What can I do to preserve my battery life?

My laptop is in my sig. It's a 6 cell battery, and on a full charge, it can last as long as 2 and a half hours, depending on what I'm doing on it. But I'm worried about the effects of it being plugged in a lot and constantly charging. Does the Inspiron have built-in functionality whereby the AC stops routing power to the battery once it's full? If not, is there any way to enable such functionality by way of the power settings?

I use my laptop on my desk usually, and I like to keep it plugged into the AC, so that when I actually need to go mobile (such as the hour before I turn in for the night, when I like to use my laptop in bed, which is why I got a laptop and not a desktop in the first place), I've got a full charge to last me, instead of getting stuck in a rapid battery-weakening cycle of charge down, charge up, charge down, charge up, constantly.

But I'd like to know if I'm harming my battery's performance anyway by having it plugged in so much?

 

These newer batteries do not have a memory effect like laptop battery used to, so the worst thing you can do to them is discharge them completely. If you will not be using the computer for an extended period of time (lets say, greater than a week) then you should remove the battery and store it in a cool, dry place. If you also happen to be in a situation where you could plug in, then you generally should as to prevent unnecissary wear on the cell's.

Battery cell's usually die individually and when they do the battery's status indicator might show different things based on how it is designed. So say you have a 9-cell 80W battery, and 5 of those cells can no longer recharge, then depending on the battery circuit, it might charge up to only 45%, but then discharge normally. Or, it might charge up to 100% but then while discharging, jump from 87% to 32%.

 

By saying: "If you also happen to be in a situation where you could plug in, then you generally should as to prevent unnecissary wear on the cell's" are you saying that a) I should look to have my laptop plugged in at all times, except where not absolutely possible and b) that when plugged into the AC and fully charged, no current is running through battery's meaning they are being preserved for maximum performance in those times that I do need to go mobile (ie. in my college library, when all the power sources are being used up)?

 

there is one thing you can do. I'm not sure if you're supposed to store it fully charged or low on charge. but if you look at the indicator in your taskbar, while your computer is plugged in(and battery full), it will either say charging 100% or On AC power. if it says charging 100%, then your best bet would be to remove the battery once its full and then plug it back in when you are going to use it. if it says on ac power, then you have nothing to worry about, unless as win32asmguy stated, you leave it plugged in for a week or more.

 

You should also know that the battery has a finite life- about 18 months from the date of manufacture. Performance typically degrades rapidly after that.

 

I was reading a little this morning on Dell's blog about how heat can have a major effect on battery life, too. I wonder if leaving a battery in its notebook for a few hours in a car on a hot day would hurt it? I know I have done it a few times myself...

Dell states that their batteries are good for 300-350 charge cycles. So if you were do drain the battery fully once a day then it should last about a year. However, if you only periodically used the battery and were to store it while not in use then it can last much longer. For example, my latitude C400 was purchased new in 2001 and it's original 6-cell still holds about a 90 minute charge.

 

Done. It currently says: "Fully charged (100%)". And the battery LED on my laptop is no longer lit up and flashing.....

 

They all have circuitry in them that keeps them from fully discharging. A program or even the indicator may show there's zero juice when in fact the internal circuitry cuts it off at something like 3-5%. www.batteryuniversity.com/

 

I remember reading an article somewhere saying leaving the battery with 40% charge for extended storage is ideal, but with the battery removed I'll have to worry about dust accumulating in those areas. I leave my laptop on 24/7, I wonder how many charge cycles that uses up in one month.

 

you can keep it on the charger while near an out let and turn down the volume and screen brightness to 20% or lower and never let it get below 5% also turn on the critical battery alarm if you dont have it on when your on the go i know most dells have one and having the battery plugged in doesnt hurt it

 

Battery Guide

 

I've left my Inspiron 6000 and D820 plugged in all the time for months on end. Never ever noticed any change in my battery life...