Thoughts/Experiences with leaving your battery in while your using it and charging ?

Maikky

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Jun 18, 2010
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I've read a few post about it, and it's kinda 50/50 some say it doesn't really affect the battery but others put that it does in fact damage the life cycle of a battery .

I've been a leaning more towards removable external batteries which cut my pool of potential buys down but I'd like to hear some other people's thoughts on the matter .

Edit : Just to clear it up, I mean when using your laptop while it's plugged into AC power and a battery . Not just charging constantly while off .
 
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Experience varies from person to person. Based on my experience with my old IBM ThinkPad T40 laptop I would have to say that continuous charging has definitely decreased the battery's lifespan. I mostly used it when plugged into the AC outlet. One day the capacity was literally cut in half. Instead of lasting 5 hours on a single charge, it was reduced to 2.5 hours.

Many laptops nowadays have circuitry that prevents the battery from being charge beyond 50% - 80% depending on the manufacturer. When the battery is allow to fully charge to 100%, the laptop basically stops charging the battery and draws power from the battery instead of the power brick from what I understand. When the battery goes down to 96% or so, the recharging circuity...
Modern systems and modern batteries don't suffer the same as older units do. Power management features built into the hardware prevent batteries from being "over charged".

If you're a prospective buyer (looking at systems within the last few years), then you should have nothing to worry about.
 

Essdub8

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Feb 13, 2012
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^^^ Prostar has it correct, in my opinion.

In the "old days", simultaneous charge/drain could cripple the life of the battery, and in severe cases actually cause damage to the battery, possibly leading to leaks, which sometimes were quite vigorous (ie. vapor explosion).
With newer equipment, however, I have not heard of any negative effects from simultaneous charge/drain.

This may vary with battery manufacturer and type of battery, however. Obviously manufacturer direction should be heeded, should they indicate otherwise.
 

Maikky

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Jun 18, 2010
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I'm more worried about the constant drain/charge causing excess heat . Do modern batteries stop charging when on and pluged into A/C power ? Or if there is any program or bios setting that would allow that .
 

Fouchey

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Jun 26, 2013
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I have been wondering this same thing for years. My laptop is about 2 years old now and I basically leave it charging every hour of the day and only use it a few times a week on battery now. I see minimal change it battery life though. If it was true that it kills your battery my battery would definitely not work correctly anymore.
 


The heat accumulates more at the adapter than the battery. There's no circumventing wear and tear on any battery, but there are some things you can do for it.

http://batterycare.net/en/index.html
http://batteryuniversity.com/

Yes, batteries stop charging once they reach a full charge. No trickle charge or anything; they simply will slowly discharge if you're still plugged in.
 
Experience varies from person to person. Based on my experience with my old IBM ThinkPad T40 laptop I would have to say that continuous charging has definitely decreased the battery's lifespan. I mostly used it when plugged into the AC outlet. One day the capacity was literally cut in half. Instead of lasting 5 hours on a single charge, it was reduced to 2.5 hours.

Many laptops nowadays have circuitry that prevents the battery from being charge beyond 50% - 80% depending on the manufacturer. When the battery is allow to fully charge to 100%, the laptop basically stops charging the battery and draws power from the battery instead of the power brick from what I understand. When the battery goes down to 96% or so, the recharging circuity kicks in to trickle charge the battery up to 100% and then the laptop switches to the battery to draw power. This process cycles over and over.

The reason why overcharging / fully the battery prematurely reduces the battery life is based on the formation of "lithium plating". Lithium is used in rechargeable batteries because of it ability to hold a large amount of energy compared to other alkaline metals. Lithium plating is the formation of solid lithium particles from the electro-chemical solution. Lithium plating falls outs of the electro-chemical solution and thus they no longer hold a charge.

The higher the electrical potential the electro-chemical solution holds (i.e. the closer to maximum energy capacity), the more likely the formation of lithium plating will occur. That means a battery charged to 100% and then stuck on shelf will more likely form lithium plating than a battery charged to 80% and then stuck on a shelf. This is why in many laptops the battery is only allowed to charge the battery up to 50% - 80% capacity unless you override it.

 
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