Posted on 07/07/2009 10:13:33 AM PDT by Blue Highway
Bought an aftermarket replacement battery from Ebay for $40 which is much more reasonable than the $130 Compaq charges. In any event I want to be able to maximize battery lifespan but also be able to use the battery to it's limits so as to near it's end of life so I can get a replacement if/when it fails to within a year.
With the original laptop battery I tried to maximize the time the laptop was running off the battery to try this theory. I'd basically start from 100% full and then run it down to 8-10% and then charge it back up to 100% and start the cycle over again.
It seemed like a month after the year warranty expired the battery wasn't lasting as long and it was noticeable. I want this to happen before the year warranty of this battery expires so what way is the best way?
I have used this strategy for getting warranty replacements on my UPS battery systems. I like the idea of running the PC and monitor off the grid for 20-30 minutes and using the battery to have it fail so I can get a replacement before the warranty period expires.
/johnny
ping for your comments
So running it lower than 25% is draining it too far? I have never read the threshold was that high actually. Anyone else have thoughts on this 25% figure?
I do not believe the Lithium's have a memory. Please correct me if I am wrong
I really don't have any words of advise for LiIon batteries because they don't seem to have the same pickiness about charging the other two had.
I will say don't expect the $40 battery to last as long as your original. You might get lucky, but every time I've gotten a cheap battery off of eBay it wasn't even worth what I paid for it. I have bought good batteries for 60-70% of the OEM retail price, but when you get below half price they generally don't have the life claimed or last the number of recharge cycles.
If you used it in the intended manner, it might not fail for 2 or 3 years, and then you wouldn't have to go through the hassle of abusing your warranty rights.
It is Li-Ion I wasn’t sure they even made laptop batteries in NIMH or NI-CAD.
Well if it fails within a year their warranty will cover a replacement, which is kinda why I want to get the most use out of it I can out of this year. Hopefully, running on batteries at least 4-5 hours a day, while being charged another 4-5 hours.
Abusing warranty rights? That’s a bit severe to imply I am doing something fraudulent. Please clarify your meaning behind your statement please.
I’m no expert, but if I recall correctly, lithium-ion battery life is tied to the number of charging cycles, not how deep the battery is discharged. Bottom line, to maximize life you should run plugged in as much as possible and only run off the battery when you really need to.
Again...I think this is correct, but I could be wrong.
I basically ran my original battery like this: 2. New battery pack needs to be fully charged and discharged (cycled) a few times before it can condition to full capacity.
So basically every time I used my laptop I was cycling the batteries.
I think you are correct regarding partial charge cycles. I usually shut the laptop down before disconnecting the power cord then plug it back in before powering up. Not sure if this really helps. I plan on buying a new battery every two years or so. I’ve found that two years is about the limit for acceptable battery performance.
We have 3 laptops in our house. One is a Sager that I purchased 9/04, the next is a Toshiba Tablet PC purchased in 2006, and the last is a generic Toshiba for the wife in early 2008.
My first Sager battery was dead in about 7 months. Then I was told, since I leave it on nearly 24x7 (as we do all 3), to remove the battery, and only charge it once a month.
That has served us well, and we haven’t had a battery issue since, although, I did have to buy a new AC adapter for my Sager. (it runs real hot)
Good luck.
Oh cut it out with the cheap transparent indignation.
You said it in your very own post:
I have used this strategy for getting warranty replacements on my UPS battery systems. I like the idea of... using the battery to have it fail so I can get a replacement before the warranty period expires.
First you buy an aftermarket battery to save $90.00. Nothing wrong with that.
But then you launch a deliberate "strategy" (your words) to make the product fail in order that you can obtain a free (and new) replacement after using the product successfully through its intended lifespan. You claim to have done this with other products.
And all to screw the manufacturer for a new product, at its expense, which you deliberately used in a manner which you hoped would make it fail.
It is what it is dude.
But it ain't very ethical.
Those look like good guidelines and pretty much match how I prep a new battery. I don’t purposely do a full discharge once a month, but generally get pretty close by taking it to meetings a few times a month.
So you basically run all your laptops without the battery 24/7? Not a bad idea especially if your laptop is always near a power source.
Using a product, not abusing it in effort to get a replacement through warranty it not unethical, it is taking advantage of a warranty. That is all nothing more.
So do partial charges count as a complete charge cycle? Anyone know for certain?
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