how to keep your laptop battery life longer ?

Indonesia
October 8, 2009 12:53pm CST
hi.. i've heard some opinion thats if you using laptop with AC power connected it will decrease the battery life, i don't know exactly is it true or just hoax? can someone explain how the power drain process when the ac power connected ? is it the power from ac main power drive the laptop and the battery stop charging when it's full, or the laptop consume the power from battery and the AC power keep charging the battery and make the battery realy hot and its damage the cell inside the battery ?
1 person likes this
8 responses
@May2k8 (18097)
• Indonesia
8 Oct 09
Yes, that's is true if your battery connected to charger your battery will be hot, because there are chemicals in the battery. Battery is usually full between 4 to 8 hours. If the battery was full then the charger automatically stops charging, and if only a little less then the charger will re-charging. Do not charge the battery too long, because it could explode (the process of electricity to heat energy).
• Indonesia
9 Oct 09
hmm i love your answer.. but i never see any case that overcharging the battery make its explode.. i never see this in my country
• Indonesia
9 Oct 09
the chemical liquid is leaked out maybe, but never explode
@May2k8 (18097)
• Indonesia
9 Oct 09
it's possible because 100% of battery can be damage or even explode if the charger cannot be controlling over 100% still infuse the battery. I just remember someone of my friend told me he was charging the battery a week and never plug out. And, he said he was forget his laptop still connected to AC. Then what happen, the laptop is okay but behind his laptop has been broken because the battery has been explode.
@jpso138 (7851)
• Philippines
9 Oct 09
I think that is true. A friend of mine advised that if ever I am connected to an external power supply, I should remove my battery to extend its life. Usually when the battery is in and the power supply is connected, there is always the possibility of over charging which later on will damage the battery. So often my battery is not on my laptop since most of the time that I use my computer its in my home or in the office. I only connect the battery when I am outside and do not have an external power supply.
• Indonesia
9 Oct 09
i think your answer is more reasonable, when we were using laptop at home we should take off the battery and just use the AC power, and then when we go traveling we use battery. if we have this habit im sure we will safe the battery life. but sometime in my country while our electric voltage really really not stable, sometime its just 175Volt sometimes it raise more than 220 Volt, even though the ac adapter input range 100 ~ 240 Volt, i think this is also has effect to the battery
@jpso138 (7851)
• Philippines
9 Oct 09
Yes, it thing that is reasonable. I have a friend who has a laptop and has never used his battery. Up until now, he places it in his cabinet for protection. With respect to your unstable power supply, you don't have to worry. If you notice your power supply, there is the range of 100-240 volts, there is no problem since it will automatically control the power to your computer to around 5-9 volts depending on the power need. So just make sure you use the right power cord and regulator.
• Indonesia
9 Oct 09
hmmm.. thats the problem, i have no Automatic Voltage Regulator installed in my home.. :D
@gmkk1986 (471)
• India
9 Oct 09
Actually laptops uses dry cells.. here the term battery sense different. Here this cell was designed to keep charging and regulating power to laptop components automatically. This happens as a normal functions. You will see a difference when you start charging or plunging power to your laptop in such a way that monitor screen brights. It doesnt mean that your battery is in low..While laptop running with battery, It organizes power management required for total laptop. So its happens like that.
• India
9 Oct 09
SEE buddy when the lappy runs on AC even if u remove ur battery , it would keep running , the battery just acts as a emergency backup so while AC suppy there is a process of charging taking place and the remaining AC power is used for running laptop the point is Overcharging the battery reduces its battery life so when u keep it on AC mode thats not a problem
• Indonesia
9 Oct 09
hmm ic, i have 2 laptop with same specification acer aspire 4730z, the first one i never take off the battery and when i use it at home i instantly plug the ac adapter, and sometime i never take off the power cord event when its full or when i sleep the other one i only plug the AC power cord when the battery indicator displaying that the battery is running low and take off the AC power when its full.. and from two of them, the first one has battery life shorten than the second one.. is it maybe the circuit inside the main board is not protect the battery from overcharging when its full, so the ac adapter keep supplying power to the battery even when we turn off the laptop?
@earndeep (168)
• India
8 Oct 09
When ever you charge your laptop just check its battery strength, if charged 100% Unplug your laptop. And let your battery come down before next charging. This keeps your battery longer life. This is not only for Laptops... My friend..... online76
• Philippines
8 Oct 09
hi earndeep.. I have the same problem.. so does this mean that I should not use my laptop using the AC power? what if my charger is already 100% full, but I want to use the AC power so that I can use the battery when I'm in travel or somewhere where I can't plug my laptop? Thanks! This would really help a lot!
@AD1970 (116)
• Canada
8 Oct 09
Hi, I also had similar questions like you so I scoured the web for answers. If you keep your laptop plugged in all the time, the heat from the computer will lower your battery life. Always unplug your laptop adapter after using. If you want to leave the laptop plugged in all the time, then store your batteries in a cool dry place at 40% charge (not 100% as this will kill your battery).
• Indonesia
9 Oct 09
hmm ic... the battery price is a little bit higher now, its almost $150-175, some type are discontinue, so unplug the adapter will keep the battery life..
@rtslvtwy (1088)
• Malaysia
9 Oct 09
I have never heard of that before but it's something good that I learn from this discussion anyway. For me to prolong my battery life is to not simply charge my laptop battery when it is not totally flat. Sometimes i do maintenance by draining out the battery 100% and start charging back the battery pack.
@ramo44 (76)
• India
8 Oct 09
well my friend.. i also have faced this same problem... and now cleared from it... You see the basic principle of rechargeable batteries are it should be charged and then should be discharged. (ie) If you just keep on charging the battery when will it get discharged.... so do like this.. Charge the battery upto 100% and then remove the charger and use the laptop upto 20% and then recharge .. continue the process.. By this way you can have long life battery.. I hope this helps u...