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Posted by Barry Watzman on January 26, 2008, 10:45 am
Please log in for more thread options Although it is true that refrigerating (BUT NOT FREEZING) a battery will
prolong it's life slightly over room temperature storage, the difference
is so small that it's not really worth doing for most people.
As to "the reason i don't want to take it out is ..., and (b) protection
from power glitches" ... while the point is valid and a battery
certainly does provide such protection, a $30 UPS is a lot cheaper (and,
actually, better) protection against power line problems than a $200+
lithium ion battery.
Andy Fish wrote:
> Thanks Dave for a very comprehensive and considered reply. I was assuming
> that, since laptop makers have a vested interest in the battery degrading,
> they might have chosen not to implement the best solution
>
> i'm left with the conclusion that the only way to keep my battery in tip top
> condition if i'm using the mains most of the time is to take it out every
> time i'm not using it and leave it in the fridge at 40 percent charged :-)
>
> the reason i don't want to take it out is (a) simply hassle, and (b)
> protection from power glitches (though these are very rare)
>
> Andy
>
>>
>> >from what I can tell, it's a bad idea to run it on the mains all the time
>>> unless the battery is removed (which I don't want to get into). so
>>> therefore
>>> I could presumably maximise the battery life when i'm in the office by
>>> running it on batteries for a while, then turning on the mains power until
>>> it charges up to nearly 100%, then using it on batteries until it gets low
>>> again and so on.
>>> is this true? anyone tried it?
>> No, that's a really bad idea. It will shorten the battery life even more.
>> LiIon batteries are good for a few hundred charge/discharge cycles
>> total, and you're going to be using up one of those cycles every few
>> hours of operation.
>>
>> Basically, you'll get the best life from a LiIon battery by using it
>> only when you need battery operation (to minimize charge/discharge
>> cycles), removing it from the laptop when you're using the laptop on AC
>> (unless the battery needs charging) to avoid exposing it to higher than
>> room temperatures, and leaving it partially charged (instead of 100%
>> charged) if you store it for long periods.
>>
>> If you're not willing to install and remove the battery when you
>> switch from portable to AC operation, your second best choice is just
>> leave the battery in all the time, and use AC power whenever that is
>> available. This will shorten battery life somewhat compared to the
>> ideal case.
>>
>> But what you suggest, charging and discharging the battery repeatedly,
>> is likely to give *shorter yet* life by simply exhausting the battery's
>> charge/discharge life. Also, while charging or discharging it gets *even
>> warmer* than just sitting in the laptop without charging.
>>
>>> if this idea really works, presumably it would be possible to write a
>>> piece
>>> of software which worked a bit like a thermostat enabling and disabling
>>> the
>>> mains input to keep the battery charge always between (say) 70 and 90%.
>> Really bad idea. You're proposing to avoid something moderately bad by
>> doing something that's even worse.
>>
>> Why don't you want to remove the battery when operating from AC, other
>> than the inconvenience?
>>
>> Dave
>>
>>
>> Dave
>
>
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