Battery Health Advice
Posted: Sat Sep 03, 2016 10:49 pm
I realize this may be a stupid question, but I'll try to elaborate why I felt it necessary to ask it.
As has been shown several times on this forum, it is not safe to leave a gamebuino unplugged for several months. If the voltage on the battery gets low enough, the battery will be irreversibly damaged and may never charge again. Therefore, to ensure the longevity of a gamebuino, it is important to semi-regularly charge it to keep the battery charge at a safe level.
However, I feel that there is a non-zero chance that I may forget about my gamebuino in the future for months at a time, due to various distractions. Therefore, I was wondering if there are any negative side effects to simply leaving a gamebuino plugged into a USB charger for long periods of time unattended. Having heard nothing to warn against this, I assume I can trust the charging circuitry to manage the battery level and to never overcharge the battery. It's not like I expect the battery to explode or catch fire; I expect leaving it plugged in is as safe as leaving a cell phone plugged in, but I still wanted to know for sure. Are there any other possible negative effects, such as the charger raising the temperature of the battery and shortening its lifespan?
Thank you for your help with this potentially silly concern.
As has been shown several times on this forum, it is not safe to leave a gamebuino unplugged for several months. If the voltage on the battery gets low enough, the battery will be irreversibly damaged and may never charge again. Therefore, to ensure the longevity of a gamebuino, it is important to semi-regularly charge it to keep the battery charge at a safe level.
However, I feel that there is a non-zero chance that I may forget about my gamebuino in the future for months at a time, due to various distractions. Therefore, I was wondering if there are any negative side effects to simply leaving a gamebuino plugged into a USB charger for long periods of time unattended. Having heard nothing to warn against this, I assume I can trust the charging circuitry to manage the battery level and to never overcharge the battery. It's not like I expect the battery to explode or catch fire; I expect leaving it plugged in is as safe as leaving a cell phone plugged in, but I still wanted to know for sure. Are there any other possible negative effects, such as the charger raising the temperature of the battery and shortening its lifespan?
Thank you for your help with this potentially silly concern.