laptop battery question

[Justjuice]

i have a Dell lattitude laptop and use it mostly on my desk.

Ok, the battery question, should I keep it charging all the time, take it out and run no battery, what is best for the battery.

get back with thoughts

[NDD]

Not that I know much in laptop batteries, but if I remember my physics courses, continuous charging is not good, you battery will fail faster then if it was working all the time and re-charging only when empty.

[Bovon]

ND, I don't have any formal education in batteries...but in my industrial work life, we used a lot of batteries, of several kinds. The rechargable types were on charge 24/7/365. This charge was just enough to keep them at ready with a full charge, they were the backbone of the system. These batteries were made by Edison, and the construction was Nickle, Iron, and Alkaline...they lasted 30 to 40 years or more when properly maintained.

Overcharging is what usually gets a battery into a bad way. The heat and evaporation of the acid solution will destroy one. Most batteries that we use one way or another at home are not designed to last very long...they are made much cheaper than the Edisons I mentioned earlier which cost several hundred dollars per cell.

Talking about laptops and running one without the battery, I have never tried mine, but most will not work without a battery in place. I have a Dell also...I will give mine a shot just to see if it will. Most things like laptops that have a battery for portable operation still have to have a battery in place when using the charger to run the item because the charger works thru the battery to power up the item, in this case the laptop.

A bit more about those Edison batteries. Ours were the same as what the Navy used to power the WWII submarines while running under water. Each cell was 1.5 volts DC, was about 2 feet tall, 4 X 8 inches across the top. It took several connected in series to get to 12 or 20 volts...whatever we needed it to be. They were not high current like an automobile lead/acid battery. They were built to last a lifetime when maintained properly.

[Mr. Sparkle]

It's best to let it fully charge, and completely discharge, just like a cell phone battery. If you overcharge it, it's life will be shortened drastically, and eventually get to the point that it won't hold a charge. But, as Bovon said, quite a few laptops won't work without a battery in it.

So, as much of a pain in the *** as it may be, the best thing to do is operate without the AC adapter as much as you can, and only plug it in the battery starts to get low. Or, if your laptop will operate without a battery in place, remove the battery when plugged into a wall outlet.

[BobOmega]

just let it run down all the way every few days or every week or so

[Bovon]

Guys, as I said before, I am not formally trained in battery technology, but during the course of 40+ years of working with many different types, having gone to various classes sponcered by the company I think I have just about as good a general handle on batteries as most other laymen.

Personally, I do not subscribe to the full discharge/recharge theory on all types of cells...this is why.

Take an every day Ever Ready flashlight cell. You use it for awhile, and it finally peters out...why?...is the electrodes gone?...what happened to it that it no longer will produce amperage. The answer is, when electrons flow from the positive electrode to the negative electrode, they carry minute particals of the positive electrode with the electron flow. Eventually, the negative electrode is fully coated with the metal that forms the positive electrode, and no further current can flow. How to test this?...take a 'dead' flashlight battery cell and stick it in the oven set to about 150 to 200 degrees for several minutes...then retry the cell..it will now produce current again, but not for long. Why?..because the heat caused the positive type metal coating on the negative electrode to swell and crack open...now current (electrons) can flow thru these cracks and produce current again for a short time. I have done this many time while camping by digging a hole under the camp fire and put the weak batteries in there, cover it up and build the evening fire...dig them up the next morning for a decent cell for a few hours.

The deal with the full discharge then recharge applies to nicads only (I think) where nicads are used ..discharged ...some ...recharged ...some...and this cycle is repeated. Nicads develope a 'memory' of this cycle, and the recharge will not do nearly as good a job as a cell that has no memory. By fully discharging a nicad, it is supposed to rid itself of this memory, and once again take a full charge. I have had varying success with this myself...once I even reversed the charge on a nicad cell for 30 minutes...then reconnected the charger correctly. The cell apparently ridded itself of its stored memory and worked fine after that. I used a very low charge in the reverse position..only a few MA...and the smaller the cell, the smaller the reverse charge ect.

[hypermikem]

I bought a used Thinkpad 3 months ago. Works great, but hears the deal. I got a docking station with it, and for a time, became my primary computer for a few weeks while I built my new PC. I've never owned a laptop, and it didn't occur to me to log on and do some reading about the proper use of the battery. I had it constantly powered up with the adaptor while it was at home, docked in the station. I surfed on the net alot with it like if it was a PC! I was reading that some think that this is real hard on the HD too, as the laptop HD is not meant to be run for extended periods of time, as in 8 to 10 hours per day. Anyway, I noticed one day when using it away from home on battery power, quite suddenly, that windows was prompting me to save everything quick, or plug in to the wall....quick! Since it was always plugged in at home, I figured that it was 100% charged and ready to go. It held a great charge at first, and held a good 2 and 1/2 hour charge. Now it looses it's charge in about 15 minutes. It's weird that the battery meter will read 100% and 3 hours left, then suddenly go to 3% and 7 minutes left in 10 to 15 minutes really fast. Almost as if there's a short in it. After reading this thread, I believe I may have overcharged the **** out of my battery, as it is almost worthless now. I guess I could use it when I want to run it at home, because mine wont run without a battery in place, but I will no doubtedly require a new battery and don't wish to make the same mistake again. This thread did help enlighten me. Thanks.:t

[crossedup]

ive got a toshiba satellite 2545cds. check the specs, getting kind of old. ( amd k6-2 333 for start)

ive always charged the battery then removed it and used it w/o ( plugged in of course :) )

laptop is going on 4 years i know and battery is still charging to 94%.

workes out to ~1.5% loss per year.

when i use it i always try to discharge the battery as much as possible.

dont know but seems discharge method might work

hipermikem, mine does that too, its a windows thing. when it says 3% let the computer shut itself off. its as if windows and bios dont communicate well when it comes to this. mine has done this a few times ( always at worst times). i will just turn it on and get it running with battery in, then unplug cord. windows will usually freak rather quickly. tell you SAVE OR LOSE. plug cord back in. will usually charge fully then. :confused:

:t

[Skelator]

My girlfriends compaq 1700 series laptop battery died because she ran it for about a year straight using the power cord while the battery was in place. Which of course is not covered in the 3 year extended waranty. :(

[Billforce]

I have a 1200 series Compaq. I killed the battery in less than a year by LEAVING it plugged in on a/c with the battery in place. Take the battery out and run with the adapter. Recharge the battery only when you are going to use it without a/c available.