How to extend the life of Lithium Ion batteries?

Lithium Ion batteries are very unlike any of their rechargeable predecessors.

NiCd need to be dischared fully and recharged for maximum usage; this was due to Memory Effect. If you leave them in a device fully charged, they will slowly discharge and loose their ability to recharge fully. This is true even if you leave them on a trickle charger. A year later they will be dead and not be able to store a charge. This is why so many in-home cordless phone batteries go dead after a year; they never get fully discharged (I have been using the original battery pack in a phone for 3 years now, and the pack shows no signs of weakening. I discharge it every few months by leaving the phone off the cradle).

NiMh batteries do NOT need to be fully discharged during use. They have no memory effect. But they DO have a higher self-discharge rate; that means that if you leave them in a device fully charged, they will have only a fraction of their charge a month or two months later. But you can then fully charge them when you need them.

Litium Ion batteries are very different, both in their self-discharge and recharge characteristics. You can take a fully-charged battery pack and put it on a shelf. Six months later it will still have a good 75% or more of the charge. But you should NEVER allow them to become fully discharged; as this may prevent them from being able to take a charge again. This is why most devices that use Litihium Ion batteries have sensors that detect when the battery pack is low and will shut down the equipment.

Lithium Ion batteries can ge charged quickly, but only in special chargers that can regulate the charge rate. As the battery approaches full charge, they begin to warm up. There is a sensor in the battery pack that detects this rise in heat and turns down the charge rate. That's whay you never see Lithium Ion batteries sold loose; they need to be in a pack that can regulate the charge rate.

As one other writer answered, the best way to get maximum life is to keep and use the batteries at room temperature. Excess heat or cold will shorten their charge\discharge cycle capacity.

Oh.

Any thing via rechargeable batteries should be maintained properly.

Well, personally, I do these:

(1) I never used them till the battery die down to a level the device will shut down

(2) For my laptop, I quickly recharge the battery as soon as the battery indicator shows a level of not lower than 30%

If you can, try opting for devices that comes without built-in batteries. External rechargeable batteries tend to have better life, and the good is that when recharging, it won't burnt the components within the devices.

BTW if you keep these items for some time, be sure to charge up once every 1 month if you store it and left it unused. Else you could possibly kill the cells of the battery if it keeps on being idle for some time.

It is a fact that if you run the battery all the way down and then charge it all the way up and don't plug it in until it is dead it will make the batteries last longer. Some things you don't want to do are: leave the device plugged in for long periods of time, don't let the device get too hot, don't let the device get too cold. If you do these things your batteries will last longer.

Ask yourself; what things can you stick in the freezer to extend its life? Anything living and active?No. Stuff like dead meat and icecream. Batteries are a little bit like human beings, hug it, warm it up, love your battery.