It's true. Batteries like being used. That is how they live and thrive. I'm speaking metaphorically, of course, about the rechargeables used in laptops, cellphones and cordless phones.
Rechargeable batteries will develop a "memory" over time, and this is especially bad news if the battery is never allowed to drop below, say, 90%, before it's charged again to 100% where it usually sits at 99% for days on end.
What happens is that after a while the battery will believe it needs recharging when it gets down to, say 92%. So you've hardly used it at all (maybe 5 or 10 minutes) and it's complaining that it needs recharging!
There was a lady who came into the computer shop one day and explained that she had bought this nice laptop to save space and it sat in this one spot for two years without ever being unplugged. Then one day she decided to take it with her on a trip to Vancouver on the ferry and she was stunned to find out the battery wouldn't last more than 5 minutes and it would die. She couldn't understand why it wouldn't last longer, as she had never used the laptop battery. It had always been plugged in.
I explained to her about how laptop batteries develop a memory and there is a way to reverse the damage, or at least make the situation a bit better until you can get a new one. Remove your laptop battery completely and let it sit on a shelf for three weeks. Then give it good 8 hour charge before you use it. Drain it again and set it on a shelf for a few weeks and it will drain completely just sitting there. Charge it up again with a good 8 hour charge (some battery companies suggest 15 hours). If you repeat this a few times, you old battery will come back to life to a certain extent. But the damage is already done and you should think of buying a new battery soon.
Whenever you can, consider your cellphone battery, your cordless phone battery, and your laptop battery. They really do like to be used. If you can, and it's convenient, drain them right down as low as you can before you charge them up again. Rechargeable batteries will last much longer if you treat them this way.
Moral of the story? If your laptop is going to sit plugged in for months on end, take the battery out. Just don't move it around too much because if the power chord gets loose or something, you don't want to have you machine suddenly power down because the chord was yanked out. A battery would have saved you in that case.
Bottom line: use your battery. Or, if you have a laptop that is always plugged in, remove the battery completely.
Rechargeable batteries will develop a "memory" over time, and this is especially bad news if the battery is never allowed to drop below, say, 90%, before it's charged again to 100% where it usually sits at 99% for days on end.
What happens is that after a while the battery will believe it needs recharging when it gets down to, say 92%. So you've hardly used it at all (maybe 5 or 10 minutes) and it's complaining that it needs recharging!
There was a lady who came into the computer shop one day and explained that she had bought this nice laptop to save space and it sat in this one spot for two years without ever being unplugged. Then one day she decided to take it with her on a trip to Vancouver on the ferry and she was stunned to find out the battery wouldn't last more than 5 minutes and it would die. She couldn't understand why it wouldn't last longer, as she had never used the laptop battery. It had always been plugged in.
I explained to her about how laptop batteries develop a memory and there is a way to reverse the damage, or at least make the situation a bit better until you can get a new one. Remove your laptop battery completely and let it sit on a shelf for three weeks. Then give it good 8 hour charge before you use it. Drain it again and set it on a shelf for a few weeks and it will drain completely just sitting there. Charge it up again with a good 8 hour charge (some battery companies suggest 15 hours). If you repeat this a few times, you old battery will come back to life to a certain extent. But the damage is already done and you should think of buying a new battery soon.
Whenever you can, consider your cellphone battery, your cordless phone battery, and your laptop battery. They really do like to be used. If you can, and it's convenient, drain them right down as low as you can before you charge them up again. Rechargeable batteries will last much longer if you treat them this way.
Moral of the story? If your laptop is going to sit plugged in for months on end, take the battery out. Just don't move it around too much because if the power chord gets loose or something, you don't want to have you machine suddenly power down because the chord was yanked out. A battery would have saved you in that case.
Bottom line: use your battery. Or, if you have a laptop that is always plugged in, remove the battery completely.
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