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    Power Manager (Charging Thresholds)

    Discussion in 'Lenovo' started by redmars49, Oct 19, 2011.

  1. redmars49

    redmars49 Notebook Guru

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    My laptop sometimes charges despite being above the lower threshold. I haven't pinned down the exact situations it does this but it might be whenever I allow my laptop to sleep (and it's below the max threshold). It never ignores the max charge threshold though. Is this some setting that I just failed to notice?
     
    redmars49, Oct 19, 2011
    #1
  2. Thors.Hammer

    Thors.Hammer Notebook Enthusiast

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    What laptop, what version of Power Manager, and are you using custom thresholds or "Automatically optimize for battery lifespan" ?
     
    Thors.Hammer, Oct 19, 2011
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  3. redmars49

    redmars49 Notebook Guru

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    X1, 3.62, custom thresholds. Also, I forgot how to find my battery firmware version but it is stock.
     
    redmars49, Oct 19, 2011
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  4. Colonel O'Neill

    Colonel O'Neill Notebook Deity

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    It happens to my T400 6-cell once in a blue moon. Hasn't happened yet with my W520.
     
    Colonel O'Neill, Oct 19, 2011
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  5. MidnightSun

    MidnightSun Emodicon

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    Hasn't happened on my T500 or X120e, although both sometimes choose to ignore the max charge threshold, for some reason. Still haven't isolated a cause to the behavior, though.
     
    MidnightSun, Oct 19, 2011
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  6. zackman986

    zackman986 Notebook Enthusiast

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    Out of curiosity, what are ideal charging thresholds? Mine is currently set to automatic, but I also see the option for 96-100% or another custom setting.
     
    zackman986, Oct 19, 2011
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  7. MidnightSun

    MidnightSun Emodicon

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    My computers are set to 95/35.
     
    MidnightSun, Oct 19, 2011
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  8. Thors.Hammer

    Thors.Hammer Notebook Enthusiast

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    Mine are set on automatic and it has worked perfectly so far.
     
    Thors.Hammer, Oct 20, 2011
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  9. meemer

    meemer Notebook Consultant

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    Funny you mention that, because my battery just ignored the power threshold and charged to 100% when I set it at 45-90%. It's very annoying when it happens because my Sanyo battery is already declining and losing part of the battery capacity because it decides to blow right past my max threshold gets on my nerves. It seems to happen about once every 20 charges whenever the battery dips below 45%.
     
    meemer, Oct 21, 2011
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  10. TuuS

    TuuS Notebook Consultant

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    I've had mine set to start charging at 50% and stop at 100. Should I avoid allowing it to fully charge?

    I also keep an older battery that has only 50% of original cap left, because it's only used for the rare times that power goes out, or if I have to move it to a new location in the house. I never have it on battery power for long, and if I do, I keep a new full capacity battery near by that I can pop in.

    So is there any major advantage to stopping charge before reaching 100%

    Is it actually good for the battery to drain it dead and charge it overnight with the computer off?
     
    TuuS, Oct 24, 2011
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  11. MidnightSun

    MidnightSun Emodicon

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    Generally, batteries don't like either extreme; you want to avoid complete full charges and definitely avoid complete discharges. I would recommend that you lower your upper limit to 95%.

    And no, as mentioned earlier, definitely don't drain it completely. Charging your battery with the laptop on or off won't make much of a difference, if anything the battery will just charge a bit faster if the laptop is off.
     
    MidnightSun, Oct 25, 2011
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  12. Dragnoak

    Dragnoak Notebook Evangelist

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    Dragnoak, Oct 25, 2011
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