Maximum Battery life for Li-Ion batteries like LP-E6

I was just wondering, now that I've got the 5D2, whats the best way to maximize battery life.

Research on google has just confused me.

Some people say that you should completely discharge it and fully charge it every time because of memory effect.

Others say there is no memory effect, and it charges/discharges up to 300 times in a 2-3 year span, regardless of drainage.

Which is it?

http://en.wikipedia.or​g/wiki/Lithium-ion_battery

Li-Ion have no memory effect and a self-discharge rate of 5-10% per month.

The rechargeablilty/longev​ity of the battery has a lot more to do with the quality of construction and raw materials than normal use.

'Normal use' means you're not in Antarctica or the blazing desert sun most of the time.

The battery is shared with the 7D and 60D so you benefit from economies of scale and Canon's reputation. It's not like they manufacture it themselves, but they contract the right people and have expectations for their quality control.

The 'full discharge' protocol was a smart thing to do with Ni-Cads a decade ago, but it doesn't help Li-Ion batteries. It can however reset/improve the capacity prediction in the battery monitoring circuit.

The 'battery health' parameter is calculated and adjusted every second the camera (or your laptop) is running. If it thinks there's 10% left and you get 15% out of the battery then the boundaries are adjusted. I let my laptop run totally flat once every month or so for this reason.

Some Li-Ions are rated for 500 or 800 or even 1000 full cycles. Usually the more cycles comes with a much larger battery capacity, so I can accept the claim of 300 cycles on a small 2-cell camera battery.

'Cycles' is an interesting concept too. In laptops, it means you can have a 500-cycle battery and do about 1000 50%-charge-discharge cycles.
As you chew through the recharges the maximum charge the battery can hold decreases.

Time also decreases the capacity of Li-Ions. They can lose 20% of their rated capacity each year, even just sitting fully charged on a shelf.

No memory with a Lithium battery.

From what I've read, they do best around a 50% charge to maximize battery life. If you charge them 100% and leave them that way, they will lose some of their capacity faster. No idea how much of a difference that makes, but a half dead battery doesn't do me much good, so I try to keep a spare charged up all the way on hand when I go out.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOh, I see. Thanks.

As posted, Li-ion are not supposed to have a memory effect. An interesting observation: I have a 50D and an XTi. I have SterlingTek batteries for each. For some reason, the XTi batteries have a longer "shelf life" - that camera sets a lot and is very slow to lose a charge. The 50D batteries seem to lose charge faster.

The more complex integrated circuits in the newer batteries are always connected and will have some minor consumption.

Earlier batteries like the NB2L in your XTi (I have the 400D and just eyeballed the battery to make sure) has just a +ve, -ve and "T" contact on the battery. The voltage between at "T" varies with battery temperature. You can check it with a multimeter!

At $25 - 30 for third party batteries I really don't worry too much about cycles and longevity. Have a couple spares, when performance drops appreciably replace.

When these batteries ( IE: LP-E6 ) are getting near the end of their usable life do they seem to take a lot longer to charge ? I just got a used camera a while back and I've noticed the battery seems to take a long time to reach 100% .

nitehawk55 wrote in post #12144239
When these batteries ( IE: LP-E6 ) are getting near the end of their usable life do they seem to take a lot longer to charge ? I just got a used camera a while back and I've noticed the battery seems to take a long time to reach 100% .

Seems the opposite to me...most apparent on my cell phones which also use LiIon batteries. As they approach the usual two year "time for a new phone" ("Hello friend, welcome to ATT Wireless/Verizon/Sprin​t where we'll just have you sing the this incomprehensible two year marriage arrangement with small print that needs an electron microscope to see all the details - and pick a phone my boy"), the batteries seem to last a shorter time and seem to charge (at least show 100%) faster.

I think this gives you the answer or will it add more confusion.

http://batteryuniversi​ty.com …ing_lithium_ion​_batteries

As I found out with my laptop (and several other devices over the past few years) Li-Ion batteries ususally last longest when they are regularly used and operated between roughly 20%-100%.

So basically use til 20%, fully charge, use til 20%, etc. I dont think deep discharges regularly does them any good. Storing them for long periods of time doesnt do them any good either but as mentioned if you must, charge them up to 50-80% and then store them for best results.

I assume, then, that it is not good to leave the battery in the charger until needed ?

Yeah not good. The same with laptops, Li-Ion dont like being float charged for extended periods. Disconnect the power once it's fully charged.

(don't worry if it's on for a few hours, but dont leave the camera batteries on for days. I think it's because they're staying warm and the chemistry of the battery degrades faster at higher temps)

Thanks bdp. I better change my methods fast.