Laptop battery advice that can save you cash !

[r0muluz]

A GUIDE TO GOOD LAPTOP BATTERY USE !!!


"If a mod/ admin could sticky this then that would be great as it would help a lot of users with their problems with batteries that they have overused but seem to don't thing that they have etc..."



FOR all you's users who use your laptops a lot, well on power from the mains mostly that is.

TAKE OUT THE BATTERY COMPLETELY !!! U DON'T NEED IT NOW DO U ?

ONLY EVER USE YOUR BATTERY IF YOUR GOING TO USE IT SOMEWHERE LIKE OUTSIDE OR KNOW YOUR GOING TO BE USING THE BATTERY AT A FRIENDS/ RELATIVES/ AIRPORT ETC.. BLAH BLAH..

Leaving the battery inside the laptop all the time means that the charger always tops it up/ trickle charges it. basically it's still charging it although it says 95 or 99% etc...


I only use my batteries when I know I'm going to be on battery power.




Also another tip.
For you's of you who use your battery/ batteries hardly ever or not at all then this tips for you.

1: fully charge the battery to %100, remove the charger, run the battery down to about between 40-60% doesnt need to be %50 bang on etc u get the idea... now store the battery in say a drawer or a nice cool dry place...
2: When you need to use the battery again just take it out & give it a full charge & away you go again.

"Me personally I just barely use my batteries & about once every 3 months I do that charge to %100 & run down to %40-%60 thing for ALL MY LAPTOPS & ALL MY BATTEIRES."

These tips will save you a fortune in money on buying replacement batteries all because they were used when they were not really needed to be as they just got too many charge top ups/ trickle charges done to them.

Treat a laptop battery well & it''l last you years...

 

[davidh]

another way is to charge ur laptop battey up to 100% remove the power chord and use it when it says change to mains do it
allways run you battery down and it will last for yrs

 

[r0muluz]

another way is to charge ur laptop battey up to 100% remove the power chord and use it when it says change to mains do it
allways run you battery down and it will last for yrs

With all due respect there m8, you too are using your battery when it appears your charger would do instead...
Why charge it to %100 then run it down to 3% or so then charge it to %100 again & again etc if you were just lazing around the house ?
The only thing you have succeeded in doing here is clocking on another 2 full cycles to your battery & a lot more as it looks like you do this all the time.

Your way = 100's of cycles = a battery will die a lot faster.
my way = maybe 4 full cycles = the battery will out live your way by a long long long way.

I fail to understant your logic of constantly charging/ discharging your battery will make it last longer o_0 because it won't, it will make it last a lot less due to simple wear & tear.


greetz Rom. (M.C.S.A.)

 

[oneman]

In addition if you are running on battery the laptop is most likely throttling performance and screen brightness in order to preserve battery life.

 

[Captin]

I learned this lesson the hard way. I left my battery in my laptop and left the charger in all the time, now the battery is dead, it wont hold a charge longer than 5 minutes. Mind you it took 3 years to do it so I'm due for a new laptop anyways.

 

[davidh]

With all due respect there m8, you too are using your battery when it appears your charger would do instead...
Why charge it to %100 then run it down to 3% or so then charge it to %100 again & again etc if you were just lazing around the house ?
The only thing you have succeeded in doing here is clocking on another 2 full cycles to your battery & a lot more as it looks like you do this all the time.

Your way = 100's of cycles = a battery will die a lot faster.
my way = maybe 4 full cycles = the battery will out live your way by a long long long way.

I fail to understant your logic of constantly charging/ discharging your battery will make it last longer o_0 because it won't, it will make it last a lot less due to simple wear & tear.


greetz Rom. (M.C.S.A.)

the logic is in most cases
letting the charge go to 50% then storing it is going to lose some charge then charging it back up
the batterys have memory and this is why charge and discharge works
if u charge ur battery up to 100% then let it drop to 50% then store then charge back up to 100% this will make the battery remmber 50% and that is all it will then charge up to

but any way do it ur way

but personally using ur computer/laptop like this i would sell it and buy a base unit

 

[davidh]

How to extend laptop battery life? Here are some more tips to improve your notebook's battery life:

1. If you do not use your laptop for extended periods of time (a week or more), remove the battery pack from the laptop.

2. Do not expose the battery to high heat or freezing temperatures. Do not leave your battery in your car in the summer. Hot batteries discharge very quickly, and cold ones can't create as much power.

3. Make sure to plug your laptop charger adapter into a UPS and not directly into a power outlet or surge protector.

4. If you have a nickel-metal hydride battery, completely drain and recharge the battery once a month to maximize its capacity to hold a charge.

5. Fully charge new battery packs before use. New pack needs to be fully charged and discharged (cycled) a few times before it can condition to full capacity.

6. For laptops that work as Desktop Replacement, the battery should be re-installed every 3-4 weeks and allowed to fully discharge.

7. Leaving a battery in a laptop while using an electrical outlet for long periods of time will keep the battery in a constant state of charging up and that will reduce the life cycle of the battery.

10 Tips to make your Laptop Battery last longer - Digital Inspiration

 

[adam]

4. If you have a nickel-metal hydride battery, completely drain and recharge the battery once a month to maximize its capacity to hold a charge.

5. Fully charge new battery packs before use. New pack needs to be fully charged and discharged (cycled) a few times before it can condition to full capacity.

I am not the be all and end all on these matters so i could be wrong...
I looked into batteries a lot a while back thinking i could cut open a dead pack and fill it with nicads. what i learnt leads me to believe these things are wrong and would only apply to nicad. nimh are extremely unstable and have a tendancy to explode if un regulated (remember all the exploding/recalled battery stories?) so they all have a little computer built in which causes them to regulary dishcharge to expel gases and also to prevent them from completely discharging because a completely dead nimh can never again be charged. nimh will also deteriorate over time whether its used or just sits on a shelf. charging fully and discharging fully are therefore completely thankless tasks. leaving your battery in your laptop should have no negative effect as its not suceptable to shadowing like nicads and due to its built in cpu its constantly held in its prime condition. the only thing that will have an effect is the age of the battery - it will deteriorate over time whether you use it or not.

point is, dont worry about it. the battery looks after itself

ps just to clarify charging cycles and memory effect are completely irrelevant to nimh

 

[r0muluz]

4. If you have a nickel-metal hydride battery, completely drain and recharge the battery once a month to maximize its capacity to hold a charge.

Dude AGAIN with all due respect to you here.
You appear to know nothing on the inner working of laptop batteries.
The advice I gave in my 1st post is kind of the accepted standard way to take good care of your laptop batteries & you will find guides saying pretty much the same thing all over the web...

Your comment on the ""If you have a nickel-metal hydride battery"" recommending people to completely run it down IMHO is a very very bad thing to do & could actually damage the battery as it might not ever manage to recover after such a drastic thing...
GOOGLE IS YOUR FRIEND DUDE, I THINK YOU SHOULD GOOGLE SOME SEARCHES ON NOTEBOOK/ LAPTOP BATTERY CARE.

I started & posted this guide in good faith because I'm an expert on most pc stuff (laptop's no exceptions)

1 other thing your leaving a battery at %100 to drain down naturally is in fact a bad thing also.
The battery should be left at roughly half its capacity for a reason... the laptop knows its %100 rate & 0% rates & how many cycles its had as it has a little cpu chip inside it.
The reason of storing a battery at around %50 & not the %100 like your suggesting is simple degredation & its actions on the battery... it has been proven its far better for the batteries well being to be stored with half a charge in it because then when you go to charge it again the chip knows where the %100 charge mark is.
If you keep leaving the battery stored with a full charge degredation will work to drain the battery of its %100 charge a hell of a lot faster than the 1 that was stored at %50...
long story short is that the battery stored at %100 all the time will start to not accept a full charge, likde %99/ %98 etc a lot lot faster than would the 1 stored at $50.

I also get the feeling from you that you've taken an instant dislike to me or my good housekeeping guides for your laptop batteries... either way thats cool with me as I'm used to such things happening in forums... so don't sweat it there m8 as it always flies way over the head...

But above all.

Lets stick to the point.

The guide I posted above is to help people not to start an arguement with any members who think they know things, when the facts if they would only research them prove them wrong.

I've been dealing with all pc issues from day 1 with a sinclair zx81 all the way up to to setting up & maintaining networks for wealthy clients (u name it I can & have done it) till bad health got the better of me.

ANYWAY... MEMBERS PLEASE USE THAT GUIDE FOR YOUR NOTEBOOKS/ LAPTOPS BATTERIES & I GAURANTEE IT WILL SERVE YOU WELL ! As it's pretty much an accepted factual guide displayed on many a good pc website.

Peace

 

[ScarecrowDR]

I always thought that the battery should stay in whilst useing as it charges up.
So you be saying, once it has reached about 45/50% to take it out and just use the Laptop via Mains.??
When I know I'm going to be out with laptop, I insert battery and charge it up before going out. ?

Here is me siting here always thinking that Laptop will not work when mains charger is on and No battery in it..Always thought battery should always be in the laptop even when useing charger to charge up and when full.

 

[oneman]

Take the battery out onces it gets to 100%.

There will natural discharge but current generation of Li-ion batteries should stay charged up for reasonable periods of time.

 

[r0muluz]

yeah m8, when you know you'll be out & about with it = charge it & off u go, but when just sitting in house = take out your battery & run from ac all the time, saves wearing the battery

 

[r0muluz]

spamm double post, please delete thx

 

[ScarecrowDR]

THANKS---We learn something new every day.

 

[oneman]

the laptop vendors don't really push the information. Batteries are classes as consumables and thus not covered by warrenty. They make good money from batteries.

 

[r0muluz]

the laptop vendors don't really push the information. Batteries are classes as consumables and thus not covered by warrenty. They make good money from batteries.

This is very very true...
So they don't expect/ want any1 to know that if you take out your battery while using just ac power it'll extend the life of your battery