M15X what does the "Wear" Level mean?

Hi!
I found out, that HWinfo 64 can show the "Wear" Level from my M15X battery.
It says:

Designed Capacity = 86580mWh
Full Charged Capacity = 547068mWh
Wear Level = 37.6%

Why does my Alienware only lasts for about 2 minutes without AC Plugged in? Is there anything I can do to get my battery working again? (I've looked for weeks for a new or used 9 cell on many different sites, but I can't find one... )

Specs:

i7 940XM
GTX680M
8GB Kingston RAM
Samsung SSD
Second HDD instead of DVD-Tray

thank you guys!

 

The wear level is calculated by using the designed capacity versus the current charged capacity. So basically if 100% (or zero wear level) had a fully charged capacity of 86Wh for the new pack, and now the battery charges up to 54Wh and no further due to wear, then that means it is now at 62.4% of what it was when it was new (hence 37.6% wear level).

Your pack has basically the same capacity of a 6 cell by now.

Li-ion packs fail eventually because the cells have a limit as to how often they can be charged and discharged and other factors such as heat (which a 940XM will surely add to the M15X) can lead to them failing sooner than later. However, it should last longer than just two minutes even with those specs. My guess would be that there is a failed cell (or cells) inside the pack.

 

Thank you @kosti for your good explanation!

I already asked @t456 about my battery problem a few weeks ago.
I feel free to quote his answer about using a 6 cell battery in my Notebook:

“The 6-cell has a risk of causing a sudden shut-down, considering the draw of the cpu+gpu. Stealth mode might help, though, so perhaps you could risk it. Only risk is a bsod, nothing else. Performance on the 6-cell will suffer regardless, of course. The biggest risk is if the system does not thottle down power requirements sufficiently and demands more amps than the pack can deliver. Normally, the pack will then self-terminate (exceeding a pre-set limit) because if it didn't then it'd go up in flames.“

Is a new 6 cell battery with a cooling pad as good as my used 9 cell? (Of course should the 6 cell last longer than my 9 cell^^)
I don't want to play games or something like that without AC plugged in, maybe a little bit web surfing on the go or save game state and then turn off my Alienware. (in case of electrical blackout^^)
Unfortunately i'm not able to repair my current 9 cell battery, because I don't want to burn my house down XD

 

The 6 cell will work just fine, no idea why people go crazy thinking you are gonna do something crazy with it xD... battery is there for one reason on these machines, as a ups, alowing you to finish your work if power goes out ... ok and occasional movie watching and stuff
The cpu and gpu will automatically downclock when system goes into battery mode, you have nothing to worry about ... if your laptop lasts only 2 minutes it's very likely one cell is degraded beyond point of return. Get a new battery when you can.

 

How do I know, that my system downclock everything correctly? I don't want to burn my house down^^
Is a cooling pad necessary? Because the 9 Cell lift the Notebook a little bit up, and that makes a better airflow and with a 6 cell won't do that...

 

Use HWiNFO or some other similar program and see the clocks go down for GPU and CPU when you disconnect the AC
You can just stick half an inch wide book under the back of the laptop and that will improve the temps a lot, no need to really go for a cooling pad unless you are OCing crazy high

 

Ok, Thank you!
I think i'll buy a 6 Cell (Original one) and have a further look...

greetings