What’s the best way to preserve the life of my new, replacement, lith ion laptop battery?
J L asked:
The first one didn’t last that long, so now my replacement battery has arrived. What are some tips for extending its life and usage? Should I get rid of the old battery since it’s “nearing the end of its usable life,” or should I keep it around for backup? Should I keep the new one in and keep the laptop plugged in whenever I’m at home, to constantly keep recharging it, or should I let it drain almost empty before recharging? Thanks for your tips!
This entry was posted
on Saturday, March 28th, 2009 at 12:00 am and is filed under Laptops & Notebooks.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
The first one didn’t last that long, so now my replacement battery has arrived. What are some tips for extending its life and usage? Should I get rid of the old battery since it’s “nearing the end of its usable life,” or should I keep it around for backup? Should I keep the new one in and keep the laptop plugged in whenever I’m at home, to constantly keep recharging it, or should I let it drain almost empty before recharging? Thanks for your tips!
March 31st, 2009 at 1:42 am
Just keep your laptop plugged in if you can. Once your battery is charge to 100% it’s not gonna keep charging. From what I’ve seen laptop batteries only seem to last around 1.5 years.
April 2nd, 2009 at 3:42 pm
The first couple times make sure you charge and drain the battery COMPLETELY. If you do not do this the life will be short right from the start. If the battery is already fully charged and you can plug it in, do so. Make sure the laptop battery is almost discharged before you plug it in. Basicly once you charge and discharge it completely for the first 5 times or more, it really doesn’t matter what you do. Hope this helps.
April 3rd, 2009 at 7:42 pm
Contrary to popular belief, Lithium Ion batteries are not subject to “Memory” like the older Ni-Cad batteries were. So there is no need to discharge them fully on a regular basis.
In fact, that will actually reduce the lifespan of the battery.
To prolong the life of the battery, charge it fully and then remove it from the laptop if you are plugged into the wall. Heat is a major factor in the lifespan of the battery, and being stuck inside a laptop that is constantly producing heat is the reason so many laptop batteries have a life of 10 minutes.
Keep it in a cool place, inside the laptop bag is fine.