Big_Al wrote:
> Rahul wrote:
>> I just bought a new LiIon Laptop battery for my Dell Inspirion E1505
>> (dual boot WinXP and Fedora).
>>
>> I gave it my initial 10 hour charge. Now what? I started using it but
>> should I continue using it till the battery is drained and then
>> recharge? Or should I only drain it partially? If it is not drained
>> fully how will the Laptop learn (callibrate) itself to what the new
>> capacity is?
>>
>> Or is it recommended that I only partially discharge it? What's best
>> for the battery life?
>>
>> Another point: How many times should I cycle it this way? In the long
>> term should I always wait for a full discharge; or can I charge it up
>> from a partially-discharged state or does it not matter?
>>
>> I've gogled this but recieve conflicting advice.
> I have a Dell and I've read and or been told that it has to do with
> charge cycles, not amount charged like 20% or 99%. If you get 1000
> charge cycles and charge it everyday, you get about 2-3 years.

yes and no. 3 years is normal for lithium ion, but it's usually
regardless of whether the battery is used or not. Some charging
issues (depends on platform) may dictate that it is safer to not
let it fully discharge... YMMV. But a lithium ion sitting on
a shelf is in a state of decay as well.

"Chris Cox" <ccox_nopenotthis@airmail.net> wrote in message
news:zb6dne3gn99Mh8bVnZ2dnUVZ_orinZ2d@posted.inter netamerica...
> Big_Al wrote:
>> Rahul wrote:
>>> I just bought a new LiIon Laptop battery for my Dell Inspirion E1505
>>> (dual boot WinXP and Fedora).
>>>
>>> I gave it my initial 10 hour charge. Now what? I started using it but
>>> should I continue using it till the battery is drained and then
>>> recharge? Or should I only drain it partially? If it is not drained
>>> fully how will the Laptop learn (callibrate) itself to what the new
>>> capacity is?
>>>
>>> Or is it recommended that I only partially discharge it? What's best for
>>> the battery life?
>>>
>>> Another point: How many times should I cycle it this way? In the long
>>> term should I always wait for a full discharge; or can I charge it up
>>> from a partially-discharged state or does it not matter?
>>>
>>> I've gogled this but recieve conflicting advice.
>> I have a Dell and I've read and or been told that it has to do with
>> charge cycles, not amount charged like 20% or 99%. If you get 1000
>> charge cycles and charge it everyday, you get about 2-3 years.
>
> yes and no. 3 years is normal for lithium ion, but it's usually
> regardless of whether the battery is used or not. Some charging
> issues (depends on platform) may dictate that it is safer to not
> let it fully discharge... YMMV. But a lithium ion sitting on
> a shelf is in a state of decay as well.
>

Where did you get 3 years from? Thes batteries are quite capable of lasting
10 years or more.

Chris Cox <ccox_nopenotthis@airmail.net> writes:
>Big_Al wrote:
>> Rahul wrote:
>>> Another point: How many times should I cycle it this way? In the long
>>> term should I always wait for a full discharge; or can I charge it up
>>> from a partially-discharged state or does it not matter?

My impression from the information I read is that it does not matter
whether you recharge it from a partial or full state; the number of
charge cycles matters; you should also avoid deep discharge.

>yes and no. 3 years is normal for lithium ion, but it's usually
>regardless of whether the battery is used or not.

That's not true in my experience. My iBook's LiIon Battery has about
the same capacity now as it had 3.5 years ago when it was new. My
guess is that this is because it has had relatively few charge cycles
(it's usually on the mains).

>But a lithium ion sitting on
>a shelf is in a state of decay as well.

If it sits on a shelf, it will discharge itself over time, eventually
ressulting in deep discharge, and that's not healthy. OTOH, if it
sits in a laptop on the mains, the charge controller will recharge it
before that happens (my iBook recharges when the charge drops below
95%, i.e., once every month or so).

- anton
--
M. Anton Ertl Some things have to be seen to be believed
anton@mips.complang.tuwien.ac.at Most things have to be believed to be seen
http://www.complang.tuwien.ac.at/anton/home.html

M.I.5¾ wrote:
....
>
> Where did you get 3 years from? Thes batteries are quite capable of lasting
> 10 years or more.
>
>

Hmmm... you have a lithium ion battery that is 10 years old and
functioning normally? Interesting.

"Chris Cox" <ccox_nopenotthis@airmail.net> wrote in message
news:5PudnfKwa5H5GsHVnZ2dnUVZ_qDinZ2d@posted.inter netamerica...
> M.I.5¾ wrote:
> ...
>>
>> Where did you get 3 years from? Thes batteries are quite capable of
>> lasting 10 years or more.
>
> Hmmm... you have a lithium ion battery that is 10 years old and
> functioning normally? Interesting.
>

No, I have 3 (three) lithium ion batteries that are *15* years old and still
functioning.

My camcorder battery is now 8 years old and working normally.