Lee, What is considered a "long time"? Thanks Mike R. On Feb 5, 2006, at 4:39 PM, Lee Larson wrote:
> On Feb 5, 2006, at 3:40 PM, Greg Schoettmer wondered: > >> Just killing time before the superbowl and the question came >> up about >> Mac Laptop batteries; Do they have "memory?" Is it O.K. to just >> plug your >> computer in every chance you get or should you wait until the >> charge is >> almost gone? > > I had a chance to talk to a chemical engineer who knows just about > everything there is to know about the lithium batteries in laptops. > Here's what he said. > > The lithium batteries in modern laptops should only rarely be > deeply discharged. They don't have a chemical memory like the older > NiCad batteries. He did say that deeply discharging the battery a > few times per year will calibrate the electronics connected to the > battery. > > Lithium batteries have a limited lifetime, no matter what you do. > Their clock starts ticking as soon as they're born, and they'll die > in at most three years, no matter what kind of life they lead. > Clean living will prolong the life to a certain degree, but not > beyond 2.5-3 years. > > Clean living basically means don't deeply discharge the battery too > often and don't let it get too hot. It should also be exercised > regularly without being plugged into the wall. > > Remember that if you don't use your laptop for a long time the > battery will go dead all by itself because of the circuitry built > into the battery. If it goes too dead, you can't charge it again > without extraordinary efforts. > > > | The next meeting of the Louisville Computer Society will > | be January 24 at Pitt Academy, 6010 Preston Highway. > | The LCS Web page is <http://www.kymac.org>. > | List posting address: <mailto:macgroup at erdos.math.louisville.edu> > | List Web page: <http://erdos.math.louisville.edu/macgroup> | The next meeting of the Louisville Computer Society will | be February 28 at Pitt Academy, 6010 Preston Highway. | The LCS Web page is <http://www.kymac.org>. | List posting address: <mailto:macgroup at erdos.math.louisville.edu> | List Web page: <http://erdos.math.louisville.edu/macgroup>
