Does a notebook battery discharge by itself?

[TimeMachine]

I know that every rechargeble battery discharge by itself if its unpluged, but my problem is:

when this battery is in the notebook, it lost almost 1% of charge per hour, I mean, I let a charged battery (100%) in my notebook and 12hours later, it has 88% of its charge. If I do the same, but I let the battery out side the notebook, it lost 1% in 2 weeks.

Is it normal?? Or my notebook is draining batteries???

Ps: the battery is a brand new Li-Ion, and I can use it almost 3,5 hours. So I think that isn't a battery problem...

Thanks in advanced.

 

[IRstuff]

If you've suspended instead of a complete powerdown, it would certainly drain the battery. I've noticed that my HP Pavillion tends to leave a couple of LEDs lit during suspend.

However, if you've gone through a full powerdown, that seems a bit high. My laptop is almost 1 year old, and it's sitting at 98%, after about 1wk+ since the last time it was turned on.

You might want to check through the pwoer management utilities to see if there is something that is still being powered up.

TTFN

 

[robertjo]

All rechargeable batteries have some leakage, and will discharge over time, even when not connected to any device. Some computers will consume some battery power even when “powered down”, by keeping some circuits powered to control the turn on function.

The best bet for keeping your laptop battery in tip-top shape is to "exercise” your battery, (run your battery down to 25%, then recharge). This will help to ensure the battery will retain the ability to get a full charge.

 

[TimeMachine]

Thanks guys,

I've found a solution, I've made a switch that turns the battery on and off, ie this switch cuts the positive and the negative connection with the power card inside the notebook that controls the process of charging.

So now when I want to leave the battery inside the computer and I don't wanna lose charge (cause the notebook is off) or I don't wanna let the battery be recharged, I just turn the switch off, and the notebook doesn't recognize the battery, it's like if it's not inside the computer.

I've made a test and I let a full charged battery inside the notebook for 12 hours, and it mantained 100% of the charge.

I think this is good, cause I also can always discharge the battery before charging it again, so I'm always reconditioning the battery.

What do you think? Do you see any problem doing this?

And another thing... If you won't use a battery, what is the best thing to do, let it charged ou discharged?

I'm asking this cause now (with this switch) I'll let the battery for a long period without being charged - I'll charge it, use it and until the battery complete discharge I wont recharge it again. Is it a problem??

Thanks a lot.

 

[etarhan]

Letting the battery discharge fully before the next recharge is allright, but keeping it always fully charged is an even better idea. It is claimed that Li Ion batteries do not exhibit the memory syndrome.

I am not in full agreement with you using a switch to keep the battery from discharging. If I were you, I would try to find the real reason of this hourly 1% discharge, which is absolutely unacceptable. This may be a user error (suspend/hibernate as described in one of the replies above), or a malfunction inside the notebook (leakage) or even a malfunction inside your brand new battery (internal leakage). A switch is a second class solution (for me), which should be tried if there is an expensive problem somewhere, which does not create any additional problems.

Good luck,
Engin

 

[bttfan]

I found a site, there is ample information for battery maintenance and caring, which covers what you talked about above. You guys can check

http://ebuybatteries.com/battery_knowledge/battery_care.htm#battery-care.

 

[schooltechnical]

is it posible to 'overcharge' a laptop battery? Also, is it ok to have a fully 100 per cent charged battery in the laptop whilst still using the ac adaptor power supply? Does this damage the battery in anyway?
thanks, try and have a good day everyone