I want to maximize battery life in my new Inspiron 3493 w/ 10 2004. “Primarily AC Use” profile only slows down the charging, but does not stop it entirely.
Should I use the Custom setting in the app to limit charging to 80%? Or will it shorten battery life?
Hi TTSVids105, I don't use this Dell app but another monitoring method and maintain my laptop batteries between 40% & 90% and once in a while a bit higher. My MSI laptop battery is still providing more than its rated value for standby time after heavy use for more than 1.5 years.
Depth of discharge (DoD) is the true killer of Li ion batteries. I'd guess that topping at 80% would be less than ideal for the longevity of the battery.
Check this site for guidance on Li ion battery maintenance.
How to Prolong Lithium-based Batteries - Battery University
You're welcome.
I use an app called Battery Limiter along with BatteryBar free. Battery Limiter allows you to set high and low alarm limits, with visual and or audio indicators. I use 43% low limit and 90% high limit. I've also tweaked the settings in the Advanced Power options menu.
By setting the low battery level in the Advanced Power options menu to 45%, the display dims and produces a low battery notification from Windows. This is my indicator to switch on the power bar/charger easily within reach. If I have stepped away from the PC, the Battery Limiter alarm will yell at 43%, alerting me to come back and energize the charger. I set the critical battery level to 25% and the critical battery action is set to hibernate. I believe that allowing a Li ion battery level to fall below 25% will promote a premature failure.
Battery limiter | robotonfire
BatteryBar Pro: Windows Battery Life Tracker
I have the BatteryBar app on my taskbar and set to start with windows. The info widow above is produced with a mouse-over on the taskbar icon. I keep the Battery Limiter app pinned to my taskbar and not set to start with Windows. This way I can once in a while allow the charge level to exceed 90% without disabling the high alarm. If I plan to go mobile or just a periodic battery maintenance, I might allow the high charge to reach 98%.
This setup is a bit more manual but is almost flawless. This MSI GP-72 started its life as a demo unit for a few months but the deal was too good to ignore. I would guess the battery most likely stayed on charge for most of that time. When I started using the BatteryBar app it indicated a battery wear of about 7-9%. Now it shows 0% wear and I've verified this with the command line 'powercfg /energy'.
My old laptop is a Dell Studio 1747 and about the time that Dell was releasing various power management apps, the battery/charger was giving me significant grief. Unfortunately, I was unable to download a functional Power Management app from Dell before they disappeared. If I recall correctly, Dell UK had the best selection where-as Dell Canada and Dell USA were preaching the delusional hard line that the Dell battery charging/Power Management was perfect.
I've since upgraded that old Dell laptop from win7 with a clean install of Windows 10. I also use the above setup on the Dell laptop but would like try the Dell Power Management app that includes setting of high and low limits, if I could find it. All of the Dell apps I use on that laptop are for win7 and installed in Windows 10 using Compatibility mode.
TTS,
If you gathered together ten experts you would get at least eleven irreconcilable opinions.
- Whilst there was a consensus about this decades ago for older battery technologies, there is now no general agreement at all.
- I have looked into the subject many times but have not found any authoritive guidance for Li-ion batteries [but I have seen an awful lot of advice that purports to be authoritative]
I just let my batteries charge fully. Like you, I normally have my laptops connected to the electricity supply.
- I have a two year old Dell battery that still reports that it is charging to its maximum design charge.
- I have another [non-Dell] battery that had degraded to 88% of its design charge four years ago when I also started using that computer on AC power most of the time. It now reports 86%-87%-88%.
- I have yet another [non-Dell] battery that had degraded to 92% of its design charge four years ago when I also started using that computer on AC power most of the time. It still reports 92%.
So, the answer to your question is, "There is no answer".
- You might choose to do as I do and just let the batteries charge fully so they are ready to give of their most when you do occasionally decide to use them on battery power.
There are methods for reading the Design charge & Last full charge levels so you can keep an eye on things as your batteries degrade with use. Let me know if you are interested. I only check mine every six months when I swap batteries round to even out their wear.
If you are going to read any articles from that "Battery university" be careful to note exactly what they are referring to in each statement. The particular article linked to by W10 tweaker is mainly about battery degradation in use - and that is not what your circumstances are.
Denis
My HP ProBook has a BIOS option to limit charging to 80% and HP specifically claim this preserves the battery life. The option works fine. I don't have this option for my other Dell laptop but I'm going to start using your method on that laptop.
Dell Power Manager doesn't work on my Inspiron 7537. It just displays the message "Waiting for battery connection"
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Last edited by Steve C; 07 Jul 2020 at 08:12.
For me it's really irrelevant. My home laptop sits in the charger/dock all the time. It only comes out when we travel. The battery lasted six years before needing a replacement.
My work laptop moves from desk (plugged in) to conference room (sometimes plugged in, but that's often not convenient). So it discharges during meetings. So I keep it charged to 100% when at my desk because I don't want it to die in a meeting. I had the laptop for two years, and it was already three years old when I started work. So five years already. I don't work there anymore, so I don't know when that battery will croak.
In both scenarios my battery is at 100% all or nearly all the time.
Uptime is important to me. Battery life a bit less important.
And I've not seen any real data to say how much battery life is affected by constant charging.
So ... six years is long enough ... longer than most laptop will last.
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