Left my cell phone charging...any danger? (1 Viewer)

[Michael*K]

Realized that I started charging my cell phone (Nokia 5160) last night and forgot it at home this morning. It's still hooked up to the charger. Any danger the battery or adapter will overheat? WIll I still have a house tonight or a pile of smoldering ruins?

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--Mike
Amazon Hot 100 DVD's

 

[AdrianJ]

Nope. I regularly left my Nokia 6161 charging all weekend. After the battery gets full, it just quits charging. It might occassionally drain a little and charge some more.
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Adrian Jones

 

[Ryan Wright]

You can leave it on the charger 24/7 for the rest of your life and probably not have a problem.
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-Ryan (http://www.ryanwright.com )
Before you criticize someone, walk a mile in their shoes.
That way, when you do criticize them, you'll be a mile away and you'll have their shoes.

 

[Holadem]

No prob at all, they switch to "trickle charging" (self explanatory I believe) when the battery reaches full capacity.
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Holadem

 

[Jose C]

I work for Nokia, and we routinely leave our phones on 24/7 connected to the wall charger or charging in a desk stand. Every Nokia-branded phone, battery and charger (car charger, desk stand, wall charger etc.) has sensors that work together to detect when the battery is fully charged and to subsquently "power down" or trickle charge only (to keep from melting your battery.) Not to plug Nokia or anything, but this power sensing technology only works when you use Nokia branded accessories together - if you buy a non-Nokia branded battery, the power sensing may not work as well or at all, and you could end up with a melted battery sooner.

 

[Philip_G]

off topic.. but I was thinking while I read this, does anyone else find it remarkable that nokia has gone from relative obcurity 5 years ago to what they are today? EVERYONE I know has a nokia phone. Very few have motorola anymore.

 

[Michael*K]

Not to plug Nokia or anything, but this power sensing technology only works when you use Nokia branded accessories together

So are there any technical drawbacks to using a non-Nokia branded faceplate on the phone, Jose?

Seriously, I did some marketing work for Nokia a year or so ago where they were plugging their own branded accessories and they really do work much better. The car charger in particular is awesome. Has me fully charged in 30 minutes or so.

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--Mike
Amazon Hot 100 DVD's

 

[Jose C]

Glad to hear you like our accessories Michael K! Using other branded covers isn't as big of a deal as using a different branded battery or charger, but there are some issues. Some "aftermarket covers," although cheaper, may use lower quality plastics or paint that may chip or rub off easier than factory color covers. Also we test our covers to make sure they don't interfere with performance or reception (some Nokia phone's don't have an external antenna) - with an aftermarket cover you can't be certain it will perform as well under all conditions. So buyer beware. OK, Nokia marketing hat off now

 

[Ryan Wright]

the power sensing may not work as well or at all, and you could end up with a melted battery sooner

This is absolutely false. Do you realize what would happen if a Nokia charger actually, physically MELTED a no-name brand battery? Or any battery for that matter? Think about it... While I'm sure Nokia equipment works best together, and using only Nokia equipment may extend the life of your battery, mixing and matching different brands of the same equipment will not melt anything. If it did, Nokia and the other manufacturer would be in a world of trouble.
I might also add that all of the Nokia chargers I've seen do not have any sort of communication bus with the battery. They simply provide voltage to it. What this means is the charger has no idea what sort of battery it's connected to. It simply watches voltages, resistance, etc, and adjusts it's power output based on what the battery is taking. Even a no-name brand battery would charge perfectly fine on a Nokia charger. (You probably won't get as much battery life, but that's got nothing to do with the charger and everything to do with the fact that no-name brand items usually have poor quality control in the factory.)
Additionally, overcharging a 3.6 volt battery is not likely to cause a dangerous situation - period and regardless of the length of time you overcharge it (weeks, months, years). While you may reduce the battery's life, it's not going to melt or explode or catch on fire. Now, if you tried to shove too much voltage through it - such as putting a 12 volt charger on the thing - you could have problems like this, but with the appropriate voltages going into the battery, it's highly doubtful.
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-Ryan (http://www.ryanwright.com )
Before you criticize someone, walk a mile in their shoes.
That way, when you do criticize them, you'll be a mile away and you'll have their shoes.

 

[Jose C]

Actually Ryan we've seen damaged phones and batteries come in for service because of the use of aftermarket accessories. Manufacturer's warranty their products when used with that manufacturer's components - anything else is the buyer's responsibility (it's not the manufacturer's fault, for instance, if you put a blinking antenna on your phone and then your reception drops by 1 to 2 bars).
The power sensing technology is primarily in the phone, with sensors in the battery (thermistor) as well to detect overheating. And contrary to what you said, there are in fact power-regulating components in the charger as well, albeit not as robust as what's in the phone. Many, many aftermarket accessories will work fine, but many will not - you just never know about the quality of aftermarket stuff. For example, some aftermarket batteries lack a thermistor and use just a simple resistor, which isn't detecting temperature variations - this COULD lead to overheating during charging, and potentially a fried battery. Does it happen everyday? No. Does it happen sometimes? You bet.

 

[Ryan Wright]

this COULD lead to overheating during charging, and potentially a fried battery

I'd be very surprised if a 3.6v 0.5amp charger could overheat, melt or fry anything.
I should add here that I have no issues with Nokia equipment. I love my Nokia phones and have yet to purchase any generic batteries or other non-Nokia equipment (though I did put a blinking antenna on my last phone). Nokia usually makes great stuff and I don't mind paying a little for the better quality of a name brand item over aftermarket. However, if someone recommended an aftermarket battery to me, I wouldn't hesitate to try it. I certainly would not worry about melting or frying anything.
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-Ryan (http://www.ryanwright.com )
Before you criticize someone, walk a mile in their shoes.
That way, when you do criticize them, you'll be a mile away and you'll have their shoes.

 

[AdrianJ]

I love my Nokia phones and have yet to purchase any generic batteries or other non-Nokia equipment (though I did put a blinking antenna on my last phone).

I've used my Nokia phone with both Nokia brand accessories and other brands and never had a problem. The reason most people buy other brands is selection, especially in batteries. I'm very happy that Nokia has finally moved the vibrating feature from the battery to the phone. That was the main reason I would buy other batteries, for the vibrating features. Other companies just made thinner vibrating batteries. I've left my phone charging for weeks with a Nokia charger and an aftermarket battery and it doesn't even get warm (which is to be expected!!)
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Adrian Jones

 

[McPaul]

I believe if you use aftermarket anything, even faceplate or antenna, it voids the manufacturers warranty.
Sanyo4000 for me, and it works great, I love it! Motorola timeports are just pure garbage, and Nokia doesn't have any phones that run on the telus network anymore. If they had it, I'd pick up an 8300 series in a heartbeat!!
But for now I'll survive with my Sanyo4000, which will be swapped for a Sanyo 5000 as soon as my buddy picks up his Samsung M100.
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McPaul.
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