Battery appears to not charge fully

iSTAR contains a dual cell Lithium-ion battery which was chosen due to its good power to size ratio, no memory effect and slow loss of charge when not in use. This type of battery needs to be charged in a specific way to avoid damage to the cells and ensure a long lifetime.

iSTAR has been designed to analyse the battery and only apply the charge or the right amount of charge, at the right time to get the best performance from the battery. This sometimes can cause confusion to a user when iSTAR does not appear to be charging. 

To get the best life from your battery, you should only connect mains power your iSTAR to charge your battery when informed to do so by the low battery icon. Connecting your iSTAR to mains power to Top-Up your battery is possible, but not recommended as it will reduce the life span of your battery. 

There are 2 states to charging a Lithium-ion battery that iSTAR caters for when mains power is connected, these are
1 - Battery has a charge - iSTAR will begin charging to 100% or for a maximum of 3 hours.
2 - Battery is dead - iSTAR will detect the battery has ran very low and will trickle charge the battery for 1Hr then begin charging fully for a further 3Hrs.(4Hrs)

Why is my battery not 100% charged when left overnight?

It is common for users to want to charge their battery overnight thus running the charge for longer than 3Hrs, but when the battery level is checked it is not fully charged. This situation arises from the battery reaching 100% charge during the 3Hrs after which iSTAR will stop charging. The battery will then begin to loose charge whether iSTAR is in use or not. The status of the battery will be shown by iSTAR which may lower than 100% by that time. iSTAR will not charge begin recharging the battery again until the safe limit for recharge has been reached.

When iSTAR is powered from mains, iSTAR will begin to charge the battery to 100% but will not use the battery power. This means that a fully charged battery will continue to discharge slowly even when connected to mains power. Recharging will not commence again until the safe limit for a recharge has been reached, or the user power cycles iSTAR (not recommended).

Example charging scenario for a single cell Lithium-ion battery.