Phone Battery Preservation (Long LONG Term)?

PikaPuff

(tl;dr: I want to store a phone battery long term (months), will it keep its charge? If not, is there a way to charge it while in a car that won't start in the middle of nowhere?)

I don't normally use a Cell Phone. The whole James Kim fiasco reminded me that I really should have one in my car in case of emergencies.


I bought a TracFone a while back to have a cell phone during a trip, and I think it'd be good to use as an emergency phone. I know the time cards are time limited (Use it up before 30 or 90 days are up), but I think if I keep the card and don't input the code, I can use the code when needed for the minutes.

So my only problem is how to keep a charge on the phone. If I charge up a phone, won't it loose its charge over time, even with the phone off? Will removing the fully charged battery keep it charged when needed? I plan to have a car adapter, but I'm planning in case my car won't start to charge the phone. Maybe a battery pack charger? Any ideas?

Drez

The only way I know of storing/preserving a battery and its charge is refrigeration. Cold.

Deusfaux

li-ion

longest battery life: ~40% charged and the colder the better (maybe not freezing)


dont leave it around at 0 or 100% if you want to maximize battery life

the former could kill it outright, while the latter just decreases its lifespan over time

get a car charger

The Burnin8or

There is this, or this if you want some exercise.

There is this, that uses batteries.

and this if you own a hamster.

xzzy

Yeah, there's no way to long term store a lithium-ion battery.. they start dying the day they're made. They're always losing charge, and they lose about 20% total capacity, per year, at "normal" temperatures.

The lower the temperature, the lower the capacity loss. I'm not sure how much temperature effects discharge rate.

All lithium-ion batteries have circuitry in them that prevent the device from being used below a certain charge level. In "normal" use, this prevents the battery from being damaged by having it's power fully depleted (which for lithium-ion = death).

But this makes them poor choices for long term storage because those circuits are always pulling power. How long you can go depends on the capacity of the battery.

corcorigan

You can get hand things I believe.

However in this day and age you should be constantly texting anyway. You backward Americans...

I think you'd be hard pressed to find someone around here without a phone.

PikaPuff

I have no idea what texting has to do with any of this. But I'll get a car charger and a battery charger when I can find one and a brick and mortar store. Thanks.

Drallo

Fyi, if its only for emergencies. Any phone, even if you don't have any plan or minutes on it, can still call 911.

Unless this has been changed.

stigweard

I would say a cb would be a better investment. Chances are though, if you are too far away from the main roads for cell usage, you are probably too far away for a cb as well. You can boost a cb signal. It is illegal to do but will give you much more range in an emergency. As far as minute cards for pay for talk phones go, they have expiry dates on them so even if you save one for a long period of time and never enter the code, it might not be useful. We bought up a ton of pay as you go phones a few years back for the 50$ calling cards in the package (the phones were 10$) but all the cards were already expired.

h3ndu

my parents actually bought all of us (their kids) flashlight, am/fm, hand cranck cell phone chargers for our cars/trucks - just in case. it might be just what you're looking for...

give me a moment...

edit : can't find the exact product - but there are similar things out there

http://www.nextag.com/emergency-radio-with-cell-phone-charger/search-html