Battery Wear Level

For checking your battery wear level:

1. Notebook Hardware Control: battery Section
http://www.pbus-167.com/

2. MobileMark

Wear Level also correspond to the use of the notebook from time to time as well as user habit.

And if you could also leave a msg on
- Wear level
- when did you purchase your laptop
- your user habit.

Here is my Situation:
I only used my Laptop for 3 weeks and the battery already suffer for a wear level of 4%,
In which I take out the battery when I use AC, and only swap the battery in if I need to use it or for charging purpose.

My old dell, Inspiron 2650 which only has 22% of wear level after 4 years of use.
I suspect Dell changes it battery cell from Sony to Sanyo
(Notebook hardware control reads D420 (new laptop)'s battery are from Sanyo while the old dell's battery is made by Sony)

Did quite a digging in google and forum and also found Asus users suffer from this problem as well.
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=48194&page=29&highlight=battery+wear

 

I don't put a lot of stock in third-party, generic battery wear estimates. There are just too many variables for such programs to accurately analyze your battery.

My notebook is almost 7 months old and NHC is still telling me I have 0% battery wear.

There's a section discussing this in the battery guide.

 

After I read your archive, I thoughtfor a bit.

Here is what I thought:
I believe the data are more or less reflect the true health of the battery.
Since overcharge of Lithium Ion battery will lead to explosion
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k5f0VCoFuFM
(Lithium Ion Ionen battery overcharge & explosion)

The battery will send information to the computer how much it worn out and how much capacity it is remaining. (To prevent overcharges- if the battery lose half of its health due to depreciation, charging the battery at the designed capacity is overcharging by 50%)

For someone that might experience no depreciation in a prolong period of use (in your case), doesn't mean the battery is still maintained at manufactured capacity (might or might not be, I have no knowledge on this one), but the computer will charge it up to the manufactured capacity since the computer read no deprecation in your battery.
(which can be a good or bad thing, good thing if the battery still hold the same charge, bad thing if it actually worn a lot- overcharge)

However, in my case, the computer read the info of the battery and said it had a worn level of 4%. In this case, despite my battery had worn or not, the computer will only charge the battery @ 96% of the manufactured capacity. As a result, my battery will hold less charge regardless of its wear level.

I read a lot of cases in the forums, (particular Asus users in the above link), the battery wear level up to 80%, which the computer will only charge 20% of the manufactured capacity.

 

You raise an interesting point, and that could very well be how NHC is designed to work. I think though, that there has to be some miscommunication going on between a generic program and the infinite number of different system configurations and components out there.

There is no way to program one utility to be able to accurately read every type of battery out there on every system--something that NHC does its best to accomplish. Every system is designed to handle their battery, and measure and monitor its charging differently, and I think it's impossible to have one program speak the language of all.

If your notebook had its own battery utility, however, I would trust its estimates to be more accurate. After 7 months of being plugged in constantly, I'm sure my battery has degraded by at least a few percentage points (probably more).

 

Hi,

I've got an Inspiron 9400 with the 80Whr-Battery. I'm using it for about 3 months now and it's almost constantly plugged in. Until now, I used the battery only about 5 times or so, ran the notebook on battery until it was almost empty and then recharged it. A few weeks ago, I noticed that NHC already shows me 5% wear, but it didn't get more since then. I wonder if this can be correct, seems pretty much to me after that short period of time. But when it won't get more rapidly, it would be OK to me as I don't use the battery often.

Greets
Tobi

 

As mentioned in this thread and the battery guide, I don't put too much stock into what NHC estimates battery wear levels to be at. Read through the battery guide, as it has a lot of information about notebook Li-Ion batteries, particularly on how to prolong their lives if you are willing to put in the time to give it the proper care and maintenance.

 

I bought my new Asus V1JP on wednesday and i already have a wear level of 10%. I used NHC and Everest to rate the wear, and both concluded the same percentage.

This is worrying to know that the level will drop after 3 charges!

 

I believe the accuracy of the wear level is pretty accurate for NHC/MobileMarks
As Laptop these days incremented lots of standard, energy star, APM(Advance Power Management) and particular ACPI (Since 1996)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advanced_Configuration_and_Power_Interface

[ For these standards, we should thanks M$ in building it so we can enjoy cheap PCs]

Even in Linux and Mac OSX X86(Installing Mac OSX in your PC laptop), ACPI is possible (and essential) to communicate data between hardware in controlling power management, such as SpeedStep, Fan speeds, etc...

For example, the calculation of remaining battery run-time of your battery, it will need the following numbers:
- Discharge Rate
- Battery Capacity
- Power level Remaining
- Current Battery Capacity (For Charging)
- Charging Rate (For Charging)

Calculation for remaining time (Unsure if it is right or wrong tho):
Power Level*time-Discharging rate*time = Remaining in time

And since almost 99.9% of the laptop shows the remaining battery time.
I believe those generic software are pretty accurate in reveling info from the hardware using the same protocol.

However, those data will be fault when the hardware is not performing properly, either over/under rated the numbers.
(The consequences are stated in the above message)


Therefore, though the numbers might be wrong, it is how the computer perceive and act according to the numbers; the numbers will make the battery hold less charges regardless of the wear level.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=48194&page=29&highlight=battery+wear
A lot of ppl might be with you....
If the problem persist, you might want to contact to have your battery RMA, and get it exchanged (under warranty of coz)

Bare in mind, both Asus and Dell's battery only enjoy 1 year of warranty.

 

I'm not sure how good the gnome-power-manager is, but it tells me that I have ~15% wear on my battery.

 

Linux always has a inferior power management support...
Tried to install some ACPI in my laptop, and GPU battery optimization (GMA950 has it)
However, no luck, and I am too newbie and troublesome for me to re-compile all the kernal and ****.
the battery is like 3 to 4 hours compare to Window XP (w/ battery optimized), 6:30 reaching 7 hrs of battery life.

Even Intel put their GPU driver open sources, this doesn't seems to be comparable to the window's one.

And too much config needed.....

I thought of putting Mac OSX X86 in my laptop, but no ACPI supports (Macbook uses different kind of Power management)

and Wireless mini-PCI intel3945 doesn't work either....

 

m1210 with extended battery. 32% after 3 1/2 months. seems consistent with other battery wear programs ive used. **** battery lasts as long as a 6cell instead of the 9cell when i bought it.....

 

Did you already talk to Dell about this issue? I could imagine that they'd send you a new battery. This loss of battery performance sounds really annoying.

 

Yeap, did you contact dell abt your problem,since battery warranty only last for a year, you should take advantage of it.

And did you experience any decline in battery run-time?

 

i was going to call but last time i asked, most people on the forum said it was useless. i guess i will call now.

i have seen HUGE declines in battery run-times. on lowest settings i would get above 5 hours, now i'm getting around 3 hours and 30 minutes. a decline of 32% wear would make my 9cell battery have the performance of a 6 cell (well 1.33% off)

i think ill call tomorrow....what should i say? when i say lowest settings how will they understand what lowest settings are? or running on max battery or always on settings and such....

 

Honestly, to get the warranty, you have to proof this depreication of battery is NOT normal.
So, this depends on your BS skills

 

i guess ill call, and if its not enough, i'll ask them what would would qualify for the warranty...then call back again! haha

 

Hi,

I would just tell them the fact, that with the same settings you used to have 5h run-time with, you now only get 3 hours and you read a wear level of 32%. I know most manufacterers have very crappy warranty on batteries and try not to change it telling the customer that it's not supposed to last very long, but Dell seems very fair and customer-friendly in such issues to me, so I could image they send you a new one and that's it. I don't know if it's the same in Canada, but in Germany, XPS models have a kind of premium support, which is said to be even better than the Inspiron support.

Greets
Tobi

 

You may also want to try calibrating your battery's fuel gauge. This helps keep it accurate as the battery is used over time.

Care and maintenance are also discussed in the battery guide.

 

But this won't bring lost run-time back, will it?

 

yeah ive calibrated it before, it helped when my battery wear was somewhere in the 20% wear but now it does nothing. Giving them a call today, will post results.

 

ok, this is what happened. i called and i told the lady what was happening, how when i first got my laptop i could average around 5 hours, and now its at around 3 1/2 hours on lowest settings.

she came back with, the specs of this battery say 3 hours (she said each cell should last 20 minutes, 20 X 9 cells=180minutes) so when you were getting 5 hours you were lucky and you dont have anything to worry about. i then asked if the 3 hours she was talking about was on optimum settings or anything like that, and she said "lower settings"

i asked her how my battery life dropping 1 1/2 hours was "not a problem" and she said you were lucky to be getting that time in the beginning. i'll open a case for you. i kind of burst into a rage and instead of asking for her supervisor just hung up.

question: the 3 hour time she said the battery runs, that would most likely be on "always on" or "max battery" setting. im going to call back and give them my battery life on "always on"

this is actually the first time im disappointed in dell's customer service.

btw, just called back...THEY HUNG UP ON ME....wtf is going on with dell lately

 

I bought my e1505 about 7 months ago and it shows that I have about 7% wear on my battery(9cell 85Whr)

 

update.....called again, spoke with a very friendly tech support rep. and dell is sending me a new battery tomorrow

 

Felt sorry w/ your first experience, but glad you got a friendly tech rep after =)

I always ask for the rep @ the beginning, so if anything pissed me off, I can always track bak to him/her.
(After a number of terrible exp w/ tele rep)

 

well my new battery came this morning (yeah, that was quick!)
i have to send the "defective" battery back to them. quick question; my old 9cell battery was manufactured by Samsung, this one says SMP...same or different?

 

No idea what SMP is, probably some OEM firm.
Dell used to use Sony battery and it is the best out there actually, with the less wear level, however, after the explosion issue,
Dell switched to a variety of other firms, my laptop's battery is made by Sanyo.

I probably will send my battery for warranty if it wears out over 20%

 

Mine's weird. I had my laptop since september 2006 through the school laptop program. its a dell d620. I tested through pbus and it shows the wear level is 55% and I rarely use it.

 

My battery wear level is currently at 77% after only 9 months. Dell is sending me a free replacement. I posted a thread about it. http://forums.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=118739

Between 2 days ago and now, my wear level has grown 7% from 70 to 77.

 

Does Pbus work with Vista? It doesn't mention anywhere on the site that it does. If so, I'd like to try it on my new Dell.

 

Hello.. I also have a Samsung battery on my Dell XPS m1210... I set everything to max to test the lifetime and I got 3 and a half hours, I set it to minimum at lowest bright and I got 3 hours ans 10 min!!! WTF!!!

I'm calling Dell... FYI I have the 9cell high capacity with 85Whr...

 

So I contected them and they told me that my battery is OK and that they can only replace the battery if the Fn+F3 status of the battery says there is a problem with it..

So I'm stuck with my battery..

is it really a problem?? 3.5 hours at minimum settings??

 

When I press FN+F3, my computer does nothing. How do I get this to work?

 

I've had my E1505 for almost a year, NHC says 30%.

I have the Sanyo 9 cell, my battery still runs longer than lots of my other friends. It leaves my desk maybe once a week to class.

 

MY battery wear level is now at 47% (9 cell Sanyo battery only 7 months old) and my laptop is trying to tell me something: the battery led is blinking in red (4 times) followed by a long green blink, then 4 red blinks (I think it is 4, maybe 5, it is really fast and I can’t count) and so on. What does it mean???

This happens all the time, regardless of battery charge or if my laptop is plugged in or not. It's just the battery dying or there's something wrong with the laptop ?

 

i donwloaded NHC and it doesn't seem to show battery wear level, all it shows is
how lon the battery has left and the charge rate.
where do i check the battery wear level?

 

Off topic but I had the same problem, its why I stopped using linux, I dont have the patience for the crummy driver support

 

Eek! I reformatted my comp to have a fresh start for new school year. My wear went from 33% to 44%, and the Dell battery meter has that warning on the battery health part.

Notebook passed the year mark in May. I have CompleteCare, I wonder if I can get my battery changed later on.

 

Other the NHC, you can check the battery condition with RMClock ( http://cpu.rightmark.org).

My M1210 manufactured in May, 2007 shipped with the Samsung 9 cell. The design capacity charge is 86580 mWh. The full charge capacity is now 63340 mWh. That means, the battery has a wear level of 26% in 3 months.

During this 3 months of use, I rarely use battery. In fact I removed it when I am at home. For this reason, I gave Dell a shout. I simply told them that my battery is not holding a full charge and I am down to 3 hours of life with lowest CPU speed, lowest brightness, Wi-Fi/BT off. After checking, the battery was only 5 months old (2 months in storage before shipped), the tech replaced my battery.

The replacement battery is made by Simplo, a Taiwanese company who OEM Dell's battery. The designed capacity is still 86580, but the full charge is 86336, which is VERY good.

Since battery is considered as "consumerable", I don't think Dell will cover it if it's over 1 year old. Those with more than 20% wear within 1 year should contact Dell, make up a story if you want, and ask for a replacement battery.

Imagine if my battery lose 26% for 3 months, how soon it will last in the next year or so?