Battery Maintenance

[dclee012]

Just bought a extra big battery for a T43 and I'm trying to make this one last.

Thinkpad Power Manager has a built in battery preserver by letting the battery drain to 96% and then charging back to 100%. I suppose this is why my battery meter drops when I am plugged in.

Does anyone recommend another setting? Should I start the charging at a lower threshold, such as 50%? 10? Would this preserve the battery better?

Thanks
-D

[The Spirit of X21]

Perhaps others would like to weigh in, but my general rule regarding Lithium ion batteries is to recharge them after every use whether they are drained or not, and then every few weeks completely drain and charge them back up. Though they lack the same sort of "memory" problems that occurred in NiCd batteries, I understand that it is helpful to periodically recondition them to prolong their life. Hope this helps.

[Hanson]

I have my battery optimized to start charging when below 60% and stop charging at 90%. I have lost 0.04Wh (which occured in November) since August 2006 over 60 cycles.

[t41user]

"I understand that it is helpful to periodically recondition them to prolong their life."

This has been debated many times in many places. For anyone who doesn't know, there is one received view according to which such "recondition"ing does not prolong Li-Ion battery life in any way. On this view, reconditioning may help increase the accuracy of your battery meter. Other than that, reconditioning will only count as additional battery use and generally lower battery life (as all battery age/use does).

Some sources make conflicting claims. However, there is some reason to think that those sources are based on outdated suggestions originally written for NiCad batteries.

[sfara]

I use my T41 mostly as a desktop. I read alot about preserving the battery and my solution is removing the battery from the laptop in charged condition. This way i let it discharge for a few months (mabe 6) and then i recharge it and so on.

[NS]

sfara wrote:

<snip>my solution is removing the battery from the laptop in charged condition. This way i let it discharge for a few months (mabe 6) and then i recharge it and so on.

You are killing your battery in this manner. If you want to store the battery away for 6 months, then leave the battery to 50% charged and store it away. Why store up the battery when it\'s life will decrease over the years? Use it before it dies off.