Okay all my techie smarties, a question on battery life

Perks · Dec 3, 2010

So, I killed my last laptop's battery. It was a good and brave soldier, but I did everything wrong. Now I have a shiny new one (oooooh, pretty!) and I want to be kinder to it.

I work exclusively on my laptop, most always at my desk with the power cord plugged in. Occasionally, I take my machine elsewhere in the house or travel with it.

I've been given a couple of suggestions for optimizing this one's battery life:

1) Use the laptop in my normal way, but remove the battery, only charging it up occasionally when I know I'll need to take my precious on the go.

2) Keep the battery in, but several times a week unplug it and let it run all the way down before plugging it back in.

Opinions, wise ones?

shadowwalker · Dec 3, 2010

I know with forktrucks and various other battery-run appliances, the battery should be run completely down before recharging. Apparently they have some kind of "memory" and if they're charged before completely (or nearly completely) run down, the next charge will only be partial. Eventually they have very little 'room' for charging based on this memory thing. So even though, in reality, they are still good, they can't recharge any more.

Sounds strange, but I know our maintenance guys always threw a hissy fit if we plugged in the forktrucks before they 'needed' it...

Adam · Dec 3, 2010

Modern laptop and device batteries aren't supposed to have a memory effect, but I was informed by my techy buddy that before using my new laptop, I should drain and recharge the battery 5/6 times to make sure I'm getting its full life. Also, he recommended leaving the battery out if I'm using it on the power.

Take from this what you may.

petec · Dec 3, 2010

The typical estimated life of a Lithium-Ion battery is about two to three years or
300 to 500 charge cycles, whichever occurs first. One charge cycle is a period of use from fully charged, to fully discharged, and fully recharged again.

Use a two to three year life expectancy for batteries that do not run through complete charge cycles.

You can not win either way but the batteries do not like heat i.e. inside a laptop. The best way to store the battery is in the refrigerator, then throw it away after 3 years.

:Shrug:

Margarita Skies · Dec 3, 2010

I've done everything wrong with my laptop battery, too. I would charge it before it completely discharged, I would plug it in to charge and forget to unplug it after hours of being fully charged, and I just did everything wrong. Now I need a new battery. I am planning to get one next month. I am going to favorite this thread for future reference.

Deleted member 42 · Dec 3, 2010

You need to check specifically with the maker of that laptop model.

It depends on the laptop's power manager and the kind of battery. Go look at their support site.

Perks · Dec 3, 2010

There are a billionty articles on how to make the battery last longer between chargings, but I don't know that it's in their best interest to tell us how to increase the battery's overall longevity.

I know, I'm cynical.

But I'll keep looking!

Stew21 · Dec 3, 2010

Ask Cray! He's gotta know, right?

Perks · Dec 3, 2010

Ha! You would think.

Perks · Dec 3, 2010

Hey, here's a good article -

http://batteryuniversity.com/learn/article/how_to_prolong_lithium_based_batteries

whacko · Dec 3, 2010

Hey Perks,

Something else to consider is that the laptop power management system sometimes goes on strike. So even though you're all plugged in, the battery doesn't get charged.

Other than that, I'd go for option 1.

Regards

Whacko

backslashbaby · Dec 3, 2010

Perks said:
Hey, here's a good article -

http://batteryuniversity.com/learn/article/how_to_prolong_lithium_based_batteries

Yeah, that sounds like a good article. Don't act like a battery has a memory effect unless you notice problems, and then you can do the full discharge thang

Basically, it's still a bad idea to charge back up after you've only used your battery a little if you are going to use the battery again the next day. Just let it keep going down, if you can.

But don't run it down on purpose often like we used to (full discharge), unless there are actual symptoms and usage patterns where that would make sense (to remedy something, in other words).

Matera the Mad · Dec 3, 2010

I'll let you know when mine dies.

xThexTruexCrossx · Dec 8, 2010

I've done the discharge/recharge thing a lot on my electronics including my mac, ipod, and cellphone. And it increased the battery life exponentially, so my suggestion is that exactly, but make sure NEVER to charge it while using it.
Hope This Helps
X

Deleted member 42 · Dec 8, 2010

There is no way to extend the life of a lithium ion battery.

It has, from the moment of its creation, a finite number of full discharg/recharge cycles.

What can happen with some lithium ion batteries and some power managers in some devices is a sort of "memory" effect, wherein the battery thinks it's fully charged or fully discharged, when in fact it isn't. It's just a little senile.

Consequently, with some batteries and some devices, the advice is to fully discharge the battery once a month or so, and then fully charge it.

Here's a well-written and understandable explanation from Apple; this may not apply to your device or battery, but it does explain things nicely.

Perks · Dec 8, 2010

Thanks! This does help in that I know that there's not all that much I can or need to do. 'Tis what it is.

Diamons · Dec 13, 2010

Medievalist said:
There is no way to extend the life of a lithium ion battery.

It has, from the moment of its creation, a finite number of full discharg/recharge cycles.

What can happen with some lithium ion batteries and some power managers in some devices is a sort of "memory" effect, wherein the battery thinks it's fully charged or fully discharged, when in fact it isn't. It's just a little senile.

Consequently, with some batteries and some devices, the advice is to fully discharge the batter once a month or so, and then fully charge it.

Here's a well-written and understandable explanation from Apple; this may not apply to your device or battery, but it does explain things nicely.

This right here. Ditto to the take the battery out while plugged in and the cycling.

Only other advice I can think of is buy a larger cell battery off eBay or something and swap between batteries, giving each one a longer lifespan.

kuwisdelu · Dec 13, 2010

If it's a fairly modern battery, I wouldn't bother taking it out when plugged in.

Jersey Chick · Dec 13, 2010

Uh-oh - I don't take the battery out of my laptop ever (knowing me, I'd lose it if I did. I forget where I put things about 10 seconds after setting them down. It's terrible.) Every so often, I unplug the power cord and let the battery run down, but I leave the battery in when I plug the power cord back in.

kuwisdelu · Dec 13, 2010

Jersey Chick said:
Uh-oh - I don't take the battery out of my laptop ever (knowing me, I'd lose it if I did. I forget where I put things about 10 seconds after setting them down. It's terrible.) Every so often, I unplug the power cord and let the battery run down, but I leave the battery in when I plug the power cord back in.

I wouldn't worry about it too much. I didn't do any battery maintenance at all either, and my 3.5-year-old battery still held about a good 3-4 hour charge a couple months ago. (Unfortunately, it suffered from another known defect that caused it to expand due to heat — it still held a decently long charge, but wouldn't physically fit in my computer anymore.)

Perks · Dec 14, 2010

kuwisdelu said:
If it's a fairly modern battery, I wouldn't bother taking it out when plugged in.

I bought the laptop two weeks ago, but in tech-time, it's probably already a fossil.

kuwisdelu · Dec 14, 2010

Perks said:
I bought the laptop two weeks ago, but in tech-time, it's probably already a fossil.

I wouldn't worry. Battery technology moves like a manatee compared to the rest of computer tech. (So does printer technology... *sigh*)

JHUK · Dec 15, 2010

I have an HP laptop I just bought (October 2010) and leave the battery in ALL the time, and leave it plugged in ALL (almost) the time. When it's plugged in and doesn't need recharging, when I hover over the power icon I see a message such as "98% charged. Not recharging." so it seems it has a built-in function for not recharging if it doesn't need it. At least that's what I'm hoping!

maestrowork · Dec 15, 2010

You should calibrate your battery once in a while to make the best of it. Batteries discharge or lose their capacities over time, of course.

kuwisdelu · Dec 15, 2010

JHUK said:
I have an HP laptop I just bought (October 2010) and leave the battery in ALL the time, and leave it plugged in ALL (almost) the time. When it's plugged in and doesn't need recharging, when I hover over the power icon I see a message such as "98% charged. Not recharging." so it seems it has a built-in function for not recharging if it doesn't need it. At least that's what I'm hoping!

Yeah, modern batteries do that.

I got my new battery this summer, never take it out, and fully charged, it's still at 5100mAh / original 5020mAh. I guess they miscalculated the design capacity?

Okay all my techie smarties, a question on battery life

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