# Questions about K3 Battery Life & Charging Habits



## Cirlonde (Sep 25, 2010)

Hi!  I'm super new around here and to the Kindle in general, so please forgive me if I ask anything that should be obvious.    I did run a search but mostly found info referring to previous versions of the Kindle.  Background info:  I received my K3 on September 15th.  I fully charged it that day and began using it when I got home from work that evening.  I rarely have the Wifi/3G capabilities turned on, never turn the K3 completely off but just let it "sleep" when I'm not using it, and I use it for probably between 2 & 4 hours a day total.  It is just now at about 30-40% charge.

Now, my goal here is to do everything possible to extend the overall battery life and life of the Kindle for as long as possible.  I want to do whatever is best for the battery so that it will continue to hold a good charge for a long time.  However, I don't know much at all about different types of batteries or anything like that.  So, for my questions...(1) I can remember being told that with cell phones, it is always best to let the batteries run completely down before fully recharging them and to never take the phone off the charger until it had reached 100% charged.  Is this true for Kindles as well?  (2) Or is it better to charge the K3 frequently, whether it really needs it or not?  Say every couple of days?  Keep in mind, I'm not concerned with wanting to use it and it not being charged as I don't travel much and even then always have a charger with me.  (3) Is it easier on the battery (and on the Kindle itself) to shut the K3 down when I'm not using it for awhile (say, overnight), or to put it to sleep?  (4) I've read that temperature can affect batteries also.  Should I be sure never to leave my K3 in the car or the sun, etc?  What are the temperature extremes to avoid?  I have noticed that when I read outside the page turns get noticeably slower even though it's only in the mid 70s to low 80s here right now.

Thanks so much for your help!!  If you have any other advice about caring for my Kindle, please do share!  I want to be enjoying it for years to come. 
-C


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## Mike D. aka jmiked (Oct 28, 2008)

The only fact that seems to be substantiated by manufacturer's literature is to NOT run the battery all the way down before re-charging. I've seen warnings that it can damage the battery. I'd suggest not letting it run down much more after the Low Battery warning pops up.

Otherwise, charge it whenever you feel like it, or leave it plugged in. It makes no difference if the Kindle is on or off (it's never completely off in any event, it needs to keep current time and monitor for keystrokes to turn back on).


Mike


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## Fireheart223 (Oct 3, 2010)

I've heard other Kindle users say that its best to leave the Kindle in sleep mode when you're not using it, rather than to shut it all the way off, as turning it back on uses more battery power than leaving it in sleep mode, which will not drain your battery in the time while its idle. Only shut your Kindle all the way off if you're not going to be using it for a few days, or else if you happen to be traveling, shut it off before you go through airport scanners, as some Kindle users have reported their batteries going a bit kooky after being scanned while their Kindle was turned on. Also, the obvious one, not leaving your wifi/3G turned on while you don't need it, which will drain your battery, especially if your signal strength keeps jumping around. Charging it often is good for it too, since its a lithium battery and therefore doesn't have memory as nickel batteries do. That way it doesn't have to work as hard to recharge. I personally like to recharge mine when it gets to about half-charged.


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## GJSchulze (Nov 16, 2010)

Page turns use power, so the more words on a page the longer your battery will last. I use the smallest font, although I have to remove my glasses so I can read it, even with bifocals. Choose the smallest line spacing. There is also a hack to reduce the margins by going into the system/com.amazon.ebook.booklet.reader/reader.pref file and changing HORIZONTAL_MARGIN from 40 to 20 or 10. While you're in there, you can set the JUSTIFICATION=left. This won't increase words per page, but I find left justification easier to read than full. My wife has a K2 which she sets to a rather large font. I can hear her go "click, click, click" because of her constant page turns compared to my occasional "click."


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