x10 and charging it

[panerai104]

i know that the battery last longer the less things you use on it. If i'm just using it for day to day time funcitions do i need to put it on the charger every night or every other night so that it doesnt die on me? Then if i hit the trails really make sure its been charged?

James

[Wesley #27]

if you use it for time only it will last for weeks. the battery gets drained by the GPS function in combination with the logging function then it's empty in matter of hours

gr Wesley

[Jeff_C]

I charge my X9 only when its low. If I were taking it out to use it, I would of course charge it before going. :)

[ejunge]

DONT'T charge it unless you need to... Modern rechargeable watch batteries (or laptop batteries, or cell phone batteries) have a limited life cycle of about 500 charges.... before their life begins to see a decrease in usefulness.. Lithium polymer are much better than NiCad or metal hydryde batteries as it is not as necessary to completely discharge them before recharging them..

[Jeff_C]

I thought I had read that somewhere, but didn't want to give false info.

Does the X10 have the battery indicator like my X9? As per the manual, I wait till I'm "in the red" lol...

Battery indicator on the right side:

[NATHAN>]

Jeff, you are correct as usual. The x10 has a battery indicator just like the x9i.
Currently I am only wearing my x10 on the weekends. The rest of the week it rests on the dresser. I have not charged it in about two months and it still has a half a charge left. It will last forever while using the time function only.

[Jeff_C]

As usual, the poor X9 doesn't have THAT good of performance... She's always the bridesmaid to the X10 bride!

[Joakim Agren]

DONT'T charge it unless you need to... Modern rechargeable watch batteries (or laptop batteries, or cell phone batteries) have a limited life cycle of about 500 charges.... before their life begins to see a decrease in usefulness.. Lithium polymer are much better than NiCad or metal hydryde batteries as it is not as necessary to completely discharge them before recharging them..

The term recharge cycles refer to complete cycles meaning if you charge from blank to full.

If you recharge from part full to full, then the battery will last alot longer and can take way more then 500 cycles.

[tempus edax rerum]

It's a lith ion battery?

Personally, I refer to Battery University for my battery handling needs. With lith ion, i believe the recommendation is that it is fairly flexible in how it handles discharge levels, but prefers shallow discharges. It is true that the overall life is roughly 3-500 cycles, but it is also true that charging a partial discharge is not equivalent to charging a wholly discharged battery. And there is apparently an aging effect on the cells that means that whether you discharged your battery once or 500 times, in 2-3 and if you're lucky up to 5 yrs, it'll diminish regardless of the number of cycles. Temperature also plays a factor.

Check out Battery University

[panerai104]

so it seems to me that I can do a half charge and not hurt it. I don't have to worry about it running out when i use it in time mode whether its everyday or once in awhile. When i need to make sure to fully charge it is for any long GPS useage over a week or so. Shorter time frame it will be ok.

james