DS Lite Battery Maintenance?

Maddgief

Maddgief

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I went back five pages and didn't see anything with battery in the title re: DS Lite.

Question: Is the type of battery in the DS Lite best maintained if you let it drain all the way until it shuts off before you recharge it?

Back in the days when I paid attention, prematurely charging rechargable batteries tended to shorten the usage cycles and require more frequent charging.

Is thus the case with the DS Lite battery? Should I drain it all the way down or can I safely charge whenever I want....or when the red light comes on?
 
What you absolutely DON'T want to do is leave it near or almost at empty for extended periods of time. I think the ideal long-term storage amount is 40-60 percent full, which is why the units are at that level roughly while sitting on store shelves.

I think what you're not supposed to do is charge after one or two hours of play on a consistent basis, but at the same time its not the best of ideas to go all the way to 0 every time because if you forget to charge and leave your DS lite for a while at 5% charge, you'll damage the battery's life span.
 
[quote name='Arkay Firestar']if you forget to charge and leave your DS lite for a while at 5% charge, you'll damage the battery's life span.[/quote]

How would that hurt the battery? Maybe I'm just clueless on the tech.

Either way, when I'm down to red, I have always played it until it's dead and then immediately plug it in...cause who knows when I'll need it... (often).
 
I would have to say, since the replacement batteries on nintendo.com sells for $15 (us), who cares how often you charge it. You can go even cheaper if you are willing to go with another battery that isn't official.
I can guarantee that, no matter how abusive you are in your charging paterns, your battery will last at the very least two or three years.
 
Because the name of this site is Cheap Ass Gamer and the goal is to spend as little money as possible. $15 could mean an extra game instead of having to replace a battery. I'd just assume take care of a battery properly and know it'll last the lifespan of the system than do a poor job taking care of it and have to replace it in 3 years. And even if it would last 3 years if you abuse it, the time it would last after a year or 2 years would be shorter than if you take care of it, which can start to get annoying.

I've wondered myself what the best way to maintain the battery is. I usually let it run down before I recharge it, but I'm not sure what the best way is. It's a good question, hopefully someone knows the answer.
 
Here is some information directly from the DSL user guide:

"If the DS will not be used for long periods of time, the battery should be recharged at least once every six months."

Since the battery slowly loses its charge over time, they are suggesting that you recharge the battery before it is completely depleted. Thus, it is detrimental to the battery to be completely depleted, which means it will shorten the battery lifespan or even disable the battery's ability to even take a charge.

Lithium ion batteries do not suffer from memory effect so you can charge whenever you like. However, I would not recommend playing until the DS shuts off. Recharge when you like, but when it hits red, stop playing and plug it in.
 
Does playing while it's charging have any effect on the battery life? I know it slows down the charging process, but does it change anything beyond that.
 
It's a Lithiun Ion battery, so it can take a good amount of abuse (as can be seen if you go to the link for batteryuniversity provided above). In genreal it isn't the greatest thing to run it all the way to empty, but it isn't going to destroy it unless you (perhaps) do this all the time. In fact, running it down all the way is recommended every x number of recharges if it's a smart battery (although it's unclear to me if Nintendo's is a smart battery).

But honestly, since a replacement is so cheap, just use it however you want. By the time it's been killed, you'll have gotten your money's worth.

-HM
 
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