Laptop Battery

Greetings. I own a Dell Latitude bought used.
The battery is in good shape! My question is, can/should I leave the battery
in all the time; or will this erode the battery? The laptop came with no
documentation. I know the battery life is tricky.
-Pete

On Apr 13, 6:35 pm, Pete <P...@nospam.com> wrote:
> Greetings. I own a Dell Latitude bought used.
> The battery is in good shape! My question is, can/should I leave the battery
> in all the time; or will this erode the battery? The laptop came with no
> documentation. I know the battery life is tricky.
> -Pete

Documentation is available through support.dell.com.

I wouldn't worry about preserving the battery life. What happens,
happens.

Remove the battery when the laptop will be running on AC power for long
periods of time (days). If the laptop is always on AC power, do
exercise it a bit every few months. Also, in that case, consider
getting an inexpensive UPS (an APC 350VA UPS is about $30).


Pete wrote:
> Greetings. I own a Dell Latitude bought used.
> The battery is in good shape! My question is, can/should I leave the battery
> in all the time; or will this erode the battery? The laptop came with no
> documentation. I know the battery life is tricky.
> -Pete
>

On Apr 14, 9:35 am, Pete <P...@nospam.com> wrote:
> Greetings. I own a Dell Latitude bought used.
> The battery is in good shape! My question is, can/should I leave the battery
> in all the time; or will this erode the battery? The laptop came with no
> documentation. I know the battery life is tricky.
> -Pete

See <http://www.batteryuniversity.com/parttwo-34.htm>

some people may not agree with this but what kills the life of a laptop
battery is heat.
I have a 3 1/2 year old dell and the battery is still good not perfect but
good.
I have never taken it out but I have been lucky to always work under cool
environments.
"Pete" <Pete@nospam.com> wrote in message
news:FdWTh.9737$YL5.1781@newssvr29.news.prodigy.ne t...
> Greetings. I own a Dell Latitude bought used.
> The battery is in good shape! My question is, can/should I leave the
> battery
> in all the time; or will this erode the battery? The laptop came with no
> documentation. I know the battery life is tricky.
> -Pete
>

Heat is definitely a major killer, but not the only one in all cases ...
some laptops slightly overcharge the battery. Both factors (heat and/or
overcharging) vary by laptop model. However, there is one fairly simple
bottom line: There is nothing good that can happen to a battery with a
charge of 60% or more by virtue of being installed into a laptop that is
running on AC power all of the time.


BigJim wrote:
> some people may not agree with this but what kills the life of a laptop
> battery is heat.
> I have a 3 1/2 year old dell and the battery is still good not perfect but
> good.
> I have never taken it out but I have been lucky to always work under cool
> environments.
> "Pete" <Pete@nospam.com> wrote in message
> news:FdWTh.9737$YL5.1781@newssvr29.news.prodigy.ne t...
>> Greetings. I own a Dell Latitude bought used.
>> The battery is in good shape! My question is, can/should I leave the
>> battery
>> in all the time; or will this erode the battery? The laptop came with no
>> documentation. I know the battery life is tricky.
>> -Pete
>>
>
>

Barry Watzman wrote:
> Heat is definitely a major killer, but not the only one in all cases ...
> some laptops slightly overcharge the battery. Both factors (heat and/or
> overcharging) vary by laptop model. However, there is one fairly simple
> bottom line: There is nothing good that can happen to a battery with a
> charge of 60% or more by virtue of being installed into a laptop that is
> running on AC power all of the time.
>

I wonder whether the power management software could be configured to
keep the battery charged at a specified level (say 40%) for most of the
time. You would disactivate this feature before taking the battery on
travels with you, so that it could then charge up to the full capacity.

"Salvador Freemanson" <spam@gohome.com> wrote in message
news:4621420b$0$18841$426a34cc@news.free.fr...
> Barry Watzman wrote:
>> Heat is definitely a major killer, but not the only one in all cases ...
>> some laptops slightly overcharge the battery. Both factors (heat and/or
>> overcharging) vary by laptop model. However, there is one fairly simple
>> bottom line: There is nothing good that can happen to a battery with a
>> charge of 60% or more by virtue of being installed into a laptop that is
>> running on AC power all of the time.
>>
>
> I wonder whether the power management software could be configured to keep
> the battery charged at a specified level (say 40%) for most of the time.
> You would disactivate this feature before taking the battery on travels
> with you, so that it could then charge up to the full capacity.

You would still have the heat problem leaving the battery in the Laptop.

Every laptop and battery is potentially different, but in general the
charge level is not configurable.


Salvador Freemanson wrote:
> Barry Watzman wrote:
>> Heat is definitely a major killer, but not the only one in all cases
>> ... some laptops slightly overcharge the battery. Both factors (heat
>> and/or overcharging) vary by laptop model. However, there is one
>> fairly simple bottom line: There is nothing good that can happen to a
>> battery with a charge of 60% or more by virtue of being installed into
>> a laptop that is running on AC power all of the time.
>>
>
> I wonder whether the power management software could be configured to
> keep the battery charged at a specified level (say 40%) for most of the
> time. You would disactivate this feature before taking the battery on
> travels with you, so that it could then charge up to the full capacity.

ol**** wrote:
> "Salvador Freemanson" <spam@gohome.com> wrote in message
> news:4621420b$0$18841$426a34cc@news.free.fr...
>> Barry Watzman wrote:
>>> Heat is definitely a major killer, but not the only one in all cases ...
>>> some laptops slightly overcharge the battery. Both factors (heat and/or
>>> overcharging) vary by laptop model. However, there is one fairly simple
>>> bottom line: There is nothing good that can happen to a battery with a
>>> charge of 60% or more by virtue of being installed into a laptop that is
>>> running on AC power all of the time.
>>>
>> I wonder whether the power management software could be configured to keep
>> the battery charged at a specified level (say 40%) for most of the time.
>> You would disactivate this feature before taking the battery on travels
>> with you, so that it could then charge up to the full capacity.
>
> You would still have the heat problem leaving the battery in the Laptop.

Depends on the laptop. The battery compartment in my Tosh is stone cold,
which was not the case with my thinkpad nor my wife's Evo