Want to control battery charging

I'd like to be able to stop my battery in my laptop from charging past a certain point, like maybe 60 or 70%. I've heard that this can extend the life of the battery. I currently do this by taking the battery out when it gets to that point. However, my house has been having a few power outages lately, and that messes up my computer when I have it in Sleep mode with the battery out. I'd like to just leave it in for that reason.

I have a Dell laptop.
Device name DESKTOP-T1U7VSKProcessor Intel(R) Core(TM) i3-4030U CPU @ 1.90GHz 1.90 GHzInstalled RAM 6.00 GBDevice ID 9D87531D-5A83-414A-BB2A-A9943F9E995DProduct ID 00325-80409-88884-AAOEMSystem type 64-bit operating system, x64-based processorPen and touch Touch support with 10 touch points

I've already downloaded and tried using Dell Power Manager Lite. It looks it has what I need, but it doesn't seem to do anything. The instructions say that it only charges during specified usage times. But no matter what I set the active use times for, the battery continues charging. So, is there any other program I could use?

Edition Windows 10 HomeVersion 20H2Installed on ‎9/‎25/‎2020OS build 19042.1110Experience Windows Feature Experience Pack 120.2212.3530.0

The only way to stop charging at a certain point is if the BIOS supports it. I had a Dell laptop some years ago that had built-in support to customize the charge behavior in a number of ways and it's something I wish all manufacturers would do.

Bottom line is that if the BIOS doesn't support it, it's not something a piece of software can override. You need the underlying BIOS support to allow software to interface with it.

EDIT: One more thought - If you do want to remove your battery but still have protection against power outages, consider connecting the laptop to a small UPS (Uninterruptable Power Supply).

hsehestedt said:

The only way to stop charging at a certain point is if the BIOS supports it. I had a Dell laptop some years ago that had built-in support to customize the charge behavior in a number of ways and it's something I wish all manufacturers would do.

Bottom line is that if the BIOS doesn't support it, it's not something a piece of software can override. You need the underlying BIOS support to allow software to interface with it.

EDIT: One more thought - If you do want to remove your battery but still have protection against power outages, consider connecting the laptop to a small UPS (Uninterruptable Power Supply).

It sounded like Dell Power Manager Lite was made to accomplish what I was hoping for, and is from the same company that made my laptop, so it's compatible.
I just now took a couple screenshots to show what's happening. One shows that the battery is charging, and the other shows that I have the setting for today (Sunday) to end charging at 5pm. So what gives?

Try3 said:

I would not want to encourage you to spend too long on this because there is no publicly available test data that supports the idea that partial charges extend the life of a battery.

In fact, Dell tech support has recently published a video saying the exact opposite. Dell Tech Support produced this short video about batteries & charging. Whilst they were addressing Dell customers, Dell never makes any claims about possessing unique battery technology so their statements can be regarded as being fairly generally applicable.
Facts about your Laptop Battery - Dell Community
I thought the most interesting facts were:-
- That leaving the computer plugged in after the battery was fully charged has no detrimental effect on battery run-time or overall battery life
- Charging the battery to 100% whenever possible has no detrimental effect on overall battery life
- Charging the battery to 100% even if it has only been partially used [as opposed to always using every drop it has left in it before charging] has no detrimental effect on overall battery life

My own experience matches what Dell now says. My laptop batteries have always been fully charged whenever power was available and now, after six or seven years, they can still charge up to 80% of the original charge capacity. My younger batteries seem to be following the same pattern.

Denis

I bought this laptop 5 years ago, so the way batteries are made now might not be the same technology as they used to be. I just thought it would be safe to be on the conservative side.
As for my Dell Power Manager Lite program--am I even using it correctly? It looks simple enough. If I could make sure to set it right, I'd be able to do what I'm trying to do. I just don't understand why my battery keeps charging even after I set the settings to make it stop.

Try3 said:

Older versions of Dell Power manager lite had a different interface so perhaps Dell have deliberately withdrawn some functionality.


Clicking on that Change setting button in the left-hand diagram opened up the right-hand one.

Denis

Yours looks different from mine. I guess yours is the newer one, and it shows in your pictures that you have version 1.0.7, while mine is 1.0.2 with a release date of 2015. So I went to Dell's site to get what they have, and it shows that what they're currently offering is still the version I have. https://www.dell.com/support/home/en...driverid=33rnp

How did you get a newer version?