Battery in or battery out?

[K.Mandla]

I'm just curious: I have several laptops that are more or less desktop machines. They're almost never unplugged; in fact the majority don't have functional batteries any more (they're old).

In my situation, would you remove the battery from the machine, or leave it in? Is there any point in continuing to perennially charge a battery that can't hold a charge for 15 seconds? Is it dangerous at all?

If you have a laptop that you use as a desktop machine, do you pull the battery from it?

Thanks in advance.

[popch]

I usually leave the batteries in the laptops and leave the laptops plugged into the mains. From time to time (about monthly) I unplug the laptops from the mains and let them about empty the batteries, taking care not to leave the batteries empty for more than a few hours.

Having a charged battery in the laptop makes me independent of some of the effects of the mains (such as tripping over the cable). I recall one time (during vacation) when I e-mailed and surfed the web in candle light. The mains had gone due to lightning, the POTS still worked.

[FuturePilot]

I have an old laptop that I basically use as a desktop. It's almost always plugged in. It can't run on the battery for much over an hour. I do keep the battery in though. It has come in handy a couple times when the power died for a few minutes. Also if I kept the battery out, it would leave a rather unsightly open battery bay in the front. This laptop is old and unlike the newer ones that have batteries in the bottom this has them in the front. And this thing is about as thick as a brick. :lol:

[jespdj]

I have no direct answer to your question, but here's a website with more than you ever wanted to know about batteries: http://www.batteryuniversity.com/

[subzero316]

I'm just curious: I have several laptops that are more or less desktop machines. They're almost never unplugged; in fact the majority don't have functional batteries any more (they're old).

In my situation, would you remove the battery from the machine, or leave it in? Is there any point in continuing to perennially charge a battery that can't hold a charge for 15 seconds? Is it dangerous at all?

If you have a laptop that you use as a desktop machine, do you pull the battery from it?

Thanks in advance.



There is absolutely no point in having the battery at all.
Cant hold for more than 15sec i suggest u remove em right away. There is a chance of danger say like these chemicalz start leakin when they become 2 old supose it flows in might come in contact with the heated parts on the lappie and might cath fire
Even though the porbablity is minimal n cells are tightly packed, therez still a chance.

[PartisanEntity]

When I am using my trusted old Asus laptop then I keep the battery in it and leave it plugged in. This is the second battery I bought for it (the first died after a year) and it too is gone, lasts about 30 mins max.

Otherwise when I am using my new MacBook then I take the battery out while I am using it because I am hoping to extend the battery life this way.

[smoker]

i think the best advice would be to check with the manufacturer, there are that many types of composition of batteries now, but i suspect they will always tell you to replace any batteries deemed old or ineffective.

i kind of get paranoid about leaving laptops on unattended, this kind of thing is why:
http://www.engadget.com/2006/11/14/the-stages-of-an-exploding-laptop-battery/

[subzero316]

When I am using my trusted old Asus laptop then I keep the battery in it and leave it plugged in. This is the second battery I bought for it (the first died after a year) and it too is gone, lasts about 30 mins max.

Otherwise when I am using my new MacBook then I take the battery out while I am using it because I am hoping to extend the battery life this way.

Keeping the battery out is not advisable. It can easily react to mosture in air thereby destroying you battery slowly.Keep It pefectly sealed if u want it out. But you ll in no way impove the Life. I suggest you keep it in the laptop.

[KiwiNZ]

nearly all manufacturers recommend that if your laptop is on mains for long periods you should remove the battery.

You should fully discharge the battery on a regular basis and charge fully to calibrate it.

[subzero316]

nearly all manufacturers recommend that if your laptop is on mains for long periods you should remove the battery.

You should fully discharge the battery on a regular basis and charge fully to calibrate it.


Yea I agree on the fact that it is necessary to drain the battery out fully and then charge it fully. This prevents residual charge stagnation--say if the bottom 20% is never discharged that part of the cell becomes unusable. So drain it out fully n charge it on regular basis. but how will u do that if u keep it outside for months or many weeks :lolflag:
So my advise is to keep it inside cuz it wont be charged or used even a pint when plugged in.

[eilu]

I took the battery out- one less thing to worry about. It's at 40% charge and in the fridge; I'll take it out when I need to take my laptop out again.

[K.Mandla]

Thanks everybody. I think I'll yank any and all batteries that don't do me any good. I never really considered it until today but if they're dead, then continuing to power them strikes me as an unnecessary risk.

Cheers!

[subzero316]

I took the battery out- one less thing to worry about. It's at 40% charge and in the fridge; I'll take it out when I need to take my laptop out again.


In the fridge..i dont think batteries that come nowadays require that unless ur in a desert but thats not a bad idea :idea: :idea:.There is one disadvantage in that . The battery discharges tiny amounts of energy, no matter what it is called self-discharge or local action.The point of storing old batteries fridge is to cool them and slow down the chemical reactions, thus slowing down the energy leakage and extending the battery life.

The same cold that prevents energy from leaking out of a battery also prevents us from extracting it for the laptop.so ull have to bring it to room temp for optimum use. also take care of the moisture involved.

[popch]

It all depends on the kind of battery. Earlier brands used NiCd and were plagued by many shortcomings such as memory effect. The more recent Lithium based ones are much more robust but will take very unkindly to remaining discharged for any length of time.

Consulting manufacturer and independent well informed sources sound like very good ideas.

[PetePete]

once read that you should take the battery out of a laptop if you use it as a desktop due to the heat of the laptop damaging the battery life.

dont know where i first read this, but heres a quote of wikipedia about it.



* When using a notebook computer running from fixed line power over extended periods, the battery should be removed,[35] and stored in a cool place so that it is not affected by the heat produced by the computer.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lithium_ion_battery

[ubuntu-freak]

It all depends on the kind of battery. Earlier brands used NiCd and were plagued by many shortcomings such as memory effect. The more recent Lithium based ones are much more robust but will take very unkindly to remaining discharged for any length of time.

Consulting manufacturer and independent well informed sources sound like very good ideas.


I completely agree. Modern-ish batteries are robust and can easily handle being left in. Manufacturers are just covering their back, it's rather outdated advice now.

Nathan

[Kingsley]

I learned the hard way that it's not good to leave the battery in the laptop if it's constantly running on AC power. Instead of somewhere around 2 and a half hours, my laptop battery only stays charged for a little over an hour. This is a degradation to around 40% capacity over 11 months of usage.

I'll probably spend $60 on a new battery this summer and take better care of it.

[ubuntu-freak]

I learned the hard way that it's not good to leave the battery in the laptop if it's constantly running on AC power. Instead of somewhere around 2 and a half hours, my laptop battery only stays charged for a little over an hour. This is a degradation to around 40% capacity over 11 months of usage.

I'll probably spend $60 on a new battery this summer and take better care of it.

Good point, but if you always have it plugged in, as many people do, then that doesn't really matter. It's also nice to know that during a powercut you're laptop won't just die instantly.

Nathan

[picopir8]

Trickle power is a huge killer of batteries, even today. I have a 2 year old laptop which had the battery in all the time and was almost always on main power as well. I did fully discharge about once a month. Within about a year it lasted half as long as when it was new. A few months ago it stopped charging and had to be replaced.

Six months ago I purchased a new laptop. I keep the battery out (stored in computer bag) when on main power. When I do need to be on battery power, I then keep it on battery power until fully discharged, then charge overnight before removing the battery again. So far I have noticed no decrease in battery life.

Keep in mind, full discharge is advised under normal use, however, if a battery is in storage, there is no need to take it out of storage to discharge. Most manufactures recommend that the battery be fully charged before storage though.

As for the one post about corrosion of battery contacts, I would not worry about it in most regions. If you do get corrosion though, you can easily clean with a pencil eraser, or a cotton swab dipped in rubbing alcohol. In extreme cases, a very fine grit sandpaper can be used as well.

[PartisanEntity]

Most manufactures recommend that the battery be fully charged before storage though.

That's not what I have read, apparently 40% charge is optimum for storage.

[mips]

If you are on mains most of the time keep the battery out. I know this yet I don't do it, just lazy.

[Whiffle]

Take some time to do some reading at batteryuniversity, they have lots of good info on batteries.

I don't take it out of my thinkpad when I'm using it plugged in, as the main reason to take it out is to keep it from getting hot. It doesn't get hot, so I don't worry about it. Also I tend to switch between wall power and battery power alot, I'd hate to unplug it only to realize that the battery wasn't in...

There are other things to do though (this applies to Lithium Ion batteries). Don't fully discharge them if you don't have to. Also, they don't really like being fully charged either. Back before I did a little research on these things I let the battery in my mp3 player go completely flat before charging it every time. It went from having a great battery life to being good for about a half hour in about a year. Nowadays I've got my thinkpad set to not charge the battery above 85% (via sysfs and the tp_smapi module, Im' not sure how many notebooks support this feature), and I don't run it down below 40% or so if I can help it. I've had it about a year now and havn't noticed any change in battery life. The Lithium Ion batteries don't have a memory effect, so you can safely charge them without fully discharging them first. After a while though the gauge will tend to get out of whack and to reset it you have to do a full discharge/charge cycle. I havn't noticed mine being out of whack though so I have yet to do this.