Battery Only Charging to 98%

Not that I'm in absolute need of the remaining 2% but does this seem right on a week-old battery?

 

No, that doesn't make sense, If I were you I would call Lenovo up and DEMAND a replacement.

 

Maybe they designed it like that. That way you do not overcharge the battery.

 

Mine does that aswell, I think its a protection system(or to prolong battery life) battery only starts charging when it drops to 96% and below and then reaches 100% to stop.

 

I've heard of this before. Last time I think we concluded that that was the most likely explanation.

 

That makes sense. And explains why it is presently at 97% and not charging up to even 98% when I had it unplugged for a minute or two.

Thanks for the answers.

As to the poster who was dripping sarcasm, no need ... was just asking a simple question.

(I thought it may have been related in some way to the new Power Manager released by Lenovo that I downloaded yesterday).

 

Yep, its the power manager alright. You can access the power manager and then go to the Battery Information tab, then click on the Battery Maintenance button to set how it charges. I have set mine to not charge until it goes under 90%, I have read somewhere on these forums that this is one of the best settings for the battery, so I recommend you do that.

 

Ahhh ... yes, I see it now. I had actually looked at this option but clearly never quite understood that the first (default) option will not charge up the battery when higher than 96% ...

Funny, I failed grade 12 math, not english. But I guess I stink at both!

Thanks for clarification.

 

Oh, boy. Talk about nightmare consumers that jump to conclusions. People like you overload support with unreasonable requests and drive the costs up for the rest of us. Send an email, ask the question, take it from there. No need to pop a hernia off the bat.

My 9 cell T61 battery does the same thing. HOWEVER, I do not have any problems with battery life. That's the most important thing.

 

I've had this happen before. It seemed if I ran it on battery for a little bit (to drain slightly) then charged again, it would charge to 100%. 98% must be a magic number.

 

Mine can be charged to 100%. Sometimes, it stays in 98%.

 

its definitely the power manager. once you run your battery down a bit and recharge it, it should get to 100. if not, do a gauge reset.

 

I notice mine is at 99%. The power manager is set to start charging at 96%. I think this is a good idea (though it seems strange to see it at less than 100% --).

 

You generally want it to drain more before it charges, since if it is constantly charging the battery life will diminish faster since more charging cycles are occurring. Thats why I have set mine to not charge until 90%.

 

this is definitely true, I just want to add that you should not let it go below 10%, i recommend 15% being your cut off.

 

same problem, lenovo thinkpad r61e

 

Try this:

Drain your battery down to 90%.

Then plug it in without taking it out and see if it reaches 100%.

Theres is a default charge threshold of 96% and 100%. Anytime your battery is between those numbers and you go to plug it in, it will not charge because the battery level is not below 96%.

 

It has to do with the threshold at which the battery will be charged. I use the option: Power Manager/Battery Information/Battery Maintenance/Optimize for Battery Lifespan --which sets the threshold lower still, often 97%, perhaps it charges slower too. The nine cell battery is about $140, Us

 

Ready, Fire, Aim!

 

I have the same issue on mine too. And, I notice that it happens when I unplug it for a little bit (for say, 15 minutes or so, either way, less then say 90% battery life, and plug it back in. It only charges up to about 97%, and stayed there. However, when I drain the battery to (anything over 90%, like 50%, 60%, etc.) I notice that it will charge the battery all the way back to 100%.
Strange . . . .

 

Like a few posters already said, this is the power manager in action. Don't panic about it. It is actually due to an electrical principle regarding rechargeable batteries. The most damaging recharge period is at the end as the battery gets full (over 90%) and it becomes more and more an open circuit (no current going through). By forcing current into it while it’s close to full, it may cause damages faster than when the battery is empty. In other terms, the more it charges, the less it wants to easily let current go through itself (the battery) and trying to push current into it gets harder and more damageable.

The lower than 10% remark may hold but I'm not sure it applies to Lithium-Ion batteries found in laptops. It is the case with car batteries thought. Below a threshold point, the battery is irremediably damaged (a chemical reaction occurs which leads to the destruction of the cathode / anodes).

To sum it up, just let your laptop manage the recharging. The ThinkPad seems very good at it from what I saw with mine. I love it

 

Overcharging is not a concern with Lithium-Ion batteries, which is what almost all new laptops come with nowadays.

 

Just where did you here that?

Overcharging could kill almost any kind of battery, (lead-acid could probably take float charging better than any other.)

Lithium-Ion batteries are very temperamental angry things, and require careful manufacture, sophisticated charging algorithms, deep discharge capacity,
over-current and shorting protection, and lastly they have great thermal design considerations....

Fortunately, most of that has been handled for the user by the manufacturer.

Most Lithium-Ion last longer when stored at a lower charge level, which is why many Lithium-Ion batteries are shipped with 40% charged to try to prolong their 3-year useful life.

You can increase your Lithium-Ion battery's life by not often discharging it deeply, not charging it quickly, and not charging it more than it needs to be.

 

Overcharging is indeed a bad thing like Brenda said for the reasons I mentioned above. If you force current in a fully charged battery, it will eat up. That in turn may cause a condition, at some point, where the battery literally "arc". That is, when the internal isolators let current flow inside instead of through the external + and - connectors... You end up with a laptop on fire in the most severe cases.

What Li-Ion batteries do not have is a memory effect. This allows someone to do as Brenda said, not discharge fully before recharging without causing the battery to gradually shorten its discharge capacity over time.

Brenda, can you point to literature about the lower discharge limit vs battery long-term life for Li-Ion?

 

"No trickle charge is applied because lithium-ion is unable to absorb overcharge. A continuous trickle charge above 4.05V/cell would causes plating of metallic lithium that could lead to instabilities and compromise safety. Instead, a brief topping charge is provided to compensate for the small self-discharge the battery and its protective circuit consume. Depending on the battery, a topping charge may be repeated once every 20 days. Typically, the charge kicks in when the open terminal voltage drops to 4.05V/cell and turns off at a high 4.20V/cell."

Do I have to worry about overcharging Li-Ion batteries?
Although over charging batteries can be a problem with any battery chemistry, a well-designed Li-Ion
system will include a power management circuit in the charger that can accurately detect when the battery
charge cycle is completed and will terminate the charge. Ask your vendor if your system includes a power
management circuit.

With Li-Ion batteries, a method called “Constant Current / Constant Voltage” (CCCV) shut-off helps assure
users of not risking over-charge concerns.
It's important to recognize that the battery supplied with your device is part of a total energy system
designed specifically for the device, the internal and external chargers. Substituting an aftermarket battery
could jeopardize worker safety and device life.

I can't remember the website that I got this from, but this is something that I copied and pasted into a regular word processing program on my computer. I don't know which side is truly right and which is wrong, but this is what I researched when I was looking at Li-Ion batteries a while back. Also, it is what I have been told by one of my friends who studies Chemistry here on campus. I'll be doing more research to see if I can find out more. I'm very interested to know the "truth." Honestly, I don't even worry that much about it.

 

3 out of 4 times when someone has a computer problem, it is a user problem and not a hardware problem.

 

i just recieved my lenovo 3000 n200 yesterday, and it came 87% charged.
even tho i had left it pluged in for an initial charge i read its not something that needs doing with a lithium battery.. so i unplugged it as it wasnt going over 87%.
i let it discharge and pluged it in again and it won't go past 87%.
it may be a setting where i cant charge past that point but i cant find the application to change it. gonna try fix it myself to see if i can get a decent life from it.. if not will lenovo give me a new battery.

i will only wait 2 days though so they can't say why didnt't you report it earlier.
if someone does have a quick guide to finding this setting please PM me. i am computer litterate but vista is just soooo confusing and long winded to work through options systematically.


edit.................

i am trying to et it to 0%.. its been 20 mins and staying on 5% :S very weird.