Home notebook smart battery Maintenance
Laptops tend to lose their charm quickly when you’re constantly looking for the nearest power outlet to charge up. How do you keep your batteries going for as long as possible? Here are 15 easy ways to do so.
1. Defrag regularly - The faster your hard drive does its work - less demand you are going to put on the hard drive and your batteries. Make your hard drive as efficient as possible by defragging it regularly. Mac OSX is better built to handle fragmentation so it may not be very applicable for Apple systems.
2. Dim your screen - Most laptops come with the ability to dim your laptop screen. Some even come with ways to modify CPU and cooling performance. Cut them down to the lowest level you can tolerate to squeeze out some extra batteries juice.
3. Cut down on programs running in the background. Itunes, Desktop Search, etc. All these add to the CPU load and cut down batteries life. Shut down everything that isn’t crucial when you’re on batteries.
4. Cut down external devices - USB devices WiFi drain down your notebook batteries. Remove or shut them down when not in use. It goes without saying that charging other devices (like your iPod) with your laptop when on batteries is a surefire way of quickly wiping out the charge on your notebook batteries.
5. Add more RAM - This will allow you to process more with the memory your laptop has, rather than relying on virtual memory. Virtual memory results in hard drive use, and is much less power efficient. Note that adding more RAM will consume more energy, so this is most applicable if you do need to run memory intensive programs which actually require heavy usage of virtual memory.
ow To Extend Your Laptop's batteries Life
Making sure your laptop is ready to run at all times and in any location is important for mobile office professionals. Help protect and extend your laptop's batteries life with these simple steps.
Difficulty: N/A
Time Required: Varies
Here's How:
Use the correct recharging procedure for your laptop. Only use the power cord that came with your laptop or an authorized replacement.
Follow correct maintenance for your batteries when not in use. Don't leave it in direct sunlight, areas where it will be exposed to extreme temperatures such as car trunks.
Use your laptop's power management features. The system will run at lower processor speeds when enabling power management features and it will go into "sleep" mode faster when inactive.
To a large extent, the performance and longevity of rechargeable batteries depends on the quality of the chargers. Battery chargers are commonly given low priority, especially on consumer products. Choosing a quality charger makes sense. This is especially true when considering the high cost of battery replacements and the frustration that poorly performing batteries create. In most cases, the extra money invested is returned because the batteries last longer and perform more efficiently.
All About Chargers
There are two distinct varieties of chargers: the personal chargers and the industrial chargers. The personal charger is sold in attractive packaging and is offered with such products as mobile phones, laptops and video cameras. These chargers are economically priced and perform well when used for the application intended. The personal charger offers moderate charge times.
In comparison, the industrial charger is designed for employee use and accommodates fleet batteries. These chargers are built for repetitive use. Available for single or multi-bay configurations, the industrial chargers are offered from the original equipment manufacturer (OEM). In many instances, the chargers can also be obtained from third party manufacturers. While the OEM chargers meet basic requirements, third party manufacturers often include special features, such as negative pulse charging, discharge function for battery conditioning, and state-of-charge (SoC) and state-of-health (SoH) indications. Many third party manufacturers are prepared to build low quantities of custom chargers. Other benefits third party suppliers can offer include creative pricing and superior performance.
Not all third party charger manufacturers meet the quality standards that the industry demands, The buyer should be aware of possible quality and performance compromises when purchasing these chargers at discount prices. Some units may not be rugged enough to withstand repetitive use; others may develop maintenance problems such as burned or broken battery contacts.
Uncontrolled over-charge is another problem of some chargers, especially those used to charge nickel-based batteries. High temperature during charge and standby kills batteries. Over-charging occurs when the charger keeps the battery at a temperature that is warm to touch (body temperature) while in ready condition.
Some temperature rise cannot be avoided when charging nickel-based batteries. A temperature peak is reached when the battery approaches full charge. The temperature must moderate when the ready light appears and the battery has switched to trickle charge. The battery should eventually cool to room temperature.
If the temperature does not drop and remains above room temperature, the charger is performing incorrectly. In such a case, the battery should be removed as soon as possible after the ready light appears. Any prolonged trickle charging will damage the battery. This caution applies especially to the NiMH because it cannot absorb overcharge well. In fact, a NiMH with high trickle charge could be cold to the touch and still be in a damaging overcharge condition. Such a battery would have a short service life.
A lithium-based battery should never get warm in a charger. If this happens, the battery is faulty or the charger is not functioning properly. Discontinue using this battery and/or charger.
It is best to store batteries on a shelf and apply a topping-charge before use rather than leaving the pack in the charger for days. Even at a seemingly correct trickle charge, nickel-based batteries produce a crystalline formation (also referred to as ‘memory’) when left in the charger. Because of relatively high self-discharge, a topping charge is needed before use. Most Li-ion chargers permit a battery to remain engaged without inflicting damage
The purpose of a battery is to store energy and release it at the appropriate time in a controlled manner. Being capable of storing a large amount of energy is one thing; the ability to satisfy the load demands is another. The third criterion is being able to deliver all available energy without leaving precious energy behind when the equipment cuts off.
In this chapter, we examine how different discharge methods can affect the deliverance of power. Further, we look at the load requirements of various portable devices and evaluate the performance of each battery chemistry in terms of discharge.
C-rate
The charge and discharge current of a battery is measured in C-rate. Most portable batteries, with the exception of the lead acid, are rated at 1C. A discharge of 1C draws a current equal to the rated capacity. For example, a battery rated at 1000mAh provides 1000mA for one hour if discharged at 1C rate. The same battery discharged at 0.5C provides 500mA for two hours. At 2C, the same battery delivers 2000mA for 30 minutes. 1C is often referred to as a one-hour discharge; a 0.5C would be a two-hour, and a 0.1C a 10 hour discharge.
The capacity of a battery is commonly measured with a battery analyzer. If the analyzer’s capacity readout is displayed in percentage of the nominal rating, 100 percent is shown if 1000mA can be drawn for one hour from a battery that is rated at 1000mAh. If the battery only lasts for 30 minutes before cut-off, 50 percent is indicated. A new battery sometimes provides more than 100 percent capacity. In such a case, the battery is conservatively rated and can endure a longer discharge time than specified by the manufacturer.
When discharging a battery with a battery analyzer that allows setting different discharge C-rates, a higher capacity reading is observed if the battery is discharged at a lower C-rate and vice versa. By discharging the 1000mAh battery at 2C, or 2000mA, the analyzer is scaled to derive the full capacity in 30 minutes. Theoretically, the capacity reading should be the same as a slower discharge, since the identical amount of energy is dispensed, only over a shorter time. Due to energy loss that occurs inside the battery and a drop in voltage that causes the battery to reach the low-end voltage cut-off sooner, the capacity reading is lower and may be 97 percent. Discharging the same battery at 0.5C, or 500mA over two hours would increase the capacity reading to about 103 percent.
The discrepancy in capacity readings with different C-rates largely depends on the internal resistance of the battery. On a new battery with a good load current characteristic or low internal resistance, the difference in the readings is only a few percentage points. On a battery exhibiting high internal resistance, the difference in capacity readings could swing plus/minus 10 percent or more.
One battery that does not perform well at a 1C discharge rate is the SLA. To obtain a practical capacity reading, manufacturers commonly rate these batteries at 0.05C or 20 hour discharge. Even at this slow discharge rate, it is often difficult to attain 100 percent capacity. By discharging the SLA at a more practical 5h discharge (0.2C), the capacity readings are correspondingly lower. To compensate for the different readings at various discharge currents, manufacturers offer a capacity offset.
Applying the capacity offset does not improve battery performance; it merely adjusts the capacity calculation if discharged at a higher or lower C-rate than specified. The battery manufacturer determines the amount of capacity offset recommended for a given battery type.
Li-ion/polymer batteries are electronically protected against high discharge currents. Depending on battery type, the discharge current is limited somewhere between 1C and 2C. This protection makes the Li-ion unsuitable for biomedical equipment, power tools and high-wattage transceivers. These applications are commonly reserved for the NiCd battery.