Stupid Stupid Laptop Battery

[Bituser]

Hi,
My laptop has had 1 year of what I would call "heavy" use. Although it has been plugged into the wall all its life (1 year) the battery is now dying in under 10 minutes. This really sucks as it means I lose the portability of my laptop. I don't have any way of getting money for a new laptop at the moment and I'm not spending $150 to get a new battery. I'm kinda stuck. What should I do?

 

[cloud8521]

Hi,
My laptop has had 1 year of what I would call "heavy" use. Although it has been plugged into the wall all its life (1 year) the battery is now dying in under 10 minutes. This really sucks as it means I lose the portability of my laptop. I don't have any way of getting money for a new laptop at the moment and I'm not spending $150 to get a new battery. I'm kinda stuck. What should I do?

what kind of battery is it?

 

[z3r010]

Although it has been plugged into the wall all its life

And that's just where you went wrong, you never run a laptop long term on charge or it screws the battery

 

[Barman58]

OK time for drastic action

If possible backup and image your system - better safe than sorry

Use the powerconfig options/Power management in the control panel to switch off all warnings and especially actions related to battery level.

Charge the battery to full

Run the laptop on battery until it dies through lack of battery.

re-charge the battery

Repeat the run until die stage

Hopefully after charge you should see some improvement

Reset the power options to protect you in normal use

In future always run the system on battery at least once a week preferably until it runs down to the switch off stage. (this is not the drastic type as above but the controlled type at 5% remaining )

Also if you are buying a battery - As the laptop manufacturers buy in a battery rather than manufacture it, it is possible to obtain generic spares, often at a considerable saving - just check out any company before dealing with them.

 

[Bituser]

ok, thanks guys. I have been running it flat atleast once a week though, or do I need to just run it off battery as much as possible?

 

[Barman58]

The problem here is that windows in default mode will not allow you to run the battery to a fully discharged state, when It thinks that the battery is exhausted it will shut down the system. if Windows is picking up a confused reading from the battery software it may well shut down the system when there is charge left.

The process you need to do is the condition the battery, which is done by disabling the windows monitoring software and using the system until it actually runs out and stops - this is like pulling the plug on a desktop system so is not a good idea for normal use

What I tend to do is run some sort of high power application - (Play a music CD) - that will not be damaged by "pulling the plug"

After you have conditioned the battery you should try to run on battery at least once a week, (untill the battery hits the warning level), to keep the batter conditioned

I must add of course that for your case this may be to late but it is definitely worth a try

 

[Product FRED]

This is some really good information. Thanks a lot man.

 

[Bituser]

Just to let you know, I mananged to get a new battery for $9 NZ. It should be here soon. I will tell you what its like

 

[Senshi09]

OK time for drastic action

If possible backup and image your system - better safe than sorry

Use the powerconfig options/Power management in the control panel to switch off all warnings and especially actions related to battery level.

Charge the battery to full

Run the laptop on battery until it dies through lack of battery.

re-charge the battery

Repeat the run until die stage

Hopefully after charge you should see some improvement

Reset the power options to protect you in normal use

In future always run the system on battery at least once a week preferably until it runs down to the switch off stage. (this is not the drastic type as above but the controlled type at 5% remaining )

Also if you are buying a battery - As the laptop manufacturers buy in a battery rather than manufacture it, it is possible to obtain generic spares, often at a considerable saving - just check out any company before dealing with them.

Now see I been asking this same question for so long now its unbelievable. And you gave the answer. that is so freaking great. My battery been dieing out really quick anymore and losing life and ivce only had tyhis for 3 months. It went from3 hour battery life down to 2 hour battery life. So tonight im going to condition it and see if i can get my battery life back. Maybe even get more life out of it.


And where did yo get a spare for $9 at FB???

 

[Product FRED]

For future reference, you should NEVER keep a laptop plugged in for that long. The battery won't be able to hold a charge anymore after a few weeks to a month. Personal experience.

 

[manhunter2826]

Agreed. I now drain my battery once a week. Best I can do really as I don't have a spare and/or a battery replacement cover -- really wish manufacturers would supply this in the box!

 

[Barman58]

One other thing that you can do on some modern laptops if you are using them in a fixed location is to remove the battery completely and run from the mains alone.

This will not work with all systems but is an option for those that allow it

 

[LADYPINKtomato1]

One other thing that you can do on some modern laptops if you are using them in a fixed location is to remove the battery completely and run from the mains alone.

This will not work with all systems but is an option for those that allow it

Nigel hi.. I have a 2 parter Question..
Will that work on my new Acer laptop?.( battery info above... just working on the power supply /adapter..with the router/modem). or tell me where to look I'll try to report back to you.

Also what was the program that Windows 7 suggests to use to make the image of my working system as it is now ? in case I must have to re-install it at some point.
I need to make that .. since I've not, done it yet.
Was it you who suggested I do this when I first was getting it on line?
I'm not sure....if this needs to be in a new thread .. we can do that also.
Feel free to move it and let me know plz.
Thanks again.

 

[Barman58]

Hi LPT1

The working without the battery is simple to check - shut down your laptop, remove the battery, ensure the charger is plugged in and switched on, and start the laptop - if it works then that's it, if not then it's not a supported option.

It does work with my Acer NetbookOne so it will likely work with other acer products with a clip in battery.

As for the Image backup - refer to Shawn's tutorial here ...
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/663-backup-complete-computer-create-image-backup.html
If you have any questions on this, post them in that thread

 

[Product FRED]

One other thing that you can do on some modern laptops if you are using them in a fixed location is to remove the battery completely and run from the mains alone.

This will not work with all systems but is an option for those that allow it

Nigel hi.. I have a 2 parter Question..
Will that work on my new Acer laptop?.( battery info above... just working on the power supply /adapter..with the router/modem). or tell me where to look I'll try to report back to you.

Also what was the program that Windows 7 suggests to use to make the image of my working system as it is now ? in case I must have to re-install it at some point.
I need to make that .. since I've not, done it yet.
Was it you who suggested I do this when I first was getting it on line?
I'm not sure....if this needs to be in a new thread .. we can do that also.
Feel free to move it and let me know plz.
Thanks again.

1) Yup, should work. Just pull out the battery and run off the AC power alone. When you want to move around, put the battery back in (even if the laptop is already on) and unplug the AC.

2) Control Panel -> Backup And Restore (make sure you're not in "Category" view) -> Create a System Image. Alternatively, you can just search "Backup" in the Start menu.

 

[LADYPINKtomato1]

Hi LPT1

The working without the battery is simple to check - shut down your laptop, remove the battery, ensure the charger is plugged in and switched on, and start the laptop - if it works then that's it, if not then it's not a supported option.

It does work with my Acer NetbookOne so it will likely work with other acer products with a clip in battery.

As for the Image backup - refer to Shawn's tutorial here ...
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/663-backup-complete-computer-create-image-backup.html
If you have any questions on this, post them in that thread

Nigel thank you so very much.. I'll do this as soon asI can eat dinner and get back to the laptop..
Ok on the link .. any idea how long that might take.. I really don't have that much on here yet.. Question.. I suppose I should go ahead and back programs I've not activates too ? I have some of those .
thanks bunches.

 

[LADYPINKtomato1]

Product FRED hi.. thanks bunches.. for your reply.. I'm greatful for help.. since I know very little about this laptop.

 

[CarlTR6]

Hi LPT1

The working without the battery is simple to check - shut down your laptop, remove the battery, ensure the charger is plugged in and switched on, and start the laptop - if it works then that's it, if not then it's not a supported option.

It does work with my Acer NetbookOne so it will likely work with other acer products with a clip in battery.

As for the Image backup - refer to Shawn's tutorial here ...
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/663-backup-complete-computer-create-image-backup.html
If you have any questions on this, post them in that thread

Nigel thank you so very much.. I'll do this as soon asI can eat dinner and get back to the laptop..
Ok on the link .. any idea how long that might take.. I really don't have that much on here yet.. Question.. I suppose I should go ahead and back programs I've not activates too ? I have some of those .
thanks bunches.

LPt, like Nigel, Mae Lyne has an Acer note book. The battery is in the refrigerator. She runs on the adapter/charger all of the time. About once a month, we put the battery in and run it down to the warning, fully recharge it, and put it back in the refrigerator.

 

[LADYPINKtomato1]

Carl hi..oops Carl.. thanks.. I just removed the battery.. (saw a reminder there was ONLY 7% left..) so I removed it.. ..
YES... this is working just fine on the adapter /power.. plugged in.

Now I must close down.. put the battery back in and fully charge it up again.. then Discharege it again.. Right ??

Next... I should totally discharge it once again.. then Re-charge it up again.. Next.. remove it and take it to the Ref?.. did you put the battery in a bag... such a new zip-lock bag ?
Thank you so much.

 

[LADYPINKtomato1]

Carl..Ok am back.. battery is in.. I'm charging it to the full capacity..( I'm powered now with the adapter/charger..)

Next I should run it totally down to the 5% ..then do this once again ?..then remove the battery and store it in the refrigerator ?...did you cover it or use a bag to seal it from things in the ref?

Maybe we should go over and make a NEW thread on this ?..let me know please.