For those friends who use laptops to carry out work every day, the health of the battery will have a direct impact on the convenience of mobile office work.
Many people think that when it comes to battery maintenance, they should not charge it with the power plugged in all the time. However, in fact, things are not that simple.
Especially for topics such as laptop battery maintenance software , many users are still at the cognitive level of "using the functions of the system itself is enough."
Now, we will explain the correct method of battery maintenance, common misunderstandings and practical software tools at once to help you use the battery longer and more stably.
Where to start with basic knowledge
Many people remove the battery and store it, but the first step is wrong.
If the battery is not used for a long time, it must not be placed in a high-temperature place or a humid place, such as inside a car that is exposed to the sun in summer, or near a bathroom.
The correct approach is to charge the battery to about 60% to 80% before storing it. This range allows the chemical activity of lithium ions to be maintained.
At intervals of about a month, in order to prevent the battery from entering that "deep sleep" state, it is best to take out the battery and do a complete charge and discharge cycle.
When disassembling the battery, pay attention to dust-proof and waterproof matters. You can use a small brush to clean the position at a certain period to avoid poor contact caused by a large accumulation of dust.
If the battery compartment is exposed, it is recommended to find a clean cardboard box specifically for placing the battery, rather than throwing it randomly in the drawer, causing it to be mixed with debris.
Three common misunderstandings to avoid
The first misunderstanding is to completely use up the battery before recharging it.
Today's notebooks all use lithium batteries, which no longer have the "cache effect" of old nickel batteries. If the power is used up and then recharged, it will cause damage to the battery and increase the pressure on the battery.
The second misunderstanding is to unplug the battery as soon as it is plugged in.
In fact, when the battery is fully charged, the power management system will automatically cut off the charging current based on its own functional characteristics. At this time, the power can be directly supplied to the laptop without continued overcharging.
Only when the internal temperature of the notebook is too high and the heat dissipation pressure is high, it is recommended to temporarily remove the battery.
The third misunderstanding is to maintain laptop batteries as mobile phone batteries.
A mobile phone may need to be charged once a day, or even several times. The usage scenarios are completely different, and habits cannot be simply applied.
Laptop batteries have independent power management chips, and the charging and discharging logic is very different from that of mobile phones.
What is the correct charging method?
Don't wait until the power is exhausted to automatically turn off the power before charging, otherwise the damage to the battery will be very obvious.
A more appropriate approach is to connect the power source when you find that the remaining battery level is around 20% to 30%.
Lithium batteries have a limited number of charges and discharges, usually within the range of 300 to 600 times. Each time, if the power is completely used up and then recharged, this behavior is actually equivalent to consuming precious cycles.
The environment you are in when charging must be kept dry. At the same time, you must avoid overheating, because excessive temperature is one of the biggest enemies that can cause battery damage.
There is no need to specifically squeeze the charging period when using it. The power management chip will stop automatically after it is fully charged. However, it is not recommended to leave it plugged in all day long.
The difference between charging when the battery is turned off and charging when it is turned on is actually not very big. When the phone is turned off, the alternating current charges the battery in a direct manner. In this case, the charging speed will be slightly faster. When it is turned on and being used, it is charging and being used at the same time. At this time, the AC power needs to supply power to the laptop on the one hand, and charge the battery on the other hand. However, the charging time will be slightly longer, and there is no substantial damage to the battery itself.
How to use software to check and maintain the battery
Let’s talk about it here Laptop battery maintenance software of practical use.
Relying only on the system's own functions, the only things that can be visualized are the remaining power and the estimated time. If you want to know the detailed health status of the battery, you can use some third-party tools to achieve this.
For example, BatteryMon, a classic software, can monitor the charging and discharging curves of the battery under actual time conditions, and then see the gap between the actual capacity of the battery and the designed capacity.
HWMonitor is practical. It can check the voltage of the battery, the temperature of the battery, and the degree of battery loss and other parameters.
If you are using notebooks from brands such as Lenovo, Dell, and Asus, the official power management software usually comes with them, such as Lenovo Vantage and Dell Power Manager, which have a battery maintenance mode that can set the charging threshold. For example, charging will stop when it is only charged to 80%. This is extremely friendly to users who are plugged in for a long time.
Tips to extend battery life
When using battery power, you can lower the screen brightness. Generally speaking, notebooks can quickly adjust it with the help of the Fn and down or up arrow keys.
If you do not use the computer for more than ten minutes for a long time, it is recommended to directly put the notebook into standby or hibernation state. This can not only save power but also reduce the loss caused by the hardware.
When not in use, try to turn off the wireless network card, Bluetooth, and infrared port, because the cumulative power consumption generated by these modules is quite large.
External devices such as mice and USB flash drives should be unplugged when not in use.
In addition, try to avoid running large 3D programs or games in battery mode, as this will cause the battery to discharge with high current, thereby accelerating aging.
How long is the battery life?
Under normal circumstances, the designed life of a laptop battery is in the range of 300 to 600 complete charge and discharge cycles, and it can be used for about two years.
If the battery is always placed on the laptop without being removed, even if it is turned off, the protection circuit inside the battery will continue to consume power.
Every time the AC power is plugged in, the battery will start charging, and it will be turned on and off frequently. During the process of plugging and unplugging the power supply, the battery will repeatedly be in a state of "charge a little and put it down", which will naturally affect the lifespan over time.
When in use, it is recommended that the ambient temperature should be controlled below 30°C. When stored, the temperature should not be too high, and vibration will also cause damage to the internal structure of the battery.
When does battery calibration need to be done?
If you notice that when the battery power reaches 20%, it suddenly drops to 5%, or the remaining time displayed becomes longer and shorter, it means that the battery may need to be calibrated.
The principle of correction is to make the battery perform a complete, relatively slow, low-current discharge operation, so as to help the power management chip calculate the true capacity value again.
A few brands of laptops come with built-in calibration software. If there is no such software, you can perform manual operations: first turn off the screen saver, then set the program to "always on" in power management, set the low battery alarm to 10% and do not perform any operations, set the critical shortage alarm to 3% and wait without shutting down, adjust the screen brightness to the highest level, close all programs and save data.
Make sure the battery power is above 80%, unplug the power plug and let it continue to discharge until it shuts down automatically, then plug it in again to fully charge it.
Repeating this process two to three times will restore the battery status more accurately.
The process of maintaining a laptop battery is not complicated. The key is to ensure that the basic knowledge is implemented appropriately, and then use the appropriate laptop battery maintenance software to monitor the health status.
If you perform operations that avoid high temperatures, do not over-discharge, set reasonable charging thresholds, and make regular corrections, if you do these things well, then the battery will basically not have problems if it is used for more than two years.
Don’t be misled by the old ideas on the Internet that claim “you must use them before recharging them.” Today’s lithium battery technology is completely different.
Take some time to look at the health numbers of the battery, cultivate correct usage habits, and your laptop will be able to steadily accompany you in your work when you unplug it at any time. Punctuation marks are improperly used and can be adjusted according to the actual situation.
