Laptop battery life.

x_raphael_xx

Hi all you smart people,

I've just bought a brand new laptop as my other one has died.
The battery on the old one stopped charging so the only way I could use it was to keep it permanently plugged into the mains, had to use it like that for years!:(

Obviously I would rather not have to do this with the new laptop, as it's a pain being stuck to the socket!!

What is the best way to keep the battery in good nick for longer? At the moment I only plug it in to charge up the battery while the laptop is off (takes about 1 & half hours). Then use the lappy til it drains to about 10% and switch it off to recharge it.

Is it safe to leave it charging overnight? Also is constently draining the battery and recharging 2-3 times a day bad for it?

Thankees in advance for any replies.

fwor

This depends on the battery technology being used, and also on how intelligent the charging system is.

The two most common battery types around at the moment are LiIon and NiMh.

IIRC, the former have a fairly fixed lifetime of around 200-400 charge/discharge cycles. Their lifetime is not extended by being discharged and then charged, so if you have this type, your current usage will probably minimise its life.

NiMh (again IIRC) have a slightly longer life, but seem to be less affected by being cycled. I think you can expect around 500 cycles from good quality cells, but a lot will depend on rate of discharge and temperature.

Both will last better if they are kept cooler during use and charging.

If the charger in the laptop is intelligent and can automatically stop charging when the battery is full, leaving it overnight is fine. If not, it will probably reduce the battery life.

Arlen

I would suggest power cycling the laptop.

Charge up fully, then drain to last 5%, recharge, drain, to infinty.

You could have saved many hundreds by just replacing the battery. A new laptop battery is around £100 from many suppliers and can be upgraded with new / more cells for longer life.

x_raphael_xx

fwor wrote: »

This depends on the battery technology being used, and also on how intelligent the charging system is.

The two most common battery types around at the moment are LiIon and NiMh.

IIRC, the former have a fairly fixed lifetime of around 200-400 charge/discharge cycles. Their lifetime is not extended by being discharged and then charged, so if you have this type, your current usage will probably minimise its life.

NiMh (again IIRC) have a slightly longer life, but seem to be less affected by being cycled. I think you can expect around 500 cycles from good quality cells, but a lot will depend on rate of discharge and temperature.

Both will last better if they are kept cooler during use and charging.

500 cycles doesn't seem a lot when I recharge it about 2 times a day!! Not sure which I have, I will check when I switch off next.

fwor wrote: »

If the charger in the laptop is intelligent and can automatically stop charging when the battery is full, leaving it overnight is fine. If not, it will probably reduce the battery life.

How would I check if I have an intelligent charger? Would it be in the manual?

Arlen wrote: »

I would suggest power cycling the laptop.

Charge up fully, then drain to last 5%, recharge, drain, to infinty.

That's what I'm doing at the moment, but I'm worried it will knacker the battery after a while.

Arlen wrote: »

You could have saved many hundreds by just replacing the battery. A new laptop battery is around £100 from many suppliers and can be upgraded with new / more cells for longer life.

The battery would not charge at all, the laptop would work for about 30 seconds before switching off! Plus the laptop had lots of other problems too, it was about 6 years old, so time for a new one anyway!

Donnie

When you are working off the mains, remove the battery.

AlwaysSomething

Your new laptop will hve a Li-ion battery.

The lower the temperature of the battery, the longer it will last. So the advice to take it out when not using it is good, because the laptop will be a lot warmer than room temp. However, remember to save your work often in case the power goes out.
The single worst thing you can do with a Li-ion battery is to let it go totally flat. This is because one of the cells inside might get momentarily reverse polarised, which is very bad for it. That's why most laptops are set to automatically shut down at 5 or 10% charge remaining. Never let the battery go totally flat.
There is nomemory effect, so it's okay to discharge it a little bit, then recharge it, then do the same again.
The battery will wear out with use, and about 500 complete cycles is the typical lifetime. By this point, the battery will have only about half the life it did when it was new. If you only part cycle the battery, then it will last more cycles. So if you only discharge it half way, you will get about 1000 cycles.
So, run on mains if mains is available. Think about buying a second power supply if that helps. It's a bit cheaper than a new battery.