Will leaving new PB plugged in kill battery?

aquaticaquatic
Posted:
in Genius Bar edited January 2014
My iBook battery died not even a year after I bought it. But it was one of those CircuitShitty deals so it'd been sitting on the shelf for a half a year or year. I went to my local computer store and was told Lilon batteries die after a year. Really? That's crappy. Anyhow, I am wondering, do I need to "cycle" a laptop battery, like we used to have to in old PowerBooks, and like you do with razors. By "cycling" I mean charge the battery 100% then unplug the 'Book and run the battery down, then recharge it, and so on. Or do modern batteries not need "cycling" like I think I read a while ago? I'll be leaving soon-to-be-my Baby 12" PowerBook plugged into the wall 24/7 for many months in my dorm at college. I just want to baby my Baby PB.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 5
    tinktink Posts: 395member
    I just bought a powerbook. To get the best Performance the manual recommends:



    1) Fully charge the battery until battery indicator light indicates that it is fully charged.





    2) Disconnect the power and use it until the first low battery warning dialog box comes on the screen.



    3)Reconnect the power adapter and fully charge the battery.



    As far as leaving it plugged in and lifespan I don't know.



    The manual recomends that you leave the Powerbook plugged in if your going to store it for an extended period of time so the battery doesn't become completely depleted.

    It also says you could fully charge it and or fully charge the battery and remove it.



    I think the battery in the ibook and Powerbooks are the same tech



    Hope that helps.

    -tink



    [ 01-17-2003: Message edited by: tink ]</p>
  • Reply 2 of 5
    aquaticaquatic Posts: 5,602member
    So you unplug and use it on battery once till it drains or every time? I guess I'll RTFM this time.
  • Reply 3 of 5
    paulpaul Posts: 5,278member
    you just do that he first time so you can calibrate the battery
  • Reply 4 of 5
    the toolboithe toolboi Posts: 557member
    Yes, I know form experience that you should leave your battery in as little as possible. My battery now only lasts about 45min because we left it in all of the time.

    I would sugest removing the battery when the computer is plugged in, and then just using hte batter ywhen it is not (oh, but do leave the battery fully charged).
  • Reply 5 of 5
    ebbyebby Posts: 3,110member
    Hold on now. I've had a prwerbook for 3 years and never used it without the battery installed. Yea the time dropped, but from areound 5 hours to 3:30. I usually recharge the battery every night, and use the battery in classes all day. I've had a problem with the puck-chargers, but never the battery. As for "cycling" the battery, my battery has only completly drained 5 times, but then I charge it as soon as I can.



    EDIT: Bad headache. Can't think well... <img src="graemlins/hmmm.gif" border="0" alt="[Hmmm]" />



    [ 01-17-2003: Message edited by: Ebby ]</p>
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