As the battery is running down does the M1 lose power or effectiveness? I’ve noticed one of my handheld red light therapy lights that as the battery winds down it’s MUCH less bright/intense and the manufacturer did confirm for me that on their next Gen device they are correcting this.
As I remember from an answer of @Bob: Yes. The Battery has to load a capacitor and when the pulse-rate per second is high, and/or a 2x2 coil is used, this can have impact on the effectiveness. In case I use the 2x2 or b5-c5 / Ommi8 I change the battery before it is run down.
@hcf is correct. A bit more detail:
Batteries are crude chemical reactors. I design internal regulation in ICES-PEMF devices to achieve steady performance for as long as possible, but eventually batteries lose their ability to deliver a given level of power. This is just a fact, not really a function of the quality of a design or anything like that. It results from the fact that as a battery grinds through its stored energy, it changes chemically, and it changes as an electrical component (for example, voltage drops, charge capacity is lost over time, and the internal resistance, output series impedance, increases, reducing the ability for a battery to deliver power).
The performance of almost every battery powered device you will ever use degrades as the battery loses charge, whether or not you notice it.
Solution:
When you think a battery is about half worn out, replace it with a freshly-charged battery.
How do you know how long…?
Just like everything else in life: pay attention.
Example, if your device runs for about 4 hours until the battery fully discharges, then:
A- to retain full performance, change the battery about every 2 hours.
or
B- Just understand that you have decided to live with reduced performance for the last half of the operational life of the battery.
Would a work around (compromise I know) be maybe powering it via mini usb and connecting the USB to a small power bank (maybe a 5000mah bank)? That way you’d retain some of the portability. And would any power bank with a USB work?
The battery bank needs to have trickle-charge capability because the M1 is very ultra-low power, so a lot of power banks will just shut off because the electrical load is too low. But trickle-charge mode should work just fine.
Wondering if something as follows (Amazon link at bottom) would work. This particular power bank has a trickle charging mode (maybe @Bob can let us know if trickle charging mode is even required) described as:
Trickle Charging Mode
Use the 321 Power Bank to charge low-powered devices such as Bluetooth headphones or portable speakers without worrying about overcharging.
Or would trickle charging mode not be required? Not sure if the m1 is considered a “low powered device” such as Bluetooth headphones. Here is a link to the product on Amazon.
Yes I think that will work fine.
You definitely need trickle mode because the M1 is ultra-low power.
Yes I have the cable and the one that charges the battery that you include with the m1 would work also. Now I am having my doubts about the trickle mode since it might provide too little power since I believe the mini usb cable plugged into a standard USB A output would likely control the flow of power on its own. Would it not? Kinda like plugging into a standard wall charger. There isn’t a trickle mode on standard usb wall chargers.
You are saying the cable itself is controlling the charge, rather than the charger? Somehow this doesn’t make sense to me. The cable is just wires. Except the ones that have those boxes inline.
I’m just saying if you plugged it into a standard wall charger there would be no trickle mode and it would supposedly work just fine right?
And yes. Different cables allow for differences in charging strengths. Usb C cables allow for up to 45 watt charging for example.
@flaurel: The M1 does not need much power. Any USB-cable is o.k. You can use a small USB power-bank instead of the battery for the M1. That is a good solution for using the M1 in fixed locations like the bed.