Battery Question

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jrv331 · #1 Post by **jrv331** » Mon Oct 22, 2007 12:32 pm

I usually run my thinkpad hooked up to the AC with battery in. Is it best for the battery to remove it while hooked to the ac? I found this article talking about battery info:

" NOTE : If you mainly use your ThinkPad as a desktop replacement, your battery will have a constant charge of 100%. This will negatively affect the performance of your battery. It would be better to use battery power or to remove the battery from your system while using mains power.

This information seems consistent with D. Sen's speculation that the BIOS change simply disables charging when the battery is already fully charged (or nearly so)."

Thanks
John

#2 Post by **jdhurst** » Mon Oct 22, 2007 12:43 pm

There is battery theory and then there is battery practice. I ran the battery in my T41 mostly plugged in, mostly on AC, then sometimes on battery. The battery expired (i.e., less than 1 hour of battery) after 3.5 years. I do not think it would have made any significant difference on battery life to remove the battery when running on AC. ... JDH

uberT · #3 Post by **uberT** » Mon Oct 22, 2007 3:01 pm

it seems the newer systems permit you to modify the charging thresholds. I don't have this facility on my T30, but our other two machines do.

My T30 is about 5 years old now and has been used primarily as a "desktop replacement". My primary battery shows about 19Wh capacity, it was 47Wh when new. I can still get about 45 mins from the battery and have purchased a spare OE battery that has very low cycles which I keep in reserve.

jrv331 · #4 Post by **jrv331** » Mon Oct 22, 2007 4:00 pm

What do you guys mean when refering to "cycles".
Thanks
John

mazman · #5 Post by **mazman** » Thu Nov 01, 2007 12:52 pm

1 Cycle = 1 Charge

jrv331 wrote:What do you guys mean when refering to "cycles".
Thanks
John

uberT · #6 Post by **uberT** » Thu Nov 01, 2007 2:31 pm

mazman, I don't believe that's correct; it's more complex than that. The system uses an algorithm to determine a "cycle".

mazman · #7 Post by **mazman** » Fri Nov 02, 2007 4:43 am

uberT - I stand corrected 1 charge does not equal 1 cycle,

from apple - A charge cycle means using all of the battery’s power, but that doesn’t necessarily mean a single charge. For instance, you could use your notebook for an hour or more one day, using half its power, and then recharge it fully. If you did the same thing the next day, it would count as one charge cycle, not two, so you may take several days to complete a cycle.

davidspalding · #8 Post by **davidspalding** » Wed Nov 14, 2007 3:48 pm

I have spare batteries, that I keep in the fridge, as I'd read that keeping them cool prevents insidious draining.

My first 6-cell battery is still relatively robust 2 years later, with being on AC roughly 70% of the time.

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