Battery Life - What's the best way to prolong it?

[ComputerMinder]

I have two batteries.
One 8-cell battery which I purchased separately and and one 4-cell slim battery which came with my X61s.

I am using my computer mainly plugged in to the AC in my docking station. I hardly take it out except when on business trips but that is maybe once per month.

I was wondering what is the absolute best way to preserve my batteries, so that they would funcion optimally when I am on my business trip, but won't get worn out from the computer being connected to the AC all the time.

I noticed the Battery Maintenance feature and set it to "Optimize for battery lifespan (automatically change for me)"

But regardless, my batter constantly stays at 100% charge which I understand will dramatically shorten battery life. What is the best way then to prolong the battery life of my 4-cell battery?

And also, what is the best way to keep the new 8-cell battery I bought at good shape. I will use the 8 cell battery only when on trips. I didn't even charge it once.

[bill bolton]

What is the best way then to prolong the battery life of my 4-cell battery?

Use the search facility, there are many, many, many posts on ThinkPads.com on this topic!

Cheers,

Bill B.

[SHoTTa35]

here, just set the thresholds to not charge the battery fully - oh and RTFM.

It says so in the program and in the manual and on the websites. My battery after about 6 months or so has lost .8wHrs of it's original capacity. i have it set to start charging below 81% and stop at 96% (which also keeps the cycles down i guess)

[Talon88]

:::

Simple, If you are mostly with AC, then take out the
batt. Keep it at cool place.

You can recharge it when you know
you need to use your Notebook outside.

Charge it before you go to sleep. Then take your notebook
out when you wake up.

Here is the prove of my happy batt.

http://i22.tinypic.com/4rfb68

:::

[ryengineer]

Most people keep their notebooks plugged in all day. They may unplug them at night to go home, but then the first thing they do is dig their AC adapters out of their bags and plug in again. This means that most days the average notebook battery is going from 100% charged to 97% or 98% and then being recharged to 100% again. Done again and again, this "topping off" is TERRIBLE for batteries. It makes them wear out prematurely as each time you do this, you add another cycle to the battery.

I have mine set so that untill my battery drops below 90%, it will never charge the battery. Once it drops below 90%, my system will continue to charge it until it is at 100% capacity. Of course, if you don't like this, there is an option to turn it off as well so that no matter what, your system always charges to 100%.

Source: LenovoBlogs.

Tip: Search the forum.

[bill bolton]

Most people keep their notebooks plugged in all day. They may unplug them at night to go home, but then the first thing they do is dig their AC adapters out of their bags and plug in again. This means that most days the average notebook battery is going from 100% charged to 97% or 98% and then being recharged to 100% again.

This is just wrong.

If you switch off the Thinkpad it will consume no power.... if you just put it in standby, it will take more than 2-3% out a battery over night. Also the default settings on the battery maximiser or power manager will not attempt to charge a battery unless it gets below 96% charge!

Done again and again, this "topping off" is TERRIBLE for batteries. It makes them wear out prematurely as each time you do this, you add another cycle to the battery.

And this is also wrong.

A "cycle" is worked out by the microprocessor in the battery through accumulating usage until it reaches the equivalent of a full discharge, so it would take 30+ days or so of the described behaviour to run up a full cycle!

I'm really surprised to find this misinformation was published by Lenovo!

Cheers,

Bill

[GomJabbar]

If you switch off the Thinkpad it will consume no power.

Depends. The processor and RAM will consume no power, but the charging circuit will still charge the battery if necessary. Thus the ThinkPad can still consume power from the AC power brick even when it is turned off. I am pretty sure this is what Lenovo was referring to.

This document contains information on how to recharge a ThinkPad battery.

To recharge the battery, simply plug the AC Adapter into the ThinkPad computer. The system can be either on or off. There are exceptions to this rule:
1. The ThinkPad 701 can only re-charge when the system is on.
2. The ThinkPad 340 can only re-charge when the system is off.

Charging the battery pack - ThinkPad General

[bill bolton]

I am pretty sure this is what Lenovo was referring to.

It doesn't read anything like that to me.

Cheers,

Bill

[PPB]

Sorry but I couldn't find a best advice yet from your debates here.

How about making a sticky on this, please? I suppose this is a question for many of us.

PPB

[bill bolton]

How about making a sticky on this, please?

There is no simple answer regarding "best advice".

There are a very wide range of opinions (and it seems beliefs, whether well founded or not) about batteries, usage and care.

Use the forum search facility, read some of the many threads on the topic, then form your own opinion for your personal situation.

Cheers,

Bill B.

[WVZR1]

The searches for "battery maintenance" has wore my a** out both here, GOOGLE etc. I'd be interested in some reports from users who are "mobile" a good bit of the time and are quite happy with their battery life and if they feel their maintenance philosophy has contributed to it. I believe a "sticky" might be appropriate for the various models.

This thread has conflicting information based on information posted by various "users" as do most of the other threads a person comes across.

The sticky and the responses to it need to be effectively "edited" to remove the debate and just post the users experiences, equipment and enviroment.

[GomJabbar]

Well, the posts by hanson are pretty impressive. I have not tried his method myself, but by looking at his stats, he must be doing something right.

http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.ph ... 762#262762
http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.ph ... 828#262828
http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?t=35041

EDIT: Here is another link mentioned in several threads...
http://www.batteryuniversity.com/partone.htm

[WVZR1]

Thanks for the links! Interesting & informative!

It's user's settings like "Hanson" that would be quite valuable all in one post. I certainly don't have the expertise to create the "originating post" but I suspect there's several who do. The "sticky" idea I thought sounded good. Maybe titled "Battery Optimization, Conditioning & Storage".

The posts should include TP series, battery type and maybe a user category for the machine, mobile daily/often, frequently, or seldom. Their experience with life expectancy using the "profile" might be valuable as well.

[aditya1956]

:::

Simple, If you are mostly with AC, then take out the
batt. Keep it at cool place.

You can recharge it when you know
you need to use your Notebook outside.

Charge it before you go to sleep. Then take your notebook
out when you wake up.

Here is the prove of my happy batt.

http://i22.tinypic.com/4rfb68

:::

Running the notebook only on AC and keeping the battery outside somewhere in a cool place with around 70% of charge left, will definitely keep the battery healthy for a longer period of time. But one runs the risk of suddenly facing a power failure at times just when the bios is booting up. If the power lines are steady its okay, otherwise this may give rise to CRC errors if repeated. It is also one of the reasons in the cases of the T2x etc. It is better to leave atleast an old/dying battery of some 15/20 min capacity inside the notebook all the time, and preserve the good one outside. When the need comes for mobility one can fit back the good one and use till the time comes to remove it again. For people continuously on the move should set the charge/discharge setting between 70% & 90%. A battery not used but only kept outside should be atleast used for one full cycle once a month or 2 months. This will keep the chemicals inside healthy. This has been my method since the past 4 yrs, and I have not yet changed a single battery since.

Cheers

[WVZR1]

:::

Simple, If you are mostly with AC, then take out the
batt. Keep it at cool place.

You can recharge it when you know
you need to use your Notebook outside.

Charge it before you go to sleep. Then take your notebook
out when you wake up.

Here is the prove of my happy batt.

http://i22.tinypic.com/4rfb68

:::

That certainly does look like a "HAPPY BATTERY"!

The post by "aditya1956" certainly makes good sense and short of keeping a "near dud" loaded it's similar to what I thought might be a plan. I'll just maybe try to "pay attention"!

My concern was a 9 cell I bought for my T60 is 7 months old and shows 77.0Wh available against an 84.5Wh design capacity with 15 cycles. It's not my abuse but the condition I purchased it in. Was it abused?

I've a 6 cell that's within .1Wh of design capacity, a 2 cell module that shows no loss and the 9 I just mentioned. I travel with it seldom, should I keep the 9 and the 2, sell the 6 or just rotate and store in a cool place with a minimal charge, 70% or so?

I'm quite new to this "ThinkPad" thing and opinions are welcome! My Grand Father would have told me "It's quite a CONTRAPTION!"

[aditya1956]

The post by "aditya1956" certainly makes good sense and short of keeping a "near dud" loaded it's similar to what I thought might be a plan. I'll just maybe try to "pay attention"!

My concern was a 9 cell I bought for my T60 is 7 months old and shows 77.0Wh available against an 84.5Wh design capacity with 15 cycles. It's not my abuse but the condition I purchased it in. Was it abused?"

Perhaps it was simply used for that many cycles !

There is really nothing like abusing a battery as long as it is used with a device it was designed for, that is, not exceeding its current sourcing limit, b'coz then its internal chemicals will very quickly deteriorate and loose their ability to revert back fully to the original state, and thus reduce its life cycle drastically. All the notebooks' hardware inside are designed to take care of this issue to a very good extent, though not fully. A ckt fully capable of taking absolute care of a battery and its charge/discharge process will be very complex/costly and probabely is beyond the scope of an averege notebook particularly in a such a competitive market as it is today.

Yes, unlike Ni-Cads, which are not affected so much by severe variations in the loads seen by them, and prefer a deep discharge/charge cycle to get the best durability out of them, Li-Ions suffer when deeply discharged and charged. Ni-Cads suffer from a problem called "Memory Effect", that is, if not discharged fully before the charging process, say from a half discharged state, then it accepts its' future capacity to be also half. But Li-Ions do not have this problem and can be charged from any state without any adverse effects for quite long periods. But both the type of batteries dislike to be left in a fullly discharged state for long. It may kill them fully if not charged immediately. So for storage purposes one should leave the battery in a partially charged condition.

I've a 6 cell that's within .1Wh of design capacity, a 2 cell module that shows no loss and the 9 I just mentioned. I travel with it seldom, should I keep the 9 and the 2, sell the 6 or just rotate and store in a cool place with a minimal charge, 70% or so?"

The number of extra batteries at one's disposal simply indicates the extra amount of time that he/she can use the notebook for in the absence of an external power source, by swapping the batteries one after the other, and nothing else. This will definitely be of lot of help to someone who is always mobile. The only other reason for having many batteries probabely can be due to them being available at a very cheap price. Otherwise I don't find any other reason. So the choice is yours. If you want to keep it then just leave it in a cool place with some 50/60% charge left. It will be there for a long time. You can even leave it inside the fridge inside a sealed packet on the bottom most rack assuming it to be the least cooled place in your fridge.

But before starting to use such a battery kept in this manner, one should first leave it in the open for sometime so that the battery is back to the normal room temperature.

I'm quite new to this "ThinkPad" thing and opinions are welcome! My Grand Father would have told me "It's quite a CONTRAPTION!"

Yes, probabely your Grand Father would have been right in his observation. But this is relative. Every generation has its' own contraptions and complexities.

Coming back to notebooks & their batteries, onething we should not forget here and that is, it was a machine designed primarily for mobile use and that's why it was mandatory to have a battery of its' own inside it, whereas today nealy 70% of the notebooks sold are being used as desktop substitutes, even when a desktop is readily present ! Anyway the battery gradually has to face a natural death even though it was not frequently used as a substitute power source, and this hurts, atleast psychologically. And that is the reason why all these threads and tweaks have popped up ! B'coz it is beyond the scope of the standard control-hardware embedded inside the machine to take care of a battery which is always plugged in to the AC ! It was expecting it to fully recycle itself most of the time and thus the method to calculate the life span !

I am still waiting for the time to come when notebooks will be provided without batteries of all shapes and sizes, and instead will have only standard battery compartment/s where I can just pop in some standard Re-Chargeable cells of Sanyo/LG etc. etc. and go on using it. I don't think it is far away. The digital camera industry has already done it to a very good extent by reducing the use of proprietary batteries. But before anything happens for notebooks the greed of the manufacturers has to come down first. But the chances now are high as the sale of notebooks are very high and is ever increasing. One can hope that they will soon decide to earn their profits by selling notebooks, not selling batteries.

Cheers