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Thread ID: 117298 2011-04-12 04:18:00 Discharging lithium batteries? Nomad (952) PC World Chat
Post ID Timestamp Content User
1193726 2011-04-12 04:18:00 Hi, various sites say you should fully discharge a laptop battery before it gets its optinum capacity. Can someone confirm this?

They said that you fully charge it and then fully deplete the battery while it's not plugged in.

And that the battery has about 500 cycles before it might go bad, so if you use it often on the run, maybe 1.5yrs you may need a new one.

:thanks
Nomad (952)
1193727 2011-04-12 04:29:00 Lithium batteries don't like being fully discharged too often. They prefer to be continually topped up.

My Asus N50Vc is now nearly 18 months old. It generally sits on my desk at home, plugged into the mains 24/7. When unplugged it still seems to have the same battery life it did when I bought it. Asus has battery management software that allows the battery to 'pendulate' (thanks Cicero - new word for today) between 95% and 100%.
johcar (6283)
1193728 2011-04-12 07:30:00 Lithium batteries don't like being fully discharged too often. They prefer to be continually topped up.

My Asus N50Vc is now nearly 18 months old. It generally sits on my desk at home, plugged into the mains 24/7. When unplugged it still seems to have the same battery life it did when I bought it. Asus has battery management software that allows the battery to 'pendulate' (thanks Cicero - new word for today) between 95% and 100%.

My pleasure jo........
Cicero (40)
1193729 2011-04-12 07:38:00 Hi, various sites say you should fully discharge a laptop battery before it gets its optinum capacity . Can someone confirm this?

They said that you fully charge it and then fully deplete the battery while it's not plugged in .

And that the battery has about 500 cycles before it might go bad, so if you use it often on the run, maybe 1 . 5yrs you may need a new one .

:thanksAvoid fully discharging the battery if possible - LiIons don't like this, especially if you leave them that way .

Some laptops require this to calibrate the battery meter, but these days most are smart enough to figure it out without doing this .


Lithium batteries . . . prefer to be continually topped up . They don't like that either, although provided you're not forcing the cells over 4 . 2v it's not as bad as running them flat .

The ideal storage state for LiIons is partially discharged at a cool (not freezing) temperature .
Erayd (23)
1193730 2011-04-12 08:29:00 Lithium batteries fully discharged, even briefly are irretrievably damaged and it is just a matter of luck how much capacity you have lost. Most equipment designed to use Li cells will not permit you to completely flatten the battery. Three volts per cell is as low as you ever want to go (and that rarely) for best life. Li-Ion & Li-Po batteries are very classy bits of gear, but they do need a bit of care particularly when charging. Fortunately consumer grade appliances like shavers, cell phones and laptops take care of that internally, or the warranty queues would beat an apple fanboy turn-out. R2x1 (4628)
1193731 2011-04-12 08:40:00 ...or the warranty queues would beat an apple fanboy turn-out.So would the lawsuits - if you run a LiIon battery down too low they can 'vent with flame' (aka explode) when you try to recharge them.

Thankfully most consumer gadgets won't let you drain them this far - they usually have a safety cutout somewhere between 2.8 and 3.0v.
Erayd (23)
1193732 2011-04-12 09:08:00 Interesting...

So, if I disable the cutout then I could get about 30 mins more out of my battery, but it would probably explode...

No pain no gain :p
bot (15449)
1193733 2011-04-12 09:27:00 You are all wrong. LiIon batteries need tomato sauce. It's a fact - I saw it on the internet. pine-o-cleen (2955)
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