Constantly plugged in!

haplyss · May 27, 2009

Will leaving my laptop plugged in 24/7, when computer is not in use, cause any harm? Any response will be greatly appreciated and very curious.

Harold :confused:

CyberZeus · May 27, 2009

By "plugged in 24/7", you mean plugged to main power?

haplyss · May 27, 2009

24/7, here, I mean constantly plugged in to 120V AC.

CyberZeus · May 27, 2009

It can cause reduced battery life. If it is always connected to AC, remove the battery.

wwoods · May 27, 2009

CyberZeus said:
It can cause reduced battery life. If it is always connected to AC, remove the battery.

I am not sure this is still true with the new breed of lion batteries...I have not noticed any significant battery life loss and I am plugged in 90% of the time

RonS WIN TEAM · May 27, 2009

Newer batteries shouldn't be affected in this way. Although, I still take my battery out of my computer if it's plugged in for long periods of time, just out of habit. It also seems to make it cooler - which is good.

Cheers,

K1K1D33 · May 27, 2009

RonS WIN TEAM said:
Newer batteries shouldn't be affected in this way. Although, I still take my battery out of my computer if it's plugged in for long periods of time, just out of habit. It also seems to make it cooler - which is good.

Cheers,

---I was also concerned about having the batteries in my laptop (all the time), since I also plug the pc into the wall-outlet (at the same time) = when I phoned a computer-retail store about it, they said NOT to take my battery out at all because having an empty slot/socket may damage my pc---

peace

H2SO4 · May 27, 2009

haplyss said:
Will leaving my laptop plugged in 24/7, when computer is not in use, cause any harm? Any response will be greatly appreciated and very curious.

Harold

Modern laptops from reputable manufacturers are perfectly OK to be plugged in 24/7.

The charging circuitry is more important than the type of battery. Subject any battery to sustained (over)charging and it will die. That's why the charging smarts built into the laptop have the job of monitoring battery condition and swapping over to trickle-charge or leave-it-alone modes as appropriate. In effect, the battery is not being charged 24/7, even though the laptop may be plugged in.

K1K1D33 · May 27, 2009

H2SO4 said:
haplyss said:

Will leaving my laptop plugged in 24/7, when computer is not in use, cause any harm? Any response will be greatly appreciated and very curious.

Harold

Click to expand...

Modern laptops from reputable manufacturers are perfectly OK to be plugged in 24/7.

The charging circuitry is more important than the type of battery. Subject any battery to sustained (over)charging and it will die. That's why the charging smarts built into the laptop have the job of monitoring battery condition and swapping over to trickle-charge or leave-it-alone modes as appropriate. In effect, the battery is not being charged 24/7, even though the laptop may be plugged in.

---THANK YOU for the reply---you said it much better than I---(yes - my battery/icon at the bottom in taskbar does SHOW that I am 'plugged-in-not-charging')---I 'assume' that is why there is that little adapter/box that connects between my pc and the wall plug---
---also, along the topic of batteries, how come the charges only last about 2/hrs. when not plugged in? what if I wanted to use it mobile? (I just assumed laptops go at least 4Hrs unplugged)---and, yes I do use the zero brightness - I do not like 100% blare, fries my eyes/brain over hours of use---

peace

H2SO4 · May 27, 2009

kikidee said:
yes - my battery/icon at the bottom in taskbar does SHOW that I am 'plugged-in-not-charging')---I 'assume' that is why there is that little adapter/box that connects between my pc and the wall plug---

The adapter in between the laptop and the wall socket is just a step-down transformer and "rectifier". It takes 220/110 volts AC as input and produces a (far safer) 3-12V DC as its output. Most of them are not intelligent in any way - if they're plugged in, they always do the same thing.

The advantage of using the adaptor is that it keeps the step-down circuitry and its heat out of the laptop itself. Otherwise, if the contents of that adaptor briquette were integrated into the laptop, you'd always have to cart around the mains PSU - even when running on batteries - plus the laptop would be hotter.

The battery-control circuitry is integrated into the laptop itself. Depending on its level of sophistication, it can gauge the battery's needs and vary the level of charge being pushed back into the battery at any given time. Otherwise, if the battery was getting charged at full blast whenever the laptop was connected to the mains, the battery would be dead-o within weeks or even days.

kikidee said:
---also, along the topic of batteries, how come the charges only last about 2/hrs. when not plugged in? what if I wanted to use it mobile? (I just assumed laptops go at least 4Hrs unplugged)---and, yes I do use the zero brightness - I do not like 100% blare, fries my eyes/brain over hours of use---

peace

The amount of time you'll get out of a fully-charged battery depends on a multitude of factors, some of which are:

- Battery capacity. Many laptops come with the smallest of several compatible battery types, both because the smallest is also the cheapest, and because it makes the new laptop look more svelte. Higher capacity batteries are frequently available from the manufacturer. They can sometimes double or even triple the runtimes.

- The age of the battery. Most battery types take a couple of weeks to reach their peak performance, and then it's a gradual dropoff over the next couple of years. If the battery is abused, for example by being subjected to temperature extremes, the dropoff will be more rapid.

- The level of processor and HDD activity. Obviously, playing Solitaire isn't as demanding as ripping audio or doing a full disk defrag.

- Screen brightness.

- Whether the wireless NIC is active.

- Whether power is being delivered to auxiliary devices like the onboard NIC, bluetooth, USB...

Battery life is one of the main differentiating factors between different laptop models. Unfortunately, the higher performance units tend to suck up more juice, and an all-singing-all-dancing 17" high-performance "aircraft carrier" laptop may provide less than an hour of runtime when going full pelt.

K1K1D33 · May 28, 2009

---well THANK YOU again for all of that useful info! none of which is (and should be) printed anywhere in the user-manual for my l/t, maybe because it is the 'lower-end' brand {AcerCo./ and don't laugh too hard-but the manager's name is signed "Easy Lai"}---makes one wonder, though it was still about $500 to buy (not pocket change) considering that I DID purposely browse the web for various laptop prices, and a few overseas/China companies sell them as low as $150 but to wholesalers only---(now we know the profits)---
---also, since there is NO extra useful info in the user-manual; IF I just use this pc as a basic low/energy no plug-ins, only for surfing, social-sites + few online games (simple puzzle ones), then how long would my battery last, (5yrs?) and how will I know when to get a new one?---/bought Apr.1.2009 box-new/---

peace

H2SO4 · May 28, 2009

kikidee said:
...IF I just use this pc as a basic low/energy no plug-ins, only for surfing, social-sites + few online games (simple puzzle ones), then how long would my battery last, (5yrs?) and how will I know when to get a new one?...

In my personal experience, you'll get 12 to 18 months of decent battery performance, followed by a similar period of ever-decreasing run times. That's assuming regular business day use without any special concessions to battery management and conditioning - just yanking it from mains whenever you need to go to another location, and then plugging it back in whenever.

You'll know when it's time to get a new battery because you'll be down to 30 minutes or less between full charge and running on empty. In extreme cases, old batteries may only provide minutes of run time.

It's probably possible to substantially increase that lifespan through specialised techniques, but it's impractical because the conditioning equipment costs far more than the battery, plus who's got the time to worry about these things? The laptop will be obsolete by the time its battery wears out anyway.

K1K1D33 · May 29, 2009

In my personal experience, you'll get 12 to 18 months of decent battery performance, followed by a similar period of ever-decreasing run times.

You'll know when it's time to get a new battery because you'll be down to 30 minutes or less between full charge and running on empty. In extreme cases, old batteries may only provide minutes of run time.

The laptop will be obsolete by the time its battery wears out anyway.

---THANK YOU for the info---since other newcomers read this; could I get at least a good 5yrs. of use daily, (I turn off the L/t at night 8hrs) and it says on all day though I put it into 'sleep' mode a few hrs at din-dins just to cool it off---and---can I just buy a new battery and use that later, because I do want to keep this L/t for a good 5yrs. or +? - yeah after that it would be a good idea to get a NEW toy again---

peace

RonS WIN TEAM · May 31, 2009

H2S04 has some great points there.

How old is your laptop kikidee? If you're still under warranty, I'd say contact your manufacturer right away and get a replacement batter if you feel it's not up to par.

Cheers,

Martee · May 31, 2009

Hello H2SO4,

Seems like I learned something new. I always leave battery in the laptop all the time and mostly use the power supply to power it. When I do not use the notebook I shut the system down and unplug the power supply.

Thanks for the info...Cheers...

H2SO4 · May 31, 2009

Martee said:
Hello H2SO4,

Seems like I learned something new. I always leave battery in the laptop all the time and mostly use the power supply to power it. When I do not use the notebook I shut the system down and unplug the power supply.

Thanks for the info...Cheers...

I'm glad if you found that useful Martee. Thanks.

K1K1D33 · Jun 1, 2009

H2SO4 said:
Martee said:

Hello H2SO4,

Seems like I learned something new. I always leave battery in the laptop all the time and mostly use the power supply to power it. When I do not use the notebook I shut the system down and unplug the power supply.

Thanks for the info...Cheers...

Click to expand...

I'm glad if you found that useful Martee. Thanks.

---THANK YOU all for the useful infos and the replies; my laptop is only 2/months old, so I am very good with the power - but having NEVER used one before (always surfed on desktop pc, and mostly at libraries) obviously makes me a newbie-user no?---I am grateful for finding this Forum-site, and I hope to be useful even if a non-traditional way---

---peace---

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