How to recharge a battery

[allanb]

I have just bought a replacement battery for a Konica 510 (the original was more than 5 years old and getting feeble).  It's labelled NX and described as "3.7v/Li-ion".  It's a generic, I suppose, but bought from an apparently respectable digital camera specialist. 

I'm posting here because I don't understand the charging instruction, which says "Charge and discharge 3 times before use for optimum performance" (my emphasis).

But how do I discharge it except by using it?

[pachapapa]

Keep flashing;

[Pierre ZFP]

Some more 'upmarket' chargers will do charge/recharge cycles but most don't so PPPs option is a good one.  Whatever you do, don't be tempted to short the battery out to discharge, could have dire consequences for the battery due to the heat that would be generated

[Théière]

Don't fully discharge the battery as that shortens the life of Li-on only 50% to 2/3rds

[AnOther]

I really don't know why manufacturers persist in giving this incorrect and potentially damaging advice. It may have been valid for Ni-Cad batteries but it is absolutely contra indicated for Li-ion.

"The smaller the depth

of discharge, the longer the battery will last. If at all possible,

avoid frequent full discharges and charge more often between uses."

http://batteryuniversity.com/learn/article/how_to_prolong_lithium_based_batteries

there is a comparative care chart here too.

http://batteryuniversity.com/learn/article/how_to_charge_when_to_charge_table

In short, along with overheating, routinely totally dicharging Li-ion batteries is the very worst thing you can do to them. For best life you should fully charge them immediately before 1st use then top up at every opportunity.

For batteries which are only required intermittently you should discharge them to 40% of capacity and store them in the fridge until next needed

If they have not been stored properly replacement batteries for older equipment can very often disappoint as they will be compromised from day 1.

[allanb]

Thanks.  AnO's advice, and the supporting link, seem more convincing to me than the leaflet that came with the new battery.

By the way, that advice is also consistent with a brief statement in the user's guide that came with the camera. In my innocence I had assumed that the battery manufacturer would give more reliable information than the camera manufacturer.  Not a safe assumption, apparently.   

[AnOther]

When I see advice like that with 3rd party Li-ion batteries, and I've seen it quite a lot, it makes me wonder if they are not Li-ion at all but nicad's instead, you would never really know would you ?

If they were nicads then the advice to charge cycle before use would be valid.

[allanb]

[quote user="AnOther"]When I see advice like that with 3rd party Li-ion batteries, and I've seen it quite a lot, it makes me wonder if they are not Li-ion at all but nicad's instead, you would never really know would you ?[/quote]

Just in case there was an error on the label, I found the battery on the manufacturer's website (the brand is named simply as "NX") and the specification includes "technologie: Lithium-ion."

But of course you're right, I wouldn't know the difference.