T42 -- Is it time for a new battery?

[kc]

My 2 year old battery life is way down. Per prior posts, I checked the stats: Full charge capacity is 31.72 vs. design of 47.52 Wh. Cycle = 355. I have never reconditioned the battery or done anything out of the ordinary (reseating, etc.).

Question: is there a way to revitalize my battery or should I simply buy a new one?

Thanks.

[EOMtp]

You may find the following informative:
http://www.batteryuniversity.com/

[christopher_wolf]

My 2 year old battery life is way down. Per prior posts, I checked the stats: Full charge capacity is 31.72 vs. design of 47.52 Wh. Cycle = 355. I have never reconditioned the battery or done anything out of the ordinary (reseating, etc.).

Question: is there a way to revitalize my battery or should I simply buy a new one?

Thanks.

Depends on what you need it for; if you are very mobile and need 3+ hours of battery operations, then I would recommend getting a new, fresh 9-cell battery. You should, however, try reconditioning that one first.

[bill bolton]

Full charge capacity is 31.72 vs. design of 47.52 Wh. Cycle = 355.

At 355 cycles, its certainly time to start budgeting for a new battery. When exactly you would need it will depend on how much duration you typically require on battery power.

There is no likely worthwhile "revitalisation" of a battery with that many cycles, though you may get a small benefit from a deep discharge, full recharge cycle

Cheers,

Bill

[gauthier]

There is no likely worthwhile "revitalisation" of a battery with that many cycles, though you may get a small benefit from a deep discharge, full recharge cycle

I was recently surprised that a 6cell battery that have 18wh full charge capacity now indicate 22wh now.

When I got the laptop with this battery, it didn't indicate more than 1h45, the battery health indicator was red

I've tried 3 full discharge/full charge cycle, and didn't used the battery that much during several weeks (either 100% clipped, or 40% stored);

some days ago, I used the laptop while traveling and have empty the battery two times until 1%.

So now I have a battery with 22% of capacity increase that have 46% health (indicator is yellow).

Is it due to some "recycling" activity occuring because of a bunch of full (dis)charge?

Thanks!

[davidspalding]

The battery university link can answer your questions. But also remember that the SOFTWARE is making estimates for battery life and capacity based on some measurements it makes ... and those measurements may give different results after you deep-discharge the battery a few times. I've seen this with several 2-3 year old batteries that peers are using at work.

The "battery conditioning" exercise which Power Manager performs on T43s (you can do it manually, and probably have: charge battery 100%, run it down to ~3%, then charge it up 100%, all without shutting down or rebooting) helps the battery AND the software, in fact ... I think it'll do it on my 9 month old 6-cell battery right now.