Jayryl’s advice looks like it’s quoted directly from SanDisk’s website. They tell you to fully charge and then fully discharge, and then repeat 3 to 5 times. https://kb.sandisk.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/242/~/charging-the-sansa-battery-for-the-first-time
I was confused by the conflicting advice, but I started the procedure and sent customer support a question about it. (I have a Clip+.) They responded, “it is not necessary however it is recommended to charge the player for 3 hours prior to first use for better performance of the battery but this need not be repeated for 3-5 times. As doing it prior the first use will be enough.” There is nothing there about doing a full discharge.
In the article from Battery University, I read, “Similar to a mechanical device that wears out faster with heavy use, the depth of discharge (DoD) determines the cycle count of the battery. The smaller the discharge (low DoD), the longer the battery will last. If at all possible, avoid full discharges and charge the battery more often between uses.”
So, assuming that the kind of battery in the Clip+ is the same kind they are describing, it is counterproductive to follow the advice in SanDisk’s website, correct? I did the full discharge only once so hopefully it is not enough by itself to kill my battery, but I am chagrined that following the manufacturer’s instructions would actually be detrimental to the life of the product (if I understand correctly).
So why on earth would a major manufacturer tell its consumers to do something like that? Please correct me if there’s something I’m missing here. Thanks.
