Can You Remove Notebook Battery for Safekeeping?

[Monique]

Maybe a really silly question, but if you're solely using power from the network.. can you just take the battery out of a notebook for safekeeping?

 

[Muzza]

Are you afraid someone will steal your battery but not the entire notebook?

 

[Monique]

lol, no it happened to you?

Having the battery plugged in all the time must be a strain on it right? especially since the bottom platform of notebooks can get really hot. Isn't it a common practice to remove batteries from devices that you're not using?

 

[Muzza]

lol, no it happened to you?

Nope, but it seemed kind of odd to take out the battery for "safekeeping" (keeping it safe from thieves, I assumed). I mean, if someone wanted your laptop battery, it's probably not beneath them to just steal the entire laptop. But apparently, I assumed wrong... ;)

 

[chroot]

If you have a laptop made in the last decade or so, it has sophisticated power electronics built into it. Once the battery is fully charged, it is disconnected from the charging circuitry while your laptop is on AC power. You're not putting any strain on the battery at all. The laptop was designed for the battery to be left in continually.

- Warren

 

[Crumbles]

I have always had my battery constantly connected to the laptop and using AC power and have encountered no problems whatsoever. But I have been told that it is good practice to actually complete discharge the battery once in a while (like once every couple of weeks) to optimise the battery life.

 

[Artman]

I have always had my battery constantly connected to the laptop and using AC power and have encountered no problems whatsoever. But I have been told that it is good practice to actually complete discharge the battery once in a while (like once every couple of weeks) to optimise the battery life.

This is less critical with Lithium batteries, which have less "memory" than some other types, but still a good idea. Whenever I start using battery power instead of AC, I allow it to completely discharge before recharging it.

A late model laptop can actually run faster when plugged into it's AC adapter. The circuitry of a mobil CPU and the charging system recognize the power source is "unlimited" and allow full capacity operation. The same notebook running on battery may reduce it's CPU speed and other operations to conserve power. The effect of this will be barely noticed except in some operations.

 

[Crumbles]

A late model laptop can actually run faster when plugged into it's AC adapter. The circuitry of a mobil CPU and the charging system recognize the power source is "unlimited" and allow full capacity operation. The same notebook running on battery may reduce it's CPU speed and other operations to conserve power. The effect of this will be barely noticed except in some operations.

This is actually something I have noticed with my laptop and it really pisses me off when I run on batteries to discharge it (and still want to load things up quickly)! Do you happen to know if there is a setting somewhere that can bypass this. i.e. make ur laptop run on full CPU power even when on batteries? Or is there anyway of knowing what CPU frequency the laptop runs at when on batteries.

 

[russ_watters]

This is actually something I have noticed with my laptop and it really pisses me off when I run on batteries to discharge it (and still want to load things up quickly)! Do you happen to know if there is a setting somewhere that can bypass this. i.e. make ur laptop run on full CPU power even when on batteries? Or is there anyway of knowing what CPU frequency the laptop runs at when on batteries.

Depends on the laptop. If you're lucky, there is a speed-step applet in the system tray...

 

[Evo]

Depends on the laptop. If you're lucky, there is a speed-step applet in the system tray...

Russ is correct. If it is a regular laptop (not a MAC, I am not familiar with those). Go to your control panel, power options, Intel(R) SpeedStep(TM) technology tab, It will say "when computer is running on batteries" and have a drop down box. Select "Maximum Performance".

 

[plover]

There are definitely laptops less than 10 years old that can damage a battery if it is left in while the adapter is also plugged in (after the battery is fully charged that is). However, it could certainly be true that none have been made in the past 3 or 4 years with this problem.

I've always just pulled the battery out by a half inch or so, so that it's not against the contacts. (I don't have a recent laptop though.)

 

[Crumbles]

Russ is correct. If it is a regular laptop (not a MAC, I am not familiar with those). Go to your control panel, power options, Intel(R) SpeedStep(TM) technology tab, It will say "when computer is running on batteries" and have a drop down box. Select "Maximum Performance".

Thanks for the tip but the only tabs in Power Options I have are: Power Schemes, Alarms, Power Meter, Advanced and Hibernate. And none of these tabs have anything about Max Perf when on Batteries. And yet it is a Windows laptop.

 

[Monique]

There are definitely laptops less than 10 years old that can damage a battery if it is left in while the adapter is also plugged in (after the battery is fully charged that is). However, it could certainly be true that none have been made in the past 3 or 4 years with this problem.

I've always just pulled the battery out by a half inch or so, so that it's not against the contacts. (I don't have a recent laptop though.)

Yeah, I was actually more worried it could start leaking or that the heat from the laptop would radiate into it, which can't be good.

 

[Artman]

Thanks for the tip but the only tabs in Power Options I have are: Power Schemes, Alarms, Power Meter, Advanced and Hibernate. And none of these tabs have anything about Max Perf when on Batteries. And yet it is a Windows laptop.

But is it an Intel laptop? I know the newer AMDs have speed controls to reduce heat and conserve battery, but I don't know if they are controlable by the user.

 

[Crumbles]

But is it an Intel laptop? I know the newer AMDs have speed controls to reduce heat and conserve battery, but I don't know if they are controlable by the user.

Yes it is an Intel P4 (I wouldn't trust AMDs or even Celerons actually)

 

[Artman]

Yes it is an Intel P4 (I wouldn't trust AMDs or even Celerons actually)

Check your BIOS, you may be able to enable other features that will allow you to control the speed.

 

[HBar]

Yes, the heat is bad for the battery. I'm not sure how much damage the heat can really do, though.

But I have been told that it is good practice to actually complete discharge the battery once in a while (like once every couple of weeks) to optimise the battery life.

This is actually bad for lithium-ion batteries. Completely discharging puts strain on the batteries. The only kind of battery that this is good for are the ones that have "memory."

All information was take from this website: http://www.batteryuniversity.com/parttwo-34.htm

Here's the important part:

# Avoid frequent full discharges because this puts additional strain on the battery. Several partial discharges with frequent recharges are better for lithium-ion than one deep one. Recharging a partially charged lithium-ion does not cause harm because there is no memory. (In this respect, lithium-ion differs from nickel-based batteries.)
Short battery life in a laptop is mainly caused by heat rather than charge/discharge patterns.
# Although memory-free, apply a deliberate full discharge once every 30 charges to calibrate batteries with fuel gauge. Running down the battery in the equipment does this. If ignored, the fuel gauge will become increasingly less accurate. The battery life will not be affected.
# Keep the lithium-ion battery cool. Avoid a hot car. For prolonged storage, keep the battery at a 40% charge level.
# Consider removing the battery from a laptop when running on fixed power. (Some laptop manufacturers are concerned about dust and moisture accumulating inside the battery casing.)
# Avoid purchasing spare lithium-ion batteries for later use. Observe manufacturing date. Do not buy old stock, even if sold at clearance prices.

 

[Anttech]

"Yes it is an Intel P4 (I wouldn't trust AMDs or even Celerons actually)"

P4's give off to much heat for Laptops and use to much energy, you should go for a PM (Centrino) which are far better adapted for Laptops...

AMD are good procs for desktops, i have had no problems with AMD so I do not understand why you would not trust them?

Celerons are far slower due to there lack of cache, and I would aggree don't go for a celeron if you need to use some proc hogging apps

 

[Crumbles]

Yes, the heat is bad for the battery. I'm not sure how much damage the heat can really do, though.

This is actually bad for lithium-ion batteries. Completely discharging puts strain on the batteries. The only kind of battery that this is good for are the ones that have "memory."

All information was take from this website: http://www.batteryuniversity.com/parttwo-34.htm

Thanks for this! I didn't actually realize that Lithium-Ion batteries didn't suffer from the memory effect. And it's quite interesting that they are also affected by high temperatures, although I doubt that my laptop goes above 40 in the battery area.

 

[Crumbles]

P4's give off to much heat for Laptops and use to much energy, you should go for a PM (Centrino) which are far better adapted for Laptops...

AMD are good procs for desktops, i have had no problems with AMD so I do not understand why you would not trust them?

Celerons are far slower due to there lack of cache, and I would aggree don't go for a celeron if you need to use some proc hogging apps

Centrinos definitely use much less power than P4s and don't give off as much heat! But just try doing some processor intensive task like video editing or even picture editing on a centrino and you will find the equivalent P4 does it much faster. Centrinos are good for people who want a light laptop but are not that bothered about performance.

As for AMDs, from my experience, they have the tendency to crash way more often than P4s and my friends have noticed the same thing. Also AMDs don't do well heatwise (Check out http://www6.tomshardware.com/cpu/20010917/index.html for a test of how the P4 survives and an AMD dies when ran without a heatsink!

The other reason I don't trust AMDs is that I generally believe in "You pay for what you get". So, as long as the market of AMDs are lower than P4s I wouldn't go and buy one unless you actually proove me that AMDs are actually better in ALL aspects.

 

[Monique]

# Consider removing the battery from a laptop when running on fixed power. (Some laptop manufacturers are concerned about dust and moisture accumulating inside the battery casing.)

ah really!?

So why is it that a Li-ion battery has no memory, while a Ni-ion battery does?

 

[chroot]

Monique,

Many engineers feel that the "memory effect" always cited for NiCd batteries is in fact a myth.

- Warren

 

[Anttech]

Crumbles:

http://tech-report.com/reviews/2002q4/athlonxp-2800/index.x?pg=1

Older 2800xp proc with nviada chipset against P4 AMD beats Intel in some aspects...

AMD's are known to give of more heat, this is not new news, and when would you ever use a AMD without a heatsink!

I use an AMD proc within a barebone system and I do not get phantom crashes... perhaps your PC was not configured correctly!

I am not really a believer of "you get what you pay for" especially within technology... Intel are not only selling you a chip they are selling a "brand image" thus they feel they can drive there prices up! The same goes for a lot of companies! Starbucks for example, when you buy a coffee there what are you really buying, cause the price is so dam high it aint just for the coffee beans and service, you are also buying into an image or culture if you will! If I want to an image I will go to one of these "City" Image consultants, if I want to buy a proc look at the benchmark tests !

As for the Pm v P4 chips

http://www.intel.com/products/notebook/processors/pentiumm/ click on the performance benchmarks under tools on the right...

Also you can look at this bench mark:

http://www.intel.com/performance/mobile/notebook_configc.htm

This is straight from the Intel lab, and is showing clearly that Pm chips are heavyweight procs that give better performance than P4's within a mobile enviroment...

I have no idea where you got this information from : "Centrinos are good for people who want a light laptop but are not that bothered about performance." is this your Opinion?

I work in I.T. and use a D800 becuase it is a high performance laptop! It has a Pm chip and I have had no problems at all, and I run very proc intensive apps! Also I would not say a D800 is a "light laptop" Its a desktop alternative! I have also run 3 OS's at once on my laptop using VMWare and I have had no problems (XP, Redhat9.0 , 2003server) I was not even maxing out my proc doing this!