A laptop
battery can
be charged 300-1000 times. The actual number depends on the way it has been
treated. I will explain how a battery should be charged and discharged with
care.Fully discharge a new dell laptop battery and then re-charge it. This calibrates
the battery.
Calibrate the battery every 30 charges, i.e.,
fully discharge it and charge afterwards.
Avoid frequent full discharges. In contrast to
NiCd (Nickel-cadmium) and NiMh (Nickel-metalhydride) batteries, Li-ion
(Lithium-ion) batteries show no memory effect. That is, it will do no harm to Dell inspiron 1545 Battery if it is re-charged
before it is empty. Full discharges will strain the battery.
Avoid total discharges. Total discharges, i.e.,
to the cut-off point, can destroy battery cells. Not all cells in a laptop have
the same voltage. Your laptop’s dell Vostro 1400 battery gauge only displays
the state of the whole battery. If a cell goes below a certain voltage it will
be destroyed. Therefore, it is safer to stop working when your battery level
reaches 20%. The low battery level can be configured under Vista in
the advanced power settings applet. Vista will
warn you when the Dell Vostro 1400 battery reaches the low battery level.
Avoid high discharge rates. High discharge rates also strain
the battery. Therefore, I would avoid power intensive tasks while working on
battery. Some laptops come with special power management software that can
disable unused components. Every piece of hardware that is active produces heat
and wastes precious hp
compaq 6720s
battery capacity. I also recommend checking out Vista’s
advanced power management features. You will find many ways to reduce the power
consumption. For example, I always set the maximum processor state to 1% while
working on battery. You will be surprised at what a modern CPU can accomplish
with 1% of its capacity.
Avoid full charges. Fully charged batteries
deteriorate faster, especially at high temperatures. Monitor the battery icon
in the systray and disable charging before it is fully charged. I guess this is
not really a practical advice. Hence, it is only something for hp compaq6720s battery life-saver
enthusiasts.
Avoid charging. This might sound like a rather unrealizable
piece of advice because an empty battery has to be charged so it can be used
again. The problem is that a lithium-ion battery only allows a limited number
of discharge/charge cycles. If you are working on main, Windows will try to
charge the battery whenever it falls below a certain level. This procedure is
the worst thing that can happen to a battery. Usually, power management is set
to high performance while the laptop is connected to AC. This increases the
heat in the laptop while the batteries are being charged. One option is to
disable charging while working on main. A far better option is to remove Dell
XPS M1330 Battery if you don’t need it for the next couple of days.
Many people believe that low temperatures are harmful for
batteries because they think of past winters when their car didn’t start in the
morning after a cold night. However, the technology used incar
batteries has
little to do with Li-ion batteries. The same applies to non-rechargeable
batteries, which can even be recharged a little by exposing them to the warm
sunlight. The truth about Li-ion batteries is that high temperatures are their
worst enemy. Therefore, the following tips will help prevent laptop batteries from getting too warm.
•Always use a laptop on a hard surface. Don’t
put it on your lap (despite its name) or on thermal insulating materials such
as cushions. If you like to work in bed with your laptop, I recommend using alaptop
table. I have this one, and I am quite content with it.
•Try to avoid charging the battery while you are
working with the laptop. Charging the batteries increases your laptop’s
temperature. The problem is that the CPU, the graphics card and the hard disk
also heat up your laptop, which adds to the temperature increase experienced
when charging the battery. Many vendors deliver their laptops with software
that allows you to disable charging. You also can remove the Dell Studio1555
battery while you are working on AC current.
•Make sure the laptop’s ventilation can always
work properly. Don’t place objects before the ventilation systems opening.
Don’t run or charge the laptop while it is in its case.
•Don’t leave the laptop in the car or under the
sun in summer. Use a bike. It keeps your laptop
battery cool and your own battery
healthy. And too much sun exposure causes only skin cancer anyway.
While the high temperatures inside modern
laptops are probably the worst enemy of a Li-ion battery, frequent
discharge/charge cycles will negatively influence a battery’s life. If your
laptop is a desktop replacement, then you probably only need the battery every
now and then. It can be quite frustrating if you want to use your laptop for
the first time after a year without AC, only to realize that your batteries are
already dead even though you never really used them. However, if you remove the
battery from the laptop and store it accurately, there is a good chance that it
will be in good condition when you need it next time.
Don’t store a battery that is almost empty.
Stored batteries continue losing energy, albeit at a much slower pace. If the
stored battery is totally discharged, it could be destroyed.
Don’t store a fully charged battery.Fully
charged batteries deteriorate faster than half-charged batteries. Most articles
I’ve read recommended storing laptop
batteries with a 40–60% charge.
Store the Dell Inspiron 1525 Battery at a
low temperature. I usually put it in the fridge. It keeps my battery fresh and
crisp. Check out this table at Wikipedia. 0°C (32°F) seems to be the best
storage temperature. I wouldn’t put the battery in the freezer even though
Li-ion batteries only freeze at approximately −40°C.
Store the battery in a dry place. A moist
environment will accelerate discharging the battery.
Check the battery state every now and then. I
would remove it from the fridge at least every 30 days to calibrate it (fully
discharge and charge).
Let the battery warm up a little before you put
it back into your laptop. If the temperature is raised too fast, it will strain
the battery.
When I started this article, I thought I’d just
share a few tips I’ve found on the web. But then I realized that there are
quite a few things that can be done wrong with laptop batteries. That’s how I ended
up with three articles. It is quite amazing that we can build space ships that have enough
energy to fly to the moon but still have no decent portable energy sources for
simple laptops. Perhaps fuel
cells will
change the picture in a few years.
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