just got my ultrabay battery

Thing is I wont be using it until beginning of september or late august. So just curious what procedure should I use in order to ensure it keeps its full charge when I do start using it. Right now it is still in all the packaging. What I am thinking is leave it, then when I am ready for it charge it fully and go from there. Good idea?

 

yea im thinking of getting an extra battery for long plane trips and i was thinking the same thing.. gatta leave it in the packaging or i might mess up the lifetime of the battery by not using it enough...

these are li-ion batteries we should just do some research on them and that will problobly give us the answer... i think ill do that right now and edit this message if i find anything...

EDIT:
i was reading one site that said li-ion and Li-Polymer can be cared for in the same way because they are nearly the same material. (i dont understand what they changed to make li-ion into a gel state that makes it become Li-Polymer instead)
it looks like a bad idea to store a li-ion battery
http://www.buchmann.ca/Chap15-page2.asp

 

In general, Li-Ion and Li-Polymer batteries are pretty maintenance free both in use and storage. I would say as long as you aren't storing the battery in extreme temparatures, then you don't have much of anything to worry about.

 

well i was thinking about storing it for anywhere up to a year or 2. and this site says that they go bad over time of just sitting after being manufactured. can you provide any other information or links to show otherwise?

 

L-Ion batteries just start to lose life overtime. No matter what you do.

Best thing to do is just use it how you need to and not worry about it. Most places suggest storing them at around a 70% charge as well.

 

put it in your freezer

 

I don't think keeping in the packaging is going to help any one way or another. It's not like it would be exposed to air anyways. Li-poly is different from Li-Ion in that it's embedded in a polyomer. Keeps it from exploding which is a good thing.

Best thing to do as others have said is to store it at 70% charge. Storing it at 100% charge is bad for it's life. I would also stick it in the refridgerator and not in the freezer. You don't want to freeze these things. I've had some mac batteries in the fridge for 3 years now and they still read 4 bars. Let it come back up to room temperature before using.

Oh yeah. There are two new developments in li-ion battery tech. Silver-zinc batteries should have double the storage capacity of li-ion and nano li-ion. Nano is cool in that it has ridiculously fast recharge times. The first product with it is a power tool. It can be charged to 85% capacity in 5 minutes.

 

Wow, hopefully those battery technologies make it into notebooks soon, that would be awesome.

What Grentz said is quite true, that's part of the reason you should be careful buying batteries off of eBay as you don't always have a way to find out how recently the cells were made.

 

so it sounds like the answer is to just use the battery since you already have it carry it around charged and switch to your extra battery instead of having to find power outlets during the day.

 

From the Wikipedia article http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lithium_ion_battery :

Guidelines for prolonging Li-ion battery life

* Unlike Ni-Cd batteries, lithium-ion batteries should be charged early and often. However, if they are not used for a longer time, they should be brought to a charge level of around 40%. Lithium-ion batteries should never be "deep-cycled" like Ni-Cd batteries.[7]
* Lithium-ion batteries should never be depleted to below their minimum voltage, 2.4v to 3.0v.
* Li-ion batteries should be kept cool. Ideally they are stored in a refrigerator. Aging will take its toll much faster at high temperatures. The high temperatures found in cars cause lithium-ion batteries to degrade rapidly.
* According to one book,[12] lithium-ion batteries should not be frozen (should not be stored below -40 °C), because most lithium-ion battery electrolytes freeze at approximately −40 °C (this is much colder than the lowest temperature reached by household freezers, however).
* Li-ion batteries should be bought only when needed, because the aging process begins as soon as the battery is manufactured.[7]
* When using a notebook computer running from fixed line power over extended periods, the battery should be removed and stored in a cool place so that it is not affected by the heat produced by the computer.[7]

Storage temperature and charge

Storing a Li-ion battery at the correct temperature and charge makes all the difference in maintaining its storage capacity. The following table shows the amount of permanent capacity loss that will occur after storage at a given charge level and temperature.







It is significantly beneficial to avoid storing a lithium-ion battery at full charge. A Li-ion battery stored at 40% charge will last many times longer than one stored at 100% charge, particularly at higher temperatures.[7] If a Li-ion battery is stored with too low a charge, there is a risk of allowing the charge to drop below the battery's low-voltage threshold, resulting in an unrecoverably dead battery. Once the charge has dropped to this level, recharging it can be dangerous. An internal safety circuit will therefore open to prevent charging, and the battery will be for all practical purposes dead.[citation needed] In circumstances where a second Li-ion battery is available for a given device, it is recommended that the unused battery be discharged to 40% and placed in the refrigerator to prolong its shelf life. While the battery can be used or charged immediately, some Li-ion batteries will provide more energy when brought to room temperature.