Losing battery life while charging

[kcirbmab]

Since the more you use the NX, the less the battery life it will have over the long run from full charges, will the battery still go down in life if you keep it on the charger while using it?

[cRunchy]

..will the battery still go down in life if you keep it on the charger while using it?

The simple answer is yes.. because you never always have it on the cradle and even when unused and off the battery is discharging.

The more difficult question to answer however is how much or whether the process of decay is slower...

That in part depends on how the Clie manages it's battery and whether it chooses to use external or battery power either 1.> whenever attached or not, or 2.> whenever the external or battey voltage drops.

If number 2.> then because DC from an AC supply is never stable (half wave rectification and general mains fluctuations) there will be vasilations (flip flop) between external and internal battery usage. This will cause a very rapid recharge cycle.

Also a battery will discharge by a minute amount anyway for various reasons like moisture, imperfect chemical production etc..... Again rapid recharge cycles at the top of its voltage range.

Senario number 2.> in some ways goes against the concept that you should every so often drain the battery to it's lowest to avoid the 'memory' effect...

However I have always found that batteries get a better charge when there is some rapid fluctuations (like half wave rectification) in the power supply. The arguement here being that as the "memory effect" is simply a stratified chemical process that fluctuating voltages force a more random chemical process to go on.

In the end I would take a guess and say that part of the process of battery's decay is it's imperfect chemical reaction where contaminants build up and a recharge can not force the original chemical composition to reset fully.

Partly that is a factor of age regardless of usage but partly it is a matter of any usage however small.

I can't answer your original question exactly but I might guess that it may well prolong the life of your battery but could also produce the "memory effect" simply because you are consistently only using up a small physical area of the batteries chemicals. This in the end would produce a battery that is weaker in the long run.

cRunchy


P.S. Of course all of the above is pure speculation as I ain't a chemist or a battery specialist ;)