7
Apr

I bought a brand new 9-cell laptop battery for my Dell Inspiron 6400, but before I used it I was given an almost-new battery. I have heard that if you don't use them regularly, they very quickly will loose their capacity to hold a charge. How can I store my new battery so it maintains it's maximum effectiveness for at least a year?

Ni-Cad and nickel metal hydride both lose charge over time.

Lithium base cells do not have this problem. They will lose charge, but very slowly. The worst you can do is store them at full charge, or at zero charge.

Charge the spare up to 60% to 70% and it should be good for a year or so.

Category : Replacement Battery for Laptop

4 Responses to “How long can you store a new, replacement laptop battery, unused, before it starts to deteriorate?”


JsK April 7, 2009

use it with the other battery.
Keep swaping them…
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christof April 7, 2009

some batteries can become less usable the longer they are left unused. make sure you use the battery at least once a month. on my laptop, im told to use my battery at least once a month off of outlet power.
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Simon T April 7, 2009

Ni-Cad and nickel metal hydride both lose charge over time.

Lithium base cells do not have this problem. They will lose charge, but very slowly. The worst you can do is store them at full charge, or at zero charge.

Charge the spare up to 60% to 70% and it should be good for a year or so.
References :

?The Hidden Truth-MK? April 7, 2009

this is best: use the replacement battery once every fortnight. run the laptop completely on it, and wait till it says CRITICAL BATTERY. then put the laptop on AC with the replacement battery connected. when charged to 100%, remove it and the battery will be good for another fortnight. repeat every fortnight.

if u r lazy, do it once every 3 weeks but longer than that would decrease its efficiency and capability
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