CF-19 mk2 bad battery runtime

Hi,

I managed to get every single thing working on CF-19FHYGFAG mk2 flawlessly under win7 but it seems I'm having some kind of power management issues and consequently much shorter battery life than expected.

Battery is blue tabbed, calibrated, reported capacity 64,790 mWh. With screen brightness set to 40%, everything turned off (wlan, wwan, BT, lan...), energy profile set on power saving, max cpu speed 50% I only get around 4:30 hours total runtime without touching anything (should be closer to 7 hours?).

So I tried to see what's discharge rate with Passmark BatteryMon and there are huge spikes in power consumption. So with everything disabled, no programs running and no user input discharge rate will be for example between 5500-6500mW for few sampling cycles (cycle=5sec) and then it'll spike to 10000-14000mW and again return to normal. There's nothing in resource monitor that would indicate why consumption is spiking (indexing is turned off etc...).

Any ideas? Is this win7 issue, some bad drivers, hardware issue (I do have some coil whine or something and faint noise from speaker)?

Thanks!

 

SSD or HDD?
Hibernation /Sleep on or off?
Is it set for normal or high temp environment in the BIOS?
Have you done a battery calibration to match the battery to that machine and OS?
You must do the battery calibration in order to get accurate battery life measurements?

 

Drive is just standard 120Gb HDD that came with it. Hibernation and sleep disabled, environment set to normal. Battery is calibrated from both OS with win app and from BIOS.

 

What is the exact model number of the battery?
Battery new or used?

 

Actually for a CF-19 MK2 that's not bad. On my old MK2 I only got 3 - 3 1/2 hours running at 100%

 

Hmm. It has to be closer to 58Whr (new CF-VZSU48 is <60 usually). Check your info.
Try to disable antivirus also. But I like all your steps
I've seen ~6 hours in light office tasks (MK2)

 

LED backlight makes a huge difference, but it's a difficult mod on a 10.4 inch screen.

SSD bumps run time up some more

 

the spikes you are observing are fairly normal for any *modern* machine/cpu .
as they are momentary demands the total "draw" on the battery is a function of amperes over time .
if the spikes are consistent (say 10 spikes/second and of 20 mS duration) , then i would look for possible *problem/cause*) .

to accurately determine if your machine is ok , a direct comparison between your machine and a known "good" machine running exactly all the same stuff but using the battery in question would be needed .
another way to tell what state/shape the battery is in is to look at a discharge/charge curve and compare it to the factory specifications .

i am with the others here ... the battery is on a slow southbound train .

 

First of all thanks to everyone for their help. I'll try giving more info based on questions and suggestions.

According to PC Info viewer battery is CF-VZSU48, total charge index 155, full charge capacity 64790mWh (this is kinda impossible but is reported by every program and I've recalibrated battery 2 times). Battery is what came with used CF-19 with total time 2560 hours.

There's no antivirus installed. Tried killing every process not essential for win7, no change. Tried enabling/disabling wlan, wan, bt - still spiking.

Unfortunately I don't have other machine to compare it to since they're quite rare here. I do have couple of other laptops, most similar one with very long battery life is 12inch Asus EEE and there's no spikes in power usage when you leave it alone.

I forgot to mention, under heavy usage like browsing in chrome over wifi I still get almost 3h of runtime. There should be much bigger difference in runtime between machine just idling and doing some intensive task. This is why I suspected some kind of driver issue, otherwise I would also go with a battery.

There is sample log from Panasonic and Asus for comparison at bottom. Notice huge spikes with Panasonic (bold values).

Should I try installing Vista since it has official drivers and see if same thing is happening there?


Panasonic
2015-04-23, 15:33:29, OK, 35%, 10.52, 13254, -6160, , 10.392, -6160, 35.0%, , , , , , , , , , , ,
2015-04-23, 15:33:34, OK, 35%, 10.52, 13254, -5950, , 10.395, -5950, 35.0%, , , , , , , , , , , ,
2015-04-23, 15:33:39, OK, 35%, 10.52, 13254, -13140, , 10.299, -13140, 35.0%, , , , , , , , , , , ,
2015-04-23, 15:33:44, OK, 35%, 10.25, 12918, -6320, , 10.392, -6320, 35.0%, , , , , , , , , , , ,
2015-04-23, 15:33:49, OK, 35%, 10.25, 12918, -12850, , 10.347, -12850, 34.0%, , , , , , , , , , , ,
2015-04-23, 15:33:54, OK, 34%, 5.04, 6171, -8200, , 10.395, -8200, 34.0%, , , , , , , , , , , ,
2015-04-23, 15:33:59, OK, 34%, 11.65, 14264, -5560, , 10.371, -5560, 34.0%, , , , , , , , , , , ,
2015-04-23, 15:34:04, OK, 34%, 11.65, 14264, -4100, , 10.374, -4100, 34.0%, , , , , , , , , , , ,
2015-04-23, 15:34:09, OK, 34%, 11.65, 14264, -11260, , 10.350, -11260, 34.0%, , , , , , , , , , , ,
2015-04-23, 15:34:14, OK, 34%, 5.68, 6950, -11410, , 10.320, -11410, 34.0%, , , , , , , , , , , ,
2015-04-23, 15:34:19, OK, 34%, 5.68, 6950, -11340, , 10.311, -11340, 34.0%, , , , , , , , , , , ,
2015-04-23, 15:34:24, OK, 34%, 5.68, 6950, -5210, , 10.395, -5210, 34.0%, , , , , , , , , , , ,
2015-04-23, 15:34:29, OK, 34%, 7.66, 9374, -8460, , 10.371, -8460, 34.0%, , , , , , , , , , , ,
2015-04-23, 15:34:34, OK, 34%, 7.66, 9374, -7140, , 10.374, -7140, 34.0%, , , , , , , , , , , ,

Asus
2015-04-23, 15:50:18, OK, 83%, 7.00, 20903, -5335, , 11.742, -5335, 83.1%, , , , , , , , , , , ,
2015-04-23, 15:50:23, OK, 83%, 7.00, 20903, -5335, , 11.743, -5335, 83.1%, , , , , , , , , , , ,
2015-04-23, 15:50:28, OK, 83%, 7.00, 20903, -5378, , 11.742, -5378, 83.0%, , , , , , , , , , , ,
2015-04-23, 15:50:33, OK, 83%, 7.97, 23828, -5616, , 11.737, -5616, 83.0%, , , , , , , , , , , ,
2015-04-23, 15:50:38, OK, 83%, 7.97, 23828, -5638, , 11.737, -5638, 83.0%, , , , , , , , , , , ,
2015-04-23, 15:50:43, OK, 83%, 7.97, 23828, -5605, , 11.738, -5605, 83.0%, , , , , , , , , , , ,
2015-04-23, 15:50:48, OK, 83%, 7.92, 23668, -5465, , 11.738, -5465, 83.0%, , , , , , , , , , , ,
2015-04-23, 15:50:54, OK, 83%, 7.92, 23668, -5346, , 11.740, -5346, 82.9%, , , , , , , , , , , ,
2015-04-23, 15:50:58, OK, 83%, 7.92, 23668, -5335, , 11.740, -5335, 82.9%, , , , , , , , , , , ,
2015-04-23, 15:51:04, OK, 83%, 8.03, 23991, -5357, , 11.739, -5357, 82.9%, , , , , , , , , , , ,
2015-04-23, 15:51:09, OK, 83%, 8.03, 23991, -5573, , 11.736, -5573, 82.9%, , , , , , , , , , , ,
2015-04-23, 15:51:14, OK, 83%, 8.03, 23991, -5357, , 11.738, -5357, 82.9%, , , , , , , , , , , ,

 

go to linked site.
click on driver bundles.
click on cf19 n drop down menu.
find cf19 mk2 win7. download 32 or 64 bit.,whichever you have.
reinstall as administrator.

Make sure Panasonic power management is installed and chosen as power plan

http://www.panasonic.com/business/toughbook/computer-support-search-downloads.asp

I think the battery is well used and tired......
The only way really get the kind of results you are looking for is to purchase a new OFFICIAL/ORIGINAL battery from a reliable source.

Can you post a photo of your battery? It may not be an original Panasonic..If it's reporting odd capacity, something is wrong. Could be bad cell, battery internal circuitry going bad, or more than likely poor cloned internal circuitry from a china made battery.
The China clones are so close looking it's almost impossible to tell..

 

Does your battery look like mine exactly ?

 

Yeah, it looks the same. Don't think it's counterfeit it's just too well made, there is also absence of any marks that should suggest it was opened in past. Color in pic is off but it's same as yours. I'll try reinstalling win7 and if that won't help will try measuring capacity of battery with stand alone discharger.

Link to hi-res pic

 

There's no Panasonic power management on machine or at least not as selectable power plan. Will try installing that first. To be honest I never really did clean install. Got my CF-19 from Germany and it had some kind of self install image on HDD that automatically installed win7 but with few errors that I fixed later, usual stuff, no sound, brightness buttons not working and so on.

 

Yes your battery is a OEM battery

 

Here are info of a few batteries I have...
(1) 65,880 @1o charge index
(2) 62,210 @ 22
(3) 54,630 @145
(4) 48,560 @ 67

As you can see they are all over the place

 

Ok, did full reinstall with drivers bundle (thanks for link) but it still falls short of 7 hours.

Got 5:08 runtime without touching machine, radios off, Panasonic power profile on maximum power saving, screen brightness 30%.

Discharge rate data does not make any sense (graph at bottom), it's all over the place.

If someone has some spare time and mk2 CF-19 I would greatly appreciate checking with BatteryMon the discharge rate of machine for minute or two in idle.

Thanks!

 

First, I think that you are expecting NEW battery results from a used battery.
Second, Companies LIE...Although Panasonic SAYS 7 hrs, I doubt that in the real world 7hrs happens.
Third, I downloaded BatteryMon to my CF19 mk2 and NOWHERE can I find or create a screen like your last photo.

How do I do that for you?

 

I would not have problem with this at all if it was only worn out battery but it looks to me like some kind of other hardware problem, maybe in battery IC or machine itself. In beginning I noticed only that projected runtime is jumping from 3 to 7 hours so I looked into it and found that spikes in discharge rate which I have never seen before on any other machine so this is why I'm so stubborn about it.

I've found independent test of CF-19 mk2 (under winXP tho) and they got 7:11 runtime with MobileMark benchmark (this simulates typical office use) so it seems Panasonic was quite honest about it.

Sorry about wasting your time, I was not clear enough about it. I would just like observation of discharge rate (value circled in red in pic below, just for illustration - not actual data) does it jump from 7000-13000mW or stays fairly constant. Even better would be 15-20 lines data from log (third icon from right I guess) if you have time for it. The graph that I sent in post before was actually data imported from log into Excel, sorry for not clarifying that in beginning.

Once again thanks for help!

 

CF19mk2
/with ublox GPS (not disabled)
with custom led backlight on LCD panel
with backlit keyboard
with 120gb Kingston SSD
Comodo Internet security left running...
Running win7 on power saver (not Panasonic plan)
.....dim display 1 minute
...display off 2 minutes...........

Unique ID, Manufacturer, Chemistry, Voltage (Volts)
01277PanasonicCF-VZSU48, Panasonic, Lithium Ion, 12.006

Date, Time, Status, %Charge, Total life(hours), Remaining life(sec), Charge Rate, Bat1 Temperature, Bat1 Voltage, Bat1 Charge Rate, Bat1 %Charge, Bat2 Temperature, Bat2 Voltage, Bat2 Charge Rate, Bat2 %Charge, Bat3 Temperature, Bat3 Voltage, Bat3 Charge Rate, Bat3 %Charge, Bat4 Temperature, Bat4 Voltage, Bat4 Charge Rate, Bat4 %Charge
2015-04-30, 06:59:17, OK, 97%, 10.50, 36672, -8210, , 12.006, -8210, 97.0%, , , , , , , , , , , ,
2015-04-30, 06:59:22, OK, 97%, 9.67, 33752, -6280, , 12.036, -6280, 97.0%, , , , , , , , , , , ,
2015-04-30, 06:59:27, OK, 97%, 9.67, 33752, -5960, , 12.033, -5960, 97.0%, , , , , , , , , , , ,
2015-04-30, 06:59:32, OK, 97%, 9.67, 33752, -6380, , 12.030, -6380, 97.0%, , , , , , , , , , , ,
2015-04-30, 06:59:37, OK, 97%, 9.73, 33969, -6240, , 12.015, -6240, 97.0%, , , , , , , , , , , ,
2015-04-30, 06:59:42, OK, 97%, 9.73, 33969, -5960, , 12.036, -5960, 97.0%, , , , , , , , , , , ,
2015-04-30, 06:59:47, OK, 97%, 9.73, 33969, -4900, , 12.006, -4900, 97.0%, , , , , , , , , , , ,
2015-04-30, 06:59:52, OK, 97%, 10.74, 37516, -5650, , 12.030, -5650, 97.0%, , , , , , , , , , , ,
2015-04-30, 06:59:57, OK, 97%, 10.74, 37516, -5610, , 12.027, -5610, 97.0%, , , , , , , , , , , ,
2015-04-30, 07:00:02, OK, 97%, 10.74, 37516, -6840, , 12.027, -6840, 97.0%, , , , , , , , , , , ,
2015-04-30, 07:00:07, OK, 97%, 10.71, 37384, -5670, , 12.012, -5670, 97.0%, , , , , , , , , , , ,
2015-04-30, 07:00:12, OK, 97%, 10.71, 37384, -8000, , 12.021, -8000, 97.0%, , , , , , , , , , , ,
2015-04-30, 07:00:17, OK, 97%, 10.71, 37384, -3910, , 12.021, -3910, 97.0%, , , , , , , , , , , ,
2015-04-30, 07:00:22, OK, 97%, 9.57, 33433, -6340, , 12.018, -6340, 97.0%, , , , , , , , , , , ,
2015-04-30, 07:00:27, OK, 97%, 9.57, 33433, -7520, , 12.036, -7520, 97.0%, , , , , , , , , , , ,
2015-04-30, 07:00:32, OK, 97%, 9.57, 33433, -7910, , 11.994, -7910, 97.0%, , , , , , , , , , , ,
2015-04-30, 07:00:37, OK, 97%, 10.84, 37851, -5600, , 12.012, -5600, 97.0%, , , , , , , , , , , ,
2015-04-30, 07:00:42, OK, 97%, 10.84, 37851, -6860, , 12.012, -6860, 97.0%, , , , , , , , , , , ,
2015-04-30, 07:00:47, OK, 97%, 10.84, 37851, -7460, , 12.012, -7460, 97.0%, , , , , , , , , , , ,
2015-04-30, 07:00:52, OK, 97%, 9.56, 33380, -6350, , 12.033, -6350, 97.0%, , , , , , , , , , , ,
2015-04-30, 07:00:57, OK, 97%, 9.56, 33380, -4620, , 12.021, -4620, 97.0%, , , , , , , , , , , ,
2015-04-30, 07:01:02, OK, 97%, 9.56, 33380, -5580, , 12.036, -5580, 97.0%, , , , , , , , , , , ,
2015-04-30, 07:01:07, OK, 97%, 8.20, 28644, -7400, , 12.021, -7400, 97.0%, , , , , , , , , , , ,
2015-04-30, 07:01:12, OK, 97%, 8.20, 28644, -5920, , 12.027, -5920, 97.0%, , , , , , , , , , , ,
This is right when it turned the screen off.
2015-04-30, 07:01:17, OK, 97%, 8.20, 28644, -10670, , 11.997, -10670, 97.0%, , , , , , , , , , , ,
2015-04-30, 07:01:22, OK, 97%, 12.41, 43347, -4890, , 12.033, -4890, 97.0%, , , , , , , , , , , ,
2015-04-30, 07:01:27, OK, 97%, 12.41, 43347, -4420, , 12.060, -4420, 97.0%, , , , , , , , , , , ,
2015-04-30, 07:01:32, OK, 97%, 12.41, 43347, -3010, , 12.048, -3010, 97.0%, , , , , , , , , , , ,
2015-04-30, 07:01:37, OK, 97%, 14.45, 50468, -4200, , 12.057, -4200, 97.0%, , , , , , , , , , , ,
2015-04-30, 07:01:42, OK, 97%, 14.45, 50468, -2510, , 12.051, -2510, 97.0%, , , , , , , , , , , ,
2015-04-30, 07:01:47, OK, 97%, 14.45, 50468, -3850, , 12.039, -3850, 97.0%, , , , , , , , , , , ,
2015-04-30, 07:01:52, OK, 97%, 9.76, 34078, -6220, , 12.045, -6220, 97.0%, , , , , , , , , , , ,
2015-04-30, 07:01:57, OK, 97%, 9.76, 34078, -4260, , 12.048, -4260, 97.0%, , , , , , , , , , , ,
2015-04-30, 07:02:02, OK, 97%, 9.76, 34078, -4060, , 12.021, -4060, 97.0%, , , , , , , , , , , ,
2015-04-30, 07:02:07, OK, 97%, 16.81, 58716, -3610, , 12.072, -3610, 97.0%, , , , , , , , , , , ,
2015-04-30, 07:02:12, OK, 97%, 16.81, 58716, -4880, , 12.078, -4880, 97.0%, , , , , , , , , , , ,
2015-04-30, 07:02:17, OK, 97%, 16.81, 58716, -6650, , 12.036, -6650, 97.0%, , , , , , , , , , , ,
2015-04-30, 07:02:22, OK, 97%, 21.45, 74900, -2830, , 12.063, -2830, 97.0%, , , , , , , , , , , ,
2015-04-30, 07:02:27, OK, 97%, 21.45, 74900, -4000, , 12.069, -4000, 97.0%, , , , , , , , , , , ,
2015-04-30, 07:02:32, OK, 97%, 21.45, 74900, -3010, , 12.069, -3010, 97.0%, , , , , , , , , , , ,
2015-04-30, 07:02:37, OK, 97%, 12.44, 43436, -4880, , 12.063, -4880, 97.0%, , , , , , , , , , , ,
2015-04-30, 07:02:42, OK, 97%, 12.44, 43436, -6720, , 12.036, -6720, 97.0%, , , , , , , , , , , ,
2015-04-30, 07:02:47, OK, 97%, 12.44, 43436, -8130, , 12.054, -8130, 97.0%, , , , , , , , , , , ,
2015-04-30, 07:02:52, OK, 97%, 11.08, 38680, -5480, , 12.057, -5480, 97.0%, , , , , , , , , , , ,
2015-04-30, 07:02:57, OK, 97%, 11.08, 38680, -4950, , 12.060, -4950, 97.0%, , , , , , , , , , , ,
2015-04-30, 07:03:02, OK, 97%, 11.08, 38680, -4700, , 12.030, -4700, 97.0%, , , , , , , , , , , ,
2015-04-30, 07:03:07, OK, 97%, 9.45, 33016, -6420, , 12.039, -6420, 97.0%, , , , , , , , , , , ,
2015-04-30, 07:03:12, OK, 97%, 9.45, 33016, -3360, , 12.060, -3360, 97.0%, , , , , , , , , , , ,
2015-04-30, 07:03:17, OK, 97%, 9.45, 33016, -6360, , 12.057, -6360, 97.0%, , , , , , , , , , , ,
2015-04-30, 07:03:22, OK, 97%, 10.36, 36172, -5860, , 12.054, -5860, 97.0%, , , , , , , , , , , ,
2015-04-30, 07:03:27, OK, 97%, 10.36, 36172, -4270, , 12.039, -4270, 97.0%, , , , , , , , , , , ,
2015-04-30, 07:03:32, OK, 97%, 10.36, 36172, -5590, , 12.063, -5590, 97.0%, , , , , , , , , , , ,
2015-04-30, 07:03:37, OK, 97%, 11.14, 38893, -5450, , 12.063, -5450, 97.0%, , , , , , , , , , , ,
2015-04-30, 07:03:42, OK, 97%, 11.14, 38893, -4950, , 12.057, -4950, 97.0%, , , , , , , , , , , ,
2015-04-30, 07:03:47, OK, 97%, 11.14, 38893, -6850, , 12.045, -6850, 97.0%, , , , , , , , , , , ,
2015-04-30, 07:03:52, OK, 97%, 12.00, 41890, -5060, , 12.063, -5060, 97.0%, , , , , , , , , , , ,
2015-04-30, 07:03:57, OK, 97%, 12.00, 41890, -4560, , 12.051, -4560, 97.0%, , , , , , , , , , , ,
2015-04-30, 07:04:02, OK, 97%, 12.00, 41890, -5150, , 12.027, -5150, 97.0%, , , , , , , , , , , ,
2015-04-30, 07:04:07, OK, 97%, 10.36, 36172, -5860, , 12.045, -5860, 97.0%, , , , , , , , , , , ,
2015-04-30, 07:04:12, OK, 97%, 10.36, 36172, -7660, , 12.036, -7660, 97.0%, , , , , , , , , , , ,
2015-04-30, 07:04:17, OK, 97%, 10.36, 36172, -4060, , 12.039, -4060, 97.0%, , , , , , , , , , , ,
2015-04-30, 07:04:22, OK, 97%, 14.95, 52208, -4060, , 12.045, -4060, 97.0%, , , , , , , , , , , ,
2015-04-30, 07:04:27, OK, 97%, 14.95, 52208, -4660, , 12.039, -4660, 97.0%, , , , , , , , , , , ,
2015-04-30, 07:04:32, OK, 97%, 14.95, 52208, -4030, , 12.051, -4030, 97.0%, , , , , , , , , , , ,
2015-04-30, 07:04:37, OK, 97%, 10.17, 35505, -5970, , 12.060, -5970, 97.0%, , , , , , , , , , , ,
2015-04-30, 07:04:42, OK, 97%, 10.17, 35505, -3780, , 12.060, -3780, 97.0%, , , , , , , , , , , ,
2015-04-30, 07:04:47, OK, 97%, 10.17, 35505, -2680, , 12.060, -2680, 97.0%, , , , , , , , , , , ,
2015-04-30, 07:04:52, OK, 97%, 9.13, 31874, -6650, , 12.018, -6650, 97.0%, , , , , , , , , , , ,
2015-04-30, 07:04:57, OK, 97%, 9.13, 31874, -11890, , 11.922, -11890, 96.0%, , , , , , , , , , , ,
2015-04-30, 07:05:02, OK, 97%, 9.13, 31874, -5950, , 12.000, -5950, 96.0%, , , , , , , , , , , ,
2015-04-30, 07:05:07, OK, 96%, 7.70, 26625, -7880, , 12.003, -7880, 96.0%, , , , , , , , , , , ,
2015-04-30, 07:05:12, OK, 96%, 7.70, 26625, -2330, , 12.060, -2330, 96.0%, , , , , , , , , , , ,
2015-04-30, 07:05:17, OK, 96%, 7.70, 26625, -7400, , 12.027, -7400, 96.0%, , , , , , , , , , , ,
2015-04-30, 07:05:22, OK, 96%, 10.90, 37667, -5570, , 12.027, -5570, 96.0%, , , , , , , , , , , ,
2015-04-30, 07:05:27, OK, 96%, 10.90, 37667, -5540, , 12.036, -5540, 96.0%, , , , , , , , , , , ,
2015-04-30, 07:05:32, OK, 96%, 10.90, 37667, -5130, , 12.051, -5130, 96.0%, , , , , , , , , , , ,
2015-04-30, 07:05:37, OK, 96%, 13.11, 45314, -4630, , 12.036, -4630, 96.0%, , , , , , , , , , , ,
Guessing this is when I took it off idle.
2015-04-30, 07:05:42, OK, 96%, 13.11, 45314, -10720, , 11.991, -10720, 96.0%, , , , , , , , , , , ,
2015-04-30, 07:05:47, OK, 96%, 13.11, 45314, -9900, , 11.949, -9900, 96.0%, , , , , , , , , , , ,
2015-04-30, 07:05:52, OK, 96%, 6.56, 22657, -9260, , 11.958, -9260, 96.0%, , , , , , , , , , , ,
2015-04-30, 07:05:57, OK, 96%, 6.56, 22657, -9550, , 11.955, -9550, 96.0%, , , , , , , , , , , ,
2015-04-30, 07:06:02, OK, 96%, 6.56, 22657, -9650, , 11.970, -9650, 96.0%, , , , , , , , , , , ,
2015-04-30, 07:06:07, OK, 96%, 7.06, 24396, -8600, , 11.967, -8600, 96.0%, , , , , , , , , , , ,
2015-04-30, 07:06:12, OK, 96%, 7.06, 24396, -9280, , 11.982, -9280, 96.0%, , , , , , , , , , , ,
2015-04-30, 07:06:17, OK, 96%, 7.06, 24396, -9120, , 11.964, -9120, 96.0%, , , , , , , , , , , ,
2015-04-30, 07:06:22, OK, 96%, 5.49, 18987, -11050, , 11.958, -11050, 96.0%, , , , , , , , , , , ,
2015-04-30, 07:06:27, OK, 96%, 5.49, 18987, -9420, , 11.952, -9420, 96.0%, , , , , , , , , , , ,
2015-04-30, 07:06:32, OK, 96%, 5.49, 18987, -9670, , 11.928, -9670, 96.0%, , , , , , , , , , , ,
2015-04-30, 07:06:37, OK, 96%, 6.81, 23547, -8910, , 11.970, -8910, 96.0%, , , , , , , , , , , ,
2015-04-30, 07:06:42, OK, 96%, 6.81, 23547, -9710, , 11.958, -9710, 96.0%, , , , , , , , , , , ,
2015-04-30, 07:06:47, OK, 96%, 6.81, 23547, -10660, , 11.916, -10660, 96.0%, , , , , , , , , , , ,

 

hmmm ...
an "independent test" shows a given run time .
a company says *something* about their product .
you compared the panasonic unit with the asus unit .

"independent testing" uses a given set of conditions ... unless you can mimic these exactly , your results may vary by a large margin .
a company says their product can run for a given time with a given battery ... again , unless you mimic the test conditions they used exactly , your results can be quite a bit different .
the comparison of two entirely different makes/units is like comparing apples and oranges .
you are assuming that your charging circuit is ok .

as i see it , there are three ways/things (needed) to determine more precisely what is going on :
use of a known good brand-new battery .
use of the above battery in a known good laptop (of the same make , model and circuitry , etc) and charging circuit .
observation and comparison of the results of a test of a/the known good unit(s) with the same analytical software .

i do not know if this has been mentioned or tried ...
the cpu "minimal state" settings in windows ... this determines the "throttle back" speed of the cpu in response to certain load states .
there are a few other settings back in the "advanced power management" that will affect battery life .
i do not know if during the "testing" that the display was dimmed by a large percentage or perhaps it was shut down after (say) a couple of minutes of inactivity .
another possibility is that they may have set the cpu to go to sleep or suspend after a given time of inactivity .
the above falls under "mimicking" the test conditions .

edit ...
heh , shawn posted while i was composting .

 

Interesting connection....I read about this a few years back....
Do a search on power saving CPU etc....Windows implements it's own "Plans" that a lot of the time conflict with Intels power saving measures that are directly on the chip. Microsoft did not trust that Intel knew what they were doing.

I would trust Intel long before I trusted Microsoft...Maybe that's why Panasonic has custom power plans...I dunno..

 

Ok a couple things..
(1) You are never going to get 7 hours on a MK2. You will be lucky to get half of that at best.
(2) How good is this program you are using ? Not saying it's no good but I just checked Download.com and they only had 6500 downloads in 2 years so that tells me it's not the best program out there.

http://articles.informer.com/best-tools-to-extend-and-monitor-your-laptop-battery-life.html

I have gotten almost 9 hours on my 19 MK5 but I think the LED's as well as the i5 processor and the SSD are responsible for this. Screen was also set at 60% and this was a new battery. I will get out my 19MK2 and see what I get for run time.

 

This is the one that I use http://download.cnet.com/BatteryBar/3000-2094_4-10866804.html . It's free and it tells me what I want to know.

Real world testing is done on forums like this by guys like us who love Toughbooks . If there is a way to get the runtime that Panasonic tells you then we can find it and guess what...we have not found it yet.

 

Convert the LCD backlight from CCFL to LED and the battery life will increase by 20%.
It's the best mod I have done to my CF19 and CF30.

 

I just started up my 19 MK2 and I am going to see how long I get off this battery. I have no power saving on. Screen on full and wifi on. After this test I will try it with some power savings on, screen at 50%. Will keep you updated.

 

With this setup I got 3 hours and 7 minutes with 6% battery power left. Tomorrow I will set the screen at 50% and see what happens

 

Well this time with the screen set at 50% and wifi on the battery went 3 hours and 49 minutes with 6% battery power left.

 

Well I have tried many things and the best I could do is 4 hours and 31 minutes. I even tried another new battery and still the same. I did watch a TV show (50 min) and a movie (1 hour 55 min) while I was working on a couple Toughbooks. It just made it to the end and died.

 

Was really busy during past month so couldn't make any replies earlier. Thanks to everyone for sacrificing their time for these test.

So I tested (only) battery that I have with stand alone charger/discharger. It's blue tab CF-VZSU48 with nominal capacity of 5700mAh, reported capacity 6083mAh in OS with no indication for wear (strange).

Well according to charger after charge/discharge cycle real capacity is actually 4851mAh. Why doesn't OS/BIOS see this I don't know. So I charged battery once more with charger and tried runtime again and it lasted 6:32h (wifi off, screen 30%) till reaching 5% and shutting down which is way longer compared to what I usually get when battery is charged by toughbook itself.

So there's definitely something wrong with battery or the way machine is reading battery info, wear is not reported at all and consequently capacity is also wrong.

Will also try discharging battery to measure capacity after it was charged by toughbook.

 

I recently read about laptop batteries. The guy was talking to an industry insider of some sort..
The story went on to say that unless the battery comes from the manufacturer in a sealed package, it's almost guaranteed to be a fake.
I am not afraid to use "off brand" as long as it functions reasonably well. A "Ebay new original" battery cost $75.00. New from a Panasonic dealer sealed cost $239.00.
Prices are guesses and not exact....
The fake batteries are so good that you can not tell the difference. Many times they use new official housings and just put cheap cells inside. Labels are easy to copy.
Fakes are so good that they have been found on the selves of Bestbuy and Walmart.

So my thoughts are I will either spend $239.00 to Rob at Rugged Depot for a sealed official battery that he buys direct from Panasonic or buy a $75.00 one and accept the performance trade off.
I'll go $75.00 but that's me. Even a used battery can be a fake....Who knows where the previous owner bought the battery from.

 

I think that guy is full of crap...I have bought lost of used Panasonic batteries and they all have been OEM. I use batterybar to test all my batterys

 

testing batteries and "questionable parentage/lineage" ...
there are a lot of knock-offs out there and it is not limited to batteries .
if one really looked on the net , i would hazard that every day one could find a new knock-off scam .

the quality of those batteries ranges from "horrible" to "downright silly" to "not that bad" .

i have mentioned this before ... my friend i built the '30 for and put an "after market" battery in ...
i checked with him yesterday (while he was on the phone about an unrelated problem) .
the battery is still doing ok ... although he did not look at the "hour meter" .
he uses the machine during the day and either shuts it down or puts it to sleep .
he is the type of guy that can quantitative down to a gnats arse ...
sooo , his "guestimates" are very reasonable .

did i luck out with the particular seller ?
based on the number of bogus batteries out there , i would have to say "yes" .
i have had a couple of those after market specials crap out after three months .