How to prolong laptop battery?

[Windows 888]

How best to prolong lifespan of laptop battery?

Is it best to run the laptop on continuous power adapter (plug in) supply OR on battery?

I hear overcharging laptop battery will decrease its lifespan, on the other hand, recharging the battery also decreases its lifespan. If the laptop runs on continuous power adapter supply with the battery plugged in and being overcharged (ie. battery always full 100%), will this decrease the lifespan of the battery as much as if the laptop ran on battery supply, thus recharging battery often?

Our power supply fluctuates, thus we don't want to remove the battery from the laptop, in fear that the laptop may burn. We have the option of always running the laptop on either adapter power or battery.

What is best to prolong lifespan of the battery? To always run on adapter supply or not?

 

[michael908]

Remove the battery when it's fully charged and plugged in. If you have a constant power supply use it. no use to overcharge the battery. Don't leave the battery out of use for too long though. Drain it and recharge it every 2-3 weeks if you haven't used it at all. I did this with my cheap gateway laptop from 3 years ago and the battery still lives for 80% of what it could when it was new.

 

[Windows 888]

Thanks Michael!

My problem is that our power supply is not constant, meaning it fluctuates high and low often, thus we are afraid it may burn the laptop. We think, though not sure, that keeping the battery in will protect the laptop from burning or other problems due to inconstant power voltage, since we operate on a power generator and not power from the government.

In our case, should we keep the battery in? If yes, we are afraid of overcharging the battery. If not, we face recharging the battery too often thus decreasing its lifespan.

What is best for us to do then, to run on battery or power supply all the time?

 

[centaurius]

In your case scenario I would keep the battery always on. I woudl rather get a lifespan of battery reduced than to risk to burn the motherboard or anything else on laptop from a powersurge... You could get protection board (i think thats the name?) also to avoid pike surges.

 

[Windows 888]

Thanks Centaurius.

Just wondering, if we run the laptop on power supply while battery is in the laptop, does the battery act as a UPS in which it stabilizes the power supply? I mean if the power jumps from low to high while plugged in the power outlet, will the battery come on automatically and cut off the power adapter supply? Or will the laptop be burnt or malfunction even if the battery is in while charging and power supply is not constant? If the battery protects the laptop from inconsistent power supply then perhaps it is still OK to run it on constant power adapter?

 

[Fouchey]

How old is the laptop? Because honestly with newer laptops "overcharging" the battery is not as common as it was years ago. Most laptops today use lithium Ion (Li-ion) batteries. Overcharging Li-ion batteries is not a problem and does not affect the battery life span. These batteries can be charged 300 to 500 times, and they have an internal circuit to stop the charging process at full charge.

 

[Windows 888]

Thanks Fouchey!

Our laptops are 1 to 5 years old, they all have Li-ion batteries.

Yes, our hp, dell and acer laptops stop lighting up when the battery is fully charged, but I hear that still if the battery is left in and running on power outlet supply, the battery can still decline in lifespan. I hear it has to do with overheating but I notice the battery is not hot when it is fully charged and light goes off it, thus I'm confused.

My question is, should we keep the battery in while using power outlet supply all the time or just run on battery supply (keep recharging the battery), which is best to prolong life of battery?

 

[Fouchey]

Yes you are correct, it has to do with heat. If you do not feel heat on your battery when it is fully charged then it is not "overcharging" there is a tiny circuit inside which stops the charging process once it is completely charged. I believe If this circuit did not stop the charging process excess energy would be released from the battery(in the form of heat) damaging the life of it. I have had my laptop for about 3 years and it is plugged in probably 95% of the day; I have seen no noticeable difference in the battery life from doing this.

 

[Windows 888]

Thanks Fouchey! I now understand that it is safe and best to keep the battery in while plugged into outlet all the times!

 

[Fouchey]

Thanks Fouchey! I now understand that it is safe and best to keep the battery in while plugged into outlet all the times!

I would say especially in your case considering you have differences in power supply. Don't forget to close the thread if you believe it's solved

Edit: Also be sure to check your batteries every so often to make sure. There is a circuit inside to prevent this, but it doesn't always mean it works correct. It is possible for the circuit to malfunction causing problems with the way charging cycles work.

 

[Windows 888]

Thanks Fouchey again!

Just another question which came to mind, with our inconsistent power supply, if we keep our laptop plugged in all the time, would a power serge or low power state cause burning or problems to the laptop? I wonder if laptops automatically switch to battery supply when plugged in and power is either too high or low. Is there a power stabilizer built into laptops nowadays to automatically switch from plugged-in to battery use?

If no power stabilizer in the laptop then would it not increase the risk of burning with our unstable power, if we were to plug-in the computer all the time?

 

[Windows 888]

Sorry Fouchey, what do you mean by "be sure to check your batteries every so often to make sure. There is a circuit inside to prevent this, but it doesn't always mean it works correct. It is possible for the circuit to malfunction causing problems with the way charging cycles work."

How do we check to know for sure the battery stops charging? What circuit are you referring to? When I remove the battery from the laptop, I don't see any circuit.

 

[Fouchey]

Thanks Fouchey again!

Just another question which came to mind, with our inconsistent power supply, if we keep our laptop plugged in all the time, would a power serge or low power state cause burning or problems to the laptop? I wonder if laptops automatically switch to battery supply when plugged in and power is either too high or low. Is there a power stabilizer built into laptops nowadays to automatically switch from plugged-in to battery use?

If no power stabilizer in the laptop then would it not increase the risk of burning with our unstable power, if we were to plug-in the computer all the time?

I do not know much about how laptops protect from high power surges but if there is not enough volts I would guess it would definitely switch to only battery just like when you have it plugged in and the electric goes out etc.. As for high surges, you could get a simple power surge protector?

Sorry, the circuit is inside, what I mean is if the battery becomes hot then it is very likely it is overcharging and the circuit is no longer working

 

[Amad102]

yeah you should be fine to have it charging all of the time, newer batteries are made much better than older ones

 

[Windows 888]

I hear some recommend running the laptop on power supply at all times while others say this will decrease lifespan of the battery.

My question is which is best for the lifespan of the battery? To always run the laptop on power outlet while recharging the battery once every 2 weeks OR to run it on battery all the time?

Thanks for all your helpful replies thus far! Hope to hear from anyone soon!

 

[Fouchey]

Leaving it on power supply all the time shouldn't hurt the battery, but I have heard leaving the battery unused for a while can end up killing it just like HDDs. Like I was saying in my previous posts, I keep my laptop charging for most of the day if not all day. It's 2-3 years old and the battery on it still runs great for having that much age.

 

[Windows 888]

Thanks Fouchey, I'll take your advice!

 

[Fouchey]

Thanks Fouchey, I'll take your advice!

No problem and good luck! Just remember heat is a health concern for Lithium-ion batteries. If it is getting too hot then there is a problem. I recently read this article about if it is ok to leave the battery in while charging..


The answer is: YES and NO, it depends on the situation.

Having a battery fully charged and the laptop plugged in is not harmful, because as soon as the charge level reaches 100% the battery stops receiving charging energy and this energy is bypassed directly to the power supply system of the laptop.

However there’s a disadvantage in keeping the battery in its socket when the laptop is plugged in, but only if it’s currently suffering from excessive heating caused by the laptop hardware.

So:

In a normal usage, if the laptop doesn’t get to hot (CPU and Hard Disk around 40ºC) the battery should remain in the laptop socket;
In an intensive usage which leads to a large amount of heat produced (i.e. Games) the battery should be removed from the socket in order to prevent unwanted heating.

The heat, among the fact that it has 100% of charge, is the great enemy of the lithium battery and not the plug, as many might think so.

 

[Windows 888]

Thanks again and again Fouchey!!!

 

[jaxst]

personally i would buy a cheap replacement battery from china for 20 dollars, usually what it cost on ebay and, charge your good battery to about 40-50% and store it in the fridge and leave the cheap battery inside