[atomicfission92]

Hey,

I am not sure if I got a bad battery or something but the life of my battery seems short. It lasts about a day or less. I had it on the charger this morning, took it off at around 10 am, and by 10 pm it was down to like 25-30%. Is this normal or is something wrong?

Oh if anyone wants to BBM me, my PIN is 23fcb167. :D

[JSanders]

Your battery is very likely fine... but you may have some apps running in the background you are not aware of, like an active browser page, or a game or something. You can press ALT and click escape to see what programs are running in the background of your BB.

Some, like the Homepage, phone, browser, and BBMessenger, should be there. There could be others you can close or exit out of to save battery life.

These batteries should not be drained EACH day. It is recommended to top off the charge during the day.

Then every month or so, drain it again to 15-20% charging to 100%.

[atomicfission92]

Oh... all that stuff on that list is things that are running? Cause there is like 20 things.

I guess I need to read up a bit more on how to use this thing. I am used to WM5 with its task manager.

[JSanders]

read this too: (may seem outdated with the old model #s, but we are in the process of updating it currently, the info still applies).
Maximum Battery Life - BlackBerryFAQ

[Dawgfan]

Originally Posted by atomicfission92

Oh... all that stuff on that list is things that are running? Cause there is like 20 things.

I guess I need to read up a bit more on how to use this thing. I am used to WM5 with its task manager.

That would do it.
Was it mentioned somewhere about not charging your BB overnight?

I actively use BB Messenger, JiveTalk and some GoogleMaps here and there and get several days of battery life. Heavy use of the GPS or tons of talking will speed up the drain. JiveTalk is nice as it goes into a sleep mode or something.

I think I charge my BB every couple of days or so and maybe here and there top it off at home or work. I think if I left it alone and did not charge it I would at least get a couple of days, maybe more.

[atomicfission92]

Alright I am managing my apps, and now its 1/2 the way through the day and its down to 70%. Although that isn't using IM+ or browser or GPS.

[ceebz]

meh, I leave all of my apps running and my 8800 can easily go for two and a half days. The only big battery sucker I've encountered is Yak-On.

It's common knowledge that Li-Ion batteries do not like to be drained more than 50%. The best thing you can do for your Li-Ion battery is to keep it topped off. Also, battery "conditioning" is a myth about Li-Ions. This is a carry-over from the NiMH days and there is simply no need to "condition" your Li-Ion battery when it is new.

Once a month or so it is ok to let your Li-Ion completely discharge, this resets its "meter". Other than that, keep it topped off.

Charging lithium-ion batteries

Preparing new lithium-ion for use

Unlike nickel and lead-based batteries, a new lithium-ion pack does not need cycling through charging and discharging. Priming will make little difference because the maximum capacity of lithium-ion is available right from the beginning. Neither does a full discharge improve the capacity of a faded pack. However, a full discharge/charge will reset the digital circuit of a 'smart' battery to improve the state-of-charge estimation

Lithium-ion is a very clean system and does not need priming as nickel-based batteries do. The 1st charge is no different to the 5th or the 50th charge. Stickers instructing to charge the battery for 8 hours or more for the first time may be a leftover from the nickel battery days.

How to prolong lithium-based batteries

A lithium-ion battery provides 300-500 discharge/charge cycles. The battery prefers a partial rather than a full discharge. Frequent full discharges should be avoided when possible. Instead, charge the battery more often or use a larger battery. There is no concern of memory when applying unscheduled charges.

Although lithium-ion is memory-free in terms of performance deterioration, batteries with fuel gauges exhibit what engineers refer to as "digital memory". Here is the reason: Short discharges with subsequent recharges do not provide the periodic calibration needed to synchronize the fuel gauge with the battery's state-of-charge. A deliberate full discharge and recharge every 30 charges corrects this problem. Letting the battery run down to the cut-off point in the equipment will do this. If ignored, the fuel gauge will become increasingly less accurate.

[atomicfission92]

So its now 15 minutes till 10pm. And its at 13% battery life. I didn't do any web browsing, no gps, no games, or texting. Just made a couple phone calls which totaled about 1 hour ish. Something just seems wrong to me that I am having such short battery life. With my WM5 phone I could go 3 days of talking with bluetooth on and texting without having to charge. I know this phone uses more power but it also has a bigger battery. Any clues?

[Brad00111]

Do a hard reset (pull the battery, wait a few seconds and stick it back in). I was having the exact same issues as you had and I did a hard reset and it is working like a dream. I get better battery life out of the 8800 then I ever did with my 8700 and I never used the GPS on the 8700. If the hard reset doesn't fix your troubles then get a new battery, but it worked like a charm for me!

[atomicfission92]

What does the hard reset do? Like reset the battery meter or something?

Edit - I was just removing the battery and I noticed a red line or stripe on the white sticker indicator thing on the battery by the terminals. Sorry for the bad description but I don't know what it is lol. I know on some its the water indicator but since my phone has never seen or been around water I don't know why its red.

[ceebz]

I would get a replacement battery. I've been running my 8800 with lots of IM, email and calls and my battery is still @65%. This was over the course of 17 hour day.

[mgerbasio]

I'm getting about the same battery life as the OP. Still much better than with the 8700, I would run down to 15% with the standard battery by 3pm several days a month. Then I'd get the radio shutdown and frustrated. The extended battery was a must have for me and I don't think I ever ran below 20% with it.

I really want a 3G BB, mostly to tether, so I'll probably live with the standard battery and hopefully by the end of the year have a nice new 3G BB and extended battery.

Regards-Michael G.

[mediaman]

Originally Posted by JSanders

You can press ALT and click escape to see what programs are running in the background of your BB..

Hmmm I get nothing hepppening when I do the above....is there another way to see the background apps???

[JSanders]

Originally Posted by mediaman

Hmmm I get nothing hepppening when I do the above....is there another way to see the background apps???

It works. HOLD DOWN the ALT key. CLICK the ESCAPE key (right of trackball).

[Dawgfan]

Just a follow-up on my battery.
I charged it Sunday afternoon fully. I have not put it on a charger since Sunday afternoon and have done my normal stuff with it...good bit of emails, text messages, IMs and phone calls. I have not turned on TeleNav or GoogleMaps however. I have activated and used my Bluetooth headset several times. I have also had JiveTalk open pretty much the whole time. I also use NewsClip quite often. I would not say I am a hard-core heavy user but I am not a light user at all, especially with regards to data.

Anyways, it is 1:30 on Tuesday afternoon and I am still at 2 bars or 35% per the status menu.

From this point I am pretty confident that I could use it like I normally do for the rest of the day and night and not need a charge til' late tonight or tomorrow morning.