Remove battery when not in use?

Many sources said that removing your battery when using the AC power is a good thing to do for the battery, in terms of its life, etc...
Is this true?
I have a new notebook and I use it as a desktop replacement, so it will be on AC all the time.

Btw, I had my old notebook for almost 5 years now, and I've never plugged/used the battery even once ever since I bought it 5 years ago.

 

Depends on your usage pattern. Heat from the system and unnecessary charge cycles will make the battery age faster than if it was disconnected and stored in a cool place. On the other hand, you get a sort of poor man's UPS if you leave it in.

Keep in mind that these batteries self-discharge even when not plugged in - you want to dis- and recharge it say once a month to prevent a deep discharge and keep the cell chemistry happy.

If you're never going to use it, sell it now while it's still new and use the money for something else.

 

Yes take it out and store it away if you use it a lot plugged in. Every time you turn the power on the battery charges and discharges shortening the life in the long run.

 

But, it might serve as a backup power in case you are working on your work.. Imagine that happening LoL.

 

I've heard the same thing, remove the battery when you don't ened it. And its preferable that you keep it empty if you don't use it.

 

No, ideal charge for Li-Ion batteries when stored will be around 40%.

Also, when a battery gets hot when your pc is plugged into AC it isnt
good becasue the lifetime detoriates, Li-Ion cells cant stand heat.

 

Cool, never heard they should be 40 %. Where did you find that?

 

Here ya go, most people dont know:

Dont remember the site, was some scientific group who specialsed in battery testing.

 

Here's a great guide to check!

Notebook Battery Guide

Prolonging your Battery’s Life
• Calibrate your battery with a full discharge every 30 charges to help the battery’s fuel gauge remain accurate. Run the battery down to the automatic cut-off point of your notebook before recharging.
• Avoid repetitive and regular full discharges. Li-Ion batteries will lose less charge capacity when partially recharged. Recharging at a 10 to 20% charge level is recommended.
• Disconnect the battery and store it in a cool, dry place. The optimal charge level is 40% for prolonged storage. Storing the battery with a low charge will result in permanent damage or battery failure.
• If you store your battery in a refrigerator, use a sealed plastic bag to keep moisture out. Allow the battery to warm to room temperature before using or recharging it.

Cin...

 

FWIW, li-on batteries age whether they're being used or not. I've not found it to be detrimental to the life of the battery to leave it in while plugged in. If the heat from your laptop becomes hot enough to deteriorate the battery then there's a problem.

You'll get a tad bit longer life out of the battery by keeping it out of the laptop but then you lose the benefits of having it installed, such as having it as backup during a power outage and keeping dust out of the battery compartment. I'd rather have to replace a $100 battery than a $900 laptop.

To each his own though.
For more reading.

 

great advice. hopefully i'll remember this when i have my laptop plugged in.

 

It still seems to me that having the battery in as a back up is worth it. Im into RC cars and use Li-Po batteries and i know you should store those at full charge, i doubt Li-Ion would be different.

 

If you do both things it might be worth getting a small (3 or 4 cell) just for the desk and a bigger 6-9 cell for the road.

 

hey, thanks for this much guideline...most of mistakes i had done already in the past.... ...like full discharge and after disconnect just put it anywhere like useless.......!!
so from now...it's over ....i will surely go for these..!
thanks again...!

 

hmm wow, I did not know that this actually permanently shortened the life of my notebook battery..

definitely good to know though, thanks

 

It is true for any rechargeable battery including cell phones and mp3 players.

 

i think it must be battery university.
http://www.batteryuniversity.com/

 

I've allays heard, that if your running the computer on AC the computer will direct the power outside of the battery route and the battery will not be damaged. Don't know if its true tho.

 

That's true. The battery can be removed and installed at will when the laptop is plugged in as it serves no function when the laptop is running off of wall power.

 

Have anyone ever watch the percentage level on most laptop when they're fully charged and still plugged-in on AC ?
Most laptops remain 100% .. does that mean it's still charging slowly?

 

No.. Charging is cut off already..

 

but why it stays at 100% and not going down?
doesn't that make you wonder?

 

No, it isn't charging.

Once battery capacity is full the PC runs off of AC.

 

doesn't quite answer my question

 

They are not trickle charged. According to this: http://www.batteryuniversity.com/partone-12.htm Li-ion batteries cannot be trickle charged because it would damage them and may make them burst into flames.

 

But still doesn't change the fact that it stays at 100%
I know in newer Thinkpads where you can set the charging threshold,
the percentage will go down
And it can't be false reading because when you unplug the adapter,
the percentage still starts from 100%

 

Maybe it gives it a jolt when it notices the voltage goes down, but it for sure does not trickle charge. Also the battery just sitting there would not lose ccharge very quickly at all. In my experience it takes a very long time for a working laptop battery to self discharge.

 

I guess that's possible, but doesn't that mess the cycle count?
Anyway that percentage issue makes me remove my battery when in use with AC adapter.
I had bad experience with my Thinkpad T22 when the battery drops until ~15-30 minutes because it was always plugged-in

 

What I do in my case is I remove the battery while plugged in and gaming.

When I am just browsing the web or whatever, I leave the battery on even while charging.

Been using my laptop for close to 2 years now, battery already has 20% wear according to everest.

 

What people don't notice is the fact that lithium ion batteries have very low cell internal resistance unlike old Ni-Cad and Ni-Mh batteries, meaning that the battery will not loose power just by sitting for a while,I have noticed on my G50 (that is almost always plugged in on my desk) that after a month the battery(unused) will read about 96%,replug it in and it charges to 100%,there is your answer,it is not getting charged,once it is done charging it does not charge until the charger is replugged in

 

@cha
That's very good. 10% a year is very good.

 

Thanks man, I just wanted to share how I take care of my batteries. Hope it helps someone out

 

I've heard that the newer types of battery we've had for the last 5-10 years have minimal benefits from removal at best. That's because they have a new cell chemistry. However people still think of the old ones.

 

I can't say it's true for all notebooks, but I know Apple's design has it charge to 100% if it's under 95% initially, but if it's 95% or higher it doesn't. This prevents the battery from over or constantly charging.

according to the battery gauge in my G73, it does the exact same thing [reports 95%, not charging]

 

Straight from the horses mouth

 

Thanks for all the info guys...my laptop is always on AC....guess I will be taking out the battery from now on

 

So my understanding is that unless I want to store my batteries for more than 4 days I don't need to take them out of my laptop. Because Dell said right below that using the laptop plugged-in won't hurt the battery.

Their recommended charge level before storage is 80%-100% here. But in another FAQ, they also said:

In conclusion:
(1) If I don't need to store the battery for more than 4 days: leave it in the laptop.
(2) If I want to store it from 4-21 days: charge it until 80%-100% full.
(3) Over 21-30 days: charge up to 40%-60% then store it.

Am I understanding correctly? Their instructions are so confusing.

 

Well since you can't remove the battery it's not like you have much of a choice. Still, 90% is usually the charge point.

 

In general it is best to store Li-on batteries at 40%. So if you only use your battery every week or two, pull it out at about 40% and store it. This will extend the batteries life.

 

Wait so when your on AC Power, with the battery in that's not fully charged, your still running completely on AC Power? Or is it trying to charge the battery as your using it.

Either way two of my friends batteries went bad because they used AC while battery was in.

 

if the battery is low on juice and your laptop is plugged it, of course it is charging.

How else or where else would it get charged if it didn't get the charge while the AC is in?

When the AC is plugged in, the laptop solely uses AC power and not battery. It will however charge the battery if it is not 100%. When 100% is reached it stops charging the laptop but still powers the laptop.

I have always left my battery in, even though I always use AC power. My battery 'needs replacing' according to the battery monitor. The reason for that could be one of the following:-


-I have let the battery run down flat more times than I should. With Lithium-ion batteries you should not do this as it strains the battery. So top it up.

-Heat from the laptop causes the battery to heat up. Again, Lithium-ion battery's don't like heat and thus heat shortens the battery's life span. (So when the AC is connected and the battery is still in, the heat is killing the battery. So take out the battery from your laptop)




So next time I have a new laptop / battery I won't leave it in while AC is on

 

Seriously I think modern laptops have the auto cut off features..

Heat is the worst enemy of the battery..

 

Too bad most people will forget to remove the battery when it's not in use. Plus it's kind of a pain.

 

That, and if by some chance the power gets unplugged on accident while moving the laptop around you won't have the automatic battery backup right there.

 

Ah yes, another good point, thank you! I was just saying that I don't think it's really a practical tip for most people.

 

Yes, it is impractical for me too. There are frequent power outages in my area, in that case my apartment switches to the backup power supply and vice-versa. But this is not like a UPS, so without a battery my laptop will reboot everytime.

It is necessary for me to plug in the battery all the time. What I do, is to 'disable battery charging' once it is fully charged.

The only problem I face is heating because my laptop is always on. This is a hot summer and Core i7 generates a lot of heat as well.

 

to keep it on when in use and twice a month doing a full drain-recharge cycle should keep your battery healthy for a long term use.

Taking it out, is rather impractical. Not to forget that not everyone is blessed with an uninterrupted power supply. (NOT the UPS!)

 

hello guys
i've got a battery related questions that i need some advise on.
i just bought a new laptop, obviously lithium-ion battery.

It comes out of the box with like 50% left. So i drained it, and put it back into my laptop while its turned off, attempting to charge it fully for the whole night. I know this is what i am supposed to do for a new laptop/battery.

However, my girlfriend accidentally turned on my laptop with the battery in it. I didn't notice until it was already charged to like 40%.

What should i do now? should i just start over-->drain it again and fully charge it again and make sure it stays turned off? or have i just lowered its maximum power?

I apologize if i sound like a dummy. i am not very good with computers.

 

no problem with that

 

No, just go ahead and leave it to charge up. Unless your power brick can't supply enough power to both run the notebook and charge it (shouldn't be the case unless the power brick is faulty), then your notebook will still be charging just as if it were off... simply not as fast.