Thinkpads Forum

In the battery maintenance section (get there by double clicking the battery gauge on the bottom of the screen), it says: "If you primarily use your computer with the ac adapter attached and only infrequently use battery power, battery deterioration may occur faster if the battery is constantly charged at 100%. Lowering the charge thresholds for your battery and periodically resetting the battery gauge will help increase its lifespan."

So I set it for:
"Optimize for battery lifespan (automatically change for me)" (Notify me when thresholds change)

and,

"Notify me when reset is recommended" (for Battery gauge reset)

I then ran the battery down to about 20% and then recharged it, and it then recharged it to full / 100% -- does anyone know how it's suppose to work? Does it take a few discharge / recharge cycles before it automatically lowers the recharge thresholds?

If memory serves, on my T30, it meant that the battery would not enter a charge mode if the remaining life was above a certain percentage. I do not recall if this was user-settable, but my computer would only enter recharge if the battery dropped below 95%.

It does not have anything to do with it only charging to a certain level. It would always charge to 100%, as long as it dropped below 95%.

Brian

I noticed erroneous behavior when plugging AC after shutdown or entering standby. You have to plug AC before shutting down. Bothers me too!

surg wrote:I noticed erroneous behavior when plugging AC after shutdown or entering standby. You have to plug AC before shutting down. Bothers me too!

Can you be more specific? I've not noticed any problems plugging in AC while the computer is on standby.

i don't notice any significant changes

It is well-known that Li-ion batteries live longer if stored at around 40% charge for any given temperature. (refer to: http://www.batteryuniversity.com/parttwo-34.htm for details).

For someone who does not use battery extensively, would it be advisable to set the upper threshold for 40% and the lower, say, for 35% to keep the battery at the optimal charge level as much as possible to maximize its lifespan?

I would stay with "Optimize for battery lifespan (automatically charge for me)" under "Charge thresholds". I assume Lenovo knows best how the lifespan of the battery can be maximized and don't see the need to come up with one's own settings for upper and lower threshold.

I would like to think that IBM/Lenovo knew how to make the batteries last longer. Actually, I'm sure they do, and I'm sure laptops used in house at IBM are set up that way to save on costs associated with battery replacements. My IBM/Lenovo batteries have depleted faster than any other laptops I have dealt with.

Since I just got my replacement battery from the recall yesterday, I'm interested in keeping it in tip-top shape. Until I resume classes (on co-op right now) I don't need to have the battery at 100% at all. I actually never use it on battery power unless I'm moving from room to room in my house, or am in class taking notes.
For now I have just left it at automatic thresholds, I'll see what that does for me. Maybe this Sanyo battery won't deplete as quickly as the crap Sony.

zverg wrote:I would like to think that IBM/Lenovo knew how to make the batteries last longer. Actually, I'm sure they do, and I'm sure laptops used in house at IBM are set up that way.

All my corporate laptops at IBM have been set to recharge when falling below 95%

SkiBunny wrote: All my corporate laptops at IBM have been set to recharge when falling below 95%

cool. good to know

yeah, but i think that's the default.

it's better to store the battery at a much lower recharged rate.

SkiBunny wrote: it's better to store the battery at a much lower recharged rate.

And from an IBM'r (now Lenovo), that rate/(%) would be . . . . . . . .