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Notebook battery 2
- Thread starter dodge20
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FredWagner
MIS
Do, however, take the notebook off the charger, and run it to drain the battery every so often (monthly?). If you don't it will develop a memory effect, and shut down after mere minutes on the battery. Reconditioning a battery that has been neglected and left on charge for years can be difficult. Replacement batteries are not cheap!
Fred Wagner
frwagne@longbeach.gov
Fred Wagner
frwagne@longbeach.gov
dodge20, not only was the rumor incorrect, it actually has been responsible for the damage that hundreds of people have had to their Compaq Presario notebooks and the charging circuit. It blew the circuit on my motherboard, and I found out later that you shouldn't remove the battery and run on the adapter only. Some circuit designs don't tolerate this.
The memory effect mentioned above is true even for the lithium battery packs. Normally it only affects NiCad and NiMH, but any pack that has electronic battery gauge requires this conditioning.
Newposter
"Good judgment comes from experience. Experience comes from bad judgment."
The memory effect mentioned above is true even for the lithium battery packs. Normally it only affects NiCad and NiMH, but any pack that has electronic battery gauge requires this conditioning.
Newposter
"Good judgment comes from experience. Experience comes from bad judgment."
These respones were very helpful. I'm visually impaired and I have a Dell Inspiron 8100 that I keep on AC almost all the time. However, now that summer has arrived, I like to take my Laptop out on the deck and listen to my audio books, however, my battery dies after about 1/2 hour to 1 hour. How do you reconditon the battery? Or do I need to buy a new battery? My computer is less than 1 year old.
Thanks,
Thanks,
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For those who have blown charging circuits: manufacturers don't just print manuals to kill trees.
spjut,
Loss of full charge is possible symptom of the battery aging. So, yes, you probably should get a new battery. Having a spare, and having it charged would probably be good.
It is also possible that the battery has developed a charging pattern that stops it from fully charging. The manual probably has some indications of how to correct it, somewhat like what FredWagner posted above.
Ed Fair
Any advice I give is my best judgement based on my interpretation of the facts you supply. Help increase my knowledge by providing some feedback, good or bad, on any advice I have given.
spjut,
Loss of full charge is possible symptom of the battery aging. So, yes, you probably should get a new battery. Having a spare, and having it charged would probably be good.
It is also possible that the battery has developed a charging pattern that stops it from fully charging. The manual probably has some indications of how to correct it, somewhat like what FredWagner posted above.
Ed Fair
Any advice I give is my best judgement based on my interpretation of the facts you supply. Help increase my knowledge by providing some feedback, good or bad, on any advice I have given.
You get a warranty replacement from Dell.
You should get at least two hours on the battery. You might consider changing the power settings for the laptop to turn off the display completely after a few minutes of on-battery operation. This would extend your battery life quite a bit.
To save some time before calling Dell, you should download their diagnostic software from the web site. Run this and it will test the battery charging circuitry. Dell will ask you to do this anyway, so you can save some time by doing it in advance. One other thing they are likely to ask you to do is to place the battery in the right-hand bay instead of the left one. This is to rule out the possibility that the battery connector on the left side is not somehow defective. So, do that ahead of time too. Remove the CD-Rom drive and place the battery in the right-hand bay, let it reach a full charge, and see how long the battery lasts.
Finally, on the side of the battery is a test button with lights. When the battery shows as Full on the tasktray icon, remove the battery and push the test button. All of the lights should come on, and stay on for at least ten seconds while you are pushing the test button. If one or more wink out during this test, a battery replacement is indicated without question.
You should get at least two hours on the battery. You might consider changing the power settings for the laptop to turn off the display completely after a few minutes of on-battery operation. This would extend your battery life quite a bit.
To save some time before calling Dell, you should download their diagnostic software from the web site. Run this and it will test the battery charging circuitry. Dell will ask you to do this anyway, so you can save some time by doing it in advance. One other thing they are likely to ask you to do is to place the battery in the right-hand bay instead of the left one. This is to rule out the possibility that the battery connector on the left side is not somehow defective. So, do that ahead of time too. Remove the CD-Rom drive and place the battery in the right-hand bay, let it reach a full charge, and see how long the battery lasts.
Finally, on the side of the battery is a test button with lights. When the battery shows as Full on the tasktray icon, remove the battery and push the test button. All of the lights should come on, and stay on for at least ten seconds while you are pushing the test button. If one or more wink out during this test, a battery replacement is indicated without question.
Newposter,
I am curious about the memory effect claim for Li-on batteries. It is my understanding that a full discharge cycle is not recommended for this battery type. If you would have a link I would appreciate it. I remember looking at this issue some time ago, and finding a lot of bad information about batteries, and it is time to refresh my memory banks on this issue.
Thanks in advance.
I am curious about the memory effect claim for Li-on batteries. It is my understanding that a full discharge cycle is not recommended for this battery type. If you would have a link I would appreciate it. I remember looking at this issue some time ago, and finding a lot of bad information about batteries, and it is time to refresh my memory banks on this issue.
Thanks in advance.
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