New user confused on batteries

I got new AAO-150D and so in love with it. And as a new one in laptops world so I'm confused about conflicting advises relating to my Li-battery (6-cells, 4400A) and how to extend the battery's life and maintain it...

Some advises to make sure that the battery is completely discharged before recharging it again. But once I connect my AAO to AC-power it starts the charging process (amber battery lid flashes!) although I don't want to recharge the battery... Can you control the charging process? and How? (Power meter help on XP is no-help)

I read others talking about unplugging the battery once on AC-power!Others there's no need to unplug it! Is this a practical advice to save the battery charge (Unplugging)?

Thanks

 

General rule of thumb with any laptop to extend a batteries full life. When using the laptop plugged in, you would actually want to remove the battery when fully charged. As for using the battery until it is dead, no real need for that. Another little trick is to only charge the battery when the laptop is off.

Those little tricks can help top give a battery a full life. It is not easy to do but doing it once in a while will help the battery out. I personally try to use the laptop as stated above but as I type this the battery is charging Here is a good habit to get into though.

When using your AA1, use the battery until 10-15%. If battery remaining is not that low and you are done using the AA1, shut it down, plug it in and let charge while turned off.

That is about how I try to use it. I try not to use the AA1 while battery is charging as that heats up the laptop and strains the power circuit more then normal.

 

Thanks for the tips.. Just let me rephrase it what I get (My tongue isn't English): There's no way (like software) to control battery's charging process BUT unplugging the battery if you're on AC power, and this help the battery by avoiding excessive heat too. What if I have 90% battery and don't want to start the recharge on AC to save its life? Just plug it out?

 

Unplugging the battery while the computer is on and plugged in can cause problems. It is best to have the computer off and unplugged from main power before removing battery.

 

I have never heard before that removing a battery while the computer is on can cause a problem. Elaborate a bit on that if you will. I see no harm in removing or replacing a battery while plugged in and power on. in fact, I do it all the time.

There is no way to control the battery charging other then plugging in the power supply to charge or removing to not charge. If you have 90% battery charge and you are done using the laptop, shut it off and plug it in for the best charge. No real need to let the battery discharge further. If you are still going to be using the laptop and have 90% battery charge, leave it unplugged until you are done. The main thing to try to avoid is charging while the laptop is on and also avoid discharge of lower then 10-20%.

The Lithium-Ion batteries are better at taking continued charge cycles with out having to worry about memory failure. They are also better at recharging while still having a hi charge. So, charges above 50% are better then waiting until 10%.

 

Lithium Ion battery chargers - by default - pulse the charging rate. When the battery is full, the charger will shut off. So I dont see any need to pull the battery. Also it may change the draw on the charger/power supply, which could send more power into the computer than you would want.

 

One thing to keep in mind is that notebook Li batteries, while they don't have a "memory effect", do have a limited number of charge cycles, normally 300 to 400. That's why batteries in constant use inside a notebook deteriorate badly after a year or so. I unplug the 9 cell battery on my main notebook when I'm using it as a desktop unit, which is now most of the time, and I remove the Acer battery when I'm using the netbook in my easy chair for days on end. The standard advice is to store batteries at about 40% charge. I plug them in for a full cycle every month or so to keep them lively.

 

That doesn't sound correct to me, sorry. Once the battery is fully charged the power supply should still send a pulse to verify charge, mind you a very small pulse at a slow rate, but it is still there. Also, there is protection on the charger and the battery to prevent and voltage spikes when removing/inserting. Unplugging a battery or plugging it in while the laptop is on should have no ill-effects. As the above poster states, I do it all the time and have on every laptop I have ever owned.

 

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One way for the brick to watch the amount of charge on the battery with out sending current to the battery would be for the charger brick to have a circuit in it that senses the amount of charge on the battery by keeping a capacitor circuit charged with-in the brick. When they are unbalanced the brick allows charging current to pass to the battery. This may or may not be how Acer has done it. This would send no current to the battery when there is a full charge on the battery.

That may or may not be true and if true the quality of such a circuit is not known. However it is un-important since the danger to the laptop does not come from there. It comes from connections of the battery and the laptop and removing the battery while the laptop is on/active could create a spike from the charged battery to the live circuits. This could be passed through the active circuit enabling it to cause damage which would not happen if everything was turned off. No one is saying you have to do this only warning that you could harm your computer or anything else when removing power when the circuits are active best to turn everything off before removing power of any kind.

 

Well, I tell you what, If there is circuitry that prevents the battery from seeing any type of trickle charge when full then there is spike protection as well. So removing the battery would cause no harm. Spike protection is probably is simple inductor. However, prevent the battery from constantly getting a charge when full would involve a few more components

Grabbing a laptop and sending a static shock through it is far worse then unplugging the battery could ever be. So, I guess then maybe we should never grab a laptop either then :lol:

 

I am sure there is some form of spike protection even if it is just the diode circuit that converts the AC to DC for the computer. But remember they always say to use a surge protector with your computer. Also the spike protection built into the brick is between the AC and the computer. There is nothing between the battery and the computer circuits.

Not necessarily true Removing the battery when the computer is on is like plugging in or removing a plug to or from an AC wall socket. Try doing that with say a radio in a dark room and you will see a spark which is a spike. This spark can, but may not, damage the radio. You may also see this spark when turning on an electrical circuit at a wall switch. When you remove the battery from your AAO when it is running it may also create a spike even if you can't see it. While the spike is not as big as the one in the wall socket the circuit in the AAO is much more sensitive and so can but may not hurt your AAO.

An Inductor circuit would just pass the spike through at a equal, lower or higher voltage depending the number of coils in the input portion in comparison to the number of coils in the output portion.

A simple RC (Resistance Capacitive) circuit could do the job.

Totally not true. You can not damage your AAO by grabbing it and sending a static charge through it since the material of the case is designed to prevent that. However if you touch the inside components with your hand or something else that has a static charge on it you can damage the AAO.

 

Uhg, this is turning into a "which oil is the best" thread lol.

You are talking about two different things. The spike you get from an outlet is line voltage and protected by the power circuit in the "brick". Voltage spikes or dips are protected by this as well although not near as good as a surge protector (but probably better then an outlet strip which most people think are surge protectors). Laptops are less susceptible to this then a PC because of the protection in the brick.

The voltage from a battery is quite a bit lower then a wall outlet There are a lot of laptops out there that have dual (or more) battery bays. The netbook of course does not but any voltage spike would be minimul and protected by the charging circuitry probably by a simple inductor.

Static shock is protected by the grounding ability of the case. However, if you grab it and the shock goes through one of the peripherals, such as USB or power button (which has happened to me), then that is not protected and the same as touching the bare MB.

Regardless, I have always removed and replaced batteries in every laptop I have owned. The laptop I am on now is over 6 years old and the battery still lasts up to an hour and a half becuase of this practice.

Removing the battery when fully charged and running on AC power is about the best thing you can do for battery life. Of course, not running the battery down to empty is also a good thing. And try to charge the battery with the laptop off.

End of story, I'm gonna take some Tylenol.

 

I have a ZG5 model with the original battery. It is toast. The # on the battery is UM08A52. This must be a 3 cell...voltage says 10.8. Will a 6 or 9 cell replacement work even though the voltage says 11.1? Thanks, I am obviously clueless!