How to drain battery

[Kim]

What is best way to drain battery to periodically let it charge from dead. I can't figure how to get it to run on in any application without it going to sleep and shutting off, even slide show.

 

[iPadCharlie]

Go into Settings (the thing that looks like a bunch of gears) then General the Auto-Lock

Then select Never

This will leave the screen on all the time. Just remember to put it back to where you had it when you are done!

 

[mslammers]

I don't know how far down in % the battery in the iPad can/should go. I imagine that it has current left even if the % indicator showed 0%. Manufacturers work hard to prevent TOTAL discharge of Li Ion batteries since they can cause problems when discharged to zero %.
OK, I looked up the battery in the User Guide [read it in depth in the battery areas] and to have the most accurate measuring [%] Apple recommends a complete discharge and recharge [back up to 100% each month. That won't have anything to do with battery lifetime [please note that Apple calls "how long you can use the iPad without charging the battery "battery life" and how many years/charge cycles (1000 cycles and about 3 years) is called "battery lifetime."

A cycle is defined [in all the places I could find on the internet] as completely discharging and recharging to 100%. Discharging to 50% and recharging back to 100% can be done twice to get to one cycle. Most of this is analog data "meaning fuzzy edges" rather than absolutely precise as "digital data" might be.

So here is a draft set of rules [no warranty by me].

1. Charge back to 100% at least once per month from wherever you ran it down to.
2. Don't count on either the battery picture or the % to give you super accurate facts.
3. Don't let your iPad get too far away from 72 degrees F.
4. Don't get your iPad dunked in water.
5. Don't let kids under 6 play with it unsupervised.
6. Don't often run your iPad completely down. Remember Apple is saying that "run down and recharge to 100%" guidance is to maintain the best accuracy of the charge meter. It doesn't have anything to do with "battery lifetime"
7. Don't worry too much about all this, but stay reasonably alert.
8. Have fun. All of this is IMHO. Also it wouldn't hurt to do a little research on Li Ion batteries on the 'net. Put Li Ion in google and do a bit of reading.

Mel Lammers

 

[hookbill]

With a lithium battery, it's not necessary to charge down the battery. That thinking goes with the old nicad batteries.

In fact draining your battery too often is more harmful then good. Doesn't hurt to do it once every couple of months, but that's it.