my old'ish laptop battery life sucks

[AllanD]

the old NiCd batteries HAD to be fully discharged and recharged (NEVER partially discharged) to avoid developing "NiCad Memory effect"

The Newer Nickel Metal Hydride batteries are resistant to Memory effect, but suffered from slow self discharge, didn't like bieng overcharged and have a shorter cycle life.

Typically NiCd batteries are (when new) good for ~2000 cycles.

Nickel Medal Hydride (NiMH) are good for only around 1200, however partial cycled don't count.

Lithium Ion batteries are another animal entirely leaving rhem plugged in doesn't really hurt them,
but there's another issue, even when used perfectle Li-Ion batteries have a limited service life,
not only based on cycles but on TIME.

Generally speaking a Lithium Ion battery's capacity will fade noticeably after 3years of
service. (a 3year old Li-Ion cell phone battery isn't even good as a paperweight)

Partial cycles are "good" for the battery's lifespan, FULL discharge cycles are not.

And while people focus on the SPEED of newer computers the speed isn't the big
improvement... power consumption is.

My old Gateway laptop (2.8GHz P4) is a 95watt powerhog
while my Newer Dell (a 2.0GHz Core2 duo) with 2/3 the battery capacity
(4800mA/h for the Dell Vs 6800mA/h for the gateway) has nearly twice the
run time on battery... and I'm waiting for FedEx to deliver my NEW 7500mA/h battery
(according to tracking it's on the truck for delivery....TODAY!)

ARRRGGGGHHHH!!!!

while typing the FedEx truck came.... the idiots shipped me the wrong battery

I ordered a GP952 but received an FK890, both dell 85Wh batteries, but this one won't fit!
It's for a Dell 1520, not a Dell 1525.

fortunatly my Neighbor has a Dell 1520, so even if I can't exchange it...

But while I'm thinking on this issue, many newer laptops (my year old Dell included)
will run on external power indefinatly without harm to the battery...
Infact I can REMOVE the battery from my laptop while on external power
the battery is "on standby", so I can watch the charge state while on AC (or external DC)
power and swap them without needing to shut down and restart.

I couldn't do that with my old Gateway without restarting and even then it would come
up in "safe mode" (how aggrevating!)



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[COPPERHEAD85]

Most NiMh have almost twice the Mah (run time) as NiCad.
I rebuild Power Tool batteries at work.The performance of the NiMh are well above the NiCad.
Did a little test with the Ryobi 18 volt 4" side grinder I have with the 2 battery types and the NiMh worked very well.3000 Mah versus 1800 Mah for just a few cents more per cell.

 

[kemo]

I can back that up. Any time you keep a laptop plugged in consistantly, it will kill the battery. Laptop batteries need to be cycled (charged, depleted, and recharged) to keep their life long.

And I'll knock that down.

http://batterycare.net/en/guide.html#retirarBat

Should I remove the battery when A/C is plugged in?

Many laptop users have this question and we will answer it right now:
The answer is: YES and NO, it depends on the situation.

Having a battery fully charged and the laptop plugged in is not harmful, because as soon as the charge level reaches 100% the battery stops receiving charging energy and this energy is bypassed directly to the power supply system of the laptop.

However there's a disadvantage in keeping the battery in its socket when the laptop is plugged in, but only if it's currently suffering from excessive heating caused by the laptop hardware.

So:

- In a normal usage, if the laptop doesn't get too hot (CPU and Hard Disk around 40ºC to 50ºC) the battery should remain in the laptop socket;

- In an intensive usage which leads to a large amount of heat produced (i.e. Games, temperatures above 60ºC) the battery should be removed from the socket in order to prevent unwanted heating.

The heat, among the fact that it has 100% of charge, is the great enemy of the lithium battery and not the plug, as many might think so.

 

[AllanD]

I have been working with batteries and electronics that have mercury batteries for over 4 years now and have never ever had a battery crack from being dropped. You can clean up Mercury using a pair of gloves, bleach, paper towels, a shovel, and towel you don't want or need.

You dig a deep hole in an area you wont walk over for a few days, and about 3 feet deep, you put 2 pair of rubber gloves on, and use the towel to soak it up (place it face down on top of the mercury, and let it soak it up), following that, put a pair of gardening gloves on over the top of the 2 pairs of rubber gloves, and slowly walk the towel to the hole you dug, and place it inside the hole, following this, remove all the gloves and either burn them or put them in the hole. Go inside, anothe 2 pairs of rubber gloves, and use the bleach and paper towels to carefully clean the floor or wherever (if its inside). Then flush the evidence, wash hands thoroughly, and no poisoning happens to you.

NOTE: DO NOT PLACE WITH MERCURY!!!!

There is no "towel" on earth that will soak up mercury.

There are three ways of soaking up spilled mercury... lead powder (lead is also frowned upon but it works) Silver powder or Gold powder.

Because they are the only materials (aside from the various platinum metals)
that are "wetted" by mercury.

there are no rechargeable mercury batteries.

Not that anyone would make one for an HP laptop

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