how to store a battery?!

[dorin]

HI guys,

i;m gonna ask your opinion about a non clear topic: how is the best way to store your battery pack?!

i used to travel alot hence i owe 3 batteries (2 of 4 cell and one of 8 ) but now due to job change the travelling ain't happening that often anymore, so i have to protect my batteries while not using them!

one of the 4cell is faulty (got the second one as replacement for it) so that stays in x40 all the time, but what shall i do with the rest of 2's?!

some says best is to store it with 100%, some less than 50%, some 0% electricity...so my question is:

what's the best way?!

thanks to everybody for help!

dorin

[LtTPfan]

If you go to Battery Information>> Battery Health>> Battery Tips, you should see this:

6. Do not place your battery or your ThinkPad in a high temperature environment, such as a car on a hot day.

7. Battery performance will be temporarily degraded if the battery is used in a cold environment.

8. When you store your battery outside of your ThinkPad Computer, store it with a charge of less than 50% to reduce the battery wear.

[dorin]

indeed, but ibm customer service said that i should keep it plain empty...

that's why i start thinking...how is best?!

[LtTPfan]

You might want to read this page: http://batteryuniversity.com/partone-19.htm

[red bioroid]

I read about it on some websites that says it's best to store it when it's at about 40% remaining. That is, you fully charge it, then use it to discharge to reach the 40% level.

I'm not a battery expert but no battery last forever. They can loose value a lot too even if in 90% remaining, see ebay.

[neukrisz]

The storing of Li-Ion batteries should be on fully charged....
(the Ni-MH should be empty)

this is the rule

[beeblebrox]

Charge your battery at 40-50% to get the chemical equilibrium state (check with google on lithium batteries for that matter) and put them in the fridge at low, but non-freezing (!!) temperature. That slows chemical oxidation of the internal contacts.

I once forgot (!!) a 9cell battery in the fridge for over a year and found it when defrosting the fridge.
After a few tests it still had almost the same capacity as a brand new one. (!!!)