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I know that I probably shouldn't let the battery run so low on my Kindle Fire, but occasionally I have let it dip below 5%. Once this happens, the device no longer let's me trickle charge, and it powers itself down, even while plugged in.

Is there a way to override this setting? Sometimes I want to finish something up before letting it rest and charge up completely. To what extent does it damage the battery to run it so low?

jonsca
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    I believe the Kindle Fie is designed to shutdown when the battery charge is low to protect the battery cells from being damaged (Lithium Ion batteries self-discharge). Not a good idea to let them run too low (often). – Jason Down Jan 07 '14 at 06:25

1 Answers1

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Unfortunately this is not possible. The exact explanation for this actually comes from Android. Buried deep within the Android source code is this little gem:

BatteryService.java:239

private void shutdownIfNoPowerLocked() {
    if (mBatteryLevel == 0 && !isPoweredLocked(BatteryManager.BATTERY_PLUGGED_ANY)) {
        [...]

This basically forces the system to shutdown if the battery level reaches 0%. The isPoweredLocked function determines whether any of the following are true:

  • The battery status is unknown
  • The device is connected to AC
  • The device is connected via a USB cable
  • The device is within range of a wireless charger

It should also be noted (as Jason mentioned in his comment) that lithium-ion batteries typically power off when they reach a predetermined low voltage to prevent further discharge and consequent damage.

Community
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Nathan Osman
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  • No problem - I ran into a similar problem when the battery gauge on one of my Android phone went berserk and it wouldn't stay powered on even with a full battery. – Nathan Osman Jan 12 '14 at 01:27