Thinkpads Forum

I've noticed that the battery gauge on my new w500 slowly creeps down (like 1% a day, maybe?) while it's plugged into the mini-dock. It never gets below about 96-97%, which I assume is because it tops itself off at that point. I don't have it on the AC adapter often enough to know if it's a dock-specific problem or not.

The MaxMiser gauge indicates that AC power is attached. And again, this is a *really* slow drain. If it were just a broken AC connection, I'd know. I suppose it's possible that the machine "forgets" it's dock-attached for a minute or two every once in a while, then immediately reconnects - though I haven't actually seen that happen.

Is there any way of charting battery drain over an extended period of time, that doesn't involve me sitting there staring at the MaxMiser gauge for 24 hours in a row?

This is normal. Is improves battery life to not keep charging it all the time. You can adjust this or turn it off in the power manager settings.

That's normal internal self-discharge of the battery. Try setting the machine to keep the battery only partly charged when sitting in the dock, and charge it up before you need it. The battery will last much longer, and the self-discharge will be reduced to 1% per week or less at 40%-60% charge.