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chaz47
Joined: 11 Sep 2003
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 Posted: Fri Sep 14, 2007 9:28 pm Post subject: Freaking Dell notebook battery |
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Before I came here a couple years ago I bought a Dell laptop. Everybody I knew warned me about leaving the battery in the laptop if it was plugged into the wall for extended periods of time. So I "wisely" removed it from the laptop which was essentially a desktop for the whole time I've been here.
The other day I had to take my laptop to my school as one of my coteacher's hadn't gotten hers yet and we were using a video clip in the lesson. Well, much to my dismay the battery which I thought I was saving is now a useless brick.
WTF?
When I put it in the machine the green LED to indicate charging would only work for a few minutes and it never accumulated a charge greater that 6%. When I took it home and plugged it back into my wall, the battery indicator LED on the keyboard was amber and blinking rapidly. After awhile I removed the battery as it hadn't accumulated a charge in over an hour.
In hindsight I probably should've removed the battery sooner as Dell's batteries have had oh so much positive press lately.
So, am I stuck with an underpowered folding desktop? Do I have to get another substandard battery from Dell or is it possible to find a RELIABLE battery from another manufacturer? |
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pdxsteve
Joined: 29 Sep 2004
Location: Bundang
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| Posted: Sat Sep 15, 2007 10:16 am Post subject: Re: Freaking Dell notebook battery |
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| chaz47 wrote: |
Before I came here a couple years ago I bought a Dell laptop. Everybody I knew warned me about leaving the battery in the laptop if it was plugged into the wall for extended periods of time. So I "wisely" removed it from the laptop which was essentially a desktop for the whole time I've been here.
The other day I had to take my laptop to my school as one of my coteacher's hadn't gotten hers yet and we were using a video clip in the lesson. Well, much to my dismay the battery which I thought I was saving is now a useless brick.
WTF?
When I put it in the machine the green LED to indicate charging would only work for a few minutes and it never accumulated a charge greater that 6%. When I took it home and plugged it back into my wall, the battery indicator LED on the keyboard was amber and blinking rapidly. After awhile I removed the battery as it hadn't accumulated a charge in over an hour.
In hindsight I probably should've removed the battery sooner as Dell's batteries have had oh so much positive press lately.
So, am I stuck with an underpowered folding desktop? Do I have to get another substandard battery from Dell or is it possible to find a RELIABLE battery from another manufacturer? |
You were given the wrong advice. It's actually best to leave the battery in the laptop and let it recharge as necessary. The battery's integrated circuitry prevents the battery from overcharging.
Lithium-ion batteries have a limited lifespan, whether you use them or not. Their life span is usually 2-3 years (about 2000 partial discharge-recharge cycles) or about 500 full discharge-recharge cycles, whichever comes first.
If you are going to store the battery outside the computer, store it at about 20-40% charge in a cool location, like in a sealed plastic bag in your refrigerator (no joke). Storing it at 0% or 100% charge will cause the most wear and the shortest lifespan.
You can buy aftermarket batteries all over the web, and Dell will happily sell you a replacement too. Depending on your model, expect to spend between $50 and $150 for a new battery. |
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cangel
Joined: 19 Jun 2003
Location: Jeonju, S. Korea
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| Posted: Mon Sep 17, 2007 12:13 am Post subject: |
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| I read somewhere that you should "massage" the battery from time to time. By massaging they meant, to let it charge fully and then let it drain to zero, or something... Has anyone heard of this? |
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chevro1et
Joined: 01 Feb 2007
Location: Busan, ROK
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| Posted: Mon Sep 17, 2007 4:56 am Post subject: |
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| ^^ yea, I have heard or read that before as well. I do 'massage' or 'exercise' my laptop battery occasionally ( every 2 or 3 weeks) but other than that, I leave it plugged into my lappy even when it is running on AC current. Last week when I ran my battery to zero charge, it still took >5 hrs full-screen video to kill it totally. |
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Litlbul
Joined: 24 Feb 2006
Location: Seoul, Korea
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| Posted: Wed Sep 19, 2007 11:06 am Post subject: |
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I disagree with some of you.
Taking out the battery on your laptop while it is running on AC power will prolong the battery life. It keeps the battery temperature lower which will slow the aging process and it will preserve charge cycles. For that reason, taking out the battery (while running on AC power) and storing it in a cool place will prolong the battery life.
But you will not have the battery as backup power in case of a power outage. |
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xenok
Joined: 03 Mar 2007
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| Posted: Wed Sep 19, 2007 3:32 pm Post subject: |
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for lithium ion batteries (which probably covers all laptop batteries these days), "massaging" (full charge to full discharge) is a very bad idea. this is a relic idea from nickel batteries that got mistakenly (maliciously?) passed down to the li-ion generation.
going from full charge to full discharge will shorten the life of your batteries. if you really want to squeeze every single minute of life out of your li-ion batteries, the best way is to keep it in a half charge state, use it a little, charge it back up to a little over half charge, then use it a little. that along with keeping it cool (you don't have to put it in the freezer), will make your batteries last for a very long time. |
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