Thinkpads Forum

I see so many posts here and there and I see such few charge cycles... i mean batteries that are month old with barely 10 charge cycles.... my laptop is 2 days old and im already thru 3 chrge cycles....

also, is it good to keep the laptop plugged in always or running the battery is good....?

ps. i always wait for the charge to drop to 20 % and then charge it back to 100

if you have the Thinkpad Power Manager installed (Which you should) then there is an option that you can set so the BIOS manages your charge cycles for you,

open Power Manager > Battery Information > Battery Maintenance

under charge threshold select custom and set it to anything you find appropriate for your own use.

I personally have it set to %50, so the battery doesn't start charging unless its half empty, so i can use my laptop for an hour on battery. without trigering a charge cycle when I connect it, but it all depends on your situation, and also i have the 9cell battery so my %50 is another man's %75.

Don't run the laptop on battery unless it's absolutely necessary. That's always my guideline and it takes my laptops a month or two to gain one cycle.

My understanding is that the life of Lithium batteries is directly tied to the number of recharge cycles. Each cycle the maximum charge it will take is slightly reduced. So, to maximize the life of the battery, use it on AC whenever possible and select the automatic management options under the power manager tools.

jgrobertson wrote:My understanding is that the life of Lithium batteries is directly tied to the number of recharge cycles. Each cycle the maximum charge it will take is slightly reduced. So, to maximize the life of the battery, use it on AC whenever possible and select the automatic management options under the power manager tools.

The life of the battery is more dependent on it's aging and how it ages. For example batteries age the fastest at 100% charge. It's best to keep them at about 40% charge and as low temp as possible.

Some of the best ways to kill a battery:
(1) always discharging to 0-3% then fully recharging
(2) leaving laptop plugged into A/C all the time with the system on with battery at 100%

the best way to maximize battery life are to restrict charging and discharging to 20-80% (very conservative), and if the system is to spend an extended amt of time plugged in, remove the battery (to keep it cool) and/or limit the max charge to 80% or lower. Do not leave the battery in storage at 100%. And a battery left at 100% and high temp will die very quickly.

A battery that lives its life at low temp and is limited to 20-90% charge range will last 1000's of cycles.