Is it possible to over-charge the battery?

jeremiah2911jeremiah2911
Posted:
in Current Mac Hardware edited January 2014
I leave my MacBook Pro plugged in to its wall adapter essentially all the time, even after the battery is fully charged. Is this a bad thing to do? I don't want to ruin the battery. But I don't like to let it run down while I'm using it either.



Thanks!

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 8
    teedoff087teedoff087 Posts: 348member
    Don't leave it plugged in all the time. You WILL ruin the battery that way. When it's fully charged, unplug it and use it until it needs to be charged again.
  • Reply 2 of 8
    nick12945nick12945 Posts: 5member
    The best thing to do to keep the life long for laptop batteries is to fill it up all the way and then use it till its empty and then recharge again. doing this will make your battery last longer
  • Reply 3 of 8
    chuckerchucker Posts: 5,089member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Jeremiah2911 View Post


    I leave my MacBook Pro plugged in to its wall adapter essentially all the time, even after the battery is fully charged. Is this a bad thing to do?



    No, it's not. The AC adapter knows not to overcharge it.
  • Reply 4 of 8
    mrtotesmrtotes Posts: 760member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by teedoff087 View Post


    Don't leave it plugged in all the time. You WILL ruin the battery that way. When it's fully charged, unplug it and use it until it needs to be charged again.



    My original 2002 TiBook battery with 600-odd charge cycles still gives me 2-2.5 hours use and over the last 5 years I've regularly used it plugged in.



    When it's plugged in it's not drawing on the battery and hence is not using charge cycles. Batteries have a finite number of cycles before they start to degrade. However you do need to entirely discharge batteries regularly to keep the electrons flowing. So you can happily us it plugged in but now and again use the battery.



    You mustn't overcharge a Lithum battery or it may explode but like Chucker says the charger knows when to stop.





    http://www.apple.com/batteries/
  • Reply 5 of 8
    jeremiah2911jeremiah2911 Posts: 47member
    Ok...half of you say no and half say yes.



    I think I recall reading somewhere that an iPod can be charged all the time and a not be affected. I wouldn't know if that goes for MacBooks too. Seems to me it would...
  • Reply 6 of 8
    royboyroyboy Posts: 458member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Jeremiah2911 View Post


    Ok...half of you say no and half say yes.



    I think I recall reading somewhere that an iPod can be charged all the time and a not be affected. I wouldn't know if that goes for MacBooks too. Seems to me it would...



    My cell phone battery manual and or website says in one place it's OK to leave the charger plugged in. You won't hurt the battery. In another place it says to never leave the battery charger plugged in after the battery is charged or you will ruin the battery. SOS
  • Reply 7 of 8
    easyceasyc Posts: 69member
    Its been my experience that the adaptor know to not overcharge the battery but a power surge from a thunderstorm or other freak thing can cause it to lose its ability to "know" so its always been my practice to avoid plugging any adaptor straight into an outlet when it can be avoided, but around campus I cant lugg around a surge protector, so I plug it in and watch out for thunderstorms and the like.
  • Reply 8 of 8
    sherman homansherman homan Posts: 167member
    Leaving a Lithium battery laptop plugged into the charger will not damage the battery. Heat is the biggest battery killer. The cycles count is interesting, but it varies wildly.
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