wifey asks: charging cell phone @ home or in car ?

[97tbird]

so my curious wifey asks me this today:

do you think it saves $$ to charge the cell phone using the car cig. lighter thingy?
or is it worse, because it will be bad for the car battery and will shorten its life?

or is the difference in either case so minuscule that either method is ok? (that's what I told her, but wanted to check what you guys think...)

 

[Nyquist]

Most of the car chargers on the market don't have a limiter chip in them to halt current to the battery when it is full. If you keep it on the car charger when it is full, you will damage the battery. Newer chargers have this chip, but they are normally double the price.

I try to charge mine at home whenever I can. The current is lower, so it is like trickle charging a car battery. The home charger also has a limiter chip.

 

[ThirdeYe]

I could be wrong but I think the car chargers tend to charge the battery more quickly than a home outlet charger... and that would lead me to believe it's not as good for the battery, but I could be wrong. -shrug-

 

[Johnny]

I don't think it makes any difference. Mine charges faster when I use the lighter thingy in the car, but the charge seems to last longer when I do it in the house.

 

[Gary Allan]

I'd say the cost difference is zero and/or next to none.

 

[Quattro Pete]

Originally Posted By: 97tbird
or is the difference in either case so minuscule that either method is ok? (that's what I told her, but wanted to check what you guys think...)

I would agree with you... it's so small, it's not worth worrying about.

Personally, I try to avoid charging the phone in the car since that will only be a partial charge in my case (I don't drive for hours at a time), and I have this unexplained aversion to partial charges.

Or are you talking about a case where you plug in the phone to your car's cigarette ligher at night while the car is stopped? In this case, I would say don't do it. You will shorten the car's battery life. In addition, the car will burn more gas trying to recharge that battery the next day (higher load put on the alternator which in return puts higher load on the engine). Although again, it won't be a large impact.

 

[eljefino]

Electricity from the alternator (gasoline) is around 10x as expensive as from the grid.

1 hp= 746 watts if you want to do the math.

You can get this power back by disabling the ash tray light though.

 

[Pablo]

Originally Posted By: eljefino
Electricity from the alternator (gasoline) is around 10x as expensive as from the grid.

1 hp= 746 watts if you want to do the math.

You can get this power back by disabling the ash tray light though.


That's good. I charge my phone at work.....well they do call me on it and I don't bill them!

Here's the odd thing: When I charge my phone in the car, the charge is quicker AND it lasts longer.

 

[GMGuy]

Quote:
ere's the odd thing: When I charge my phone in the car, the charge is quicker AND it lasts longer.


Car chargers (and some wall warts) do a fast charge.
Nokia ACP4 and ACP12 (model numbers may be wrong, this was two phones ago) wall chargers, ones a slow charge, the other a fast 1 hour charge. They play around with current and voltage when they design these things. Depending on where the sense circuitry is on your phone (in the case of my first cell phone, it was in the charger), the car charger may be hitting it longer before shutting down.

Alex.

 

[Cutehumor]

yeah, I charge my phone at work too. anything else that needs to be charged gets my cube treatment.

 

[StevieC]

I'm laughing at this thread. It's a neat thought but too funny!

 

[Mr Nice]

The only money you would save is not buying the phone charger for your car.

 

[HM12460]

i also like to charge mine at work every chance i get. let the boss foot the bill.

 

[Jim 5]

If your wife is anything like mine, the most effective way to save money here is to take a 5 pound sledge hammer, accelerate it rapidly and then let the cell phone break it's fall to the cement.

 

[wcbcruzer]

It's not bad for the car battery at all. It's not as good for the cell phone battery though. However, most cell phone batteries start going bad within a year anyway. The best would be to charge at home when the battery is discharged to 10%, then let it fully charge. But I for one can't be that careful with my cell phone battery because it's just too hard sometimes.

 

[Pablo]

I've found that the only way to make a OTS cell battery last a hoot is to buy as fresh as specimen as possible.

 

[Cutehumor]

Originally Posted By: HM12460
i also like to charge mine at work every chance i get. let the boss foot the bill.


they told us last week that we are not getting pay raises or bonuses next year. looks like I'll bring my home laptop to charge at work.

 

[crinkles]

lost my charger ( i think someone at work snatched it "by mistake" or my wife put it somewhere only she knows) so now I only ever charge in the car. does fine.

 

[JHZR2]

Originally Posted By: Johnny
I don't think it makes any difference. Mine charges faster when I use the lighter thingy in the car, but the charge seems to last longer when I do it in the house.

The tighter a range you keep battery voltage in, the better behaved the chemistry will be.

The higher the rate of charge, the worse it is for the battery. Gentle charging is superior for a number of reasons that I will not get into here, but can if desired.

Some "fast" chargers, of which most any car charger is, will ruin batteries in time. I destroyed a nokia battery that way once.

There are limiters at some level. Going above battery voltage can create thermal runaway, inflation of cells and other nasty things. Lithium ion batteries are NOT nice things... There are plenty of reasons why they are not used yet in vehicles...

 

[MysticGold04]

The guy at the Verizon store told me that I could leave my phone on the charger at home without worry, but watch it in the car and to pull it off as soon as it says full or I could risk ruining the battery.