Battery use and charging etiquette for Classic ThinkPads?

[johnny1093]

What's the general advice for maximizing longevity of the batteries as it relates to charging, running on power, and running on battery? Is there a general guide somewhere here on the forum surrounding this topic? I did a quick search but didn't see anything. Also new here so I may not have looked in the right places/searched in the right way.

For reference, I have a t420, x220t, and x61t (though the x61t's battery says it's an x60 battery on the label and doesn't work so I use it plugged in to the wall anyways).

[dr_st]

Thinkpads have various programs (Battery Manager, or on Windows 10 - Lenovo Settings / Lenovo Vantage) that give you access to battery charging thresholds where you can determine the maximum charge level and the minimum level under which charging will begin.

The general suggestion, if using the laptop plugged into the wall most of the time - is to not let the battery charge fully, but limit it to something like 80% (some will say 90% is OK too). You can also set the battery not to charge unless it drops below 60% (or 50%, or 40%).

You are paying with a bit of autonomy, because then if you are going away from the mains for a while, you either need to be OK with having lower battery capacity available, or you have to plan in advance.

I think your T420/X220 machines may also offer an automatic "optimize for lifespan" mode, where the battery and laptop firmware attempts to dynamically adjust the charging thresholds over time.

With that said, all these batteries must be so old that anything you can get out of them is a blessing already.

[johnny1093]

Got it! I had a feeling there was some conventional wisdom around this type of thing and thanks for the tips to look into software solutions for this as well. Yes, the batteries in my machines don't last long, especially compared to modern laptops, but the joy of using them absolutely outweighs that fact. Thanks so much for the response, dr_st, much appreciated!! Have a good one.