What is driving the battery to die so quickly? It is all the add-ons on the phones that we use such as WiFi, Bluetooth and not to mention GPS.

What can you do to extend the life of your phones battery? Here 8 tips to extend the life of your cell phone battery.

Lithium-ion Battery: This particular type of battery is one of the newest in power technology. On average, the lithium-ion is twenty-five percent lighter than other leading batteries. If charged completely for the first three cycles of its life, the lithium-ion will last approximately ten percent longer than most other batteries. The lithium-ion will general be of use for approximately two to three years.

Also as with other batteries, overcharging the lithium-ion will ruin its performance, or minimize it in some cases. To overcharge would be to charge the battery more than twenty-four hours, consecutively. This means, no leaving the cell phone on its charger for longer than this amount of time.

Nickel Hydride Battery (NiMh): The nickel hydride will generally provide twenty-five percent more power than the nickel cadmium battery. This battery will require a complete empty charge, and a full re-charge, every four to five cycles. This, in a way, clears the battery and gives it a fresh start. Like most other batteries, it is never in your favor to charge the nickel hydride for more than twenty-four hours. Again, this can be complicated at first as one must remember to completely discharge their battery or let it run dead at least four to five times before recharging it.

Nickel Cadmium Battery (NiCd): The nickel cadmium is the oldest of cellular power sources. These batteries will still perform on a positive level, although they are not sold as often as the above options. The NiCd battery has not proven to be environmentally positive, as per its disposal inefficiency; although, the NiCd battery continues to be sold in stores today.

Did you know you could revive a dead battery and save hundreds of dollars per year, replacing seemingly dead batteries? The process is called battery recondition and is provided in a battery guide specifically written by the Battery Geek, aka Kevin Dixon.

Reconditioning an aged battery is quite easy process, and successes reach to 60% of the time, leaving you with completely dead batteries at 40% which is not bad, if you consider that you can get them for free! Obviously, you need to learn how to recondition and rejuvenate a battery, and with the right instructions it is not a long process. What you are going to love is that you don’t have to spend a fortune on equipment; you can start on almost no capital at all.

1. It is a cheap process:

Apart from money saving on batteries that you use personally, this process can be a good business opportunity, for the open minded person – is that you? Even a part-time occupation can turn a tidy profit for you. Well, the fact is that, dead batteries are thrown away, right? So even if you can only rejuvenate one out of three, this costs you nothing! You are making money for free, and with NO effort!

2. You can do it as a Business:

This is totally depending on you – would like to make some extra money, or just saving from battery reconditioning? You can source seemingly dead batteries from your nearby garage, by placing an ad, or simply spreading out the word. Then you can easily revive them, and sell them for at your neighborhood’s garage or repair shop, or on line to eBay.

Here is a nice idea to find customers – agree with your local car repair shop to place a leaflet on their store that advertises your business. Agree to give them a cut of profits for any battery they sell for you or each time they refer someone.

3. Batteries go “dead” all the time:

Just imagine how many devices use batteries. Really, there are no limits to a battery reconditioning expert! Everything relies on portable batteries. Automotive, motorcycle, iPods, mp3s, marine, motorized wheelchair, power tool batteries. Do you know how expensive new batteries can be? Just take a look at your neighborhood store or on the internet. The battery IS the most expensive part of a power tool.

4. What are the costs to consider?

First of all the guide itself – the battery reconditioning guide sells online for about $45 and is immediately downloadable through the internet, no need to wait for the mail. I you go on a professional level, you will need around $150 for a computer controlled battery analyzer. However, you can get that at eBay for less, or you can do without it and use only a voltmeter which does the same job. In addition, I would definitely recommend in considering investing in an analyzer.

For one thing, these batteries lose one percent of their charge per day just sitting there doing nothing. So you can see that you just can’t park it, walk away, and come back in four or five months and expect it to work. Amazingly some of them do work after that kind of abuse, but a greater number of them don’t.

A modern motorcycle battery is a marvel of compact packaging. A motorcycle may look smooth on the outside, but inside it’s a different story. Every single part of the motorcycle is vibrating when you start the engine. These vibrations affect the performance of the motorcycle battery, as they are made with lead plates that rattle as your engine churns. Common sense will tell us that vibrations cause motorcycle batteries to lose their stored power. Don’t be deceived by the looks of the plates, they are not as sturdy as they seem.

The lead plates are good active ingredients, but they are only tender pastes cast into intersecting wires. They are pretty much like your waffle batter. This characteristic of lead plates helps in allowing better chemical reaction. Like waffles, lead plates are very porous. This allows the electrolyte to be easily absorbed.

Motorcycle batteries serve more than just motorcycles; in some parts, they can be actually modified and used in small boats or as a generator for a household. Batteries will fail without warning. Knowing this, you can take some precautions and be prepared. For one, you can post a note indicating when you last charged your motorcycle battery. It is not recommended that you buy a backup battery. Do not liken a battery to a spare tire; batteries tend to loose their charge even if you don’t use them. A better thing to do is keep the number of your mechanic, so you can call him in case of emergency.

Batteries work like humans, too; you don’t really have to check on them every time but it would help if you include it on your car/motorcycle maintenance routine.

In order to get the most out of your batteries, and your digital camera, you not only want to have batteries with high capacity NiMH cells, you also need to have a good-quality battery charger. Some of them can’t handle the high capacity NiMH cells within the battery and significantly undercharge it. Others actually overcharge and eventually damage the batteries. Choosing the best for your digital camera will allow you to get optimum use from your batteries and your camera.

Advancements

There have been significant advancements in digital cameras over the past three years. At one time, the battery charger C-204F was believed to be the most efficient. Recent advancements in technology have improved the Maha Powerex C-204W, and in test results have proven to be more efficient in ‘topping off’ batteries. There have been a number of improvements to the Maha C-240W’s, making these the most popular for digital cameras.

A unique feature with the Maha C-240W is its sophisticated algorithm, which allows it to detect alkaline batteries, which cannot be recharged. Although alkaline batteries can be used in digital cameras, they have a much shorter life, and prove to be very expensive. Although the 204F offered support for NiCd cells, the Maha Powerex C-204W only supports NiMH batteries.

Quality Testing

When testing the quality, it was found that when the quick-charging cycle was completed, many of the fast chargers were unable to completely fill the battery. In order to compensate, some chargers switch to a ‘trickle off’ mode once the fast charge is complete, so that the charger can ‘top off’ the batteries. This is found to be best used when leaving the batteries to charge overnight. But even then, the C-240F was unable to charge the up to the last 5% capacity of the battery.

An important factor to consider is the amount of heat and distress the charger subjects the battery to. A battery charger that consistently overheats batteries will prematurely exhaust the batteries and shorten its life.

Tests have found that the Maha Powerex C-240W is a smart battery charger. Like the 204F, the 204W features two separate charging circuits that enable you to charge either two or four batteries simultaneously. This becomes increasingly important as many of today’s digital cameras run on two AA batteries, and in order to get the most out of your batteries, you need to charge them in the same groups they are used in. This keeps the charger from overcharging or undercharging battery cells that have diverse usage patterns.

If you own a Dell laptop or notebook computer, you ought to know that you can always recycle your unit’s batteries. Hence, if you think that your batteries have started to act up, don’t throw them right away just yet!

One thing you can do is to contact Dell directly and ask if they can replace your battery for a new one either for free or for a nominal fee. Dell has what they call a “Battery Program” and you might be qualified to avail of a replacement.

Another thing you can do is to drop by a recycling plant or at a drop off center of an organization which aims to collect recyclable items such as your Dell laptop batteries. Compared to the days of old when people had to contact their local sanitation department or go out of their way to go to a recycling center (which, more often than not, did not accommodate individual consumers), there are national organizations now that receive these items and ship them to a recycling or refurbishing facility. Drop off centers are usually the branches of popular supermarket chains, bookstores, computer retail and repair shops, schools and home furnishings stores. If you aren’t sure if there’s a drop off center near your area, search online for some of these national organizations (most of them have websites and toll free numbers) or ask your local government for help. Once the batteries reach the said state-of-the-art refurbishing facility, reusable materials such as nickel, cadmium and iron are taken and used in the manufacture of stainless steel and even in the production of new batteries.

You can do these two things in order to recycle your Dell laptop batteries. Recycling them is not just a way to get rid of what you think are useless batteries. It is, more importantly, your answer to the clarion call of keeping the environment safe, clean and sound for the future generations.

Gel Battery – A gel battery is also known as a sealed lead acid (SLA) battery, and its distinguishing feature is that it doesn’t have to be kept upright in order to work. An SLA battery continues to perform in extreme conditions, such as hot temperatures, or under vibration. SLA batteries are often used in wheelchairs, scooters, and uninterruptible power sources. It’s best to keep an SLA battery charged, or to charge it more often than you would other types of batteries.

NiMH – NiMH stands for Nickel Metal Hydride and is the battery of choice for many cell phones, camcorders, digital cameras, GPS systems, PDAs, and other personal electronics. NiMH batteries are also used in hybrid cars. An NiMH is a rechargeable battery that is similar to a nickel cadmium (NiCd) battery, but that has double or triple the capacity of a NiCd battery. It’s best not to overcharge NiMH batteries.

NiCd – NiCd stands for Nickel Cadmium, and is a type of rechargeable battery commonly used in toys, electronic devices, and power tools. Although some people prefer NiMH batteries to NiCd batteries, a NiCd battery provides virtually the same level of voltage throughout its lifetime, and costs less than an NiMH battery.

LiION – LiION stands for Lithium Ion, and is one of the newest rechargeable batteries. Although they are more expensive than other types of rechargeable batteries, LiION batteries have more capacity and are often used in wireless phones, camcorders, and notebook computers. The downside of LiION batteries is that the length of their life commences from the date of manufacture, rather than from the number of times the battery is charged and discharged. It’s best to regularly charge LiION batteries and store used batteries in the refrigerator. (Allow them to warm to room temperature before using them, though.)

Alkaline – Alkaline batteries are not rechargeable with a battery charger, but offer a large current over a long period of time. These batteries are often used in CD players and portable radios.

Carbon Zinc – Carbon Zinc batteries are known for their reliability over long periods of time in low-drain situations, such as for garage door openers or clocks. A Carbon Zinc battery is not rechargeable.

Laptop battery charger prices range from $200 to $300 and usually have a twelve-month warranty period. Ready access to chargers is important because nickel cadmium may suffer from a ‘memory defect.’ A laptop user may face this problem if the batteries are not fully discharged before recharging. A nickel cadmium battery should be charged only after it has been completely exhausted, otherwise the battery ‘thinks’ that it only has fifty percent of its original capacity and only uses half of its potential, thus increasing the time constraints of the laptop.

Nickel cadmium batteries perform more efficiently when they are fully discharged and then recharged. If a battery is used in a more piecemeal fashion then, occasionally fully discharging the battery before recharging it will enhance the productivity of the same. Some battery chargers do this automatically, but leaving the laptop during the night and recharging the battery in the morning can also invigorate the battery efficiently.

Cell phones have become a part of every day living. To some individuals, they serve as an important business tool allowing business conversations while on the run or on vacation. Along with the comfortable size, shape and user-friendly operations of cell phones, you can also add accessories like digital cameras, mp3 players, and a connecting wire for Internet browsing. Some are also hand held Palm organizers in addition to a cell phone. All the accessories required for such phones are provided either at the dealers or direct manufacturer outlets as part of the purchasing package.

With all these wonderful advantages and state of the art features, a cell phone still needs a battery to communicate. With a dead battery, you might as well have a toy phone rather than a useful instrument.

Most cell phones are equipped with a lithium ion battery. They are specifically designed for a specific type of cell phone that can be found at any major cell phone company. Lithium ion cell phone batteries are rechargeable and can be recharged in any power outlet using a power cord. The battery need not be removed from the cell phone unless it needs to be replaced. Companies like Nokia, Samsung, Panasonic, Motorola and many other provide a charger as part of the cell phone package.

It is very important not to use the same charger for different models. Although various models work on the same charger, it is imperative to consider the make before using the same on a different company manufactured phone. Also, it is important not to overcharge the battery as this might lead to lessening the battery’s life.