Laptop Battery Life?

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Laptop Battery Life?

6 years VS 3 weeks !

ken_b

10:44 pm on Aug 30, 2016 (gmt 0)

So the battery is sick/dying warning finally popped up on my 6 year old Toshiba laptop running Win 7.

So I dutifully hop over to Batteries Plus and buy a new Duracell replacement.

Follow the "new battery" protocol as prescribed by Duracell.

3 weeks alter the sick/dying battery warning pops up.

Off to BP again, explain the situation, get told "that's normal" because I run with the power cord plugged in most of the time.

(They did cheerfully give me another new battery with no hassle, so no complaints there.)

But is this really normal with a new battery?

I've run this machine 8-10 hours a day with the power cord/charger plugged in with no trouble.

I really have only used the battery power a handful of times while traveling and no power outlet handy.

Seems odd to me.

Opinions - thoughts welcome.

LifeinAsia

10:53 pm on Aug 30, 2016 (gmt 0)

Yes, overcharging the battery can definitely cause problems. I've had several laptops where the batteries basically became worthless by having them plugged in all the time.

I've heard from multiple sources that it is best to periodically let the battery drain almost completely down before plugging in the charger again.

ken_b

12:50 am on Aug 31, 2016 (gmt 0)

Thanks. I guess what surprised me was the first battery lasted 6 years before throwing a sick warning.

The guy at B+ said that was because it was OEM in a new computer.

Hoople

6:36 am on Sep 1, 2016 (gmt 0)

The battery was a warning of more failure (hard drive) to come on a 6 year old PC. Most PC's since you bought that one are dying sooner.

Backup your data frequently and start a casual search for a new one. When a really good deal on a suitable replacement pops into view pounce on it and relegate the current PC to being a spare.

A friend sells PC's at a local big box retailer. Tosh**a is long gone from their demo table, now only Dell, Lenovo and HP. The Tosh**as were great machines in the 90's and a bit after that. By the 2014 era or so they became a sales headache for him with many early failures (1st week to 6 months) of batteries, LCD's, hinges and especially hard drives.

keyplyr

9:11 am on Sep 1, 2016 (gmt 0)

Batteries do fail from overcharging. I see it on mobile phones as well.

I always let my battery run down close to 20% before plugging in the charging chord, then when the indicator says 100% I disconnect the chord. Leaving in the chord is what overcharges the battery and shortens its life.

An alternate option would be to remove the battery when using the laptop for long intetvals plugged in.

ken_b

1:22 pm on Sep 1, 2016 (gmt 0)

Hoople;
I do backup my data fairly often, certainly before any major site changes. At the worst if the machine died while I was working I might have to redo a few pages that weren't already online. My sites are static content, so that helps.

But yes, I've been thinking about a new machine or two.

keyplyr;
My plan now is to fully charge the new battery and then remove it and run on the power cord.charger. Then just use the battery when out and about.

Will the battery retain a full charge sitting on the shelf?

engine

6:09 pm on Sep 1, 2016 (gmt 0)

Be careful, some laptop's won't work without the battery being installed. It may damage others, too.

The battery will retain it's charge, however, if it's already become "soft" it'll not retain 100% charge and will slowly dissipate the power.

J_RaD

3:25 am on Oct 29, 2016 (gmt 0)

You gota power cycle the batteries every once in a while so they don't get a memory, unplug it leave it on and walk away every once in a while.