Breaking in batteries

I've read on various forums that ThinkPad batteries, and perhaps li-ion batteries in general, don't reach their full capacity until after a few charge/deplete cycles. Are they talking about normal cycles where one avoids depleting below 40% or so and avoids charging above 80%, or are they talking about full deplete/charge cycles?

 

Dont fully discharge li-ion batterys as will prematurely age them , keep the charge above 40% if you can, only do a full discharge if you battery runtime estimation is seriously wrong.

 

It's a sign of bad initial loading (slow loading that's part of the manufacturing process) if your batteries increase their capacities with the first load cycles.

Unfortunately that's a common problem and so it's best to avoid partial loading the first couple of load cycles (so go down to 5%, up to 100%, down to 5%, aso.).

If you are frequently using the battery there is no reason to stay above 40%, you safely can go down to 15-20% (real charge, not what Windows shows you).