Thinkpads Forum

Posted: **Mon Apr 09, 2012 6:40 pm**

Hello, I have a question about power manager in my X220i Tablet.
When I select "automatically optimize for battery lifespan" It switches automatically between Maximum life mode and Maximum runtime- In Lifespan mode the battery in taskbar is green and the battery have lower capacity but it charges only to 12.6V. In maximum performance mode it charges up to 12.9V. I know The new sanyo cells can be charged up to 4.3V/cell (12.9/pack) but I still want to charge only to lower voltage. I sometimes discharge the pack to like 10% and following month or so the battery is charged to the highest level.

I know I can set my own thresholds like charge to 80% etc...but it doesn't solve my problem - I want always charge to lower voltage level. I had problems with this "charge to 80%" when I used battery for few months only in range 40-80% and suddenly i needed longer runtime and the battery died at 25% because the cells were actually discharged but the electronics thought they were at 25% - It won't occur when charging to 100% because the cells are always charged to 100% state - charging is terminated not when XYZ Joules/Wh enters the battery but on constant voltage and when the current drops below something (so it compensates self-discharge and/or power gauge inaccurancy)

So there is the question - how to force power manager to always use Maximum life mode?
Where does the powermanager store information about recent charges? I am thinking about backuping the files when it charges at "max life" and restoring it after I run full discharge and it will want to charge at maximum runtime... (or with scheduler or something like this...)

Thanks for suggestions

Posted: **Mon Apr 09, 2012 7:20 pm**

czatlantis wrote:I had problems with this "charge to 80%" when I used battery for few months only in range 40-80% and suddenly i needed longer runtime and the battery died at 25% because the cells were actually discharged but the electronics thought they were at 25%

If you run a reset cycle on the battery every few months months, you wont have this issue.

Cheers,

Bill B.

Posted: **Tue Apr 10, 2012 9:51 am**

Yes I know it. I don't even have to reset battery, charge to 100% is enough. But it is still not solution to my problem.

In the future, I want to replace old cells with Panasonics (AFAIK Sanyos are crap) and they can't be charged to the higher voltage so I would like the lower voltage to be permanent.

Progress: Found file 3151 PC.PWM in c:\ProgramData\Lenovo\Power Manager\
It is text file with these information:

Code: Select all

.....
[2012-04-09]
15:05:57=4,0,1,77,49150,63620,55,0
15:35:56=0,0,1,77,49150,63620,55,0
15:55:18=3,0,1,77,49150,63620,55,0
16:52:13=4,0,1,77,49140,63620,55,0
17:22:12=0,0,1,77,49140,63620,55,0
17:52:12=0,0,1,77,49140,63620,55,0
18:22:12=0,0,1,77,49140,63620,55,0
18:52:12=0,1,1,80,50670,63620,55,90
19:22:12=0,0,1,85,53760,63620,55,0
19:52:12=0,0,1,85,53760,63620,55,0
20:22:12=0,0,1,85,53760,63620,55,0
20:52:12=0,0,1,85,53760,63620,55,0
21:04:34=3,0,1,84,53750,63620,55,0
22:49:51=4,0,1,84,53750,63620,55,0
22:50:33=3,0,1,84,53750,63620,55,0
[2012-04-10]
01:04:54=4,0,1,84,53740,63620,55,0
01:05:15=5,2,0,84,53740,63620,55,0
01:05:16=5,1,1,84,53710,63620,55,0
01:05:23=5,2,0,84,53720,63620,55,0
01:05:24=5,1,1,84,53720,63620,55,0
01:05:41=2,0,1,85,53760,63620,55,0
01:10:49=1,1,1,94,54020,57250,55,104
01:12:49=2,0,1,85,54060,63620,55,0
01:13:27=1,0,1,85,54060,63620,55,0
01:41:46=3,0,1,85,54060,63620,55,0
11:05:40=5,2,0,84,53630,63620,55,2880
11:05:42=4,2,0,84,53630,63620,55,2880
11:35:40=0,2,0,76,48610,63620,55,290
12:05:40=0,2,0,69,43830,63620,55,238
12:27:12=3,2,0,63,40380,63620,55,327
12:44:56=4,2,0,63,40260,63620,55,2729
12:54:21=3,2,0,61,38600,63620,55,196
12:59:56=4,2,0,61,38550,63620,55,2880
13:10:07=3,2,0,58,36600,63620,55,181
13:27:43=4,2,0,57,36470,63620,55,2880
13:57:42=0,2,0,49,31430,63620,55,195
14:12:01=3,2,0,46,28980,63620,55,251
14:38:42=4,2,0,45,28790,63620,55,1604
14:39:15=3,2,0,45,28660,63620,55,347
17:08:38=5,1,1,44,27740,63620,55,0
17:08:42=4,1,1,44,27760,63620,55,140
17:32:23=5,2,0,64,40610,63620,55,0
17:32:24=5,1,1,64,40600,63620,55,0
17:38:41=0,1,1,73,41510,57250,56,165
18:08:41=0,1,1,81,46410,57250,56,114
18:32:33=5,2,0,80,50820,63620,56,0
18:32:34=5,1,1,80,50820,63620,56,0
18:38:41=0,1,1,90,51590,57250,56,82

It looks like log from ntb usage(unfourtunately i reinstalled OS few days ago so i don't have much data)...now I have to understand what the hell all the numbers mean

15:05:57 etc is time
first digit=unknown
second digit=unknown
third digit looks like adapter connected (1) or disconnected(0)
77 or 85 etc is %charged
Number after is actual capacity in mWh
63620(or 57250 in green mode) looks like full charge capacity
55 or 56 is cycle count

Tomorrow i will need 6hours on battery so after that i will try to reload different file to confuse the Power manager

Posted: **Tue Apr 10, 2012 7:44 pm**

czatlantis wrote:Yes I know it. I don't even have to reset battery, charge to 100% is enough.

No, its not enough for the onboard processor in the battery

Cheers,

Bill B.

Posted: **Wed Apr 11, 2012 3:01 am**

Well you maybe think about something different - I am not talking about decreased cell capacity - It will really need reset. I am talking just about cells discharged even the electronics thinking they are charged more. In this case, 100% charge is enough because like I wrote earlier, charge is terminated on voltage/current basis. I noticed in this case while charging, charge meter will go up to 99% and stuck there while current still flowing in the battery. Following discharge cycle was fine

Thinkpads Forum

Power manager - how to fix (force to stay) Lifespan mode?

Power manager - how to fix (force to stay) Lifespan mode?

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