Add the ability to limit charging at 80% :: Steam Deck Feature Requests

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Thr0nSK Mar 25, 2022 @ 11:25am

Add the ability to limit charging at 80%

A lot of users and I would love to be able to set a charging limit on the Deck to extend battery health. I would like to be able to play off of a power bank and keep the Deck at maximum 80% all the time (the same when charging from an outlet)
I know some linux laptops support this feature so that gives me a little bit of hope that it would be possible to do it on the Deck as well if valve implemented it.
I love how easy it is to replace the joystics, it gives me peace of mind, however, I am a little worried about the battery health - the battery replacement isn't the easiest so I would like to do as much as I can not to need one.

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Showing 1-15 of 281 comments

AquaDuck Mar 25, 2022 @ 2:52pm

This is something I'm a bit concerned about, especially with the battery being glued into place and not a generic pack.

Coffee Mar 25, 2022 @ 4:23pm

It's pointless.

I only add a few charging cycle more but all to waste your time.
Just don't decharge it fully and charging it often 10% at the time.

The 80% is a myth and seriously variable.
The chip that control the power/charging already do something to avoid this.

Prezidentas Mar 25, 2022 @ 10:41pm

Originally posted by Wenhop:
This is something I'm a bit concerned about, especially with the battery being glued into place and not a generic pack.

you will have to replace it at some point anyways

Prezidentas Mar 25, 2022 @ 10:44pm

Originally posted by Ꝙ Ghosthunter Ꝙ:
It's pointless.

I only add a few charging cycle more but all to waste your time.
Just don't decharge it fully and charging it often 10% at the time.

The 80% is a myth and seriously variable.
The chip that control the power/charging already do something to avoid this.

I don't see how a chip would fix a chemical reaction problem. It's not a myth, just more trouble than it's worth.

Coffee Mar 25, 2022 @ 11:44pm

Originally posted by Red Star Gopnik:
Originally posted by Ꝙ Ghosthunter Ꝙ:
It's pointless.

I only add a few charging cycle more but all to waste your time.
Just don't decharge it fully and charging it often 10% at the time.

The 80% is a myth and seriously variable.
The chip that control the power/charging already do something to avoid this.
I don't see how a chip would fix a chemical reaction problem. It's not a myth, just more trouble than it's worth.

The charging management...

Lithium batteries are evolving too.
The whole 80% is a myth!

Thr0nSK Mar 26, 2022 @ 10:54am

It is absolutely not a myth that charging over 80% negatively impacts battery health.

Patata68 Apr 21, 2022 @ 12:16pm

It is not just "a myth", that is basic chemistry or better physics. Battery wants to be around 50-55%, because the voltages in this area are the best for minimum wear.

People like me are planning on hooking it up to the TV for stream playing from their main desktop (or playing in bed, when GF calls) and then take it outside once in a while.

Keeping the device/battery at 90-100% all the time would increase the wear (not as much as letting it drain completely to 0% though). Thats also why the charging above 80% slow due to the voltages and the drawback for the battery itself.

In aspect of pricier notebooks having "easy" software implementations of having the battery not charge to charge over 80% are increasing the durability is always recommended. When I know I am going outside, I still can toggle it off and let it charge higher.
Thats the same thing, when I used my notebook (Samsung Series 7 770Z5E) as a primary machine --> I never let the battery charge higher as 80%.

Another important argument FOR such a limitation would be that switching out the battery is not an easy task due to being glued into the steam deck. I fully understand why they did it (cause they can pack slightly more battery capacity into it), but therefore, I would love it even more having more time due the battery needs to be replaced.

Would be also a strong point for letting the user decide what to do and use it in a most user-friendly way.

Adi Apr 21, 2022 @ 1:19pm

I would also love to have this feature on the Steam Deck.

Chryseus Apr 21, 2022 @ 1:35pm

There isn't really enough information available yet to determine how long it'll last, it depends heavily on average temperature, cutoff voltage, charge voltage and more, if you recharge once per day you can expect roughly 2 years of usable capacity, taking care to not fully discharge it you may double this, leaving it on the charger is also not an issue as Valve have already said it'll stop charging automatically and begin discharging.