Battery Best Practices

[DeputyStankus]

So, I know it's best to let the battery go through several full cycles to start off with. What about after that? Once I've charged it fully and let it drain often enough that it seems to be lasting as long as it will, what is the best way to handle it after that?

Should I continue letting it drain every time? Should I plug it in whenever I have a chance? What?

I'm especially interested in whether or not it would damage the battery to plug it in all day while I'm at work...

[apacho01]

Check THIS out. lots a good info.

[jsvt3]

Originally Posted by apacho01

Check THIS out. lots a good info.

Wow!! My brain kinda hurts lol. Good info indeed though, thanks for the link.

[DeputyStankus]

lol, so it was BAD for me to do several full discharges? D'oh!

Quote:

Avoid frequent full discharges because this puts additional strain on the battery. Several partial discharges with frequent recharges are better for lithium-ion than one deep one. Recharging a partially charged lithium-ion does not cause harm because there is no memory. (In this respect, lithium-ion differs from nickel-based batteries.) Short battery life in a laptop is mainly cause by heat rather than charge / discharge patterns.

Batteries with fuel gauge (laptops) should be calibrated by applying a deliberate full discharge once every 30 charges. Running the pack down in the equipment does this. If ignored, the fuel gauge will become increasingly less accurate and in some cases cut off the device prematurely.

[ESsprint]

Originally Posted by DeputyStankus

lol, so it was BAD for me to do several full discharges? D'oh!

Quote:

Avoid frequent full discharges because this puts additional strain on the battery. Several partial discharges with frequent recharges are better for lithium-ion than one deep one. Recharging a partially charged lithium-ion does not cause harm because there is no memory. (In this respect, lithium-ion differs from nickel-based batteries.) Short battery life in a laptop is mainly cause by heat rather than charge / discharge patterns.

Batteries with fuel gauge (laptops) should be calibrated by applying a deliberate full discharge once every 30 charges. Running the pack down in the equipment does this. If ignored, the fuel gauge will become increasingly less accurate and in some cases cut off the device prematurely.

Yeah, dont discharge these batteries till they are empty, there is an optimum charge, which Im not sure of, but I believe its around 70 - 80%. If you can keep your battery at those levels than it will last longer. I kinda jus pulled the % out of my ***, but you get the idea.

[DeputyStankus]

I still haven't been able to find any good info on whether or not it's okay to leave it plugged in all day at work. Anyone?