Thinkpads Forum

IBM T60 always plugged in - as back up for desktop system.

I need a full charged battery on my laptop in case my desktop system UPS discharge due tue power failure . By keeping all time time laptop plugged in ( laptop off or in hybernate mode )will my battery laptop life diminish faster ?

Well, when plugged in, the laptop will only charge the battery to 100%... then the machine will run from mains power.

It is a good idea to drain(i.e. use) the battery all the way down every so often, this allows it's internal circuitry to calibrate, unsure if that is needed with a full time 100% charged battery though

I know it is reccomended to store them at like 40% charge for longest life. The battery is dying whether you use it or not, the chemical reaction is taking place reguardless... thus why buying NOS "New Old Stock" is a bad idea... Li-Ion batteries start degrading from the moment they are manufactured.

With your laptop off or in hibernate mode, the battery will still lose some charge over time, this is just the nature of Li-Ion (very SMALL amount over quite a while though).

We get frequent power outages up here in the mountains in the winter... I normally have our laptops charged to 100% when we ain't using them (but we do use them from time to time even sans power outages). If the UPS's give out before power returns (which isn't often), we charge them in the car

Now if we were to keep a dedicated "power out" laptop, I think I would store it at 40% or so and use the car charger if 40% was not enough during an outage. Our outages last about 45 minutes max normally. When it really goes out, even a 100% battery isn't enough, so out to the driveway to let the car idle for a bit (We use an inverter in the car btw, beats having to own an auto adapter for each different laptop)

If it's a brand new laptop, you needn't worry the first couple years. After that it gets tough, though. Also, it is hard to find batteries for older laptops (at least in my experience) that have little or no shelf life.

Do as you wish with your laptop, but constant 100% is not that healthy. Just set in the OS to charge up to 40%-80% or so they recommend.

thank you !

If I set OS to charge up to 60-80% ,how will that be done if laptop is 90% of time shuted down / or in hybernate mode ? It does not need the pc to be ON in order to recognize OS settings for charging ?

You would only plug it in from time to time when you do use it, that way it doesn't charge to 100% when not in use... when not in use, unplug it.