Discussion on Laptop Charging

[jrd_692]

Is it alright to charge a laptop continuously the whole day

[Skiiwee29]

Its fine to keep it plugged in 24/7. Modern electronics have protections built into them for battery life. 

[Alex Atkin UK]

25 minutes ago, Skiiwee29 said:

Its fine to keep it plugged in 24/7. Modern electronics have protections built into them for battery life. 

Not necessarily, many laptops have vendor software to do that, stop the battery from charging past around 85% to avoid it wearing too fast.  Without that software installed they will go to 100% and left at that the battery will degrade much faster.

So while leaving it plugged it wont damage it more than leaving it charged at 100% and not using it, the ideal is to have that software installed and then you don't have to worry about it.

This is why all these devices have between 30-50% charge from the factory, as leaving the battery at 100% could have it trashed if its been sat in a warehouse for six months.

[Skiiwee29]

Just now, Alex Atkin UK said:

Not necessarily, many laptops have vendor software to do that, stop the battery from charging past around 85% to avoid it wearing too fast.  Without that software installed they will go to 100% and left at that the battery will degrade much faster.

I believe this would be something implemented into the BIOS in my experience. Not windows based software. 

[Alex Atkin UK]

12 minutes ago, Skiiwee29 said:

I believe this would be something implemented into the BIOS in my experience. Not windows based software. 

Nope, its not, at least I've never seen it.  The default battery management will always charge to 100% and its quite annoying if you use Linux as then you CAN'T install the limiter software.  It wont over-charge (so its not going to explode or anything) but it does cause the battery to wear out quicker than if its limited to around 85%.

Same goes for phones or anything with Lithium Ion based batteries.   My Galaxy S10 still retains 91% capacity after nearly 3 years, as I try to avoid fully charging it unless absolutely needed that day.  In comparison my Note 4 only had at best half capacity after about a year and a half as I always let it fully charge.  After 2 years it would suddenly die at 25% remaining.  Of course the Note 4 it didn't matter as replacing the battery was easy.

[Chris Pratt]

2 hours ago, Skiiwee29 said:

I believe this would be something implemented into the BIOS in my experience. Not windows based software. 

It's actually part of the battery firmware nowadays. That said, not every manufacturer includes batteries with smart charging functionality, so it's not safe to just assume it's there. Also, it's more of a protection than something you should actually rely on. Like OCP in a power supply; just because it's there doesn't mean you should just shove current into it.

[Imbadatnames]

Depends what’s laptop, some will just bypass the battery when it’s full, others will keep it at say 80% if it’s being used and charging others will just keep pumping juice in all day 

[GeorgeB123]

if you unplug it a few times a week and let the battery discharge at least once a week then it's fine.

If you let it stay plugged in 24/7 (in it's actual meaning as in non-stop the whole week) then it will put more stress on the battery resulting in degraded battery life over time.

Not saying the battery will die in like a month or two. It'll just start degrading at a faster rate. 

It also depends on the temps. Plugged in under load or plugged in under moderate load with an on/off schedule makes a difference.