Understanding Battery Life...

[pushdrops]

Turn off Mobile Network if in a poor coverage area

I think i have came up with a new idea on the battery draining so fast in my situation.. It seems to be draining in the 4-6 hours when i am at work which only has 1-2 bars in the building and hardly never any 3G coverage. Versus if i am at my house and driving around in the metro area, i have alot better coverage.

I have the same issue - very low signal when at home , I use WiFi to get online , then when I'm done online, I turn off the Mobile Network (data - Verizon). This saves plenty of battery power - I 1st discovered this with my wife's Eris (the Eris can easily turn off the Mobile Network from the Lock Power Down Screen).

I did some searching and someone gave me this info on another forum , works well very easy to do - use AnyCut (which is free, an app that provides advanced shortcuts directly to all kinds of stuff - really neat app) to provide a direct shortcut to the setting that controls the Mobile Network on the Droid (see below). You will notice that this setting will automatically go to OFF when the Droid is switched to WiFi mode (the Mob Network is disabled while in WiFi mode).

With Any Cut or if you have another way to get to this "hidden" shortcut:

Choose 'Shortcuts'
Choose 'Better Cut' (Or Any Cut if that's the case)
Choose 'Activity'
Select 'Data Call Settings'
Select an Icon, choose a name and select 'Create'

 

[pushdrops]

Turn off 3G , how?

If I turned off 3g, didn't take calls, and never turned on the screen I think I could go a week.

How do you disable 3G on the Droid ? I read that with Verizon / CDMA it wasn't possible to do so.

edit - by turning off 3G as you mentioned in your post , i'm referring to disabling 3G but still leaving the mobile network ON (not simply disabling the mobile network) , just so you don't see my other post as how to disable the Mobile Network to save batt power in weak signal areas and wonder why i'm asking this if i know the answer <to disable network completely> - perhaps you just meant the network completely in your post and not just turning off 3G but i hope you can tell me how to disable just 3G , so we don't have to disable the network entirely at home <because it jumps from 3G constantly> , that way we could maybe keep the basic network on, receive INTERNET stuff while at home and not kill our batteries... thanks

 

[pushdrops]

if in an area with a weak signal , unfortunately i think ...

:greendroid:

Leave em all on. I think anyone who tries to micro manage these settings is wasting time....
I leave them all on.

I agree if you are in an area with a solid signal but I can def tell everyone that with my Droid and wife's Eris , that our batt time is extended 2X or more when at home (where there's a weak signal, so much constantly goes b/t 3G - 1X) - when we disable the Mobile Network (which is an easy stock setting on the Eris' power down / lock screen & now easy to do on the Droid with a shortcut to the DATA Call setting).

The downside is that we don't get INTERNET related updates , GTalk IM's etc. , but most of the time while at home that's not needed anyway - but we can still receive phone calls and SMS.

I wouldn't disable the mobile network if we weren't in a weak area though (because elsewhere , our batteries seem to do well with the mobile network on). Also we use WiFi at home to check mail, access web stuff, then disable it, it's all not too restrictive (even easy for my wife to get and she's not into tech stuff - until the Eris, she loves it).

Just a thought for those in an area with a weak signal and may not know about the ability to turn off the Mobile Network on the Droid (since there's not a stock option to do so on the Droid as with the Eris).

Will be awesome down the line when we have portable power sources to keep up with our devices.

 

[pushdrops]

Since you're a newb to the forum I'll be nice and suggest next time please read the prior 12 pages before you ask a question like this.

The answer you would have found about 12 times would be that you cannot hurt a li-ion battery by not charging it, undercharging it, overcharging it, or pooping on it.

Don't worry about it. Your battery is fine. By the way I suggest a dry poop otherwise you may get some electrical problems...

I read through the forum , but there were so many conflicting posts (such as the guy who's relative works at Duracell) .

Really I was curious as to how many people weren't told to charge their batteries FULLY before continuing to use it. It seems like from the forum that some knew but others didn't (based on the store they bought theirs from) - wonder how many store personnel KNOW that the official deal is to charge it fully before using ...
thanks for the instant feedback

 

[SSHGuru]

No the opposite... the real deal is there is no need to charge it before using it. Li-Ion batteries have no memory.

Since you're a newb to the forum I'll be nice and suggest next time please read the prior 12 pages before you ask a question like this.

The answer you would have found about 12 times would be that you cannot hurt a li-ion battery by not charging it, undercharging it, overcharging it, or pooping on it.

Don't worry about it. Your battery is fine. By the way I suggest a dry poop otherwise you may get some electrical problems...

I read through the forum , but there were so many conflicting posts (such as the guy who's relative works at Duracell) .

Really I was curious as to how many people weren't told to charge their batteries FULLY before continuing to use it. It seems like from the forum that some knew but others didn't (based on the store they bought theirs from) - wonder how many store personnel KNOW that the official deal is to charge it fully before using ...
thanks for the instant feedback

 

[SSHGuru]

I've considered that but since I work at home and have two docks to charge with I simply don't care that much.

If I leave the house I get WAY more battery life even leaving wi-fi and all the other settings on... so with me it's a non issue.

:greendroid:

Leave em all on. I think anyone who tries to micro manage these settings is wasting time....
I leave them all on.

I agree if you are in an area with a solid signal but I can def tell everyone that with my Droid and wife's Eris , that our batt time is extended 2X or more when at home (where there's a weak signal, so much constantly goes b/t 3G - 1X) - when we disable the Mobile Network (which is an easy stock setting on the Eris' power down / lock screen & now easy to do on the Droid with a shortcut to the DATA Call setting).

The downside is that we don't get INTERNET related updates , GTalk IM's etc. , but most of the time while at home that's not needed anyway - but we can still receive phone calls and SMS.

I wouldn't disable the mobile network if we weren't in a weak area though (because elsewhere , our batteries seem to do well with the mobile network on). Also we use WiFi at home to check mail, access web stuff, then disable it, it's all not too restrictive (even easy for my wife to get and she's not into tech stuff - until the Eris, she loves it).

Just a thought for those in an area with a weak signal and may not know about the ability to turn off the Mobile Network on the Droid (since there's not a stock option to do so on the Droid as with the Eris).

Will be awesome down the line when we have portable power sources to keep up with our devices.

 

[johnsgresham]

going along with app management can anyone recommened a good free app manager?

 

[MastiffMom]

Ok. I've read all 13 pages on this thread and didn't find what I needed. So this noob will ask. Please have patience with me. I got my phone on the 19th. It is now the 22nd. I initially charged the battery up until it said it was full. This was sometime the evening of the 19th. I played with the phone a lot that evening. The next morning, when I was on my way to a class, it said the battery was at 30 and I used Nav because I'd never been to this class before. So I charged it in the car on the way to class. I was there for 9 hours and used the calculator a couple of times, but other than that, the phone was on standby and set for silent everything. I played with it some more that evening and then needed to recharge in the car yesterday afternoon around 2 pm. Last night, I'd read something about letting the battery go all the way down and charging for 24 hours. (I now know that isn't necessary) So, this morning, around 5, I plugged it in. I keep seeing that people's phones turn themselves back on when you plug them in, but mine didn't turn on and I couldn't turn it on. While it was charging, about every 30 minutes, it would turn itself on, make the start up sound and in a minute turn itself off again. I was unable to do anything or turn the phone on myself during this time. After a couple of hours, the phone turned itself on again and said the battery was fully charged. By then, I'd been reading this thread. I unplugged the phone and started setting my alarm to get up for work tonight and in the middle of that, the phone shut itself off again and now I can't turn it back on. I've tried taking the battery out and reinserting it. That did nothing. Just now, the phone turned itself on again. I quickly went in and uninstalled some apps, including weatherbug. I can get that off my computer and really, it's Seattle. What does it do except rain???
Anyway, now that it's charged up, why won't it stay on? Why does it keep turning itself back off again? Is my phone possessed? Should I call an exorcist? Until this morning, I loved this phone. I don't have a home phone, so I really need it.

 

[MastiffMom]

Ok. More info for anyone willing to help me. My phone turned itself on again. Home screen still shows a full battery icon in the upper left and the middle of the screen says battery is full. I quickly went to the battery usage page and it, of course, said no usage since last power up and that the battery charge was only at 5% and the battery icon was moving to indicate that it is currently charging. It was at 5% when I plugged the phone in at about 5 am. Is it not charging at all even though it's plugged in and the little white led is on next to the charging port?
I'm leaning towards possession. Does anyone know a good exorcist who specializes in technology?

 

[RT55]

My battery drained too. I charged it overnight and I thought it was fine. I barely used it today and took it out and it was warm to touch. Battery drained to 5%! So I tried to recharge it and instead of green battery symbol, it was a red battery symbol and red indicator light. Removed battery cover and put it back on and battery jumped to 20%.

I am now charging it and it's stuck at 20%. Also I didn't have many applications running that would drain battery so quickly. Only gtalk and something else. I turned them off this morning but there's no reason why the phone should drop to 5%.

 

[andjarnic]

You both need to return and get it replaced. They sound defective. I had issues with my first phone.. it kept getting stuck in sleep mode, I would have to remove the battery to get it to come back on. My replacement works just fine. For some reason, perhaps it's just us on this forum, but it seems a lot of people have had faulty phones. I don't know if Moto rushed to get this out before google/whoever released phones or what, and I am sure they wont ever acknowledge if there is like a 20% return rate on bad phones.. but it sure seems to me there have been a lot of moto droid problems with devices doing strange things. I would definitely return your phones and get new ones.

 

[mikes]

I quickly went to the battery usage page and it, of course, said no usage since last power up and that the battery charge was only at 5% ...

I've noticed that, for some reason, the battery usage page doesn't always automatically update every time you go into it. Hit menu, then refresh to make sure it's current.

 

[MastiffMom]

I work nights so I went to bed after I posted these. When I woke up, my phone was fully charged and working fine. Sigh. Hopefully now I can remain a happy Droid Mommy.

 

[silentlyloud]

In past experience, When you've had the device a wile and you notice that you arent getting the same amount of time on the phone like you used to and you want to keep a longer lasting charge, let the battery run down to its last 5-15% life and then charge from there. even tho the device is showing X% of life left, experience has shown that once you start to charge the battery's, they start to reset and want to charge from 0 life. whether its an internal battery or removable, this hypothesis has been proven useful.

In other words, At the end of the night, when you go to charge your device's battery, run it down as much as possible.

 

[SSHGuru]

Not with a L-Ion like we have - no memory so it doesnt matter at all.

In past experience, When you've had the device a wile and you notice that you arent getting the same amount of time on the phone like you used to and you want to keep a longer lasting charge, let the battery run down to its last 5-15% life and then charge from there. even tho the device is showing X% of life left, experience has shown that once you start to charge the battery's, they start to reset and want to charge from 0 life. whether its an internal battery or removable, this hypothesis has been proven useful.

In other words, At the end of the night, when you go to charge your device's battery, run it down as much as possible.