Battery info

[Drewsybabe]

Hi there

I`ve been looking through loads of pages on the internet about battery information, and to be honest, its very confusing. I`ve recently bought a new laptop and i`m trying to work out the best way of running it. I`m pretty much using my laptop as a replacement for my PC but with the added advantage of being able to take it upstairs (and away from the kids) when the need arises, family guy here.

Anyway, to cut a long story short, the other day i ran my laptop from the battery only, i usually run it from the mains (plugged in), and obvioulsy, after some time it turned off (no surprise there, as i was using it for over an hour). Well, i then charged my laptop via the charger and when it had reached full charge i switched my Laptop back on only to notice that the battery wear level was now at 4% (54890 mWh out of 57720 mWh). I`m not sure how this happened, and wether its a bad thing really, but all i`m really after is just some tips on battery prolongment (if thats even a word) that are somewhat reliable.

Any help would be very much appreciated?

 

[Gorman]

Hello and welcome.

The tools used to measure such things are not 100% accurate so i wouldnt be too concerned about the 0-4% jump. It probably came out of the factory at around that level.

Aging of lithium-ion is an issue that is often ignored. A lithium-ion battery in use typically lasts between 2-3 years. The capacity loss manifests itself in increased internal resistance caused by oxidation. Eventually, the cell resistance reaches a point where the pack can no longer deliver the stored energy although the battery may still have ample charge. For this reason, an aged battery can be kept longer in applications that draw low current as opposed to a function that demands heavy loads. Increasing internal resistance with cycle life and age is typical for cobalt-based lithium-ion, a system that is used for cell phones, cameras and laptops because of high energy density. The lower energy dense manganese-based lithium-ion, also known as spinel, maintains the internal resistance through its life but loses capacity due to chemical decompositions. Spinel is primarily used for power tools.

Have a read of this article quoted above http://www.batteryuniversity.com/parttwo-34.htm