Prolong Lifespan    Cleaning Tips    Tune-up Program    Battery Maintenance   

BATTERY MAINTENANCE

LITHIUM-ION

Li-Ion Smart batteries, generally do not require any maintenance. However as a rule of thumb they require twice as long to charge as they take to discharge. As well in some cases any smart battery (Lithium or Nickel metal) may need to be drained through the bios once at the beginning to work at full capacity. Click here for details.

NICKEL-CADMIUM/NICKEL-METAL-HYDRIDE

The life of a Ni-Cad or NiMH battery is totally dependent on its use or abuse as well as its charge and discharge regimes. During its life the battery also suffers capacity loss through chemical wear out. The end of the effective life of a battery is usually deemed to be 75% of its original capacity and depending on all the above contributing factors, this can be from 500 - 1000 cycles, which if achieved, is equal to 1 to 3 years good use.

If regular battery maintenance is not performed, the battery may lose the ability to keep a full charge - resulting in decreased battery life. Also, the computer may begin beeping (which normally means the battery is about the run out) prematurely, even though the notebook is not actually about to run out of battery life. Performing regular battery maintenance can help fix and prevent these problems.

Memory Effect?   (FOR NICKEL-CADMIUM/NICKEL-METAL-HYDRIDE)

The 'memory effect' is a condition during which the capacity of your battery becomes "depressed" and is less able to store a charge. This condition occurs when a battery is only partially discharged before recharging on a repeated basis. Fully discharging and recharging your battery periodically will ensure maximum performance.

BATTERY RECYCLING

Follow these steps a at minimum of once a month.
  • TURN OFF POWER MANAGEMENT in the System Bios AND BATTERY LOW SUSPEND You must disable power management on your notebook during battery cycling so that the computer will use all of its battery life. If power management settings are not turned off, the notebook will shut itself down (or go into suspend mode) before the battery is completely exhausted.

  • DISCHARGE YOUR BATTERY COMPLETELY Leave your notebook powered on (and not plugged into the wall) until the battery is fully drained This will prevent any problems with Windows shutting down improperly, and potentially causing errors.

  • ALLOW YOUR BATTERY TO COOL DOWN Unplug the AC adapter, and allow the battery to cool

  • RECHARGE THE BATTERY Plug in your notebook, and completely re-charge the battery to maximum capacity until the battery LED below the LCD shows green, do rely on windows to give you an accurate reading of the battery charge.

  • UNPLUG THE AC ADAPTER Unplug the AC adapter and then plug it back in again to ensure that the battery is indeed at maximum capacity (Battery LED is Green).

  • REPEAT STEPS 2 - 6 AT LEAST 2 MORE TIMES.