running notebook on AC mains bad for battery

Jaffa_Cree · 19th December 2004, 7:23 PM

i was wondering is it bad to continuously run the notebook off AC

will it wear the battery out faster?

or is it better to charge battery, discharge it to around 20% then charge and repeat? or just leave it on AC

killer65210 · 21st December 2004, 9:13 AM

from what ive heard it depends on the notebook.
some run directly from mains others mains-battery-computer eg apple iBooks runs on the second method. this cuases were on the batteries prematurely as the ones at my school last about 10-13 months before the batterry is screwed.

talk to the retailer.

Smurf.

vax · 21st December 2004, 10:53 AM

i thought lithium doesnt have memory effect, therefore discharge = useless ?

PogiPinoy · 21st December 2004, 4:11 PM

yup li-on batts dont have the memory effect

you can leave it plugged in and it'll be fine

Daveo · 21st December 2004, 4:23 PM

I had a Toshiba 2510 CDS (yes its old...ages ago) but when I would plug it into the AC, the screen would become brighter and things would run alot better and smoother, then agian it was 95 and not doing anything harder than word processing and mp3 playing.

jboles · 21st December 2004, 4:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Daveo

I had a Toshiba 2510 CDS (yes its old...ages ago) but when I would plug it into the AC, the screen would become brighter and things would run alot better and smoother, then agian it was 95 and not doing anything harder than word processing and mp3 playing.

That doesn't necessarily mean that your battery was bad; many laptops slow the CPU and dim the screen to save battery power when not plugged in.

unconess · 21st December 2004, 5:24 PM

You could just rip out the battery while you're running the laptop on mains to stop the laptop doing strange things to the battery...

These two might help explain a bit about batteries:

Battery Storage Life

About Lithium-ion Batteries

jascii · 21st December 2004, 5:35 PM

Putting the battery through unnecessary discharge/recharge cycles will wear it out. For optimum life, leave your notebook plugged into mains where possible.

My theory is that lithium-ion cell producers perpetuate the discharge myth to wear out batteries faster and drive sales.

ixeo · 23rd December 2004, 5:50 AM

i use my laptop on mains most of the time, the battery is on 40% charge and removed from the laptop and put aside. i only charge it up before i need it. read somewhere thats how you should store the batteries.. 9 months now and my battery still give as much juice as it was new

the reason for not leaving the battery in the laptop when plugged to mains is heat. the battery won't get hot but the laptop does..and heat is bad for batteries. my lappy's cpu, ram, harddisk & wifi minipci gets hot..and the ram slot is near to the batts..

jboles · 23rd December 2004, 7:39 AM

I also use my laptop on mains most of the time, but leave the battery in. I don't make any attempt at micromanaging battery life; if a powerpoint is convenient I will plug it in, otherwise I'll use the battery. The laptop is nearly 2 years old now, and probably holds about 3/4 of the charge it did when new.

omigod · 26th December 2004, 7:39 AM

My work laptop's battery (HP OmniBook) became totally non-rechargeable after 2.5 years of heavy use. Always running off AC mains.

It lasts about 1 hr (word processing/web etc) when it was brand new. Now it would charge to "full" and dies after 5 minutes if I am not connected to the AC.

19th December 2004, 7:23 PM	#1
Jaffa_Cree Member Join Date: Feb 2002 Posts: 1,908	running notebook on AC mains bad for battery i was wondering is it bad to continuously run the notebook off AC will it wear the battery out faster? or is it better to charge battery, discharge it to around 20% then charge and repeat? or just leave it on AC

21st December 2004, 9:13 AM	#2
killer65210 Member Join Date: May 2004 Location: Drummoyne, NSW Posts: 261	from what ive heard it depends on the notebook. some run directly from mains others mains-battery-computer eg apple iBooks runs on the second method. this cuases were on the batteries prematurely as the ones at my school last about 10-13 months before the batterry is screwed. talk to the retailer. Smurf. __________________ OCAU CREATIVE owners Club OCAU MetaL Club Member #74 My Rig Finally - A SHOW FOR GAMERS BY GAMERS GOOD GAME

21st December 2004, 4:11 PM	#4
PogiPinoy Member Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Sydney (No Cable) :( Posts: 1,300	yup li-on batts dont have the memory effect you can leave it plugged in and it'll be fine __________________ BLAQUE - Believing in Life and Achieving a Quest of Unity in Everything OCAU Club PDA Member #6 Nintendo Club Member #4 OCAU iPod Owner #65 ASUS Owners Club \|\|Dr. Pepper Club Member #21\|\| Motorola V-Club Member - V3i DELL Laptop Owners Club

21st December 2004, 5:35 PM	#8
jascii Member Join Date: May 2004 Location: Nikhedonia Posts: 525	Putting the battery through unnecessary discharge/recharge cycles will wear it out. For optimum life, leave your notebook plugged into mains where possible. My theory is that lithium-ion cell producers perpetuate the discharge myth to wear out batteries faster and drive sales. __________________ "Pluralitas non est ponenda sine neccesitate" Last edited by jascii; 21st December 2004 at 5:37 PM.

23rd December 2004, 5:50 AM	#9
ixeo Member Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Melbourne, Australia Posts: 29	i use my laptop on mains most of the time, the battery is on 40% charge and removed from the laptop and put aside. i only charge it up before i need it. read somewhere thats how you should store the batteries.. 9 months now and my battery still give as much juice as it was new the reason for not leaving the battery in the laptop when plugged to mains is heat. the battery won't get hot but the laptop does..and heat is bad for batteries. my lappy's cpu, ram, harddisk & wifi minipci gets hot..and the ram slot is near to the batts.. Last edited by ixeo; 23rd December 2004 at 5:51 AM.

21st December 2004, 10:53 AM	#3
vax Member Join Date: Jun 2001 Posts: 216	i thought lithium doesnt have memory effect, therefore discharge = useless ?

21st December 2004, 4:23 PM	#5
Daveo Member Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: Sydney Posts: 1,654	I had a Toshiba 2510 CDS (yes its old...ages ago) but when I would plug it into the AC, the screen would become brighter and things would run alot better and smoother, then agian it was 95 and not doing anything harder than word processing and mp3 playing.

21st December 2004, 5:24 PM	#7
unconess Member Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Blue Mountains Posts: 1,326	You could just rip out the battery while you're running the laptop on mains to stop the laptop doing strange things to the battery... These two might help explain a bit about batteries: Battery Storage Life About Lithium-ion Batteries

23rd December 2004, 7:39 AM	#10
jboles Member Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Seattle Washington Posts: 2,365	I also use my laptop on mains most of the time, but leave the battery in. I don't make any attempt at micromanaging battery life; if a powerpoint is convenient I will plug it in, otherwise I'll use the battery. The laptop is nearly 2 years old now, and probably holds about 3/4 of the charge it did when new. __________________ Main: MBP 15" - Core Duo 1.83 - 2GB - 320GB WD Scorpio Black - ATI Mobile Radeon X1600XT Server: Q6600 @ 4x3.0Ghz - 8GB - 2.64TB - Nvidia 8800gts512 Folding for team 24 (click for real-time stats!)

26th December 2004, 7:39 AM	#11
omigod Member Join Date: Mar 2002 Posts: 309	My work laptop's battery (HP OmniBook) became totally non-rechargeable after 2.5 years of heavy use. Always running off AC mains. It lasts about 1 hr (word processing/web etc) when it was brand new. Now it would charge to "full" and dies after 5 minutes if I am not connected to the AC.