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If we keep a computer charging, does it affect the battery so much that battery-life is greatly shortened?

I am trying to find out why someone else's computer battery always gets bad after a couple of months using it. Is it just education on being aware to remove the plug when batteries are full, or is there any trick to use?

Details

The particular computer is HP, and the battery is Li+. But information about other battery types on this same respect is welcome.

Minsky
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  • This question really is too broad as stated and would need to more specifics to perhaps be a viable question: Make and model of laptop as well as details on the batteries. I say viable question because what is described is not normal behavior for a laptop behavior. Chances are the batteries are being damaged by something in the laptop. And that said that depends on whether or not the laptop battery is an officially approved battery for that laptop or a cheap knockoff. – Giacomo1968 Oct 05 '20 at 02:06
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    Some computer brands, e.g. MS Surface, Toshiba and Lenovo, have settings to limit the *maximum* charge to less than 100%. This is to increase the total *lifetime* of the battery, though the *runtime* is decreased. If the laptop does not have this feature, it can be implemented by turning charging off at less than 100%, but doing this manually is a nuisance. See https://windowsreport.com/software-stop-battery-charging/ – DrMoishe Pippik Oct 05 '20 at 03:07
  • @DrMoishePippik do all computers stop consuming and re-charging the batteries if we keep it plugged when full? I'm pretty sure its a HP, 2018-2019. So it should be Li+ battery. Also, I'm not sure what do you mean by "implemented charging off...". I will take a look at the link though. – Minsky Oct 05 '20 at 05:27
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    santimirandarp I'm pretty sure by "charging off" @DrMoishePippik was referring to stopping the charging before battery reaches 100% - the same advice that I gave - and this advice is consistent with the link he provided. – davidgo Oct 05 '20 at 05:58
  • I use two laptops as my development machines. One is a HP, one a DELL. They both sit plugged in at 100% charge *most of the time*. Both have great battery life YEARS LATER. My dell is over two years old and still gives me HOURS of charge. My HP is about 8 years old.. and I STILL get about 45 minutes off of it. If you don't NEED to run off of the battery. DON'T. PERIOD. Draining and re-charging the batteries are what wear them out, not leaving your laptop plugged in. – Señor CMasMas Oct 05 '20 at 21:56
  • totally cleared. Thanks senior @SeñorCMasMas – Minsky Oct 06 '20 at 00:22

2 Answers2

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From what I've heard (unsourced, but I'm providing this as an early answer), the ideal behavior... depends on the type of battery.

With Ni-Cad, the best thing was to let them discharge fully before charging again. They suffered from a chemical condition that was often called "memory", as prior actions could affect battery capacity.

Nickle-Metal Hydride didn't have as much issues with "memory", but still discharging them was preferable.

With Lithium-Ion, the best thing is to keep them rather fully charged, at capacity. Fully discharges are detrimental, not beneficial.

With any of these, expect they won't last much longer than years. (Maybe 3-5 years commonly.)

As for what comes after Lithium-Ion, I've heard various things. The correct answer is probably just not solidified yet. Possible advances include wireless charging over some distance, and super-quick charges (which may reduce some need for even having as big of capacity).

TOOGAM
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  • No way to answer this question without knowing the specifics of the laptop in question as well as the battery as well. How do any of us know if the battery is legit or not? Perhaps the person with a dying laptop battery every few months is purchasing knock-off batteries. Or perhaps they are legit batteries but the laptop is damaged in some way that simply kills replacement batteries. Regardless this question is not answerable as-is. – Giacomo1968 Oct 05 '20 at 02:09
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    I disagree with this answer - specifically the statement "With Lithium-Ion, the best thing is to keep them rather fully charged, at capacity." – davidgo Oct 05 '20 at 03:46
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Assuming you are using a non-ancient or edge-case laptop it will have some type of Lithium based battery - and my answer makes this assumption.

The worst things for your battery are - in rough order of how stressful they are:

  1. Fully discharging your battery, or approaching full discharge. This is head and shoulders the worst thing you can do.
  2. Heating your battery significantly (which could be caused by charging it while drawing power from it, or leaving it in an environment that gets hot.
  3. Fully charging your battery.
  4. Leaving your battery at full discharge.

From a longevity point of view, keeping the battery between 40 and 60% charge will increase its lifespan significantly, but will of-course reduce the runtime. (This is why cellphones and laptops are shipped with batteries charged to about 60%) Some laptops have this functionality built into the "BIOS" - including most Dells, and, I think Lenovo's - This would be "the trick" you are looking for.

If you are able to predict when you will need to run it on battery, increasing it to charge close to fully, then running it down is a lot better then leaving it to charge fully overnight - although it is a pain.

Regardless of what you do, the battery will gradually deteriorate. Even unused, the warmer the environment, the faster it will die - but expect it to loose between 2 and 6% per year under normal conditions.

My guess as to why this persons battery keeps dying after a couple of months is that they are allowing the battery to run near or fully flat between charges. (I am assuming they have gone through multiple batteries and its not a faulty battery)

https://batteryuniversity.com/index.php/learn/article/lithium_based_batteries and the pages linked in it are an excellent source of information about Lithium battery characteristics - including results of testing they have done.

davidgo
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  • great help. thanks. Will update with the model & battery type as soon as I receive it. But am pretty sure it's HP 2018-2019 – Minsky Oct 05 '20 at 05:30