Tips on preserving laptop battery

[Majestic_Koala]

I watched linuses video i think it was on techquicke on "how to preserve battery life" however im still left without my question being answered and thought the best place to ask was here

 

I bought a new laptop and the one thing that im worried about is battery expectancy, my previous old laptop that i bought 5 years ago had originally 6 hours battery life within 2 years it had gone down to 30 minutes and the next year i had to have it constantly plugged in. My question is how can i make sure my battery lasts as long as it can? I know how to keep your batteries charged but how can i increase it's life expectancy and is it even possible? 

[Droidbot]

Buy a new one periododically

 

my 2570p has like 4h of battery and I get a new one every 2 years. my oldest is 06/13 and has a 3h avg expectancy. 

 

 

[Freezanator]

@Majestic_Koala I take many steps to ensure my battery lasts as long as possible. Starting off, my battery is already relatively smaller than average at about 3 hours when I first bought my laptop (it is built-in by the way). After a year, I decided to add an SSD and my battery's life was increased to 5 hours. Moreover, try to get wall power as frequent as possible. Another thing you can do is to elevate your laptop off the surface of whatever it is on (i.e. put a book on the rear end so the keyboard will be slightly inclined. By doing this, the fans don't have to spin so fast, maybe not at all (if you select "Passive" in the "System cooling policy" in the Power Options). You can also reduce the maximum CPU state in Power Options to about 80% (or lower if you're not running intense applications). All in all, the best way to increase your battery life is to get an SSD and install Windows and your browsers on it so that background processes and browsers'll just interact with the SSD instead of the more power-hungry HDD.  

[Dark]

Here are a few things to start--

 

-limit the number of discharge cycles (laptops with lithium batteries can be left on the charger without ruining the batteries life).

 

-keep the laptop cool.

 

-undervolt the CPU. 

[JoostinOnline]

10 minutes ago, Dark said:

-limit the number of discharge cycles (laptops with lithium batteries can be left on the charger without ruining the batteries life).

It's better to not keep it at 100% all the time.  That's why a lot of computers now have the option to cut off charging at 80%.

 

Also, don't run it down past 20% if you can help it.  The sweet spot for charging is 40-80%.

[Dark]

6 hours ago, JoostinOnline said:

It's better to not keep it at 100% all the time.  That's why a lot of computers now have the option to cut off charging at 80%.

 

Also, don't run it down past 20% if you can help it.  The sweet spot for charging is 40-80%.

Any documentation on this?

I suppose it depends a lot on the charging controller but a good controller should only be applying charge to a lithium pack once it drains to a certain point (~98%) since the any use of the battery contributes to a discharge cycle.

 

Back in the day of NIMH batteries, leaving it charging would eventually wear the battery, as would not allowing it to drain completely before recharging (which are non-issues for most lithium packs).

[AlanAlan]

1 hour ago, Dark said:

Any documentation on this?

I suppose it depends a lot on the charging controller but a good controller should only be applying charge to a lithium pack once it drains to a certain point (~98%) since the any use of the battery contributes to a discharge cycle.

 

Back in the day of NIMH batteries, leaving it charging would eventually wear the battery, as would not allowing it to drain completely before recharging (which are non-issues for most lithium packs).

 

8 hours ago, JoostinOnline said:

It's better to not keep it at 100% all the time.  That's why a lot of computers now have the option to cut off charging at 80%.

 

Also, don't run it down past 20% if you can help it.  The sweet spot for charging is 40-80%.

 

8 hours ago, JoostinOnline said:

It's better to not keep it at 100% all the time.  That's why a lot of computers now have the option to cut off charging at 80%.

 

Also, don't run it down past 20% if you can help it.  The sweet spot for charging is 40-80%.

 

On January 28, 2017 at 6:05 AM, Freezanator said:

@Majestic_Koala I take many steps to ensure my battery lasts as long as possible. Starting off, my battery is already relatively smaller than average at about 3 hours when I first bought my laptop (it is built-in by the way). After a year, I decided to add an SSD and my battery's life was increased to 5 hours. Moreover, try to get wall power as frequent as possible. Another thing you can do is to elevate your laptop off the surface of whatever it is on (i.e. put a book on the rear end so the keyboard will be slightly inclined. By doing this, the fans don't have to spin so fast, maybe not at all (if you select "Passive" in the "System cooling policy" in the Power Options). You can also reduce the maximum CPU state in Power Options to about 80% (or lower if you're not running intense applications). All in all, the best way to increase your battery life is to get an SSD and install Windows and your browsers on it so that background processes and browsers'll just interact with the SSD instead of the more power-hungry HDD.  

 

On January 28, 2017 at 5:53 AM, Droidbot said:

Buy a new one periododically

 

my 2570p has like 4h of battery and I get a new one every 2 years. my oldest is 06/13 and has a 3h avg expectancy. 

 

 

Guys, I have a question to, so I use my laptop everyday for work and what is best for me to keep my laptop battery in good health? Leave it plugged in or let it discharge to like 40% like you guys said and plug it back in to charge?

[Dark]

4 minutes ago, AlanAlan said:

 

 

 

 

Guys, I have a question to, so I use my laptop everyday for work and what is best for me to keep my laptop battery in good health? Leave it plugged in or let it discharge to like 40% like you guys said and plug it back in to charge?

It the battery is lithium ion then leave it plugged in.

[AlanAlan]

39 minutes ago, Dark said:

It the battery is lithium ion then leave it plugged in.

My laptop is the asus q302u

 

https://www.asus.com/us/Notebooks/Q302/specifications/

 

According to the spec sheet it has a 3Cells 50 Whrs Polymer Battery

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[Dark]

12 minutes ago, AlanAlan said:

My laptop is the asus q302u

 

https://www.asus.com/us/Notebooks/Q302/specifications/

 

According to the spec sheet it has a 3Cells 50 Whrs Polymer Battery

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•  
•  
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Yes, that's Lithium Polymer.

[AlanAlan]

2 hours ago, Dark said:

Yes, that's Lithium Polymer.

So what should I do?

[Dark]

4 hours ago, Dark said:

It the battery is lithium ion then leave it plugged in.

 

8 minutes ago, AlanAlan said:

So what should I do?

Lithium batteries in general, leave them plugged in.

[JoostinOnline]

7 hours ago, Dark said:

Any documentation on this?

I suppose it depends a lot on the charging controller but a good controller should only be applying charge to a lithium pack once it drains to a certain point (~98%) since the any use of the battery contributes to a discharge cycle.

 

Back in the day of NIMH batteries, leaving it charging would eventually wear the battery, as would not allowing it to drain completely before recharging (which are non-issues for most lithium packs).

It's possible it's not true. My manual on my Toshiba laptop (along with the eco utility) said it, and I didn't question it. 

[Dark]

8 minutes ago, JoostinOnline said:

It's possible it's not true. My manual on my Toshiba laptop (along with the eco utility) said it, and I didn't question it. 

If you read up on lithium batteries (there are multiple variants) you'll notice that they don't put any concern on leaving them 'charging' for extended periods of time because the charging controllers should only present a charge when there is enough drain.

The largest concern (besides heat) with a lithium battery is to keep it from draining completely; letting the battery reach 0% can permanently reduce the batteries capacity.  Most lithium batteries have a protection chip that removes the load once it reaches a certain internal voltage.

[JoostinOnline]

29 minutes ago, Dark said:

If you read up on lithium batteries (there are multiple variants) you'll notice that they don't put any concern on leaving them 'charging' for extended periods of time because the charging controllers should only present a charge when there is enough drain.

The largest concern (besides heat) with a lithium battery is to keep it from draining completely; letting the battery reach 0% can permanently reduce the batteries capacity.  Most lithium batteries have a protection chip that removes the load once it reaches a certain internal voltage.

I know there's danger in running them all the way down.

 

Toshiba isn't the only brand to do this though. I worked on some brand new Dells about a year ago, and by default they didn't charge past 80% to make the battery last. You had to enable full charge in the BIOS. 

[Dark]

29 minutes ago, JoostinOnline said:

I know there's danger in running them all the way down.

 

Toshiba isn't the only brand to do this though. I worked on some brand new Dells about a year ago, and by default they didn't charge past 80% to make the battery last. You had to enable full charge in the BIOS. 

The only reason I see a manufacturer putting an 80% limit on a charge would most likely be for safety (a full charged lithium battery is more susceptible to damage from heat).  

 

Charging a lithium battery to 100% has no ill effects and recharging a lithium battery before it has drained has proven to allow a greater number of discharge cycles (ie, charging at 50% instead of 10% will help prolong the life of the battery).

 

Read up on the technology, it will help you understand how it works.  Not all manufacturers 'solutions' are inline with your expectations.

 

http://batteryuniversity.com/learn/article/how_to_prolong_lithium_based_batteries

 

[JoostinOnline]

1 minute ago, Dark said:

Charging a lithium battery to 100% has no ill effects and recharging a lithium battery before it has drained has proven to allow a greater number of discharge cycles (ie, charging at 50% instead of 10% will help prolong the life of the battery).

You don't need to keep telling me this lol.  I said it in my original post.

[Dark]

1 minute ago, JoostinOnline said:

You don't need to keep telling me this lol.  I said it in my original post.

You can still charge a lithium battery to 100%, it won't hurt it.

[Dark]

14 hours ago, JoostinOnline said:

It's better to not keep it at 100% all the time.  That's why a lot of computers now have the option to cut off charging at 80%.

 

Also, don't run it down past 20% if you can help it.  The sweet spot for charging is 40-80%.

 

2 minutes ago, JoostinOnline said:

You don't need to keep telling me this lol.  I said it in my original post.

No you didn't.

[JoostinOnline]

1 minute ago, Dark said:

You can still charge a lithium battery to 100%, it won't hurt it.

Another thing you don't need to keep telling me.  All I'm saying is that companies are saying it.

[JoostinOnline]

2 minutes ago, Dark said:

 

No you didn't.

Yes I did

15 hours ago, JoostinOnline said:

Also, don't run it down past 20% if you can help it. 

 

[Dark]

6 minutes ago, JoostinOnline said:

Yes I did

 

What you quoted states nothing about keeping the battery at 100%.  So you are wrong.

 

7 minutes ago, JoostinOnline said:

Another thing you don't need to keep telling me.  All I'm saying is that companies are saying it.

 

From what I read on "Toshiba Eco Charge Mode', all that feature is doing is putting wear on your lithium battery (if your model toshiba has a lithium battery).  As I've already stated and what is also easily found by searching the internet, lithium batteries 'wear' by discharge cycles.  The 'Toshiba Eco Charge Mode' is a feature that would better suit a NiMH battery.

 

Again, do your research, you're spreading bad information (and stop using that eco crap if your laptop has a lithium battery).

[JoostinOnline]

1 minute ago, Dark said:

What you quoted states nothing about keeping the battery at 100%.  So you are wrong.

 

From what I read on "Toshiba Eco Charge Mode', all that feature is doing is putting wear on your lithium battery (if your model toshiba has a lithium battery).  As I've already stated and what is also easily found by searching the internet, lithium batteries 'wear' by discharge cycles.  The 'Toshiba Eco Charge Mode' is a feature that would better suit a NiMH battery.

 

Again, do your research, you're spreading bad information (and stop using that eco crap if your battery has a lithium battery).

Ugh.  I said you don't need to keep telling me that you shouldn't run the battery down too low.   I accepted what you said about it not being bad to keep it at 100%, as seen here:

1 hour ago, JoostinOnline said:

It's possible it's not true. My manual on my Toshiba laptop (along with the eco utility) said it, and I didn't question it. 

I just thought it was strange and interesting that multiple businesses created technology to prevent full charges if it wasn't true.

 

I don't know why you're so hostile, but I'm done with this conversation.  We're all allowed to have bad days, but please don't take it out on me.