Battery Question

Dave

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I run my laptop primarily plugged into the outlet. My question is should I
take the battery out of the unit since its plugged in?? Will it be getting
over-charged since its plugged in all the time and that's the way to charge
the battery if it is dead. Am I ruining the battery by not taking it out??
Thanks in advance to anyone that is knowledgeable in this area.

David
 
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Dave wrote:
>
> I run my laptop primarily plugged into the outlet. My question is should I
> take the battery out of the unit since its plugged in?? Will it be getting
> over-charged since its plugged in all the time and that's the way to charge
> the battery if it is dead. Am I ruining the battery by not taking it out??
> Thanks in advance to anyone that is knowledgeable in this area.
>
> David

Dave, you didnt say what make/model, or OS, but generally, once the battery is
fully charged, take it out. Keeping a battery installed but running off the
charger can kill the battery, and/or the DC subcard.

TJ
=========================================================================
The only time you have too much fuel is when you're on fire.
 
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> Dave wrote:
> > I run my laptop primarily plugged into the outlet. My question
> > is should I take the battery out of the unit since its plugged in??
> > Will it be getting over-charged since its plugged in all the time
> > and that's the way to charge the battery if it is dead. Am I
> > ruining the battery by not taking it out??
> > Thanks in advance to anyone that is knowledgeable in this area.

Capt. Wild Bill Kelso wrote:
> Dave, you didnt say what make/model, or OS, but generally, once the
> battery is fully charged, take it out. Keeping a battery installed but
> running off the charger can kill the battery, and/or the DC subcard.

Kill the DC subcard? Never heard of such a thing, certainly not on any
modern notebook. They are all designed to be plugged in 24/7 with the
battery installed.

Now about battery life... You have to choose your priorities. Which is more
important to you, the shelf life of your battery or the security of your
data? A battery will last the longest if you never use it. But you'll regret
that missing battery the first time you're in the middle of editing a
document and have a power failure, or forget to put the battery back in
before pulling the AC power.

If you really want to prolong the shelf life of a Li-ion battery, you
shouldn't give it a full charge before removing it anyway. You should store
it uncharged, or charged to to only 30% or so. You may note that Li-ion
batteries shipped from the factory never have a full charge on them. Here
are a couple of references on this:

http://www.powerstream.com/Storage.htm
http://www.buchmann.ca/Chap15-page2.asp

That would be an incredible pain, wouldn't it? You'd have to plan ahead any
time you want to use the battery, and top it off just before you go.
Realistically, what you'll probably end up doing is what the Captain said:
charge the battery completely before you take it out. But that's not much
better for the battery than keeping it in the machine all the time.

You may as well keep the battery in the machine so it can protect you for
power failures.

-Mike
 
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Michael Geary wrote:
>>Dave wrote:
>>
>>>I run my laptop primarily plugged into the outlet. My question
>>>is should I take the battery out of the unit since its plugged in??
>>>Will it be getting over-charged since its plugged in all the time
>>>and that's the way to charge the battery if it is dead. Am I
>>>ruining the battery by not taking it out??
>>>Thanks in advance to anyone that is knowledgeable in this area.
>
>
> Capt. Wild Bill Kelso wrote:
>
>>Dave, you didnt say what make/model, or OS, but generally, once the
>>battery is fully charged, take it out. Keeping a battery installed but
>>running off the charger can kill the battery, and/or the DC subcard.
>
>
> Kill the DC subcard? Never heard of such a thing, certainly not on any
> modern notebook. They are all designed to be plugged in 24/7 with the
> battery installed.
>
> Now about battery life... You have to choose your priorities. Which is more
> important to you, the shelf life of your battery or the security of your
> data? A battery will last the longest if you never use it. But you'll regret
> that missing battery the first time you're in the middle of editing a
> document and have a power failure, or forget to put the battery back in
> before pulling the AC power.
>
> If you really want to prolong the shelf life of a Li-ion battery, you
> shouldn't give it a full charge before removing it anyway. You should store
> it uncharged, or charged to to only 30% or so. You may note that Li-ion
> batteries shipped from the factory never have a full charge on them. Here
> are a couple of references on this:
>
> http://www.powerstream.com/Storage.htm
> http://www.buchmann.ca/Chap15-page2.asp
>
> That would be an incredible pain, wouldn't it? You'd have to plan ahead any
> time you want to use the battery, and top it off just before you go.
> Realistically, what you'll probably end up doing is what the Captain said:
> charge the battery completely before you take it out. But that's not much
> better for the battery than keeping it in the machine all the time.
>
> You may as well keep the battery in the machine so it can protect you for
> power failures.
>
> -Mike
>
>
This subject has always been very controversial and you will read a lot
about it. What Mike says is very true and seldom mentioned. I might add
that keeping the battery in will to some extent protect your machine
against power spikes, not as well as an adequate UPS but still.

Just keep in mind that whatever you do, batteries do not last too long
and occasionally fail abrutly. Once in a while buying a new one is
acceptable and I personally always have a spare one with me since
batteries for my laptop are not commonly sold in stores (I have a
Twinhead). Enjoy the convenience and safety of keeping it where it
belongs, unless your laptop's manual says otherwise, which I doubt!

--
John Doue
 
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Michael Geary wrote:
>
> > Dave wrote:
> > > I run my laptop primarily plugged into the outlet. My question
> > > is should I take the battery out of the unit since its plugged in??
> > > Will it be getting over-charged since its plugged in all the time
> > > and that's the way to charge the battery if it is dead. Am I
> > > ruining the battery by not taking it out??
> > > Thanks in advance to anyone that is knowledgeable in this area.
>
> Capt. Wild Bill Kelso wrote:
> > Dave, you didnt say what make/model, or OS, but generally, once the
> > battery is fully charged, take it out. Keeping a battery installed but
> > running off the charger can kill the battery, and/or the DC subcard.
>
> Kill the DC subcard? Never heard of such a thing, certainly not on any
> modern notebook. They are all designed to be plugged in 24/7 with the
> battery installed.

oops, cross-linked sectors in the grey matter, 'kill DC card' goes with keeping
a BAD battery in or trying to charge it.

> Now about battery life... You have to choose your priorities. Which is more
> important to you, the shelf life of your battery or the security of your
> data? A battery will last the longest if you never use it. But you'll regret
> that missing battery the first time you're in the middle of editing a
> document and have a power failure, or forget to put the battery back in
> before pulling the AC power.

Security of data? Isn't that why you make backups? Save often?

> If you really want to prolong the shelf life of a Li-ion battery, you
> shouldn't give it a full charge before removing it anyway. You should store
> it uncharged, or charged to to only 30% or so. You may note that Li-ion
> batteries shipped from the factory never have a full charge on them. Here
> are a couple of references on this:
>
> http://www.powerstream.com/Storage.htm
> http://www.buchmann.ca/Chap15-page2.asp
>
> That would be an incredible pain, wouldn't it? You'd have to plan ahead any
> time you want to use the battery, and top it off just before you go.
> Realistically, what you'll probably end up doing is what the Captain said:
> charge the battery completely before you take it out. But that's not much
> better for the battery than keeping it in the machine all the time.

How much time do you leave it out? Hours, days, weeks? My kids use their
laptops in their rooms with the charger, no battery in. THe batt sits nearby.
If they want to roam thru the house, they put the batt in, unplug and roam till
the batt needs charging. If they're going to be somewhere for a while, they
take the charger with them. Yes, the batt becomes a UPS in a sense. But over a
year running like this and the batt runs for over an hour.

> You may as well keep the battery in the machine so it can protect you for
> power failures.
>
> -Mike

Realistically, a reason to keep the battery in is to get the CPU to maintain
rated speed. Many high-speed CPU's fall to slower speed when on - just - the
chargers. Not enough current from just the charger. You want a 2+GHz cpu to
run that fast, you may have to use both, charger and batt.

TJ
=========================================================================
The only time you have too much fuel is when you're on fire.
 
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John Doue <notwobe@yahoo.com> wrote:

> This subject has always been very controversial and you will read a
> lot
> about it. What Mike says is very true and seldom mentioned. I might
> add
> that keeping the battery in will to some extent protect your machine
> against power spikes, not as well as an adequate UPS but still.

Sorry, the UPS ability of a laptop battery is a complete and total myth.

The power brick of most laptops would give up the ghost long before anything
"bad" got through, nor is the battery in series with the laptop's power
supply, it's parallel.

How else can you remove the battery and continue to function on AC alone?

Regards,

James
 

Dave

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Thank you all for the input and the links to info. I knew some one here
would have the stats I needed on this issue. Thank you.
David

"Dave" <dave@nospam.com> wrote in message
news:10887rcsccaub0c@corp.supernews.com...
> I run my laptop primarily plugged into the outlet. My question is should
I
> take the battery out of the unit since its plugged in?? Will it be getting
> over-charged since its plugged in all the time and that's the way to
charge
> the battery if it is dead. Am I ruining the battery by not taking it
out??
> Thanks in advance to anyone that is knowledgeable in this area.
>
> David
>
>
 
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I guess I must be doing something wrong. I always leave the battery in my 6
yr old TP560x even when I'm running it off the charger. I guess this
original battery must be due to die at any time but it still seems to hold a
decent charge. I don't run a lot on the battery, and when I do I don't often
run it down below 60%. Finally I tend to keep it fully charged. I guess I'd
better change my ways and knock on wood. ;-)
 
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Dave wrote...
> I run my laptop primarily plugged into the outlet. My question is should
I
> take the battery out of the unit since its plugged in?? Will it be getting
> over-charged since its plugged in all the time and that's the way to
charge
> the battery if it is dead. Am I ruining the battery by not taking it
out??
> Thanks in advance to anyone that is knowledgeable in this area.

Assuming you are talking about Li-Ion batteries then overcharging is not a
problem. This has to be handled by the charging module since overcharging
leads to venting of hydrogen and very likely a sheet of flame!

However the battery will get warm if left in the laptop, which will
accelerate its degradation. For optimum battery life some folks suggest
that you should store it in the fridge but a reasonable compromise is to
keep it in a cool place out of the laptop if you are going to be using it on
mains power for a long period. That's what I do, anyway.

David
 
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On Tue, 20 Apr 2004 10:03:57 -0700, "Ian S." <iws51remove@cox.net>
wrote:

>I guess I must be doing something wrong. I always leave the battery in my 6
>yr old TP560x even when I'm running it off the charger. I guess this
>original battery must be due to die at any time but it still seems to hold a
>decent charge. I don't run a lot on the battery, and when I do I don't often
>run it down below 60%. Finally I tend to keep it fully charged. I guess I'd
>better change my ways and knock on wood. ;-)
>
Good genes.
 
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On Mon, 19 Apr 2004 20:23:58 GMT, "Capt. Wild Bill Kelso, USAAC"
<Dec7.1941@cableaz.com> wrote:

>
snip
>
>How much time do you leave it out? Hours, days, weeks? My kids use their
>laptops in their rooms with the charger, no battery in. THe batt sits nearby.
>If they want to roam thru the house, they put the batt in, unplug

Doing that could be fatal to the DC components or pins if not
(well) designed or properly done for hot swapping and, if the
harddrive heads aren't parked throughout the implied usual
flipping over or angling, can result in drive crashes.

Kids will always be lucky of course.

>
snip
 
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"H. Dziardziel" wrote:
>
> On Mon, 19 Apr 2004 20:23:58 GMT, "Capt. Wild Bill Kelso, USAAC"
> <Dec7.1941@cableaz.com> wrote:
>
> >
> snip
> >
> >How much time do you leave it out? Hours, days, weeks? My kids use their
> >laptops in their rooms with the charger, no battery in. THe batt sits nearby.
> >If they want to roam thru the house, they put the batt in, unplug
>
> Doing that could be fatal to the DC components or pins if not
> (well) designed or properly done for hot swapping and, if the
> harddrive heads aren't parked throughout the implied usual
> flipping over or angling, can result in drive crashes.

Thats why IBM is the king. Only the UltraBay battery can't be hot-swapped.

TJ


> Kids will always be lucky of course.

Nope, 'just have good hardware

>
> >
> snip

--
=========================================================================
The only time you have too much fuel is when you're on fire.
 
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Harry <collections@londonrecycling.co.uk> wrote:
> Try www.laptopspares.com they are very helpful and if you quote my
> name: Hamish they will definatly look after you. You can e-mail them
> on sales@laptopspares.com or go to their site and call them.

OK, you are FAST approaching my spam limit! Your reply to this thread, as to
most of the others you've spammed today, has no earthly application to the
OP's original question or problem.

You appear to be a shill for this UK based company.

James