topic Re: Battery Question in PCs & Accessories

Battery Question

drali — Tue, 27 Feb 2007 18:26:13 GMT

Hello,

I've noticed increasingly people using their laptops without their battery in whilst plugged into the mains, thus only using the battery when mobile. :smileychicken:

I understand some laptop manufactuers and others are increasingly recommending this, as although lithium batteries have no (charge) memory, overall capacitence is slowly supposedly diminished with continued battery and mains use. :smileymonkey:

I use the AC adapter/mains constantly at home with my battery also in. Recently I noticed this battery only lasts roughly 90mins, whereas my spare battery (used once a month, whilst on the road) lasts 180mins/3hrs. Both these batteries were brought at the same time last year.

My question is, is there any truth to people/companies advising not to charge and use laptops at the same time?? :smileythinking:

Thanks for any replies

Re: Battery Question

@5528097000005097 — Wed, 28 Feb 2007 01:03:33 GMT

There are different opinions on this, I remove my battery when using my fj3s at home, having it on continual charge is bound to shorten it's lifespan.

If you only use your laptop at home and want to store the battery off the machine for a long period, charge/discharge it to 40%, wrap it in a dry cloth or something and keep it somewhere not subject to extreme temperatures or sunlight.

Re: Battery Question

pmitev — Wed, 28 Feb 2007 08:07:38 GMT

This is just a summary from my previous post.

I use my desktop replacement always running on "Power". From time to time I perform some "exercises" of the battery (twice a month) by fully discharging the battery. So this is the situation after 3 years and 4 months:

The "Charge Cycles" counts are not accurate. They are at least double since I have used the computer several times on battery anyway. The first sign of degradation appeared on the third year. On another laptop (HP) and the same scheme for the battery exercises the battery is already showing degradation after 6 months...

I have to admit that the GRT815M seems to take special care in this particular situation. The HP computer charges automatically the battery every now and then when it is below some threshold, while I have never seen the GRT to charge the battery during the 2 weeks period between the exercises - this is almost equal to keep the battery outside the computer.

As concerns the usage of the computer:
It is always plugged in the power outlet. I turn it on only when I use it - usually every evening for about 6 hours. If I check the time counter of the HDD it says 7986 hours which is close to 333 days constantly working but this doesn't reflect significantly the battery maintenance since the battery is charged even if your laptop is off but still plugged.

Re: Battery Question

Thalamus. — Wed, 28 Feb 2007 12:18:37 GMT

My question is, is there any truth to people/companies advising not to charge and use laptops at the same time??    :smileythinking:

Hi drali,

I've not read that anywhere..

You may find How to prolong lithium-based batteries of interest..

Re: Battery Question

kee-lo_ — Wed, 28 Feb 2007 15:04:26 GMT

Sounds outlandish to me, you can use your PC while charging.

Re: Battery Question

pmitev — Wed, 28 Feb 2007 17:38:25 GMT

My question is, is there any truth to people/companies advising not to charge and use laptops at the same time??

Well, I should have focused on the question. It looks strange to me as well that one has to avoid charging the battery while the computer is running but I have seen it couple of times. Here for example are a few lines from a HP laptop manual...

If you are charging an in-use battery pack:
● Allow the battery pack to discharge to about 10 percent of a full charge through normal use
before charging it.
● When you charge the battery pack, charge it fully before turning on the computer .

At the same time my SONY manual says:

Keep the battery pack in the computer while it is directly connected to AC Power. The battery pack continues to charge while you are using the computer.

My observations are that notices like the HP one are provided with computers with small power adaptors. My desktop replacement have really big one and I have never considered it a problem to charge while running... I do that as well on the HP laptop that I have mention despite what is written in the manual - the power adaptor just gets hotter than usual.

Re: Battery Question

Dekesh — Wed, 28 Feb 2007 22:41:03 GMT

i have heard that once a battery is charged then the laptop runs off the mains and stops charging the battery. im not sure about the truth in this but if its not true then im going to start taking out my battery at home

Re: Battery Question

kee-lo_ — Thu, 01 Mar 2007 13:42:08 GMT

i have heard that once a battery is charged then the laptop runs off the mains and stops charging the battery. im not sure about the truth in this but if its not true then im going to start taking out my battery at home

That's right

Re: Battery Question

@5528097000005097 — Tue, 13 Mar 2007 07:39:27 GMT

Sorry, I know it's a bit late to reopen this thread, but I just noticed it again while browsing through my posts.

The reason that I remove my battery when plugged in is that MobMeter indicates a very small charge rate when running on mains with the battery installed and 100% charged.

Manufacturers are quite happy for us to keep buying replacement batteries and some of their recommendations need to be viewed in that light.

I may be wrong on this, but prefer to err on the side of caution!

Re: Battery Question

kee-lo_ — Tue, 13 Mar 2007 13:19:10 GMT

What annoys me in the UK is that we don't properly recycle batteries like they do in the Netherlands.

Re: Battery Question

@5528097000005097 — Tue, 13 Mar 2007 16:08:40 GMT

I think that's all about to change now that green issues are becoming such a political bone of contention...about time too!

Wasn't being a nit-picker though, I do actually believe that batteries will last longer if they are not subjected to a constant, albeit small, charge.

Re: Battery Question

sunking101 — Tue, 13 Mar 2007 18:25:07 GMT

Batteries don't last forever, whether you use them or not. Sure your laptop battery is going to wear out eventually but you buy a new one when that happens. I've got an old Toshiba, 7 years old and the battery still lasts over an hour for most computing tasks. Stop getting all hot & bothered over this chaps! :smileygrin:

Re: Battery Question

@5528097000005097 — Tue, 13 Mar 2007 20:15:57 GMT

Wow, a 7 year old laptop, can it do sums? :smileygrin:

There's nothing wrong with getting the most use out of these things, on the contrary, it makes sense economically and environmentally.