When many friends choose a notebook, they focus on its portability and can be used no matter where they go.
In the past few years, hardware technology has developed very fast. High-performance processors and independent graphics cards can now be installed in thin and light laptops. Because of this, when everyone chooses a computer, more and more people will directly purchase laptops, and their daily learning activities and entertainment activities are completely dependent on this laptop.
However, in the process of continuous use, quite a few people have noticed such a situation: that is, the durability of the battery has gradually decreased. Even if the battery has been fully charged, a low battery alarm has started to sound less than two hours after leaving the house.
In fact, in many cases, it is not that the battery itself is of poor quality, but that we have not properly maintained the laptop battery during normal use.
Today, the editor will summarize the experience I have accumulated in the past few years with laptop batteries, and then share a set of practical maintenance strategies. If you follow them, the service life of the battery can be extended considerably.
1. Avoid charging for too long
Some friends have this habit of plugging in the power supply before going to bed at night and not unplugging it until the next morning. They may even stay connected to the power supply throughout the whole day and never let go.
This approach is actually not friendly to the battery.
Although today's laptops have an overcharge protection mechanism, if the battery is maintained at 100% full charge for a long time, its internal electrochemical activity will decay faster.
When charging normally, you usually need to unplug the plug immediately after it is fully charged. The most ideal state is not to charge uninterrupted for more than 12 hours.
If you use it connected to a power source most of the time, you might as well pay attention to the power management software officially launched by the brand. Many such software are equipped with charging threshold setting functions, such as the ability to automatically terminate charging when the battery is charged to 80%. This will be more beneficial to the battery life.
2. Do a charge-discharge cycle at least once every two months.
Many friends, after purchasing a laptop, always keep it plugged in. The battery has not been used once for several months, or even half a year.
This long-term inactivity will cause the lithium ions inside the battery to lose activity.
A relatively scientific approach is to deliberately charge and discharge the battery completely once every two months or so.
The specific operation method is as follows: The first step is to unplug the power adapter from it. After that, use the computer under normal conditions. This continues until the system issues a low battery prompt, causing the computer to automatically enter sleep mode or shut down directly. Next, plug the power in again and let the battery reach a full state at once.
This process can effectively activate the chemical substances inside the battery, maintain the activity that the battery should have, and avoid the embarrassing situation of suddenly shutting down when the battery shows that there is still remaining power.
3. Control the temperature of the battery usage environment
Temperature has a greater impact on lithium batteries than many people think.
When the ambient temperature is high, the internal side reactions of the battery will accelerate, resulting in a permanent reduction in capacity; in a low-temperature environment, although permanent damage will not be caused, the battery life will be greatly reduced.
In the summer, try not to use your laptop on bedding or sofa cushions. The reason is that these soft objects will block the bottom air inlet, causing poor heat dissipation. The internal temperature of the fuselage will rise. If the battery is exposed to high temperatures of 40 to 50 degrees for a long time, the aging rate will be accelerated.
In addition, do not leave your laptop in a car exposed to the sun for a long time.
During normal use day after day, it is recommended that the ambient temperature be controlled below 30°C. During the storage operation, it is necessary to choose a location that is both cool and dry. An environment of roughly 20°C is the most ideal.
4. Regularly calibrate laptop batteries
For laptops that have been used for more than half a year, you may find that the battery percentage displayed by the system is not accurate. For example, it may show that there is still 30%, but it suddenly drops to 5% after only ten minutes of use.
This is because there is a discrepancy between the battery's control circuit and its actual capacity.
This is when you need to do it once battery calibration .
There are usually two situations for calibration. One is to use the power management software provided by the notebook brand. The software usually has a "battery calibration" or "battery maintenance" function, which can be achieved by following the corresponding prompts. The other is to take manual calibration steps. First, charge the battery to a full state, then unplug the power and continue to use it until the device automatically shuts down, and then fully charge it again.
Calibration every three months can effectively prevent the battery from "aging" in advance.
5. Reduce the number of battery charges and discharges as much as possible
The life of a lithium battery is directly related to the number of charge and discharge cycles. The usually designed life of a lithium battery is in the range of 300 to 500 complete cycles.
With each additional charge, the battery takes a small step toward retirement.
Therefore, in situations where there is a fixed place for use, such as at home or in an office where there are sockets, it is recommended to plug it directly into an external power source for use, and you can consider removing the battery for storage. What I’m talking about here is only the old model with a removable battery.
For most thin and light laptops with non-removable batteries, there is no need to remove the battery when the battery is plugged in for use. On the contrary, in this case, it is more recommended to turn on the charging threshold function. For example, it can be set to stop charging within the range of 50% to 80%. This can not only facilitate mobile use, but also not frequently increase the number of cycle uses.
6. Recharge after the battery is exhausted
When it comes to laptop batteries, there has been a saying in the past that "the power must be completely exhausted before recharging", and this statement is actually for the old nickel-metal hydride batteries.
Today's laptops use lithium batteries, and excessive discharge can be harmful.
If the battery is used below 5% for a long time, or even automatically shuts down, this will cause the battery cell voltage to be too low. In serious cases, the battery control circuit will be protectively locked, and it will no longer be able to charge.
The correct approach is not to "use up" the battery during use. Generally, charging can be considered when the battery remaining is in the range of about 15% to 20%.
If you will not use your laptop for a long time, it is recommended that you store the battery power between 40% and 60%, rather than completely draining the remaining battery power.
7. Store the battery at about 40%
Some friends may have two computers, or may not use their laptop for a while.
At this time, it is important to store the battery.
If left full of power for a long time, the internal pressure will increase, posing safety risks; if the power is discharged and then stored, the battery core will lose activity and even cause the control circuit to self-lock, making it impossible to put it back into use again.
The ideal storage method is to first use the battery power to about 40%, then (if it can be removed) remove it from the notebook and place it in a cool and dry place. The optimal temperature is about 20°C.
In addition, don’t forget to put the battery back and use it once every month so that it can be charged and discharged normally. This way, on the one hand, it can ensure that the battery can be maintained in good condition, and on the other hand, it will not cause complete loss of power and cause battery damage.
Having said so much in succession, in fact, maintaining laptop batteries is not complicated. The focus is on cultivating good habits.
In short, it is necessary to do this: prevent it from being fully charged for a long time, control the temperature during use, charge, discharge and calibrate it regularly, use an external power supply and turn on the charging threshold.
If you follow these methods, your laptop's power-saving device will still be able to maintain a pretty good ability to continuously supply power after three or four years.
Next time, when a friend complains about the battery life of his computer, you will be able to share these experiences with this friend.
