Do You Need to Keep the Devices You Rarely Touch Charged Up?

Nintendo has announced to owners of their Switch consoles that, if their devices aren’t charged up at least every six months, battery life could be impacted. Now, bear with us: while we realize that this may not seem to be all that pertinent to businesses, it brings up an important practice for businesses to follow: regularly charging even the devices that are used less often.

Everyone has those devices that they pull out once in a great while, but don’t really use on a day-to-day basis. Maybe your business keeps a small video camera handy for events, social media content, and the like. If it isn’t used all the time, however, the battery could become subject to an assortment of issues as it sits idle. Battery life duration could diminish, or the battery itself could become unstable and replicate those found in the explosive Samsung Note 7.

Think about how many devices you have that feature a rechargeable battery and are stashed away somewhere for safekeeping. That’s a considerable risk that’s piled up for some time.

How to Charge These Devices Safely

When storing these devices for extended periods of time, it is recommended that you level out these devices at 50 percent charge before packing them away, refreshing them every three to six months. Try storing it someplace cool and dry.

If it’s been a while since a device has been used, make sure that you double-check that there’s no sign of damage or other issues before plugging it in again. And, if you do need to dispose of some older technology, make sure that you’re doing so properly.

When it comes to the smartphones, tablets, and laptops that you likely use more often than some of these other devices, the rules are a little different. These devices tend not to lose any battery life until after they have been fully drained and charged back up about 500 times, and they can be left plugged in without doing too much to the battery in terms of wear and tear.

This doesn’t count towards that 500 count, either.

Why Does This Matter to Businesses?

How many spare devices does your business have lying around? How much would it cost your business to replace these devices if the need should arise?

More likely than not, quite the sum.

Therefore, it is important to know how to maintain your technology so that it can be relied upon when you need it, and to have a resource at the ready should it need to be repaired or replaced. Walsh IT Group can be that resource for you. Give us a call at (832) 295-1445 to find out more about what we have to offer.