How do I keep the notebook battery in good state for as long as possible

[wajed]

I have a laptop, and at first it used to go up to 2.5 hours without plugging. Now it stays up to 10 minutes.
A friend of mine has a totally disabled battery. Another friend has a battery that used to stay up to 5 hours without plugging and now is in a similar state as mine. And the list goes on...

The electricity is very bad here. And sometimes the electricity goes down so we use electricity motors (at home,) which is AFAIK a bad electricity source for digital devices as the electricity is highly instable.

So, in such bad circumstances what mods can I implement to provide safe electricity to my notebook?
Also what things should I take in consideration in general?

One more question: I have a "car battery" connected to a UPS, which gives it more battery life. Is this electricity coming out of the UPS harmful to the laptop battery?

I'm going to buy a new laptop, and I don't want it to turn into a desktop in due time :s

 

[TylerH]

Use in itself lowers the capacity of the battery. The only thing I can think of is to try to charge it less. For example, don't run it on the charger, because it constantly charges the battery. The mobo makers, at least those who made mine, are seemingly too lazy to reroute power after the battery is full, so it gets charged for nothing.

 

[Bill Simpson]

PC World magazine in the last 6-9 months had an article on keeping your laptop battery alive as many months or years as possible. Unfortunately I didn't find that when searching their site a minute ago.

One of the tips was: Your battery life is N charge and discharge cycles, after you have charged it and discharged it N times then that is it, the battery is shot. So if you keep it on the charger, instead of running it down and charging it back up, you have save 1 of those N and your battery will have that 1 to use up for a time when you can't keep it on the charger.

I'd really like to see TylerH's reference where it shows that keeping it on the charger shortens battery life rather than prolongs it. And I'd like to see a reference that shows the PC World advice is wrong.

 

[MysticDude]

Well, as many the two users above me already said about the battery being uselessly charged, it's true. I used to have a laptop (well, I got another one :D) and the battery would not last for more than 10 minutes like you said. So what I'm doing with my new one is that whenever I'm running it plugged in, I just take out my battery. I can still go around 2.5 - 3 hours on battery alone and I've had this laptop for many months.

 

[Crosstalk]

Most modern laptop batteries are Lithium-ion batteries, which like to be kept charged. I have had my laptop for a few months (it's about six years old, but it was left unused for a while with a charged battery, and I acquired it in July) and have almost always kept it plugged in while using it.

Here is some of the output of cat /proc/acpi/battery/BAT0/info (under Linux):

design capacity:         4000 mAh
last full capacity:      3744 mAh

In other words, it has over 90% of its capacity remaining. At least for my HP Pavilion dv4000-series laptop, the idea that keeping the battery in while running overcharges it appears unfounded (the same could be said of my cellphone -- it is years old, yet has a pristine battery (I leave it on the charger all night)).

Running down Li-ion batteries will cause them to quickly lose their capacity (unlike many other battery types). Therefore, about the worst thing you can do to a modern laptop battery is repeatedly wear it down and charge it up again (yet, with some other chemistries, that is a good thing to do).

I can't comment on whether or not other laptops have an issue with a continuous battery charge, other than that it would also rapidly degrade the battery.

 

[mheslep]

... Therefore, about the worst thing you can do to a modern laptop battery is repeatedly wear it down and charge it up again (yet, with some other chemistries, that is a good thing to do).

Such as?

 

[mheslep]

I have a laptop, and at first it used to go up to 2.5 hours without plugging. Now it stays up to 10 minutes.
...

Steps that can prolong Li Ion laptop battery life. Avoid:

• 100% discharges of the battery. That is, when a ~4 hour capacity battery reaches an hour, maybe 30 minutes left, stop work and recharge.
• Operation at extreme temperatures, especially hot, brought on perhaps using the laptop outside or in a vehicle, or perhaps blocking the small air vents used for cooling.
• Rapid discharge of the battery brought on by, for instance, long term CPU and video intensive applications, such as 3D gaming or longterm wireless downloads.

 

[JaredJames]

Interesting for Li-ion batteries:

http://batteryuniversity.com/learn/article/how_to_prolong_lithium_based_batteries

 

[wajed]

Summary of some points I read on an article:

For storage: "Li-Ion batteries should be stored in a room temp or cool area neither at full charge or fully discharged. Around half charge has shown to be the best."For longer battery life (for Li-Ion batteries):
1) Battery recycling is not needed, and some say it even hurts more than it helps.
2) warm temps will wear the battery more quickly
3) Life expectancy is largely based on how old they are more than how much they were used.
4) Keeping contacts clean is a good idea.Also some other points in this thread:
5) Avoid 100% discharges of the battery. That is, when a ~4 hour capacity battery reaches an hour, maybe 30 minutes left, stop work and recharge.
6) Avoid Rapid discharge of the battery brought on by, for instance, long term CPU and video intensive applications, such as 3D gaming or longterm wireless downloads.There are contradiction tho: MysticDude's & Crosstalk's experience contradict with point "3)"

A whole website on batteries: http://batteryuniversity.com/

Thank you all :)