How to use Battery?

Hi buddies,

I have a new SONY VAIO, but am really confused about it's battery usage.
Some people say that it is best to use the laptop plugged in for a good battery life, while some say you should charge it full at once and use it to the minimum charge and using while plugged in is not good for the battery life....!!
I want a professional advice. How should I use my battery to extend it's life.
Is it okay to use while plugged in or not??
Please help

Thanks in advance.

 

There should be a battery "care" function somewhere, where you can limit the maximum chare. You should set this to 50% if you are goin to use it plugged in all the time. If you will use it everyday on the go, then don't worry about this.

Also, before you start using it, you should do 3 full charge/discharge cycles to condition the battery (ie. charge to full, then empty until it gets to 5%, then do it again 3 times total).

 

As long as the battery doesn't get warmed up, it's OK and usually good to leave the battery plugged in. The second generation of Lithium based batteries have a quite sophisticated charging circuitry that will prevent overcharging, and trickle-charge at a very low amperage as needed.

The main battery killer is heat. If the model you have gets quite warm, it may be beneficial to take out the battery while using it on AC (if the model allows it, and you have disabled the -at-me software that will complain about a missing or dead battery every 30 seconds or so). And then plug it back in when you're not using the computer, so it can benefit from trickle-charging keeping the battery at an optimum charge level.

Also, don't run the battery down to depleted, ever, if you can help it. That's the second biggest Li-ion battery killer. The battery takes a lot more wear when near empty than when near full. Discharging from 100% to 80% a dozen times is likely less damaging for the battery than discharging from 20% to 0% a single time.
NiMH batteries, on the other hand, should be fully discharged from time to time, but that's not so for Li-Ion.

Overcharging a Li-Ion battery is also damaging, and can even cause it to ignite, but that rarely happens due to the protection circuitry in newer chargers and batteries. It's almost always seen with cheap 3rd party "discount" chargers or batteries (which are common enough due to the inflated battery prices from the laptop manufacturers themselves).

Finally, there are "lemons" -- single batteries that don't work as well as they should from the factory. Usually due to contamination in the lithium "paste" or careless bending/folding by the person doing the assembly.

 

In one word: No. This is a myth based on how NiMh, NiCd and Pb-acc batteries work, but it is patently false for Lithium and Li-ion batteries. Every time you deplete it very low, you reduce the lifetime of the battery, including the first few times. Again, don't ever run it down to near empty unless you really have to.

Instead, when you get a new machine (or battery), charge it fully and then leave it in for several more hours before using the device on battery for the first time. This ensures that the battery charging circuitry learns what the true full capacity of this particular battery is, so it can optimize charging accordingly, and give accurate figures for battery capacity vis-a-vis new.

 

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=91846

This is very helpful.

 

Indeed. Note, however, that the advice about leaving the battery in using up charge cycles isn't true for more expensive and second generation devices. Older and cheaper notebooks do a full amp charge when the capacity drops to a certain point like 95%, like the article says. Newer and more expensive notebooks, however, will trickle-charge at a very low amperage when near full, i.e. just counteracting the natural discharge. This doesn't cause charge cycle loss the same way.

The battery may still be damaged by heat from the CPU/GPU/HD/RAM, of course, so it may still be beneficial to remove the battery if it gets warm.
But I am pretty certain that all the current model Sonys trickle-charge at very low amp when near full, to keep the charge and prevent depletion. As long as the batteries don't get warm, it will actually reduce battery aging to keep it plugged in versus unplugging it, where it will drop to a level that requires "hard" charging.

 

Hello,

If a battery is not used for 1 year (because it has never been inserted in the computer since it left the factory), will it be damaged ?

Thank you

 

Possible. Lithium-ion batteries self-discharge over time, even when not used. Lithium-ion batteries also get worn out if they are discharged deeply (empty).

So if the Lithium-ion battery is left unused and self-discharges until too low a charge, a protection circuit kicks in and the battery will become unusable.

Thats why new Li-ion batteries are charged at around 50% for storage.

 

Just don't worry about as far as I am concerned. Just use your laptop and be aware of what will and what will not drain your battery when you use. Your battery is inevitability going to loose life as I have noticed with my year old FZ.

 

You have given it pretty nice arth1 and it's professional too.
Thanks for that, and do update the thread in future too...