Why do batteries wear over time? Explained

 What happens inside a mobile battery?

 

Welcome back my friends, today we are going to see about a common question we get while using your mobile phones, or any electronic that run on batteries. Why do batteries die over time? And what can I do to prevent it? And to understand this topic thoroughly, you need to know about what is a battery and how does it work.

 

Batteries

Battery is the life blood of of any device. A battery of a mobile phone or laptop is made of a substance called as lithium-ion. And this lithium ion has 3 parts. As usual we have a positive side called as anode and the negative side called as cathode. The anode has a lot of free electrons and the cathode has less, so the electrons in the anode wants to flow towards cathode. And this flowing is made possible with a liquid that is in the battery. And while it is flowing towards it, it powers all the components inside your device. And when all the electrons are in the cathode, your battery is 0%. And a charger pulls back the electrons to the positive side once again and that charges back the phone.

 

Why do batteries die over time and loses its ability to recharge

Lets get into the main topic, why do they lose the ability of recharging over time. A battery has around 500-1000 charge cycles depending upon its quality, if your device exceeds the limit then it dies. This is because of the liquid inside the batteries. Over time and over many charge cycles , a substance called as dentrite (plural: dendrites) forms a web like structure in the battery which prevents the free flow of electrons from one end to the other. Thus the discharging and the charging process is slowed down. Another reason is the charger itself, using non verified third party chargers, or even using a very fast charger heats up the device and heat is not a battery’s best friend. So it slowly but surely degrades its ability to retain charge, that’s why your old phone can hardly make it through the day without you plugging it in.

 

Cause and cure

Seriously!. You cant prevent it from getting old but you can slow down its aging. This can be done by many ways. Lets first see its causes, and then see how to prevent them. If your phone gets too hot, there may be several things backing this up. 1. The device is old and it is time to change or 2. your charging cable is loose so that there is a loose contact,or 3. any part of this charging system is not original, that means, your charger or the battery or the cable is not original, 4. you are using a fast charger. A slightly bulges battery is a clear sign of something is wrong. Keeping your phone under a pillow is also a clear no-no!

 your device can speak to the charger that’s made for it, and this means that the charger gets information that if your battery is full and block the electricity going to the battery once it is full. This is feature present because, in case you leave the device without plugging it out after it is fully charged. Your device automatically stops overheating and overcharging. This blocker maybe in the device itself or in the charging brick. So using a counterfeit battery or UN-authorised charger may bypass this process, which in- turn gives electricity to your battery even after it is full and this is the reason why we see videos of battery burning or getting exploded. So here are tips to prevent you from doing mistakes while using your device’s battery

Ø Always keep your device in a cool place, internal or external heat may speed up the aging process.

Ø Always use an original charger, if in any case you don’t have the original one, buy one from the device manufacturer itself, because the part that is meant for it, is the best for it.

Ø  If your phone has very fast charging and it heats up while charging, put your phone in a soft surface and keep it upside down so that the heat can dissipate off the back.

Ø Remove your phone case, because any case that you may have put it onto your device is usually an insulator and it prevents free flow of air that cools down the device naturally.

Ø Do not use it while charging because your phone is already hot because of charging and using it adds fuel to the fire.

 

 

That’s been it for tips and tricks to save your battery and hope you have liked reading this one as this is something that’s really important.

Thank you for whoever made it till the end and, if you liked It please comment. And suggestion are as always, welcome. Thanks for reading

:)