Extendin my lappie's battery life

hrnan · 29-12-2008, 05:13 PM

Hello All,
I have a bought dell laptop 1525(in may) with 9 cell battery. Currently i see drop in battery performance.
I usually plug in power always while working even though it is fully charged.
Is it a reason for drop in battery performance?

Now hw to xtend my battery life?

Thanks in adv!

With rgds,
Ram.

gforce23 · 29-12-2008, 05:40 PM

Laptops are designed to stop charging the battery after the upper threshold level has been reached, a figure usually between 98% and 100%.

To increase battery life, you might want to create a custom power setting for battery mode that kicks in every time you disconnect the charger, for example: decrease the screen brightness from max. to say 75% or even less, set the CPU speed to adaptive or slow rather than maximum and turn off the monitor after 10 minutes of inactivity. Avoid charging your battery when there's a sufficient charge remaining. In such a case, get the charge down to 5% or thereabouts before reconnecting it to a power outlet.

hrnan · 29-12-2008, 05:51 PM

thanks...

din · 29-12-2008, 06:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hrnan

I usually plug in power always while working even though it is fully charged.
Is it a reason for drop in battery performance?

That is sure one of the reasons for the drop in battery performance. For better performance, the charge-discharge cycle should go correct. I mean charge the laptop battery to 100%. Once it reaches 100%, disconnect the external power and allow the laptop to run on battery. Re-connect to the external power outlet when it reaches about 10%. That is the correct method to do.

IronManForever · 30-12-2008, 05:02 PM

^ Last time I checked, it was best to keep Lithium Batteries on charge, as and when possible. People say that it's best for Li batteries not to fall below 33% charge at any time..

You sure of what you say? Discharging to a minimum and recharging?

Pat · 30-12-2008, 05:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by IronManForever

Discharging to a minimum and recharging?

That process is called calibration of battery and should be ideally done once a month. Other than that, AFAIK using AC Power on fully charged battery does not have any negative effect on it.

evewin89 · 30-12-2008, 05:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pat

That process is called calibration of battery and should be ideally done once a month. Other than that, AFAIK using AC Power on fully charged battery does not have any negative effect on it.

r u sure abt this?

gforce23 · 30-12-2008, 07:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by evewin89

r u sure abt this?

Think about it. It'd look quite stupid to remove the charger everytime the battery gets to a hundred percent.

din · 30-12-2008, 07:58 PM

Have a look - Good Laptop Battery Charging Habits?

Quote:

Originally Posted by gforce23

Think about it. It'd look quite stupid to remove the charger everytime the battery gets to a hundred percent.

Yes, it may 'look' stupid, but when we keep on charging the battery or using the external power all time (not using battery) - it will sure reduce battery life.

**MetalheadGautham** · 30-12-2008, 08:14 PM

nice thread...

nyway, don't batteries have a fixed no. of charge cycles ?
I heard its affected if you keep charger on continuously...

And laptops also have direct adapters don't they ? which completely switch power to AC bypassing battery ? using some two-way switch on the laptop ?

gforce23 · 30-12-2008, 09:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by din

Have a look - Good Laptop Battery Charging Habits?

Yes, it may 'look' stupid, but when we keep on charging the battery or using the external power all time (not using battery) - it will sure reduce battery life.

Well, you aren't charging the battery "all the time". Most, if not all, laptops are designed to cut off the power supply to the battery after reaching an upper threshold. My 3-year old Thinkpad used to get me 4.5 hours of battery life back in the day and now gets 4 hours, presumably to cell aging. It's usually on power 24*7.

infra_red_dude · 31-12-2008, 02:13 AM

The full charge and discharge cycles funda was applicable to previous generation batteries but not anymore to the newer Li-polymer ones. Its best if you don't let the charge fall below 40%. Plug it in. If AC is available, then use that. But make sure you complete at least one cycle (100 to 0% discharge and then 0 to 100% charge) at least once every 20 days or so to keep the battery in shape.

IronManForever · 31-12-2008, 12:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pat

That process is called calibration of battery and should be ideally done once a month. Other than that, AFAIK using AC Power on fully charged battery does not have any negative effect on it.

I know that..

Read the MacBook manuals already!

Quote:

Originally Posted by MetalheadGautham

And laptops also have direct adapters don't they ? which completely switch power to AC bypassing battery ? using some two-way switch on the laptop ?

Thats exactly what happens. Switching.

Quote:

Originally Posted by gforce23

My 3-year old Thinkpad used to get me 4.5 hours of battery life back in the day and now gets 4 hours, presumably to cell aging. It's usually on power 24*7.

I must say, Thinkpads are a marvel!

Quote:

Originally Posted by infra_red_dude

The full charge and discharge cycles funda was applicable to previous generation batteries but not anymore to the newer Li-polymer ones. Its best if you don't let the charge fall below 40%. Plug it in. If AC is available, then use that. But make sure you complete at least one cycle (100 to 0% discharge and then 0 to 100% charge) at least once every 20 days or so to keep the battery in shape.

As you have said the directions are for Lithium Batteries, I'll add-up for Nickel ones.

Nickel Batteries need full charge-discharge cycles; otherwise they have something which is called "Memory Effect".

A good reference.

evewin89 · 02-01-2009, 07:36 PM

so wat to do 4 making our laptop batteries "last long,really long"

gopi_vbboy · 02-01-2009, 07:49 PM

Improve Battery Life of Your Laptop

evewin89 · 02-01-2009, 07:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gopi_vbboy

Improve Battery Life of Your Laptop

thanks 4 the link.:-P

vamsi360 · 03-01-2009, 12:57 PM

well well well I say one thing :

"Laptops while running on AC Power donot have any effect on the battery. It is the case with the older Cadmium batteries and is no longer a problem with Lithium-ion batteries."

@hrnan
I too am using 1525 Inspiron and I get 3 hours of battery on my 6-cell battery.I use the latest powersettings from Dell website (update your power settings from dell's website for 1525 ).This makes for a decent battery life. Happy mobile computing!

ashisharya · 12-01-2009, 05:34 PM

as far as i know lithium batteries have cycles which is decreased everytime you depend on ur batteries....say if ur lappy is full charge and u drain it completely it will count as one cycle.....if u charge 50% n use dis 50 it will b counted as 1 cycle too....so charge it fully as possible n use batteries only when needed

infra_red_dude · 13-01-2009, 04:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ashisharya

as far as i know lithium batteries have cycles which is decreased everytime you depend on ur batteries....say if ur lappy is full charge and u drain it completely it will count as one cycle.....if u charge 50% n use dis 50 it will b counted as 1 cycle too....so charge it fully as possible n use batteries only when needed

No, that would be counted as a half cycle and the cycle count would be incremented after another 50% completes.