Crappy Lenovo Battery

[ChrisM]

Hey guys, I've just noticed on my old laptop, that in the System Icon area of the taskbar, my battery icon says "Consider replacing your battery".

When I click on the battery icon, it says " There is a problem with your battery, so your computer might shut down suddenly," - this is when running off the charger, and "100% charged"

Now, its not an ancient laptop, and I'm a sucker for always having it charged and not very often does it actually run on the battery alone, so my question is, whats the reason behind the message? Has it been charged too many times, or is charging it constantly bad for it? Any suggestions? More specs can be posted if required.

[Tom]

just turn off the periodically show messages about battery capacity option in the power manager under battery in battery maintenance or buy another battery

[ZsoLT]

(2012-04-07 14:49)ChrisM Wrote:  Now, its not an ancient laptop, and I'm a sucker for always having it charged and not very often does it actually run on the battery alone, so my question is, whats the reason behind the message? Has it been charged too many times, or is charging it constantly bad for it? Any suggestions? More specs can be posted if required.

The best for the battery is 100% - 30% - 100% - 30% period, so don't let the charger in when the battery is on 100%.
And if You don't use the battery, the best if You remove it when it's on 40% - this the best battery level for storage.

[Johan.]

And, to add to Zsolt's post: get it covered in something, and put it in the fridge/freezer. This also makes sure that your longer able to use the battery on a nice long time..

[ChrisM]

Just started doing the 100-30-100 on my new laptop for the sake of it being new etc. Thanks for the replies guys

[[TC]»Elmo«]

How old exactly is the laptop?
If it's a few years old, it's quite normal for the battery to wear out. This can easily happen 18months - 2 years if it's regularly being used on battery power.


Regarding charging cycles, with LiIon the only thing that really matters in normal use is the number of full charging cycles. 1 charging cycle is full -> empty (according to the battery controller) -> full. Charging from 50% to full twice counts as 1 cycle, not 2.

The battery controller will never allow the battery to get to fully empty under normal conditions, so letting it go to "0%" is fine. Then there's the fact that by default windows will shut down long before it gets to 0% anyway.

Also, it's actually a good thing for LiIon batteries to go down to reported 0% occasionally (again as above, that doesn't mean empty, that's just where the controller reports 0% to be). Older batteries that never get to reported empty can sometimes get out of calibration so they never actually fully charge. Letting it run to 0% normally fixes that - doing that made a mate's old vaio last 2x as long.

Finally, as ZsoLT said, never store the battery for long periods when charge is low - batteries loose a little charge over time even when they're not being used, so they can eventually get below "0%" which is where damage happens. Ideally, you should always fully charge it before storing for any significant length of time.

(2012-04-07 19:14)Johan. Wrote:  And, to add to Zsolt's post: get it covered in something, and put it in the fridge/freezer. This also makes sure that your longer able to use the battery on a nice long time..

Make sure you put it in a sealed container with some silica gel for several hours before letting any electronics anywhere near the inside of a freezer. The gel absorbs any moisture in the air which should prevent it condensing on the electronics. Also, make sure it's left to sit at room temperature (out of the container) after removing it from the freezer for a few hours before you power it up.
Rapid changes in temperature + electronics + power = condensation + fffzzzt.

[ChrisM]

Yea Elmo, would be around 2 years I'd say, give or take. Will take on board what you said regarding charging cycles, and the whole freezer idea, well tbh I'm too old fashioned to mix electronics with freezers. It may work etc, but it's not for me lol, sounds the same as putting a tin of beans in the microwave

[[TC]»Elmo«]

(2012-04-09 06:36)ChrisM Wrote:  and the whole freezer idea, well tbh I'm too old fashioned to mix electronics with freezers. It may work etc, but it's not for me lol, sounds the same as putting a tin of beans in the microwave

Well, I'm not too sure about the freezer thing either, but I have heard a small number of people recommending it. I just suggested a few precautions just in case anyone did try it

[◄Chuck►]

Certain types of batteries / accumulators last longer when stored cold. But that only slows down the self-discharge, it has no affect on the general lifetime of it. However, that may depend on the actual type of battery. But one thing is for sure, once the lifetime is over, there is no way to reverse that. Get a new battery