Not so really OT. > The battery seems to be more or less ok at the moment. It last about > two and a half hours. > > I have heard many conflicting opinions about what one is supposed to > do, and not do, to keep it in good health.
You're concerned about 2 factors: every rechargable battery has a limited number of charge/discharge cycles before the capacity drops to zero, and memory effect. Memory effect is when the battery isn't fully discharged before being charged again, after which the unused part of the capacity eventually evaporates into neverneverland. The memory effect depends on the type of battery, e.g. NiCd have a strong memory effect, NiMH a weaker one, and I think LiIon a rather weak one. Considering what those bast**ds charge for laptop batteries and how fast they're West, I'd take care of it. That means don't use the battery if you don't have to - the drawer is indeed a safe place. Downside of that may be that some cheap lappies need the battery to keep the CMOS up... you'll find out. It would be safer to discharge the batter to 2% every third cycle or so. In general, for all batteries: * Never discharge to less than about 80% nominal voltage. Getting close to zero is a safe shortcut to an early grave. * Keep batteries fully charged when stored, otherwise they may get damaged over time. * Batteries have a self-discharge rate, for NiCd it may be something ridiculous like 20% per month. Don't expect any battery to be fully charged after some time; this is why appliances always say "charge before use". HTH, Volker -- Volker Kuhlmann is possibly list0570 with the domain in header http://volker.dnsalias.net/ Please do not CC list postings to me.
