On Wed, 2003-02-12 at 21:59, CaT wrote: > On Wed, Feb 12, 2003 at 07:32:12PM -0800, suresh kumar sharma wrote: > > I have a sony vaio PCG-FXA36 laptop . > > its about a year old, problem is the battery does not > > last more than 15-20 min. with normal operation . > > I have tried it in Windows also same problem . > > does anybody know how I can get some life of my > > battery back . > > Have you tried discharging it fully and then recharging it? If that > doesn't work then you might need a new battery afaik. Lithium ion batteries (the vast majority of laptop batteries in use today, and what I'm pretty sure all Sonys use) *are damaged by this procedure*. I'm going to repeat this, because it's the second time it's come up on this list in a week: Lithium Ion batteries are damaged severely by a full cycle. Do not do it, under any circumstances. http://www.powerpulse.net/powerpulse/archive/aa_040201b3.stm and http://www.buchmann.ca/Chap10-page6.asp deal with this issue very specifically. NiMH and NiCd batteries like full cycling, because it pretty much resets their "memory". Li batteries have no such memory. Instead, draining their charges causes all sorts of issues with asychronous recharging, leading to either "overcharging" and damaging the cells, or near-dead batteries as some cells charge fully and others don't charge enough. There is no simple way to restore a Lithium ion battery once it's dead, at least for people without ready access to electronics or chemistry labs. Instead, you should take proper care of the battery while you have it. - Store it at 40% charge. Not 100%. - Don't leave it in the laptop while it's in mains power. - Don't store it anywhere particularly hot or cold or wet. My battery (Sony PCGA-BP2NX) is about 6 months old now. I've been following these guidelines and have yet to notice any major loss of life in it, despite daily usage. Friends who have laptops of similar ages (or less) have seen issues with their batteries. The difference? I store mine at 40%, off mains. They don't. -- Joe Wreschnig <piman@sacredchao.net>
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