How to prolong battery life (when A/c is available)

Hi
I have a Latitude E6400 having Windows 7. I am confused as to how to prolong my battery life when I am at my home;

should I keep
1) Laptop connected to A/c supply even after its fully charged (with battery)
2) Remove the battery once it's fully charged and keep the laptop on A/c
3) Remove the A/c once the battery is fully charged and charge it next time
when its about 10%

My work at home comprises of net surfing and gaming.

Please advise.

tc cr

 

Connect the Laptop with a/c if You can.
If You use it primary on a/c, discharge the battery to a level of ~40% and remove it.
For extending the battery life, store it cool, e.g. in a fridge.
Charge the battery shortly prior You use the notebook mobile.
~ Jens ~

 

1 & 2
depending on your usage
in my case, i leave the batt on the laptop, UNLESS, i leave my laptop ON for 24/7, which happens 3x a week, then i remove that batt

 

You can use Fn+F2 to temporarily disable battery charging (and you may be able to change the default setting in the BIOS). Fn+F2 only lasts until the next start or resume from hibernation.

I don't recommend removing the built-in UPS.

John

 

Hi,

Thanks all for your replies. But Fn+F2 isnt giving me any results. I am using windows 7. Neither does Fn+F3 showing any results???

tc cr

 

have u installed the dell system software?

 

FN+F2 works without the Dell software installed. However, without the Dell software installed, you will not see an icon in the taskbar indicating that battery charging has been disabled. You will be able to tell that battery charging is disabled by checking the Windows battery status and seeing if it says "Plugged in, not charging."

 

You can adjust the battery charging in the BIOS menu. I changed mine from rapid charge to normal.

Power up> f12 until it brings up the boot options page> select bios setup> power management> express charge> select standard charge

P.S. you can also disable the charger entirely in the BIOS settings under power management> charger behavior

Hope this helps

 

Sorry, should also have mentioned that to "store" the battery long term you should discharge to 40% and keep it in a cool dry place (i.e. the fridge so long as it never actually gets to freezing in your fridge).

To store short term I would default to 80% charge. Reason being is that temp changes will affect the potential (read available voltage) in your battery. So if you stored when it was 100% full charged, then it got warmer you would be at 105%, not good for the life cycle. Also if you charged when the battery was cool, then it came up to room temp, same thing. Luckily batteries tend to warm as they charge and the opposite effect is usually in play. I.e. you charge to 100% then pull it out, let it cool to ambient temp, plug it back in and it's 95% full...

 

I would just leave it in the notebook.

I used to take it out but notebooks stop charging when its full and the battery acts as a built in UPS and also by default is a voltage regulator.