery circuit, not in the charger. LiIon batteries have a protection circuit attached to the battery. The car can't overcharge the phone or your TX. The Verizon guy has no idea what he's talking about, like most sales reps.

[Silly Rabbit]

I'm glad you asked this question, as it's something that always puzzles me, too.

In January, I took my mom to upgrade her cell phone. She's 89 & cells cOnFuSe her so one thing she has always done is leave it plugged in, when she's at home. I didn't think this was good, but it was easier than cOfUsInG her even more by having her check the battery level & charging only when needed. (Actually, that phone lasted for 4 years, so it didn't appear that constant charging shortened the battery life on that phone!) So when we got her new phone, I asked if leaving it plugged in would shorten the battery life & the sales person said as long as you were using a Motorola charger, no. (Intimating off brands could, so I wasn't sure if that was a sales ploy or not.)

[craigster]

Silly Rabbit,
That is good to know about the cell phones not over charging, thanks.

[OakstoPalms]

I ran with two cell phones in a service vehicle, and we had close to hundred guys doing the same. We quickly found out that if you charged the phones all the way up on an OEM car charger it greatly shortened the batteries life. Plugging in to a wall plug or the inverter on the vehicles had no negative effects on the battery. We tried different types of batteries, the lion batteries were a little more rugged, but their life would be shortened by OEM vehicle chargers. Ditto with our gas sniffer batteries, screw driver / drill batteries. PS the regulator on a vehicle will change the voltage output as the underhood temperature changes.

[dogbarber]

PS the regulator on a vehicle will change the voltage output as the underhood temperature changes.

Is it a Ford diesel?

[OakstoPalms]

As far as I know it's that way on all vehicles with the battery under the hood. On a cold day I've seen 14.8VDC feed to the battery, on a hot day just under 12VDC, the regulator on the alternator changes the voltage so there is enough to charge the battery on a cold day and you won't fry it on a hot day. We used to also wipe out the trailer battery, as it was in a different environment than what was under hood. That's why we went with the inverters, with an plug in trickle charger.

[SGosnell]

A decent charger should deal with the varying voltage from the battery/alternator. It's not that complicated to keep a regulated 5VDC with an input of 10-15 volts.

[twanpd4]

do you think that it really matters if you get the palm oem car charger cuz 30 bux seems a lil much.

but i dont want to kill this thing cuz it seems like its already dying fast

[Streaky]

Welcome to Brighthand, twanpd4.

I have a car charger from www.expansys.com for my T5 and it works fine.

Why are you saying that your T|X is "dying fast"?