Preserve Laptop Battery Life Span When Plugged In Always?

Hey all. I mentioned I got a new laptop battery for my dell xps 15 9550 which is an old machine for many years. Now with this laptop and previous laptops I had, I use it mainly as a desktop... connected to an ac charger and connected to external monitors. Pretty much im plugged in almost always.



Previously a while back what I did was with an older laptop before it went bad... charge it till 100%... then unplug it and do my thing... till it hit around 30% battery or so... then charge it again and continue what I do. Then once it hits 100% battery, I would then unplug it and rinse and repeat. I did this with an old laptop at first but then I believe I just left it plugged in all the time. I remember people said don't do it that way as it makes your battery get bad even faster... is that true? That laptop no longer works anymore but that wasn't the reason it broke though.



With my dell xps 15 9550, my laptop I always have it plugged in via ac charger. Now I recall someone mentioned if you want to make your laptop battery life last longer... it had something to do with making it only charge up to 80 or 90% right? Like when it charges, make it never go higher than 80 or 90%? Also something like make sure it stars recharging once it hits 35% or something like that? That way the battery will have a longer life span?



If so, how do I do this? And do most of you do this? Im talking about those that use it as a desktop replacement basically.
Is there proof that doing this... as oppose to just having it plugged in all day 100% for 12+ hours will make the battery life span last longer? Like people here done it and said yea... me doing that made it last another 6 months or so? My first laptop battery the 56wh that came with this laptop years ago... lasted almost 1.5 years and by then, the battery was no good... didn't even had a minute anymore. My last battery that I used for 2.5 years... it pretty much had like 5 minutes only left after 2 years. So because of how I use the battery, as a desktop replacement and charged all the time, seems like i need to get a replacement every 1.5 years or so.



So does making it max 80% or 90% mean it might make my battery go 2 years or so or even? I noticed in my battery report, after 1 year or so with a battery, it gets worn real quick the way I use it. Now i know I could use it without a battery and just plugged in... but issue is when this happens, and say I have a power outage... well that would suck... though I would connect my laptop to a UPS so my laptop doesn't immediately turn off. Buf if i run out of battery with my UPS... i mean I do have a powerbank. But I also rather have my laptop battery inside ... and wouldn't feel good having to open it up just to put in the battery.

@paulyjustin
See if function is on your Dell: https://www.dell.com/support/manuals...d69&lang=en-us

PDF Link

Perhaps you might remember who you're dealing with?

Try3 said:

If you have any follow-up questions then put each one in a paragraph of its own and number them. Just wittering on for paragraph after paragraph does not help those who would help you.

This is the guy who asked hundreds and hundreds of questions when buying a simple UPS over a span of about year.

That was UPS obsession. Now he's on to battery obsession. I don't think there's any help for that here.

steve108 said:

@paulyjustin
See if function is on your Dell: https://www.dell.com/support/manuals...d69&lang=en-us

PDF Link

Thanks. I see this now. Seems like there are two ways to do it... doing it in bios or using something like dell power plan which i dont have in my computer.

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Steve C said:

My HP ProBook has a BIOS setting limiting charge to 80% which claims to extend battery life. Check to see if you have a similar BIOS option.

Did you ever do this? What I'm curious about is... does this actually make the battery life span longer with proof?


Try mentions he just plugs it in all the time and he had no issue with it.


Someone else mentioned to me doing the charge up to 80 or 90 percent thing... it actually makes the battery go bad even faster. If that is the case, then why do most articles I read online seem to say do this then if other users say its actually bad to do that? I remember a while back ppl said if you charge it only up to 80 or 90 percent max... it doesn't make the battery wear out fast as oppose to keeping it full charged all the time. But has anyone here done a test on this though with their previous batteries?


Like i use it fully charged all the time and plugged in... battery last about a year and a half that way before replacement... but doing that way... it lasted two years or so or less? Im sure ppl have tested this with batteries in their laptops and want to know what they find on this.


The one method you never do would be charge it fully... then once its full... unplug it... then say its at thirty percent or so or lower... then charge it back again till full...then unplug it and use to thirty percent and plug it back to full and rinse and repeat... that is the worst way to charge your battery as that would be the most damaging way right?

My wife has her laptop in the dock and it charges continuously. It comes off the charger only very rarely.
The laptop dates from 2014. At six years old the battery went bad.
What expectation do you have that anything can be done to make a battery last longer than that?

The answer is simple. Do nothing. Plug it in when you can. Unplug for on-the-go. No worries. None at all.
Sometimes doing nothing is everything.

margrave55 said:

My wife has her laptop in the dock and it charges continuously. It comes off the charger only very rarely.
The laptop dates from 2014. At six years old the battery went bad.
What expectation do you have that anything can be done to make a battery last longer than that?

The answer is simple. Do nothing. Plug it in when you can. Unplug for on-the-go. No worries. None at all.
Sometimes doing nothing is everything.

Some of us have this 10 curses of the analytical thinker - TechRepublic

f14tomcat said:

Lunch time. #5 just kicked in........

I'll second that. Bon appetite