Battery life- have you had to replace yours?

[Lynn]

I was wondering if any of you have had the battery in your Kindle fail after a few months? I was considering getting a backup battery, so I was looking at the reviews on amazon. It appears that some people were having the battery only last a couple months and  that it is difficult to remove. I thought that maybe it is just that only those with issues were reviewing and the percentage of Kindle owners with problems really is insignificant. I had thought to get a battery as a back up in case the one I have goes dead, but then I realized you can't charge it outside the Kindle. So I don't think I will get one at this time since I don't want to open the back up any more than necessary.

Lynn

[Kirstin]

It isn't hard to remove at all.  I saw the same posts and ordered a backup.  Just in case.  I'd rather have it and not need it than need it and not have it.

[Teninx]

Since the Kindle is only now approaching its one-year anniversary, I would say that any battery failure is a result of manufacturing defect.  I've had two Kindles for six months; they are used every day, recharged every night and have remained problem-free.

[Susan M]

I just changed mine last week - It worked fine for almost 10 months and then had trouble holding a charge.  I could read for a really long time, but if I tried to use the wireless - it drained almost instantly.  My panic came when I was out on a boat with a "full charge" and I tried to show my Kindle and the Kindle store to someone.  All of a sudden, I had no charge.  Panic

I ordered a new battery that day.  My daughter's battery has lasted almost a year - but she doesn't access wireless at all, so it is a different usage type for her.  She only charges the Kindle every few days.  I charge mine almost daily (or nightly, I should say).  I wonder if that "wears out" the battery quicker.

Susan

[asordu]

I thought about getting an extra battery, but then I thought that if I did and I didn't need to replace it for a year or more, would the new one have drained and gone bad? I've decided to hold off until I need one.

As far as replacing it, I was having problems resetting it last week and pulled the battery out to see if that would help. It came out nice and easy, but with large fingers I did find it very frustrating trying to get the little plug plugged back in.

[pghaworth]

I charge mine almost daily (or nightly, I should say).  I wonder if that "wears out" the battery quicker.

Susan

IMHO it does but then it's just an opinion. We need to ask Amazon.

[Linda Cannon-Mott]

I use my Kindle daily & charge it once a week. I've only had it since 09/29/08 so I haven't ordered a back up yet.

Linda

[Angela]

So far so good here... of course have only had Kindle with no name for a week, but have only had to charge twice... the day of arrival and last night! I will probably get an additional battery at some point, but don't feel the need too yet.

[BFFKindle]

I was one of the very first purchases of the Kindle (Nov 17, 2007).  Almost our year anniversary and I'm still in love!  I use almost daily, charge every 2-3 days for good measure, and have never had a problem at all.  However, I am thinking of buying a back-up battery now that it's been this long because I never want to be without my best friend.

[Leslie]

I was one of the very first purchases of the Kindle (Nov 17, 2007).  Almost our year anniversary and I'm still in love!  I use almost daily, charge every 2-3 days for good measure, and have never had a problem at all.  However, I am thinking of buying a back-up battery now that it's been this long because I never want to be without my best friend.

Welcome, BFF! Just in time for the party. Glad to have you here!

Leslie

[BFFKindle]

Thank you, Leslie.  I'm so glad I finally found this board. I will check in most every day.  Thanks for starting it!

[Leslie]

Thank you, Leslie.  I'm so glad I finally found this board. I will check in most every day.  Thanks for starting it!

Actually, it's Harvey who started it so he gets the thanks for that! I joined back in April. Things were quiet for quite a few months and then we had an explosion. I call it the Oprah effect. 

L

[LuckyRainbow]

Now if we could just get it featured on The Colbert Report, we would get the "Colbert Bump".

[jah]

I have had mine since March, I use my kindle daily and charge it 1 or 2 a week depending on how much i read.  I have not had any problems at all (knock on wood).

[WestPointer1968]

I can't speak for the Kindle battery, but in my former business I used battery powered material handling equipment.  I was told that the unnecessary recharging of the batteries did lessen the life of the battery.  I haven't had my Kindle all that long, but I don't charge it every night, but rather when the indicator goes to about half charge.  I only takes a couple of hours to full charge from that position.  I like my Kindle but can be without if for that short period of time.

John

[Leslie]

I can't speak for the Kindle battery, but in my former business I used battery powered material handling equipment.  I was told that the unnecessary recharging of the batteries did lessen the life of the battery.  I haven't had my Kindle all that long, but I don't charge it every night, but rather when the indicator goes to about half charge.  I only takes a couple of hours to full charge from that position.  I like my Kindle but can be without if for that short period of time.

John

You can read on it while it's charging, so you really don't need to be without it.

L

[cush]

The Kindle uses a lithium-polymer battery. These, unlike the nickel cadmium (NiCad) batteries of times past, do not develop a "memory" so there is no need to fully discharge them before recharging.
 
Listed below are a couple of sites that give good explanations of the charging considerations for this type of battery. The thing that stands out is that it is not good for these batteries to be fully discharged and then recharged.  Looks like it's best to let them get down to 50% or a little less and then recharge.

Another point made is that high temperatures are bad for these batteries.  One of the articles states that lithium polymer batteries last about two to three years in "normal" service and there is some advice recommending that one notbuy a spare battery because apparently they age in storage.  Might be better to get a new one as soon as you notice a degradation in performance (failure to hold a charge for the usual length of time).

There is some discussion on the possibility of the battery charge indicator "meter" gradually getting out of calibration. The article recommends, about every 30 charge cycles, letting the device using the battery run until it no longer operates and then recharging it s to reestablish the calibration. I think I will put up with an inaccurate meter.  The Kindle charge indicator may not have this problem so it may be moot..

There are some warnings regarding trickle charging or overcharging these batteries- I assume that Amazon has taken care of that with the charging control circuitry within the Kindle and the charger design.  Looks like only the furnished charger should be used but I may be wrong on that.

After all that here's what I do.  I run the Kindle until the charge indicator drops to about 50% or a little less, then I give it an overnight charge.

Here are the links:
http://www.batteryuniversity.com/parttwo-34.htm
http://www.powerstream.com/li.htm

[Jesslyn]

I have had my Kindle for 7 months use it daily and charge it about once a week when I think about it rather than on a schedule.  No problems here

[Leslie]

Over at Amazon, someone asked about using the USB cable to charge the Kindle. Based on various conversations I have had with people, including my computer guy, Mike, this is what I answered:

Q: Can you use the USB connection to charge the Kindle?

A: The short answer to this question is no. The long answer is, you probably can but I am not sure it's worth it.

One person told me that the trickle charge for the USB to charge the Kindle is 20 hours. To do this, your computer must be ON (not sleeping, not in hibernation) and the Kindle must be OFF. In addition, you need to check the power saving options for your computer as many computers turn off the power to the USB ports. So that would need to be adjusted.

So....leave your computer ON for 20 hours, adjust the power saving options, leave your Kindle OFF for 20 hours and it might...just might...charge via the USB cable. I haven't actually tried this myself since it is just easier to plug it into the wall for an hour or two.

I have heard of two cases where people went on trips with only the USB, intending to charge that way, and their Kindles were dead inside of 24 hours.


L

[cush]

I have heard of two cases where people went on trips with only the USB, intending to charge that way, and their Kindles were dead inside of 24 hours.


L

Yes, this is exactly what happened to my brother-in-law on his first trip with his Kindle.  This is a computer savvy engineer who just "knew" that the USB port hookup would charge his Kindle.  Not!  Now he uses the charger as Jeff Bezos (blessed be his name) intended!

[soapy70]

I have had my Kindle since February-generally charge it a couple times a week and have had no problems with the battery.(Fingers crossed!) I decided to wait until I need the battery to buy a new one. No sense in it sitting around waiting for me to need it.