How do you get the most out of your battery?

Hello,

Since I just got my T430 and want to treat it well, I was wondering how I could get the most out of my battery meaning how I could get the battery to last 4 years. (In this case I don't mean battery life cycle)

I took a look at How To Improve Laptop Battery Life: Bloatware and Automatic Updates this post which was helpful but I think these suggestions are more for "how to get the most out of your battery cycle."

I know of some "myths" (Im sure you've heard) that you should drain your battery when you first get it. Or that you shouldn't charge to 100%. I've just stated some that I could remember top of my head. Can you help me with these? I don't know which are true and which aren't.

And if there is already a thread about this, please point me into the right direction!

 

I would check this out: http://forum.notebookreview.com/hardware-components-aftermarket-upgrades/91846-notebook-battery-guide.html

 

I got my laptop last year at the end of April. I left it plugged it basically all the time with the battery at 90 ~ 100% charge. The battery is currently at 104.46 Wh full capacity, and the design capacity is 93.24 Wh (it is a Sanyo). So really, I don't think it really matters how you take care of it, but if you really want to be careful with it, just store it in a cool dry place at like 45% and take it out when you need it. And when you do use it, try to let it stay above like 25% and not discharge more than 50% at a time.

 

IMO, there is one simple rule: if your laptop spends most of the time AC connected, go to the Power Manager (Fn+F3), Battery, Battery maintenance, and set the custom threshold as low as you need, so it does not charge it too often, yet you do get enough battery life when you need it.

Otherwise, all these "battery saving measures" aren't worth the time spent following them. Battery is wear and tear item, and is easily replaceable, so just forget about it. If after cumulative hours of following various procedures you'll extend $100 battery useful life by 5%, all the effort and inconvenience was worth just $5.

 

It has been my experience that leaving a laptop plugged in with the battery has poor effects. I've had a few batteries that were plugged in for years at a time and then when the power went out, they no longer provided backup power, or if they did it is only 3-5 minutes. Battery design continues to get better (ever so slowly) and power management continues to improve, so things may have changed in the last few years.

The company that assembles your battery pack include circuitry that creates maximum and minimum voltage thresholds. As you charge your battery, the voltage it outputs becomes higher. The difference between the minimum and maximum is generally around half a volt. They do this to find the right compromise between energy density and number of recharge cycles and storage life. Most batteries currently rated for 60Whr could easily be modified for 80WHr by the manufacturer, but it would result in few cycles and safety issues. If you remember the laptop fires in the news 5-6 years ago, they were caused by the batteries. The voltage thresholds were too wide.

Batteries physically expand and contract when charging and discharging. This causes stress on the materials used to create the battery including the casing. This stress can cause the Anode and Cathode to break-down over time, resulting in less energy density. Thus, the more stress, the shorter life the battery will have.

Humidity and temperature come into play as well. I believe manufacturers prefer that batteries are stored near the lower end of their rated temperature threshold with low humidity. The battery materials break down in high temperature, and water and the hazardous chemicals in batteries don't mix well.

All said, in my opinion you should receive the most cycles by not fully charging or fully discharging your battery. The long-life batteries with 3 year warranties that some manufacturers offer have lower WHr ratings because their battery pack circuits basically narrows these thresholds for you. The electric and hybrid vehicles that use laptop batteries do the same thing so that they can throw a 3 or 5 year warranty on the car.

power7 is correct that you can adjust everything in Lenovo's power manager. He is also correct that the battery is only about $100, so having to replace it once every 2-3 years is not a major expense. I hope this helps.

 

<3 thank you guys so much :')