Let’s face it. Most of us either negligently or deliberately put our phones on charge even while sleeping. Overcharging happens when you keep your device plugged in even when it is 100% charged. This apparently affects your devices, their charging capacity and even the charging cable and adapter. When it comes to charging we get laden by a question that we don’t have the answer to. For instance:
- How much charge is overcharge? Is it from 85 to 100% or anything that exceeds 100%?
- How prolonged charging affects smartphones?
- Does it overheat or get turned off?
- Is it safe to leave a charger plugged in?
Let’s debunk them all.
From features to performance, smartphones are smart for a reason. These phones outdo our expectations all the time. But demands some attention from you. For instance, careful handling of devices for being touch screens, lithium-ion batteries that degrade if used excessively, and charging ports that wear off if connected to any non-compatible charging cable. Technically, the battery wears out sooner than expected if we get negligent.
It is presumed that overcharging devices can reduce the effectiveness of a phone’s battery over time. While discussing it with industry professionals, we got to know that all electrical appliances go through testing before final market releases and the testing is done under stringent conditions.
How does Overcharging Affect Your Device?
Charging your phone every morning and draining all the battery all day long may erode its battery life. Here overuse is the reason and not overcharging.
Be it the charging cable, adapter or your device, keeping it plugged in will have no consequence since your phones are too smart to cut off charging right after it gets fully charged. Why? The presence of Extra protection chips inside the device prevents it to charge beyond 100%. The internal lithium-ion batteries can charge up to full capacity, and once they hit the target, charging stops.
Now since you put it to a long charge, whenever the charge hits 99%, it will trickle the charge, which will eventually generate heat. This heat when retained by putting the device under the pillow or stacking some books on it- will make it get hotter to damage the battery. Don’t put it in warm surroundings like the kitchen, or it will add heat to the device to delay charging. Not only does the battery hate warmth, but other internal components of the device hate it too.
Also, use quality chargers and buy type C charging cables to charge your device, as local chargers are not tested on required quality parameters and will hit the quality and life of your phone.
Overcharging alone won’t affect the battery of your phone, but when clubbed with innumerable reasons like overheating or frequent charging loss, or excessive device usage will clearly affect the charging capacity and battery life of your device. Do not charge or discharge your device completely. The more you use your phone, the quicker it will damage.