Battery life if leave plugged in

I have heard it is not a good idea to just leave a notebook plugged in, that it is better to run the battery down and then plug it back in, charge it up, then unplug it again, etc. The problem is that that is a pain. How much damage am I doing if I just leave my T60 plugged in?

 

None. Where do you read things that like it's bad to leave your battery plugged in? That's completely nonsense.

 

its actually good it doesnt overcharge it or anything where did you hear that from?

 

leaving it plugged in doesn't damage the battery. Your battery is smart enough to know that it is charged to capacity and stop.

The only thing that could even possibly damage the battery is the fact that all the components run at full speed when you are plugged in- more heat is generated - and heat is not good for the battery.

the difference is nominal though.

personally, i remove the battery for gaming or other intensive tasks where i know the machine is going to heat up.

 

Thanks. I think I read it somewhere on this website! I have been told the same thing for my Ipod, but that could be a different dynamic.

 

in my experience in a laptop run high school, the students who left theirs plugged in for three years straight have very poor battery time when unplugged, and me, and the other few students who let it drain had very good battery time when unplugged. we where all running thinkpad r51 systems. for three years, my battery still gets me 2 hours and 10 min, and i would let it drainand recharge at least once a day

maybe i am missing something, but that is how it worked for me

 

I hear from my friend that most modern notebooks have an auto-cut function, similar to the rechargable batteries's charger on the wall socket. Although it is generally not a good idea to leave it plugged for too long?

 

If you're constantly using your thinkpad on AC then it's a good idea to remove the battery and just put it away in a fridge to keep the degrading process at a minimal. Heat is what kills the battery.

 

this is very true. i let the battery run down and recharge it up and leave it plugged in and allow it to charge to 100 and then let the built in cut off circuit work its magic.

 

actually this is a myth. Lithium Ion batteries do NOT suffer from the memory effect common with Ni-Cad batteries. it is completely unnecessary to drain or "deep-cycle" your Lenovo battery. also the number of charge/discharge cycles has very little effect on the capacity of a Lithium Ion battery. the chemicals in the battery begin degrading as soon as the battery is manufactured, and they will continue to degrade whether the battery is used often or not. If you want to extend your battery life, keep the battery away from heat like other posters have noted.

PS. the only possible benefit of a complete discharge & recharge would be to recalibrate the battery meter.

 

Very true and like someone else said, if you know you're not going to be using your battery for a while just stick it in the freezer... with moisture protection of course.

 

Oh I just love this subject!

Yes, it is harmful to leave your laptop plugged in all the time if you are not going to use the battery

Did someone not hear me? Yes, it is. Why? Because the battery degrades faster at higher voltage.

The very best thing you can do for your battery if you will not be using it for a while is charge it to 40% and put it in the refrigerator.

There are two factors which contribute to the speed at which a battery will degrade: charge level and heat. Nominal charge level for extended battery life is about 40%, and heat is about 0C or 32F. At those conditions, you lose about 2% capacity per year. Look at the wikipedia link below for a table.


Everyone who disagrees please look at wikipedia and please do research.

 

I see your name listed as a poster exactly once in this thread. Could your posts in another thread possibly have been missed, or might the importance of what you had to say gone unrecognized???

If I'm not mistaken, masterchef341 may have posted something once which I missed, too. Damn, and I was listening to his every word.

 

It's not nonsense at all. If you leave your battery in while you are using AC all the time, it will "kill" your battery. As others pointed out, heat is an issue. But the big contributer is that Li-Ion/Poly batteries do not like being stored at 100% charge. If you are running it off of AC all the time, that's exactly what you are doing. The best thing to do is to discharge it to between 40-70% and then stick it in the fridge. Don't put it in the freezer though.

 

That's not quite correct. LiIon batteries typically last for about 500 charge/discharge cycles, after which they will have lost at least 20-30% of their life. My work T40 for example, has 688 cycles on it and only charges to 30.36 Wh, whereas the design capacity was 47.52 Wh, total loss: 36% of its capacity.


The proper method is to leave the notebook plugged in as much as possible. If you won't be using the battery at all for at least a month, charge it to 75% and store it in a cool (40-50 degrees) place. Once every 2-3 months, deep cycle the battery so as to recalibrate the battery gauge.

If that were true, everyone's laptop would be exploding. Once the battery is charged, your computer shuts off power to the battery. Don't believe me? Wait until your battery is finished charging and then click the Battery Gauge and click Battery Information. Click the Status Detail tab and it will show you for Voltage: "-". No voltage once the battery is completely full.

 

Please get a reliable source. Look at http://www.batteryuniversity.com/parttwo-34.htm for someone who knows exactly what they are talking about. I don't know about deep cycling, but the recommended way of preserving a li-ion if you aren't going to use it is charge it to about 40% and put it in the refrigerator.

Lol. I never said it didn't shut off power to the battery! Of course it does... I said it degrades faster at a higher charge, which it does.

 

Good to see someone else knows what they're talking about, unlike redmaxx.

 

If my method is so bad, then why has mine only lost 36% of it's life in the 3.5 years I've had it? That's a little more than 10% per year.