Battery maintence and care

[shadowwyvern]

I recently bought a laptop with a really nice li-ion battery, lasting around 5 hours on a full charge. I would like to keep it that way as much as possible. To that end I have read up a little and it seems as though the biggest threat is the degradation simply due to time (around 20+ percent at full charge after a year). Since I don't really need all the capacity of this battery all the time, I am considering simply charging the battery to 40% (optimum storage charge) and then using that as the "top" charge most of the time, charging it fully when i really need to. Is this a bad idea? Am I just being paranoid?

Thanks.

 

[EQTakeOffense]

From my understanding not fully charging your battery like that is worse then fully charging it.

You should fully charge your battery then fully discharge your battery.
When your battery isn't in use keep it in a cool, dry place. Some people put their batteries in freezers.

Li-Ion batteries die no matter what. Are you being paranoid? Your battery is going to die eventually, you can only prolong the life. Having said that, I would use the laptop as you want to use it and not worry about it. Epect to buy a new battery in about a year to a year and a half, even if you do infact take care of it.

 

[3-Phase]

Are you "storing" the battery in your laptop and using the wall socket most of the time?

If so, then keeping it at 40% charge won't do much good because the heat from the laptop will adversely affect the battery's capacity.

Check out this link:

http://www.batteryuniversity.com/partone-19.htm

Lithium-ion powers most of today's laptop computers. The battery compartment on many laptops rises to about 45°C (113°F) during operation. The combination of high charge level and elevated ambient temperature presents an unfavorable condition for the battery. This explains the short lifespan of many laptop batteries.

 

[Tekara]

Yeah, putting it to 40% and tossing it in the fridge will yield the best storage results. . . Honestly though, your going to have a lot more hair on your head at the end of the day if you just commit to buying a new battery every other year or keeping a spare one in storage so that you don't have to be so meticulous about it.

 

[shadowwyvern]

Actually, I was plannnig on removing it most of the time. I am just wondering if repeated partial charges to exactly 40% will harm it. I got most of my info from battery university in the first place and have designed this scheme based on what I read there