Recalibrate laptop battery

tommazzo · March 17th, 2005, 09:51 AM

Hi!

I the owner of an Acer TravelMate 662 LMI.
A friend of mine recently told me that I should recalibrate my laptop's battery every few months in order to maximize duration of one charge. I searched a little on the internet and found out that some laptops have a recalibrate option in my BIOS - mine doesn't. So how do I recalibrate it - and what else can I do to maximize its duration?

Thanks for your help in advance!

muno · March 17th, 2005, 09:54 AM

Some sites suggested it only means charging the battery to full, then taking the power plug out and using the laptop until it does of power shortage, then just recharging it to max, and it's done.

//edit:
does typoed above is really dies

**Whir** · March 17th, 2005, 09:55 AM

Just drain the battery down to about 3%, then recharge it completely.

Welcome to TechIMO.

tommazzo · March 17th, 2005, 10:00 AM

Thanks a lot for your extremely fast responses! I'll start recalibration immediately!

Kuasimodem · March 18th, 2005, 03:12 AM

For my eMachines M6805, the instructions for recalibrating the battery are pretty simple, too.

1. Enter the bios and disable the automatic shutdown for low battery.
2. Disable the automatic shutdown for low battery in Windows.
3. Run the laptop until it just dies from the battery going dead.
4. Charge the battery.
5. Re-enable the automatic shutdowns.

I do this every 2 months to keep the battery in shape. I also make it a practice of not doing partial discharges of the battery. If I use the laptop on battery power, then I won't recharge it until I run the battery down to the low battery warning.

Xtreeme · March 18th, 2005, 03:55 AM

Its actually called "cycling" the batt. We used to do that one our electric cars. Just like they said. Run the batt down to near dead. Then fully charge it back up. Done deal. The cells can get a memory from being partially drawn down then charged over and over. And after that wont fully charge anymore. Just like dewalt drills. They should be near dead-not completely, just till the chuck turns slow then fully charged. That makes the batt charge up all the way and also extends the cells life.

Dj-Icer · March 18th, 2005, 04:39 AM

Laptop or notebook?

Well anyway, I own ThinkPad IBM R51. The first time I bought it, the shop note me out that when you charge your battery, ensure that when the charge is completely done, pull off the power. Don't let it over charge because she says (the shop assistant) that it would cause damage to the battery in long term. When a battery usually get charge over time than it should be, the life spand of the battery will be short. Meaning, that when you travel elsewhere and switch on your notebook, the battery meter would decrease of power much faster than usual.
Also, I would recommend, use your battery till it nearly finishes. Like my notebook, it shows the percentage of the battery thats left. At about 5%, I'd turn off my notebook and let it charge for about 4 hours because that time of hour, my battery charge is already maximum.

Xtreeme · March 18th, 2005, 05:17 AM

Its shouldn't overcharge at all. It should have a info chip in the batt and charger and switch to trickle when full charge. Never heard of a auto charging unit overcharging before. My dewalt can sit there week straight on the charger, cause it switches to trickle which only keeps it at 100%. Same with my OLD laptop. And this Gateway 1450 solo I just replaced the power jack to even has a smart charger unit. Its pretty old (1gig celly). It switches volts from full charge to trickle to power the system and charging at same time (15volts max). I cant see that "over charging" Is there any documentation or even links to such a thing. OR is it "shop myth". The only way I know of that can cause a bad batt. is from it going to 50% then full like alot do. And that causes cell memory. Just like the any other chargable. If a batt. is HOT after charging the unit isnt working right. It should be warm then go to barely warm at all-once in trickle mode. The heat can cause damage thats about it. And that says the charger is putting too much power into it.

http://www.vision-batt.com/supports/faq.htm

"Does overcharging cause damage?
Overcharging occurs when the total capacity removed has been replaced by recharging and the battery remains on charge. This overcharging creates excessive heat that can cause the battery plates within the cells to buckle and shed their active material. The battery will react to the overcharge by producing an excessive amount of hydrogen and oxygen. These gases are the result of the breakdown of the water molecules within the electrolyte. The water that has been displaced by overcharging can be replaced in a serviceable (non-sealed) battery, but, in the maintenance-free sealed batteries, permanent capacity loss will result.
Excessive battery discharging can cause damage to a battery. The amount of discharge a battery can have without damage depends upon its chemistry. In general, a lead acid battery will not tolerate as deep a discharge as a NiCad or NiMh battery. Sealed lead acid batteries function best if they are discharged to only about 85% of nominal voltage (10.2V on 12V battery). "

*Overcharging occurs when the total capacity removed has been replaced by recharging and the battery remains on charge*

Like a car batt charger that doesnt cycle to trickle auto can do this. A laptop most certainly shouldnt. It should already have the ability to switch to trickle or as they are somtimes called "smart" chargers. I could be wrong, but this whole overcharging thing sounds crazy to me.