Other Powering 'on' iPhone how often (for long term storage)?

[dajjorg]

So I bought an old iPhone 5s to use while my SE was being repaired. Now that I have my SE back, I'm gonna put away the 5s until the next time I need a backup phone. That honestly might not be for a year or two.

I've read it'll ruin the iPhone's battery if you leave it turned off for a couple of years straight. So prevent the battery from going bust, how often will I need to turn on my backup phone and recharge it? Once a year? Once every 6 months? 3 months? Every month?

Also, any tricks to this? Like powering it up but not actually turning on the phone? Or only powering it up only half way?

Thanks!

 

[960design]

Charge it to 85%. Turn it off. Next birthday, charge to 85%, turn it off.

 

[Aoligei]

So I bought an old iPhone 5s to use while my SE was being repaired. Now that I have my SE back, I'm gonna put away the 5s until the next time I need a backup phone. That honestly might not be for a year or two.

I've read it'll ruin the iPhone's battery if you leave it turned off for a couple of years straight. So prevent the battery from going bust, how often will I need to turn on my backup phone and recharge it? Once a year? Once every 6 months? 3 months? Every month?

Also, any tricks to this? Like powering it up but not actually turning on the phone? Or only powering it up only half way?

Thanks!

So I bought an old iPhone 5s to use while my SE was being repaired. Now that I have my SE back, I'm gonna put away the 5s until the next time I need a backup phone. That honestly might not be for a year or two.

I've read it'll ruin the iPhone's battery if you leave it turned off for a couple of years straight. So prevent the battery from going bust, how often will I need to turn on my backup phone and recharge it? Once a year? Once every 6 months? 3 months? Every month?

Also, any tricks to this? Like powering it up but not actually turning on the phone? Or only powering it up only half way?

Thanks!

I have completely forgotten my Nexus 5 for about two years. Now the battery won’t charge at all. I have tried to left on charger for overnight, still nothing.

If you leave your battery uncharged for over year, battery will no longer hold charge.

Since then, I charge my phones and tablets in my drawer every 3 months.

 

[dajjorg]

Charge it to 85%. Turn it off. Next birthday, charge to 85%, turn it off.

Wow for real? Once a year is sufficient?... that helps a lot

 

[Aoligei]

Charge it to 85%. Turn it off. Next birthday, charge to 85%, turn it off.

I have charged my iPhones to 100% (iPhone 11 and iPhone XR) and left on drawer since the pandemic starts (not mask friendly). Both phone loss charges about half a month. One year is too long, and battery may not hold any charge at all

 

[akash.nu]

I have charged my iPhones to 100% (iPhone 11 and iPhone XR) and left on drawer since the pandemic starts (not mask friendly). Both phone loss charges about half a month. One year is too long, and battery may not hold any charge at all

Yes I agree with this statement. 1 year is too long.

Wow for real? Once a year is sufficient?... that helps a lot

You might wanna turn it on, use for a day and charge it back up and put away once every month if you want the best of both worlds.

 

[now i see it]

The phone is never really OFF when turning it off. The clock is still running and who knows what else. That's why the battery slowly discharges with time.

Lithium ion batteries are happiest at 40% SOC but storing them at 40% is too low (if there's a parasitic drain like the iPhone has). The "best" way to store an unused iPhone is to charge it to around 50% or so and check it every month or two or three. Top off if needed.
The worst thing to do is charge it to 100% and stick it in a drawer.

I have several old iPhones. Each one discharges when off at a different rate so there's no iron clad rule to follow.

 

[960design]

I have charged my iPhones to 100% (iPhone 11 and iPhone XR) and left on drawer since the pandemic starts (not mask friendly). Both phone loss charges about half a month. One year is too long, and battery may not hold any charge at all

My Original iPhone is still going strong. One month? My limited experience with about 15,000 devices disagrees with your 1 month of battery performance. I will concede that I have zero experience with iPhone XR and could certainly be incorrect with that device.

Charging to 100% for storage indicates a lack of knowledge regarding current battery technology.

I've seen 100s of iPhone 7s still have 35-45% at three years, in newly opened box. Of course, the battery status before storage will have a significant impact.

 

[rui no onna]

Iirc, Anker recommends charging for 30 minutes every 3 months to preserve battery health for power banks that are not used for long stretches of time. I reckon that's good advice for phones as well.

 

[960design]

Iirc, Anker recommends charging for 30 minutes every 3 months to preserve battery health for power banks that are not used for long stretches of time. I reckon that's good advice for phones as well.

Good advice for a lithium-ion cell battery (anker); not bad advice for a lithium-ion polymer (iphone). Just wanted to point out that these are two different battery types ( structure ). aka Apples to Oranges ( or more like grapes to raisins ).

 

[dajjorg]

The "best" way to store an unused iPhone is to charge it to around 50% or so and check it every month or two or three. Top off if needed.

What do you mean by "check it"? What should I be checking for? I mean, any phone that I store turned off for a couple months will initially have zero battery upon initially trying to power it back on after that month (regardless of what charge it was initially stored at), no?

"Top it off" to 50%, if the battery is below that level upon turning it on?

 

[cynics]

What do you mean by "check it"? What should I be checking for? I mean, any phone that I store turned off for a couple months will initially have zero battery upon initially trying to power it back on after that month (regardless of what charge it was initially stored at), no?

"Top it off" to 50%, if the battery is below that level upon turning it on?

Depends on the condition of the battery. Lithium ion has a useable voltage range between 2.7 and 4.3vdc. 3.8vdc would be the best place to store the battery so 40-60% and check the % monthly, then every other month...

4.1-4.3vdc is 100% charge. This voltage is more stressful on the battery with 4.2+vdc being considered 'overcharged' in w cases.

3.8-3.9vdc is 40-60% charge which is above the nominal charge of lithium but a good please to start with store.

3.6-3.7vdc is 40-50% charge. Depending on the battery composition this is nominal charge for Lithium Ion and where the batteries charge capacity is most effective when it comes to discharging at a particular rate.

3.0-3.1vdc is 5% charge. This bit of voltage is overhead to turn off the iPhone safely if its not plugged in.

2.7vdc is 0% and the device will shut off if it hasn't around.

2.2-2.5vdc is where the protection circuit will activate and the battery will sleep. With a decent battery it takes months to self discharge to this point. This prevents the battery from being charged at all due to the danger of using a standard charger to bring the battery back from the dead.

1.5vdc is typically dead and will short out regardless of effort to recover it if the protections weren't in place.

I have a few lithium ion batteries in various devices and if I take 5-12vdc right to the battery (bypassing the protection circuitry) for just 10-30 seconds I can usually bring it back to life by bumping the voltage above the protection threshold so the charger can take over. Do this where there is nothing flammable around under shield of some sort in case the battery overheats, builds up excessive gas, and vents battery fumes in your house or worse. This iPhone 4S battery couldn't be revived but using a USB battery I just connected to the battery terminals.

I just plugged my iPhone 5S in and it wasn't charging at all 4.9vdc@0.001amps=0watts. The dead battery icon would not come on indicating it needed to be plugged in or was plugged in. I figured it was permanently dead because its been sitting in a box for 2+ years. I left it plugged in for about 30-60 minutes and too my surprise it came back to life, now charging at 4.98v@.993amps=4.94watt.

There are certain devices/chargers that have a "wake/boost" function to try to bump the battery back to life while monitoring its stability. Didn't think that was something the iPhone was capable of but maybe....

 

[dajjorg]

Depends on the condition of the battery. Lithium ion has a useable voltage range between 2.7 and 4.3vdc. 3.8vdc would be the best place to store the battery so 40-60% and check the % monthly, then every other month...

This sounds like a simple enough plan! Interesting to read that when the phone turns off due to low battery, it still actually has battery in it.

I don't think I'll be bringing any old batteries back to life by bypassing the protection circuitry (basically means taking the battery out right?), but interesting to know it can be done. Actually, maybe I should reconsider... your story and pics make me wonder if somehow I could get my old iPhone 6 working again. In 2018 I dropped it and the rest of that day it worked fine, but that night I forgot to plug it in to charge it and the battery died. After that I was never able to recharge it again or use it. When I plug it into a charger it turns on (white screen) and shows the charging cable icon for about 8 seconds, then goes blank (black screen)... a cycle which repeats itself infinitely, even if I leave it plugged in for multiple days. Apple quoted me 200 Euro to fix it, not worth it for an old iPhone. But if the problem was solely battery damage, maybe doing what you do ("bypassing the protection circuitry") could get it back to life. Can anyone do it? What tools are needed?

 

[cynics]

This sounds like a simple enough plan! Interesting to read that when the phone turns off due to low battery, it still actually has battery in it.

I don't think I'll be bringing any old batteries back to life by bypassing the protection circuitry (basically means taking the battery out right?), but interesting to know it can be done. Actually, maybe I should reconsider... your story and pics make me wonder if somehow I could get my old iPhone 6 working again. In 2018 I dropped it and the rest of that day it worked fine, but that night I forgot to plug it in to charge it and the battery died. After that I was never able to recharge it again or use it. When I plug it into a charger it turns on (white screen) and shows the charging cable icon for about 8 seconds, then goes blank (black screen)... a cycle which repeats itself infinitely, even if I leave it plugged in for multiple days. Apple quoted me 200 Euro to fix it, not worth it for an old iPhone. But if the problem was solely battery damage, maybe doing what you do ("bypassing the protection circuitry") could get it back to life. Can anyone do it? What tools are needed?

If the battery is damaged physically you can get a good replacement from ifixit and a decent (cheap) replacement from ebay. ifixit.com includes the tools required to replace it too so might be a fun little project.