Without calibration, the battery percentage reading will be incorrect, and your device may behave oddly—shutting down suddenly even though the new battery “reads” half charged, or working for hours when the battery reads nearly dead.
How to calibrate your battery
For phones and tablets:
- Charge it to 100%, and keep charging it for at least two more hours.
- Use your device until it shuts off due to low battery.
- Charge it uninterrupted to 100%.
For laptops:
- Charge it to 100%, and keep charging it for at least two more hours.
- Unplug your laptop and use it normally to drain the battery.
- Save your work when you see the low battery warning.
- Keep your laptop on until it goes to sleep due to low battery.
- Wait at least five hours, then charge your laptop uninterrupted to 100%.
Apple MacBooks with Thunderbolt 3 ports running macOS Catalina 10.15.5 or newer have a battery health management feature that can prevent the MacBook from charging to 100%. If your MacBook has this feature, turn it off before beginning calibration.
It’s best to perform this process periodically (about once a month) to ensure that the battery remains properly calibrated throughout its lifespan.
Background: What’s calibration anyway?
For a good read on battery calibration, see this page. This article on fuel gauges is also instructive. What follows is our summation.
The fundamental problem is that there’s no reliable way to know exactly how much energy a battery holds at any given moment. (It’s an electrochemical storage system that is always changing and decaying, and never behaves exactly the same way from one charge to the next.) About the only reliable way to gauge it is to fully charge the battery, then fully discharge it and measure the difference (a.k.a. coulomb counting). Obviously, we can't do that every time we want to check the battery level, so we have to use indirect methods—storing all kinds of usage data and using that to calculate an estimated % state of charge from moment to moment. Over time, that calculation tends to drift and become less accurate. And on a brand-new battery, there’s not really any good data to work with, so the model will be way off. Calibration helps keep estimates accurate by setting new “full charge” and “full discharge” anchors in the battery management system so it doesn’t have to guess. We're still playing Pin the Tail on the Donkey, but calibration tells the battery management system, "Hey—the donkey is over that way."
What do “full charge” and “full discharge” actually mean?
Here’s the nub of the problem. How do you update those “full charge” and “full discharge” flags? The above-linked page at Battery University puts it this way:
To maintain accuracy, a smart battery should periodically be calibrated by running the pack down in the device until “Low Battery” appears and then apply a recharge. The full discharge sets the discharge flag and the full charge establishes the charge flag. A linear line forms between these two anchor points that allow state-of-charge estimation. In time, this line gets blurred again and the battery requires recalibration. Figure 2 illustrates the full-discharge and full-charge flags.
Figure 2: Full-discharge and full-charge flags. Calibration occurs by applying a full charge, discharge and charge. This is done in the equipment or with a battery analyzer as part of battery maintenance.
Two things to notice here: (1) According to this page, it’s not enough to drain and then charge—you have to start by charging it fully. And, (2) “full discharge” is ambiguous—the figure seems to indicate that the full-discharge flag will be set at 10%, but the whole problem we’re trying to solve is that the % reading is inaccurate. How do you know when you’ve drained your battery “below 10%” if the battery reading is inaccurate? You don’t! For example, we've installed numerous batteries that eventually gave a “low battery” warning and then continued to work full steam for hours on an indicated battery charge of 1%. In short, “calibrating" a battery by draining it “below 10%” is futile. It’s like giving someone a car with a broken fuel gauge and telling them to drive until the tank is ¼ full.
What seems to be going on here is, the graph above is meant to show the actual chemical state of the battery and not the % indicated to the user, which can be quite different. User-facing software may claim a battery charge of near zero when the actual chemical state of the battery is closer to 10% charge. This is done deliberately to prevent the battery from ever discharging below a safe level where battery damage may occur and the system may not be able to reboot. In short, the system always shuts itself down with a little bit of charge left in the battery as a safety measure, but it doesn’t show that reserve amount to the user. As one commenter on the above-linked article pointed out:
- The low battery warning is purely implemented in the device software as a means to prevent possible data loss whilst using it and is completely independent of the battery management system.
- Even if you let your device run until it shuts down automatically due to lack of battery charge, the battery management system will still keep the battery charge at a high enough level to prevent damage to the battery pack.
- The battery gauge that you see displayed on the screen is basically the amount of USEABLE charge the battery has and NOT the absolute total charge of the battery. This is why you can change the “battery low” warning to any percentage you choose—it’s not there to protect the battery (that’s done automatically by the battery management system), it’s there to give you enough time to save your work or connect the charger.
- Therefore, if you intend to calibrate your device battery, you need to let it run down past the warnings until it shuts down automatically BEFORE recharging—otherwise you may not discharge the battery sufficiently to register the battery management system’s discharged flag, thus rendering your attempt to calibrate the battery incomplete.
Remember there are two different (but connected) systems at play, the battery management system, which monitors and controls the health of the battery, and the software user interface (and associated power control software), which reads data from the former to display an indication of battery charge status and level and respond to various flags (like shut down when the discharge flag is set).
Now what?
It would be great to confirm all this by checking Apple’s official battery calibration procedure, but they seem to have purged it from their support site under the premise that their newer batteries are calibrated from the factory and are not user-replaceable. However, you can find it quoted in a number of forums as follows:
To calibrate a portable computer battery:
- Plug in the MagSafe Power Adapter and fully charge the battery.
- When the battery is fully charged, the light on the MagSafe Power Adapter connector changes to green and the Battery icon in the menu bar indicates that the battery is charged.
- Allow the battery to rest in the fully charged state for two hours or longer.
- You can use your computer during this time as long as the power adapter is plugged in.
- With the computer still on, disconnect the power adapter and continue to use your computer.
- When you see the low battery warning, save your work and close all applications. Keep your computer turned on until it goes to sleep.
- After your computer goes to sleep, turn it off or allow it to sleep for five hours or longer.
- Connect the power adapter and leave it connected until the battery is fully charged.
Note that Apple seemingly doesn’t trust your system to know when the battery is fully charged or discharged, and wants you to keep it on the charger an extra two hours just to make sure, before you proceed with the calibration.
This seems to align with what we’ve learned, and matches other battery calibration DIYs around the web.
crwdns2944067:097crwdne2944067:0
I have a question. When calibrating my battery ( for a Samsung Galaxy Note 5) would it be bad to use fast charging? Thanks!
Linktoad64 - crwdns2934203:0crwdne2934203:0
@linktoad I don’t know the answer to your question but let me provide a data-point. I had my kid’s Samsung S7 Edge’s battery replaced by a 3rd party and it never worked right … even after discharging and attempting full charge with the blessed Samsung charger. It would at best go up to %65 but it got even real bad and would not stay on. I placed it on my external Anker battery and all of a sudden it was reaching %99 and after full charge I’m seeing it at %88 after over 6 hours. So I think you may have touched on something - it might be beneficial to charge with a “dumb” source for the calibration process.
NYH -
using a 3rd party battery is BAD! they have a tendency to EXPLODE and you’re a FOOL for choosing not to buy a proper replacement battery
szymon mochort -
@syzmonmochort
A rubbish 3rd party battery will be bad. A good ''''3rd party battery should be just the same as a genuine part.
[deleted] -
@syzmonmochort
He never said that he used a 3rd party battery, he just said he asked a third party to replace it, there is a difference. Next time, read carefully before actually judging someone. Plus, no one wants to hear your criticism, if you don’t contribute, then you probably shouldn’t say anything at all. Plus, its none of your business, who cares if they have issues, its not like you’re helping them with the issues
Everyone else, I’m sorry for detracting to the conversation.
Yichen Wu -
@szymonmochort But iFixit batteries are most of the time 3rd parties, and they are good. What you said is wrong.
Gabriel-Science -
Really great writing, Jeff. Both informative and entertaining. Kudos.
Thomas Lewis - crwdns2934203:0crwdne2934203:0
Kann es sein das die Batterie bei diesem Vorgang sehr langsam lädt?
Paulo0613 12 - crwdns2934203:0crwdne2934203:0
Ich hoffe du hast nicht versucht, eine Batterie zu laden! 🤣
Da gehört ein Akku rein, Junge! 🤣🤣
Und nein, “battery” für Akkus sagen nur die Amis. Weil sie scheinbar zu blöd sind um sowas neuronal zu trennen. Und Denglisch ist was für Möchtegernfaschisten und Nipster die einen auf weltoffen tun wollen aber insgeheim Trump lieben.
Evi1 M4chine -
I just replaced the LCD/Digitizer, and the battery on a brand new Samsung Galaxy S7, that was dropped the same week I bought it for my wife back in June or July 2016. I didn’t have insurance and couldn’t afford to fix it then, so i stored until this past week.
Everything went amazingly smooth. Until I calibrated the battery.
I followed the instructions exactly. After running the battery completely dead, It will not charge past 84%.. I let it go for another hour after it topped out at 84%. I have tried wireless and a Samsung charger and cable.
Lee Jones - crwdns2934203:0crwdne2934203:0
Is it a genuine Samsung battery or an aftermarket battery?
JustHandguns -
I’m having the same exact problem. Still can’t figure it out.
Ryan Franzese -
Silly question, but... are you sure you don't have Samsung's battery protection enabled? By default, it limits the charge to 85%. It's intended to extend the battery life by stressing it less.
Settings > Battery > Protect battery
FeRD -
@ferdnyc Probably that.
Gabriel-Science -
@ukblueis4ever I recently had an issue with the aforementioned Galaxy Note 5. At the time I didn’t have the device, but I had been told by the relative who owned it that it needed a battery replacement. I’ve been using it for a couple weeks now, and the battery has been pretty good. I’m not entirely sure what to expect, but it could probably do better with a replacement. I have noticed that powering down, leaving it for several hours, and then powering it up again tends to eat quite a chunk of battery. Anyways, one day when I got home, I placed it on a wireless charging pad and left it, probably for several hours. I returned to find it only at 77%. I assumed it was just being slow and left it for, lets say another couple hours. By now it was time for me to get some rest, but the phone was still at 77%. I actually searched up the issue and found an entire article about it. I knew it could be the battery, and I do plan to replace it since the back glass is cracked. Well, they had lots of solutions(next comment)
Linktoad64 - crwdns2934203:0crwdne2934203:0
but not many I could do when i was already half asleep. So what I went ahead and did was just easy, simple troubleshooting: restart it, Twice. It would charge to 100% when the phone was off, just android couldn’t display the correct battery percentage. I left it powered off cable charging over night, then powered it on in the morning. That seemed to work for me. Weird, but maybe it’ll help. Another thing I saw was clear the cache; that may also help. I myself didn’t do it because sleep solved my problems. Hope something in there helps! And remember: if at first you can’t fix it, google it, then try again (after it led you to an ifixit page).
Linktoad64 - crwdns2934203:0crwdne2934203:0
I’ve read that “battery calibration” isn’t necessary on modern lithium polymer batteries, and in fact can be damaging to them? Since discharges all the way to 0% are apparently bad for the battery. Apparently it was more of a requirement of old nickel-based batteries (according to this page).
Although actually I’ve just found this article which seems enlightening:
“[More and more batteries have a digital calibration tool built into them. These “smart batteries” supposedly reduce the need to calibrate, though it’s still recommended… [i]f you see the battery percentage on your phone jump around a lot… You don’t want to do this too often though. It’s actually bad for lithium-ion batteries to be regularly drained all the way to 0%.”
So perhaps the best advice is that your phone’s battery readings might sometimes benefit from a calibration, but try and do it as infrequently as possible since it takes a toll on the battery?
D C - crwdns2934203:0crwdne2934203:0
Yes and no. Lithium-ion or Lithium polymer batteries are prone to over-discharging. Most modern devices have a voltage cut off circuits to protect you from a complete drainage. Even when you see 1% on your devices, the actual capacity may be around 20%.
JustHandguns -
The claim that it's bad to discharge a lithium battery to 0% is a myth and here's proof: 0% is around 3V or higher. Lithium batteries shouldn't be discharged below 2-2.5V volts (you'll find sources for this) but the percentage doesn't matter. Similarly, it's not having batteries fully charged that harms them, but keeping them at a high voltage (above ~4V for lithium-ion). If you're discharging a battery from 100%, the voltage isn't as high as on stand-by. If you're keeping it at 100% (overnight or with the screen off), that's actually bad. If the battery is being charged above 70-80% that's also bad because the voltage is also very high (up to 4.4V, same as fully charged).
Krzeszny -
JustHandguns, you claimed that 1% capacity may be actually 20% capacity to prevent over-discharge. That really complicates things and doesn't help people understand it.
0% state of charge in a smartphone's Li-Ion battery is between 3V and 3.3V depending on the device. 100% is between 4.2V and 4.4V. It's not like 0% is 0V, that's the misconception causing the myth that it's bad to drain batteries fully.
Krzeszny -
Are there laptops with LIPOs?
timawarner - crwdns2934203:0crwdne2934203:0
Why do this if battery health is 100% after changing?
Mark Hintze - crwdns2934203:0crwdne2934203:0
reset the settings of your smartphone
clean the usb port with a piece of cotton moisted with white alcohol
if the battery is removeable clean the battery connector with a cotton moisted white alcohol as well as the connector pins of the smartphone
let it charge
please note that when the battery connector are wiped and put in the phone the battery reading will change.
do it if your phone is stuck on a specific battery percentage for a long time during charging.
mine stucked on 83%
when i cleaned the battery and phone connector pins the reading changed to 97%.
Hans - crwdns2934203:0crwdne2934203:0
battery accuracy reading and battery longevity is fully dependable on the phone software and the efficiency of the smartphone chip.
a 3700mah smartphone battery can go far better in battery autonomy/longevity than a 4000mah or 5000 mah battery smartphone in terms of hours of usage.
Hans - crwdns2934203:0crwdne2934203:0
does it matter if you leave it on during recharges or does it have to be off?
sirgregory1st - crwdns2934203:0crwdne2934203:0
When you fully recharge it the first time then wait an additional 2 hours, does it matter if it’s a fast charger or slow charger? If it’s a fast charger do you still do 2 hours?
David Duong - crwdns2934203:0crwdne2934203:0
The real problem with cell phones is how to manage the full discharge without losing phone service during important hours. I attempted to use every app I could to drain it at night, and it still didn’t drain. Therefore I effectively had very limited use of the phone the following day.
Looks like the best way to go about is to install the battery in the evening, charge it overnight full plus, then manage use the next day to drain it late at night, then charge it full again. The problem being changing the battery with a phone like mine on which the back cover and battery (why?) are heavily glued in place is a major undertaking, for which one might not have the endurance late at night.
b387 - crwdns2934203:0crwdne2934203:0
This differs from the instructions on the card that came with the battery. It says, “For optimal performance…drain battery below 10% then charge uninterrupted to 100%”. Which procedure should I do?
tsaxman28 - crwdns2934203:0crwdne2934203:0
The instructions here are more complete. The printed card you received may be outdated.
Jeff Suovanen -
Peut ton déconnecté physiquement la batterie lorsque l’étape 7 est terminé et continue à utiliser l’ordinateur sur secteur ? Ou faut t’il absolument la laisse branche ?
remidu29 - crwdns2934203:0crwdne2934203:0
I tried recalibrating my huawei mate 10 pro and when it discharged then plugged it back in it rebooted then showed 2% I turned it off and let it charge to 100% I'm getzing worse battery life.. Did I do it wrong or something else is the problem
cat yam - crwdns2934203:0crwdne2934203:0
Calibrating the battery shows you accurate battery percentage readings, but it does not help extend battery life. So if your battery is not in good health, you will know by getting accurate battery readings and observe how fast they dry up.
Wan Jhong Her -
Which one to choose? Which one is more important?
“Accurate battery readings” by calibrating, or “Longer battery lifespan” by not calibrating?
Wan Jhong Her - crwdns2934203:0crwdne2934203:0
The card I received in my battery replacement kit says to drain phone battery to below 10%, then charge to 100%. Do I listen to the card or what this article says?
Jophel - crwdns2934203:0crwdne2934203:0
Instructions here are more complete. The printed card you received may be outdated.
Jeff Suovanen -
On macOS Big Sur, in addition to disabling “battery health management”, it’s also important to disable “Optimized battery charging” while calibrating, otherwise it’ll stop charging short of 100% and not fully calibrate.
Rodrigo Damazio Bovendorp - crwdns2934203:0crwdne2934203:0
have I messed up!? I installed new battery but didn’t keep it charging on green for 2 hours!!! I took it off charge as soon as it went green and used it. Battery read full on the screen and in system report. I have used the computer and battery was running normally then suddenly jumped from around 85% to 5% and low battery warning showed. Should I just be following the instructions and hope for the best?
Toby Keane - crwdns2934203:0crwdne2934203:0
Hi! I would advise you to again charge past 100% for 2 hrs uninterrupted, and then use it until the phone shuts off from low power.
If it doesn’t fix the problem, then I’d contact iFixit support (if you got the battery from here)
[deleted] -
Ok cool. Thanks for the swift reply!
Toby Keane -
Everyone says to calibrate a non-removable laptop battery, you have to charge it to 100% first. But what if you can’t get it to charge to 100% and that’s why you need to calibrate it?
Loribeth Clark - crwdns2934203:0crwdne2934203:0
betterycalibration
Tarik Walid - crwdns2934203:0crwdne2934203:0
my Hp turns off once I take off the charger. even tho I left it to charge for hours all night when I take off the charger it turns off what to do ? pls help
Amina Pouna - crwdns2934203:0crwdne2934203:0
It sounds like your battery may just be completely dead — or the charge circuitry is damaged so it’s not being charged at all. It’s hard to predict how these issues will be displayed by the operating system, but if your laptop (I assume it’s a laptop?) is older and has a battery that’s been heavily used, the battery may just be run down to the point where it can’t hold a charge anymore. In that case, a battery replacement should get it back in working order. That’s a much easier solution if the battery is removable — if not, then you need a technician to replace it.
If the laptop is a recent purchase, there’s little reason to think the battery would be past its useful life. (Typically they should last 3+ years at a minimum, often much longer except with extremely heavy use.) If that’s the case, the laptop’s power circuitry may be defective, in which case a new battery wouldn’t do any good. In those cases, repair or replacement (of the laptop itself) are really your only options.
FeRD -
There is no calibration needed for lithium based batteries!!! This is misinformation
Frederick Samuel - crwdns2934203:0crwdne2934203:0
Chemically, that’s completely correct. The “battery memory” issues of NiCd and the like are a thing of the past.
However, in these days of “smart” / “managed” everything, device charging is more often than not governed by a software algorithm that decides how much and how quickly to charge a battery, and at what point to stop charging. So, it is sometimes the case that the software needs calibration, if not the physical battery itself.
FeRD -
Hello umm I have a Dell Inspiron 7460 and I ordered a WDXOR battery, the exact battery with the same specs (IDK if it’s genuine but it works). I applied the battery, plugged my charger in, and opened it hastily.
When I opened it while plugged in, it says “AC adapter wattage and type cannot be determined.” I kept going and I then played a heavy game (specifically Genshin Impact) and it stopped charging at about 36%. As I kept playing, it didn’t charge and kept going down until it dropped to 10% and my game lagged.
I then stopped playing but my laptop doesn’t seem to want to charge anymore but it can stay open even if unplugged. I kept on using it the next day (without playing), plugging and unplugging randomly, until it dropped down to 3%, where it was stuck in that percentage for 2 days until it shut down. Now when I open it while plugged in, the same warning about “AC adapter…” pops up, and it’s stuck at 0%. If I unplug it, it doesn’t stay open anymore. Help.
Nanairo Fa - crwdns2934203:0crwdne2934203:0
I have worked on computers for over 40 years. I believe this whole Dell battery / adapter / power jack / coin cell battery fiasco is "PLANNED OBSOLESCENCE" AKA "DIGITAL EXTORTION" at its FINEST! Dell appears to be MORE INTERESTED IN SELLING batteries & adapters than they are in maintaining a reputation as company that is "Trustworthy & Deserving of success"! I cannot prove it but I know its true! If you ever play around with a number of these - patterns begins to emerge with the LED's, and bogus warnings & so on. In addition, over the years the designs have changed in order to make more difficult to disconnect the coin cell battery (needed to reset many models. Let me reiterate; I CANNOT PROVE IT! BUT I BELIEVE IT IS TRUE! I NO LONGER HAVE ANY TRUST OR CONFIDENCE IN DELL WHATSOEVER! DELL USED TO BE A GREAT COMPANY. Solid State Circuitry is having similar affects throughout the digital industry. "Right to Repair" - "SOONER THE BETTER"
IMHO
admin -
Hello everyone. I have a question for you all. So, got a new phone a few weeks ago and I've noticed lately that after I charge it from, let's say around 10% to 100% and unplug it a minute or two after it reaches 100%, it stays on 100% for longer than it should. It stays on 100% for at least 15 minutes of active screen on use (no matter how I use my phone it stays on that 100% for quite some time), and after that the next few percent fall down quicker than they should - for an example after that initial 100% drains to 99, every 1% drains within 3-5 minutes of Screen on use until it reaches the 90-91 mark. When it reaches 90% it looks like it starts to function and drain normally. So my question here is: Can this calibration be off on such a new device? Is it worth trying to do the steps described in this article?
Thanks in advance.
Vukman - crwdns2934203:0crwdne2934203:0
Hi everyone, does anyone know how to calibrate a battery? My Note 8 loses battery very quick but for some reason it literally stays at 1% wayyyy longer as if 1% is the equivalent of 20%. I’ve tried gaming on it at 1% and it did NOT die as fast as it did so I’m wondering if the battery needs to be calibrated since I’ve changed its battery last month and the phone seems to be following the old battery percentage thing. Could anyone help me find a solution for this? Thanks.
Noobslobby - crwdns2934203:0crwdne2934203:0
I know this is about battery calibration but we should include a section about battery maintenance.
I've always kept batteries between 20-80% (using alarms/smart charge). Would sometimes have it fall to 0% once in a month (accidentally or otherwise).
Yet still all my Note (up to 10+ now) battery still went caput twice (factory repaired)... not sure why.
Ahmed - crwdns2934203:0crwdne2934203:0
80% is only approximate and 20% is a myth. 80% is still much higher than the safe limit of 3.94V according to Accubattery (ideally, you'd stop charging around 70%) and there's no evidence that discharging to 0% is harmful.
What's definitely harmful to lithium chemistry is a) keeping batteries fully charged and b) literally charging them.
Krzeszny -
مصطفى السيد الطاهر محمد أحمد ودالریف
مصطفى السيد - crwdns2934203:0crwdne2934203:0
Yichen Wu : Exactly! Nicely said.
shannon hoyt - crwdns2934203:0crwdne2934203:0
&&^&^$^ Freaks! The lot of you
Be nice B man &&^&@*@!?@@@@
shannon hoyt - crwdns2934203:0crwdne2934203:0
Do I really need to wait atleast 5 hours? I tried to drain the battery completely yesterday so I could let it rest over night, but didn't manage to do so. I would rather not have to refrain from using my computer for 5 hours today. I think I will just let it rest for 1 or 2 hours, 5 hours seems a bit excessive, and I don't really care for the battery percentage to be extremely precise.
Simon - crwdns2934203:0crwdne2934203:0
Azertyuiopml
Ismail - crwdns2934203:0crwdne2934203:0
Well. I made a calibration mistake as I read the instructions incorrectly. When I install the battery in my S8 it was made at about 68% then I just used it until I shut down on it’s own. I am not going to give it an uninterrupted full charge and then let it continue for a solid 2 hour, again all uninterrupted. My question now is how will my mistake effect the battery 🔋 calibration? Please let me know your thoughts.
Chris P. Marshall - crwdns2934203:0crwdne2934203:0
You'll probably be OK, though starting from 68% before the run-down could possibly cause the top of the range to be a bit below maximum. (If you're replacing a battery that was old and held little charge, that's more likely, since the range was probably already reduced.) But I'd say just use the phone and see how the battery holds up. If you're getting good battery life, then don't worry about it.
But if you're really concerned, you can always repeat the process. Calibration isn't this thing where you only have one shot to do it correctly, it can be done whenever the device's battery gauge is suspected of not giving accurate readings. (Just... not too often, as it is hard on the battery.) After you've got the battery up to 100%, just repeat the run-down/charge-fully process.
Benchmark apps are a handy tool for burning up battery power in a phone, BTW. Running it all the way down from 100% can take forever with "normal use", so running some graphics-heavy test on repeat for a while can help move things along.
FeRD -
@szymon mochort:
“3rd party battery BAD” is literally FUD and a scam told by manufacturers to establish a lock-in aka localized monopoly dependency on victims. That’s usually a crime, by the way, and localizing it is just a way to work around that that isn’t illegal yet. It’s still just as much the exact opposite of a free market, and deliberately so, since corporations actually hate nothing more than a free market, unless by “freedom” they mean their freedom to take our freedom.
Their batteries are just as good/bad as that of third parties! !&&*, often they come from literally the same manufacturer! There is no “original”. Those so-called “original” batteries have just as much exploded (example: Samsung), and are just as much made as cheaply as possible (especially in the case of Apple), and most of all: Them being bad is *literally* the whole reason we’re even having this discussion here in the first place!
So stop spreading that nonsense or you too are an accomplice in what is, effectively, a crime.
Evi1 M4chine - crwdns2934203:0crwdne2934203:0
I wouldn't jump to conclusions. Different factories have different manufacturing technology and there's a high chance that a genuine battery has better quality than a 3rd-party one.
However original batteries are often older than a 3rd party. A few years ago I bought an "original" battery for a Galaxy Note 4 (2011) and it had 50% health - because it had been produced around 10 years earlier. Then I bought a 3rd-party battery and it had 75% health - the best you can get nowadays because they're still past production date. Unfortunately, 3rd party manufacturers don't mention the date of manufacture so I can't tell when that battery was made (but Samsung does mention it).
Krzeszny -
i just installed a new battery in my galaxy s7 and followed the calibration guide now a week later the phone is shutting down when it gets down around 30% it seems to be worse than the old battery is it possible to recalibrate it again ? any recomendations would be appreciated thanks
Frank j killips jr. - crwdns2934203:0crwdne2934203:0
Yes, "recalibration" is just measuring the "empty" (discharging more would damage it more than is reasonable) and "full" (charging more would damage it more than is reasonable) points as given by the battery controller, and how much is there in-between.
You can recalibrate as often as you like. It's just that it will cause a tiny bit of damage each time, cause it will really bring the battery to the liimt, but for above good purpose.
In your case though, I think you got a bad battery. (Remember that batteries got maybe manufactured years ago, and batteries degrade when just lying on the shelf too! So a brand-new, never-used, battery that's bad is entirely possible. But many sellers don't even know that, and sell it as new without mentioning the year of manufacture. Or it can just be a bad manufacturer.)
If the battery shutdown percentage gets worse and worse each time (especially each calibration), you definitely got a bad battery, and should demand a refund. It's not OK to sell you their old stock as new.
Evi1M4chine -
Hey Everyone!
I done the battery calibration for a mid 2012 macbook pro the following way:
• Left the computer on the charger for 3 hours.
• Drained it until it completely turned off.
• Left the battery for 10-12 hours.
• After that, I charged it to 100%.
According to coconut battery it went from 100% to 97.5% capacity.
My question would be, is this normal? Or I left the battery too much uncharged?
Lajos Kovacs - crwdns2934203:0crwdne2934203:0
Keeping batteries at 0% is safe if they're not being drained further below 0% (when the device is off). But it's better to keep them at 3.7V, whatever that is in percentage terms, as they're stable at 3.7V (or 3.85V for newer ones, I guess).
In my opinion, 2 full "overcharge" cycles wouldn't reduce perfect health by 2.5%, as a battery lasts thousands of cycles. That seems like a measurement error. But I've seen a test with car batteries where they measured each capacity drop after each full charge consistently (measuring on discharge). At least car batteries are that sensitive to full cycles.
Krzeszny -
@mrkovacs: Absolutely no surprise there, I’d say. I don’t know the actual voltage the battery was discharged to, but depending on how low the voltage is for a battery, this can be very damaging. Imagine it, simplified, as a chemical process that occurs when there’s not enough charge to get the charge from the wire to the most distant parts of the battery, and that is partially permanent, so charge can never get there anymore. (Or vice versa with charge never getting out again, for the other side of the battery.)
It may also just be, that the battery already was at only 97,5% due to “age” (amount of usage, times how much it was charged and discharged each time), and the system didn’t know that until you forced it to check.
I had a bad battery, where each calibration caused the capacity to fall dramatically. (After 8 calibrations, it was down to 12% capacity.) So i recommend only calibrating when you really need to, to avoid these strong dischange states.
Evi1 M4chine - crwdns2934203:0crwdne2934203:0
Greetings,
This result should be considered "Perfectly Normal" for numerous reasons. Possibly the most important is all batteries have a shelf life. As they age it is common, if not expected, the charge percentage of a battery will reduce over time. Keep in mind; normally we have NO WAY of knowing how long said battery has been in storage. Or in other words laying on a shelf, (albeit very slowly), naturally decaying or able to hold/maintain full charge capacity. May I add; Even as a brand new battery, perhaps in a brand new device - 97% is acceptable. No! Your calibration process did not cause the reduction. In fact, the next time you perform a full charge don't be surprised if it displays 100%, or 99%. I suspect the monitoring itself will often display "SOME" variables. Nothing in this world is "ABSOLUTELY PERFECT"! JMHO & I hope this helps...
admin - crwdns2934203:0crwdne2934203:0
This metod totally ruined my Pixel 6 Pro battery, don't do this. From ~6 hours of SOT to less than 3 hours, I have tried everything to try to fix it but seems there's no way back now. Good job ibrokeit.
Esau Ruiz - crwdns2934203:0crwdne2934203:0
6 hours? So the battery was already pretty much dead, no? And you tried to fix it, because you thought it was just a glitch. Unfortunately is wasn’t, your battery was already down to 3 hours, and this simply told the OS about it, that was living a lie… ;)
That’d be my guess.
You are right though that this should never be done unless you know you need to, as it does damage the battery a bit. But usually it’s for a purpose that is worth more. In your case (a battery on its last legs) it definitely wasn’t.
But hey, batteries cost like 10€ on eBay (don’t support evil Bezos from planet Bezos ;), are usually the easiest component to replace, and you’ll have a proper runtime again. (6 Hours is about what a 1999 notebook got, so really not enough to use your phone.) With a bit of luck there’s also a larger battery for it.
Evi1M4chine -
during the recharging, does it matter if the phone is off? when we are sure it won't be busy with more power activities like seeking cell service or background running processes?
recharging while off or on, which is acceptable?
Deus - crwdns2934203:0crwdne2934203:0
The reason is that when it’s on, it may not ever get to 100%. As it is always a bit busy. DRAM constantly needs to be refreshed, to not lose its contents, for example. And the radio module constantly needs to amplify incoming EM waves and interpret them, in case some call or message may be received. So the battery is constantly trickle-drained, while being trickle-charged too. So it can take way longer, and be bad for the battery. But that’s only with pretty bad charging implementations that can’t bypass the battery. Nowadays, it should not be a problem. At least I hope so. (My information is based on laptops, where a decade or more ago, you had to take out the battery when on AC, to prevent slowly damaging it.)
Evi1M4chine -
my iphone showing 95% battery health but real health is showing in Laptop 3utools which is 100%...... ? help me out
Shah Fahad - crwdns2934203:0crwdne2934203:0
Help you out with what? Nothing you posted was an actual question, despite the question mark. Two pieces of software show different numbers; there's nothing we can do about that.
How did you come to the conclusion that the 3utools number is the "real" health? Perhaps the iPhone value is the "real" health.
3utools has the handy "Details" link next to the battery health measure, which gives a lot more information. For instance, it shows the relative capacity loss (Actual Capacity vs. Design Capacity) — their "health" number is typically a straightforward computation of
Actual Capacity / Design Capacity, so if it's showing 100% health then it should also be showing Actual Capacity equal to Design Capacity.Two other pieces of info it will show are the Charge Times count, and the Production Date. It's possible that Apple's health number takes either or both of these into account, when computing its health number — a high number of charge cycles, or a particularly old battery, might count against the overall health.
FeRD -
Eu tenho um pergunta: eu fiz a calibragem da bateria do meu iPhone corretamente, na última carga que deveria deixar carregar e sem interrupções, chegou uma mensagem no WhatsApp importante que não poderia esperar, e a bateria estava em 78% ainda, precisei responder. Tudo que fiz será foi perdido, não foi salvo com sucesso a calibragem da bateria?
Gabriel Corbal - crwdns2934203:0crwdne2934203:0
Hi
Guter Artikel. Danke für die Informationen.
Ich habe vor kurzem bei meinem Oneplus 8 Pro den Akku gewechselt. Den Akku habe ich auch direkt von iFixit bestellt.
Die Kalibrierung habe ich wie in der Anleitung vorgenommen.
Laut der App AccuBattery komme ich aber nur auf 85% der angegeben Akku Kapazität (3.814mAh von 4.510mAh).
Habe ich hier beim Kalibrieren etwas falsch gemacht bzw. muss ich noch mehr tun?
Ich habe hier auch schon mit dem Support gesprochen und auch einen Ersatz Akku bekommen. Allerdings auch hier das gleiche Spiel...
Ich habe auf meinem Oneplus ein LineageOS 20. Gibt es da noch Besonderheiten?
draekster - crwdns2934203:0crwdne2934203:0
Battery laif
Sadre Alam - crwdns2934203:0crwdne2934203:0
using a 3rd party battery is BAD! they have a tendency to EXPLODE and you’re a FOOL for choosing not to buy a proper replacement battery
szymon mochort - Oct 23, 2020
Someone forgot to take their medication.
M. D. Jolley - crwdns2934203:0crwdne2934203:0
Surface book 2, can l use heavy task during discharging or let the battery discharge the slowest l can
Moudi Pueyo (0oMLSo0) - crwdns2934203:0crwdne2934203:0
Just to confirm: I shouldn't use my battery when charging it back to 100% from 0%, right?
audiobook - crwdns2934203:0crwdne2934203:0
If you're trying to calibrate the battery, then you shouldn't use it while you're charging the battery to full.
M. D. Jolley -
Muy útil, gracias.
Very helpful, thanks.
Mundo_informatico - crwdns2934203:0crwdne2934203:0
My speaker won't fully charge because it has a feature where it stops charging on its own and won't fully discharge because of the same feature what should I do???
some guy - crwdns2934203:0crwdne2934203:0
I successfully replaced my iPhone 7 battery and calibrated it. I am super pleased with how it's functioning. However, I am wondering what the best approach to charging the phone is after calibration. Should I always let it fully discharge? If I have, say, 50% when I get in my truck, is it okay to plug it in? Should I calibrate once a month to keep the info fresh? Never? Thanks.
thewrytstf - crwdns2934203:0crwdne2934203:0
NO, you should definitely not calibrate your battery once a month, that's a huge waste of a full battery cycle (which is very stressful and reduces the life of the battery). Calibrating once a year would be excessive, generally the recommendation is to calibrate once when the battery is new, then never again unless it doesn't seem to be lasting as long.
You'll see reduced battery life for sure if you always discharge it completely — running the battery down completely is very stressful and to be avoided. (Which is why calibrating frequently is bad, it always does this.) ABSOLUTELY charge your battery when it's at 50%, if you're near a charger, vs. running it down further.
FeRD -
Stop multiplying the myth and lie of "don't discharge lithium batteries". You said we should charge batteries even at 50% and never discharge them fully. Do you have ANY proof of that whatsoever? Why don't you mention overcharging? Do you know what voltage the battery has when charging?
Krzeszny -
Batery chearcher samsung All Gobol
Maxamed Xuseen - crwdns2934203:0crwdne2934203:0
Just replaced iphone 7 battery with nohon branded chinese battery (lithium polymer). User manual says the following:
"From the first time to 8th time , please use up the battery to 8%-10%. Recharge it until it is full charged and continue to charge for 30 minutes to 1 hour. (If you have a 5V/1A low current charger, please use the small current charger, if not, you can use the original charger to charge.)"
Tom G - crwdns2934203:0crwdne2934203:0
Hello, I have a MacBook Air 13” (Late 2020, A2337) and I recently replaced the battery due to age and water damage. When I did, I tried to calibrate the battery but the charger would not connect even though I had just previously replaced that as well. I waited longer to replace the USB-C board. After finally feeling like I fixed all the issues, I restarted the laptop and the charger would connect. Starting the battery calibration again, I charged it to 100% and used it until it died but now the charger will not connect again. The closest thing I can get to any charge is shutting it down and connecting and unplugging and connecting again until I hear the connection sound. But even then, the charge is so slow and I can only do it while it’s off. Otherwise, it won’t pick up or hold any charge and the charging symbol doesn’t pop up. It just starts to die again while I’m trying to figure it out. Am I missing something? It’s becoming very frustrating to pinpoint a solution.
mar_shianeline - crwdns2934203:0crwdne2934203:0
Battery Calibration
Rakbul Molla - crwdns2934203:0crwdne2934203:0
How to calibrate galaxy watch battery?
GreggPastryMan - crwdns2934203:0crwdne2934203:0
Battery problem Battery max 10000mh
Sanket Waghmare - crwdns2934203:0crwdne2934203:0
Good explanation! Thanks
Daniele Monetti - crwdns2934203:0crwdne2934203:0
Battery fast
Sabir Sabir - crwdns2934203:0crwdne2934203:0
I just got my Asus laptop and the battery is giving me concerns. It drains very fast it hardly lasts 3hrs
samuel - crwdns2934203:0crwdne2934203:0
i just bought my Asus laptop is giving me concern as it drains very fast it hardly lasts 3 hours
samuel - crwdns2934203:0crwdne2934203:0
I would say DON'T attempt any sort of battery calibration. On a brand new laptop, it should never be necessary, so any attempt is more likely to CAUSE problems than fix them. You should be looking into support options with Asus, if your battery isn't performing as advertised. A new laptop should be covered by a manufacturer warranty.
FeRD -
Hello, i have question, here the chronology :
I recently getting a new battery to my phone, it's was higher capacity than the old one, after installing it's shows 55%, worry about false indicator, i tried fast boot for few times, but it's kinda messed as my battery going from 54% to 49% in a second, trying to fix that i tried hard reboot for few times, now no more sudden decrease.
Next im installing Battery Guru and discharge to below 15%, then charge it again till the app says it's true 100%(it's like a hour or so after system says 100%), but the battery health shown in app only 75%.
Wondering if it calibration problem or my new battery is just bad, im then discharge my phone till it force turn off, i tried turn it on again but it didn't turn on and show 0 battery instead, then while the phoned is turned off, i charge it to 100% plus leave it charged around a hour, after that i unplug and turn on.
Now the question is, at that point, did i successfully re calibrate my battery or do i need to do anything else? or did i do something wrong or not?
Zilver Echos - crwdns2934203:0crwdne2934203:0
I think new batteries doesn't have "memory" so they shouldn't be discharged to 0%... This article might be misleading...
XdekHckr - crwdns2934203:0crwdne2934203:0